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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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ThesisItem Open Access Effect of grey water on soil properties and Tomato crop(Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, 2019) Prabhakar, Deepak Kumar; Singh, A. K.A field experiment was started on “Effect of grey water on soil properties and Tomato crop” during Rabi season of 2017 in calcareous soil at RPCAU, Pusa Farm in R.B.D. design with 7 treatment and 3 replications and tomato was taken as test crop. Sowing date of Tomato crop was 18th December and first harvesting was done on 4th April and harvesting continues up to 7 times at 4 days of interval .The data were recorded and subjected to statistical analysis as per design and salient results obtained are summarized below : Surface soil samples (0-15) were analyzed for physical and chemical properties, viz., bulk density, texture, porosity, pH, EC, organic carbon (OC), available nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, sulphur, boron and micronutrient elements (zinc, iron ,copper, manganese ) and heavy metals in soil . Grey water application significantly enhances the soil properties like bulk density, pH, organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, boron, micronutrients element (zinc, iron, copper, manganese) and heavy metals like ( Pb and Cr) in soil . The concentration of nutrient like N, P, K and b was recorded highest viz. 389.0 kg ha-1, 182.9 kg ha-1 176.7 kg ha-1 and 0.46 mg kg-1 respectively in 100% grey water treated soil. All chemical parameters and nutrient contents were found higher in grey water than ground water. In general higher nutrient uptake and crop yield was recorded in 50% grey water along with 50% of fresh water application.ThesisItem Open Access Vermicompost from household waste and its effect on Soil properties and crop growth(Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, 2019) Kusum, Alpana; Jha, ShankarCatastrophic growth in population has led to massive urbanization, industrialization and agricultural advancement which has resulted in economic growth on one hand and increased municipal solid waste generation on the other. Effective waste management is necessary as unscientific disposal of waste negatively impacts the environment and public health and also wastage of untrapped nutrients in the form of waste. Thus, it is imperative to develop a proper technique for protection of environment and conversion of these potential sources of untapped nutrients into useful fertilizers for improving and sustaining soil fertility. Keeping this in view, an experiment was conducted during Kharif 2018 at Vermicompost Production Unit, RPCAU, Pusa with an objective to recycle the large amount of household waste generated through vermicomposting by stabilizing proper ratio of household waste and cow dung and further use of vermicompost for improving soil properties and plant growth. On the basis of nutrient content and recovery percent the household waste and cow dung in equal proportion (50:50) was considered as best quality vermicompost. Incubation study was conducted to understand the mineralization of vermicompost during rice growth period. For incubation study the best quality vermicompost was used in four levels (0, 1.25, 2.5 and 3.75 t ha-1) along with three levels of chemical fertilizers viz. 0, RDF and 50% RDF (RDF- 120:60:40 kg ha-1 N: P2O5: K2O) to examine the mineralization of vermicompost in calcareous sandy loam soil at five different stages which match with the critical growth stages of rice crop and the experiment was conducted in Completely Randomized design (3 factors) replicated thrice. In order to find out the residual effect of vermicompost on soil properties, growth, yield and uptake of nutrients in rice crop pot experiment was conducted with rice crop in a Completely Randomized design (2 factors) replicated thrice. During incubation study available N increased up to 30 DAI whereas, TOC, available P2O5, K2O and micronutrients (Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn) content in soil increased up to 65 DAI then decreased gradually. Application of increasing level of vermicompost and fertilizer alone or in combination resulted in corresponding increase in the available nutrient content of soil. Significant build-up of available N, P2O5, K2O and micronutrients (Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn) was recorded in post-harvest soil of rice crop. Gradual increased doses of vermicompost alone or in combination with different doses of fertilizer yielded greater nutrient build up in post-harvest soil, N, P, K content and uptake in grain and straw. The magnitude of soil nutrient build-up in post-harvest soil was in accordance with doses of vermicompost and fertilizer. Combined application of vermicompost at higher dose (3.75 t ha-1) and full dose of fertilizer (RDF) recorded 25.55%, 14.79% and 41.27% increase over control in available N, P2O5 and K2O respectively in post-harvest soil. Combined application of vermicompost and chemical fertilizer recorded greater nutrient use efficiency than their alone application. Application of vermicompost (3.75 t ha-1) along with RDF gave highest grain and straw yield which were statistically at par with application of vermicompost (2.5 t ha-1) along with RDF and their magnitudes were 54.66 g pot-1 and53.55 g pot-1 for grain, 60.40 g pot-1 and 58.05 g pot-1 for straw, respectively. However, application of vermicompost at 1.25 t ha-1 and 50% RDF yielded equally as full dose of chemical fertilizer (RDF) alone. This indicates that 50% of chemical fertilizer could be saved on application vermicompost even at lower dose combined with 50% RDF without reduction in grain yield.ThesisItem Open Access Effect of household-waste-based vermicompost on carbon pool, functional-indicator microbes and plant growth(Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, 2019) Kumar, Chiranjeeb; Prasad, S. S.The destructive increment in population has led to generation of vast amount of solid and organic wastes, thus initiating the problems regarding soil and environmental pollution, soil health deterioration, disturbing soil -physical-chemical-biological equilibrium continuum. An advanced, scientific technique must be developed to mitigate the waste generation problems, providing proper nutrients for overall soil health improvement, creating adoptable micro environment for growth of microbes and enhancing soil nutrient conversion cycles leading to proper nutrient supply for plant growth. The mitigation of wastes generated will vastly affect the whole environment, creating a pollution free environment. Keeping the above aspects in view, a study was conducted during the Kharif season in 2018 at Vermicompost production unit, RPCAU, Pusa with an objective of proper mitigation of waste and scientifically converting it into some useful manure. Vermicomposting of household generated wastes with cow dung at different proportion was made and finally quality analysis of vermicompost was done. On the basis of nutrients contents, microbial growth, enzymatic activities, carbon pool variations and recovery percent, the vermicompost prepared from equal proportions of household waste and cow dung (50 :50) on weight basis was considered the best one and it was further utilized in an incubation experiment which was synchronized with pot culture rice experiment. In the incubation experiment four levels of vermicompost (0 t ha-1, 1.25 t ha-1, 2.5 t ha-1, 3.7 t ha-1) and three levels of fertilizer ( 0 %, 100 %, 50 % RDF) were taken for analyzing the effect on the carbon pools, functional indicator microbes growth, enzymatic activities in calcareous sandy loam soil at four stages of incubation (3 factors of variations) which matched with the critical rice crop growth stages, replicated thrice using Completely Randomized Design (CRD). In pot-culture experiment, the effect of vermicompost and fertilizer on carbon pools, functional indicator microbes growth, nutrient contents, uptakes, efficiencies and yields were conducted with rice crop (2 factors of variations) using Completely Randomized Design (CRD) statistical procedure. During incubation experiment, microbial biomass carbon (MBC), microbial biomass nitrogen, microbial biomass phosphorus, dehydrogenase activities, water soluble carbon, hot-water soluble carbon, available-N increased from 0th DAI to 115th DAI. The TOC, Organic carbon, available-P2O5 increased from 0th DAI to 65th DAI and then decreased up to 115th DAI. Increasing levels of vermicompost and fertilizer increased the functional-indicator microbes from 0th DAI to 65th DAI and then declined the rate of increase from 65th DAI to 115th DAI. The microbial biomass carbon, microbial biomass phosphorus and microbial biomass nitrogen increased 101.84 %, 40.63 %, 42.52 % over control at 115th DAI, respectively. The pot-culture experiment marked the increase in available-N, P, S nutrients content in post-harvest soil as well as increase in carbon pools, functional-indicator microbes growth from tillering stage of rice cropped soil up to post-harvest period soil in response to the increased dose of vermicompost and fertilizer. The increased dose of vermicompost (3.75 t ha-1) and full dose of fertilizer (100 % RDF) significantly increased available-N, MBC, azotobacter population count 25.55 % ,125.69 % and 62.71 % increase over control in post-harvest soil, respectively. In pot-culture experiment at tillering stage the carbon pools, nutrient contents as well as functional indicator microbes increased significantly over control. The increase in the microbial biomass carbon and microbial nitrogen significantly increased 116.85 % and 113.26 % over control. The bacillus count increased significantly by 89.09 % over control in soil at tillering stage. All other functional indicator microbes increased significantly over control but lower than post-harvest soil. The grain and straw yields were significantly superior in response to vermicompost (3.75 t ha-1) and RDF which was statistically at par with application of vermicompost level (2.5 t ha-1) and fertilizer (100 % RDF) and their values were 54.66 g pot-1 and 53.55 g pot-1 for grain , 60.40 g pot-1 and 58.05 g pot-1 for straw, respectively. The yield was equal in case of vermicompost (1.25 t ha-1) with RDF without affecting yield loss. Thus, it can be concluded that 50 % save over the cost of chemical fertilizer is achieved in the whole experiment and can be suggested to the farmers. The nutrients content in grain and straw and their uptakes, nutrient use efficiencies was found significantly superior in the combined application of high dose vermicompost ( 3.75 t ha-1) and fertilizer(100 % RDF) than their sole applications. The pot-culture experiment marked the increase in available-N, P, S nutrients content in post-harvest soil as well as increase in carbon pools, functional-indicator microbes growth in soil in response to the increased dose of vermicompost and fertilizer. The increased dose of vermicompost (3.75 t ha-1) and full dose of fertilizer (100 % RDF) significantly increased available-N, microbial biomass carbon, azotobacter population count 25.55 % ,125.69 % and 62.71 % increase over control in post-harvest soil, respectively.ThesisItem Open Access Effect of nutrient management and rice establishment methods on soil fertility & crop productivity(Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, 2019) Pal, Rajesh Kumar; Singh, PankajThe area under rice crop in our country is about 43.19 Mha with a production of 110.15 MT and productivity of 2550 kg ha-1(Directorate of Economics and Statistics, 2017).In India, rice is cultivated by different methods, but majority of farmers grow rice by adopting age-old practice, i.e. transplanting rice seedling in puddled field. This practice reduces weed problems, increases the iron and zinc (Fe& Zn) availability and makes soil favorable for transplanting and at the same time it requires large quantity of water up to grain filling. Further transplanting requires huge manpower. Direct seeding of rice is a potential alternative, which, is also a successful method of growing rice in many countries of the world. With this back ground the present investigation entitled ―Effect of nutrient management and rice establishment methods on soil fertility & crop productivity‖was carried out at Research Farm, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University Pusa, Bihar during kharif2018 on calcareous sandy loam soil. The experiment was laid-out in a split-plot design (SPD). The main-plot treatments included three crop establishment methods, viz. dry direct-seeded rice (M3-DSR-dry), wet direct-seeded rice (M2-DSR-wet) and puddled transplanted rice (M1-TPR). In sub-plots, five different nutrient management methods were T1 (100% STCR Based Dose of Fertilizer + ZnSO4 @ 25 kg ha-1), T2 (75% DF + 25% STCR based Recommended Dose of Nitrogen through Vermicompost), T3 (100% STCR based Recommended Dose of Nitrogen through Vermicompost), T4 (100% DF + 50% STCR based Recommended Dose of Nitrogen through Vermicompost) and T5 (50% DF + 25% STCR based Recommended Dose of Nitrogen through Vermicompost) were replicated thrice under each method. The plant height and yield attributing characters- number of tillers per meter square, number of panicles per meter square, filled grains per panicles and test weightrecorded significantly higher values under transplanted rice with T4 (100% DF + 50% STCR based Recommended Dose of Nitrogen through Vermicompost) recording significantly higher values among different nutrient management systems. The transplanted method recorded significantly higher grain and straw yield as well as nutrient (N, P, K, Fe & Zn) uptake and T4 (100% DF + 50% STCR based Recommended Dose of Nitrogen through Vermicompost) performing significantly better than other treatments. The bulk density was recorded lowest under DSR-dry treatment which recorded significantly higher water holding capacity (WHC). Among treatments T3 (100% STCR based Recommended Dose of Nitrogen through Vermicompost) recorded minimum bulk density and maximum WHC. The availability of macro and micro nutrients was significantly higher under transplanted rice and was positively influenced byT4 (100% DF + 50% STCR based Recommended Dose of Nitrogen through Vermicompost). The fungal and bacterial count was found to be higher in transplanted rice while actinomycetes population was higher under DSR-dry. The microbial population was significantly influenced by T3 (100% STCR based Recommended Dose of Nitrogen through Vermicompost). The dehydrogenase activity, MBC and MBN were significantly higher in transplanted rice T3 (100% STCR based Recommended Dose of Nitrogen through Vermicompost) treatment recording significantly higher values. The economics of all the cultivation practices recorded higher B:C ratio (0.73) and net returns (₹ 34684 ha-1) under DSR-wet with T1 (100% STCR Based Dose of Fertilizer + ZnSO4 @ 25 kg ha-1) giving farmers an alternative method for rice production.ThesisItem Open Access Effect of cropping systems on soil fertility and enzymatic activities in Calcareous soils of Bihar(Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, 2019) Kumar, Vivek; Singh, Sanjay KumarThe present investigation was undertaken to study the “EFFECT OF CROPPING SYSTEMS ON SOIL FERTILITY AND ENZYMATIC ACTIVITIES IN CALCAREOUS SOILS OF BIHAR” during 2017-18 at the research farm of Tirhut College of Agriculture, Dholi, Muzaffarpur, a campus of Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Bihar. In the farm, the different kinds of cropping patterns have been practiced at the same piece of land for the last five years or more. Each crop was grown with normal irrigation practice and recommended doses of fertilizer application, i.e, without any stress condition. A number of soil quality parameters were measured during the course of investigation to evaluate the effect of nine cropping systems on soil quality under similar, calcareous nature of the soil. Soil samples from surface (0-15cm) and sub-surface (15-30cm) were collected from each treatment (cropping systems) at the end of Rabi season (Mid April to Mid-May, 2018), i.e. completion of one cropping cycle. Each cropping system was represented by three plots with an area of 5 m x 5 m and a total of 27 (9 cropping systems x 3 plots) samples were collected for laboratory analysis. The soil pH variability at surface layer of the soil recorded from 7.79 to 8.79, whereas in lower soil depth (15-30cm) recorded from 7.85 to 8.81. The lowest soil pH exhibited in rice-wheat cropping system followed by pigeon pea cropping system might be attributed to submergence of soil during rice cultivation and greater amount of leaf litters fall throughout the field during crop life of the later cycle. The variability in electrical conductivity was found from 2.54 to1.16 dSm-1. The low salt concentration noticed in pigeon pea cropping system at both the soil depths exhibiting more variability with respect to rice-potato cropping system at surface soil. The highest organic carbon content (0.63%) was associated with pigeon pea cropping system followed by that with mustard-moongbean (0.62%), pigeon pea (0.61%) and rice-wheat (0.55%), respectively at surface soil layer. The lowest organic carbon (0.33%) was observed in fallow land. The variation in organic carbon under different cropping systems, particularly legume-based, contributed more organic matter thus scoring good quality of soil. The carbon was found to be higher in the surface and sub-surface soil layers in pigeon pea cropping system followed by that in maize-maize. The quantity of organic matter was directly related to the degree of organic carbon present in soil. Cation exchange capacity ranged from 16.66 to 28.62 (cmol (P+) kg-1) among the cropping systems which might be attributed to organic carbon content. The difference in CEC was statistically significant under different cropping systems. The lower bulk density (1.21Mgm-3) and (1.24 Mg m-3) was recorded under mustard-moongbean and pigeon pea cropping systems followed by tuber-moongbean (1.31 Mgm-3), rice-potato and maize-maize cropping systems over non-cultivated land. The bulk density in sub-surface soil depth increased under all cropping systems. Maximum water holding capacity (WHC) was recorded under pigeon pea cropping system in the surface layer (42.20%) and 40.36% in sub-surface layer. The minimum WHC (36.46%) and (35.61%) was noticed in fallow land at both the soil depths. Mean weight diameter in different treatments varied from 2.51mm to 4.49mm. The highest MWD was recorded under pigeon pea cropping system, whereas the lowest was under fallow lands. The MWD generally promotes the soil aggregation and its stability. The marked variations in soil available nitrogen was observed in this study under different cropping systems due to the factors viz. addition of organic carbon and the application of different doses of inorganic fertilizers. Available nitrogen varied from 120.13 to 300.11kg ha-1. The highest amount of available nitrogen (300.11 kg ha-1) recorded under pigeon pea cropping system might be due to deposition of plant biomass and biological nitrogen fixation. The maximum soil available potassium (272.83 kg ha-1) was also reported in pigeon pea cropping system, whereas minimum in rice-wheat cropping (95.82 kg ha-1) and maize-maize cropping systems at the surface soil layer. Variations in Olsen‟s available phosphorus status in soil ranged from 12.59 to 18.77 kg ha-1 and it followed the order:pigeon pea> rice-wheat> onion-garlic> mustard–moongbean> maize-maize> turmeric-moongbean> rice-potato> tuber-moongbean> fallow land. Available sulphur ranged from 10.36 and 8.49 ppm and was recorded highest in both the soil depth under pigeon pea cropping system. However, minimum content of available sulphur (3.90 and 3.22 ppm) was recorded with fallow land in both surface and sub-surface layers. The values of boron under cropping systems ranged from 0.07 to 0.17ppm. Rice-wheat cropping system contained maximum iron concentration (7.91ppm) followed by mustard-moongbean (7.65 ppm), maize-maize (7.48ppm) and pigeon pea (6.13ppm) cropping system respectively. Mn concentration was minimum in fallow lands than in other systems where cultivation was not performed. The available Cu concentration varied from 0.71 to 2.28ppm and 0.60 to 1.97ppm under different cropping systems in both soil depths. Wide variability in zinc concentration under surface soil (0-15cm) was recorded under different cropping systems. The build-up of DTPA-extractable zinc was recorded to be the highest in turmeric-moongbean followed by onion-garlic systems. Other cropping systems contained below 1ppm. Dehydrogenase and alkaline phosphatase enzymes showed variation from 6.87 to 19.91 (μg TPF g-124 h-1) and 6.77 to 33.55 (μg PNP g-1 soil h- 1) at the upper surface layer. Among the cropping systems, pigeon pea maintained higher amount of dehydrogenase and alkaline phosphatase enzymes in the soils than the other systems and fallow land showed the lowest value.ThesisItem Open Access Effect of integrated nutrient management modules on soil fertility and productivity of sugarcane in Calcareous soil(Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, 2019) Ranjan, Abhishek; Jha, C.K.A field experiment was conducted to study the Effect of Integrated Nutrient Management Modules on Soil Fertility and Productivity of Sugarcane in Calcareous Soil during 2018 -19 at Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Bihar. The treatments comprised of organic nutrient sources viz. Trichoderma inoculated sugarcane trash, green manuring with Rhizobium inoculated green gram , biocompost (BC) + neem cake (NC) and their substitution with fertilizer-N (25, 50, 75 and 100%) along with biofertilizer (Azotobacter and PSB) and control (100%NPK). The biocompost was applied at planting (PL) and neem cake at earthing up (EL) stages. Sugarcane crop (cv. CoP 2061) planted during spring season. The mean germination per cent varied significantly from 23.7-33.9 % and 36.1-47.5 % at 30 and 45 days after planting. The integrated use of organic along with inorganics produced significantly higher number of tillers over control (100% NPK).The number of millable canes varied significantly and ranged from 94.1 x 103 - 116.2 x 103 ha-1. The treatment receiving 50% N as inorganic + 50 % N through organic fertilizer; BC, PL + NC, ER (1/2 each) + Biofertilizer) recorded highest NMC. The mean cane yield varied significantly and ranged from 70.75- 89.18 t ha-1 due to different treatments. The highest cane yield (89.18 t ha-1) was recorded in treatment receiving 50 per cent N through inorganic + 50 per cent N through organic fertilizer along with biofertilizer and lowest (70.75 t ha-1) in control (100% NPK). However, treatment receiving 75% N as inorganic + 25 % N through organic fertilizer; BC, PL + NC, ER (1/2 each) + biofertilizer was significantly superior in terms of B: C ratio (2.08) and net returns ( 1,31,856.60 ha-1). Sugar yield is a function of cane yield and followed the similar pattern as cane yield. The mean sugar yield varied significantly from 8.12 – 10.12 t ha-1. The juice recovery significantly varied (57.24 - 65.53 %) due to different nutrient management modules while, their effect on brix, pol and purity coefficient was found non-significant. The uptake of N (213.2 – 307.7 kg ha-1), P (18.31 – 29.76 kg ha-1) and K (215.81 – 311.02 kg ha-1) varied significantly due to influence of different nutrient combinations. The uptake of nutrients followed the similar trend of cane yield. The soil available N (225.8 – 257.9 kg ha-1), available P (23.61 – 29.54 kg ha-1) and available K (107.9 – 135.5 kg ha-1) varied significantly due to different treatments after sugarcane harvest. The significant increase in Fe, Zn and Mn content of post-harvest soil was also recorded due to application of organic and inorganic nutrient sources over control (100% NPK). The mean soil organic carbon (0.42 - 0.56%), soil microbial biomass carbon (95.7 – 213.7 mg kg-1) , CO2 evolution (61.2 – 160.3 mg 100g-1 soil 24 hr-1) , total organic carbon (13.21 - 20.61 g kg-1) and soil organic carbon stocks (9.8 - 13.1 t C ha-1) varied significantly due to application of nutrient from organic and inorganic fertilizer. The plot treated with organic nutrient source showed reduction in bulk density of post harvest soil over control (100% NPK). The soil organic carbon fractions viz., very labile, labile , less labile and nonlabile was found highest for the treatment receiving 100 % N as organic nutrient sources along with biofertilizers over control (100% NPK). Correlation study revealed positive correlation among different fraction of oxidizable organic carbon, total organic carbon, soil microbial biomass carbon and CO2 evolution. The different fractions of soil N viz., NO3 - - N (13.2 - 16.5 mg kg-1), exchangeable NH4 +-N (56.8 – 90.6 mg kg-1), total hydrolysable-N (265.0 -339.7 mg kg-1), non-hydolysable-N (140.5 - 164.1 mg kg-1) and total-N (478.8 – 603.1 mg kg-1) varied significantly due to various treatments under study. The total-N was highly positively and significantly correlated with exchangeable NH4 +-N, hydrolysable NH4 +-N, hexoseamine-N, amino acid-N and total hydrolysable-N. The NO3 - -N did not produce significant correlation with any of the other N fractions. Based on economics treatment receiving 75% N as IF + 25 % N through organics; BC, PL + NC, ER (1/2 each) + Azotobacter and PSB @ 4 kg ha-1 was significantly superior in terms of B:C ratio (2.08) and net retuns ( 1,31,856.60 ha-1) over all the treatments. The integrated use of organics and inorganics source of nutrients can sustain soil fertility and sugarcane productivity in calcareous soil of Bihar.ThesisItem Open Access Aggregate associated zinc and zinc fractionation after six years of rice wheat cropping system with different doses and frequency of zinc application(Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, 2019) Lakshmi, Pepakayala Vara; Singh, Santosh KumarA six-year long-term field experiment was initiated during Kharif 2012-13 with rice-wheat cropping system under AICRP on micronutrients at nursery jhilli area of Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Bihar. The experiment was planned in RBD with 13 treatments and 3 replications consisting of four doses of zinc i.e., 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, and 10.0 kg ha-1 applied as zinc sulphate (ZnSO4) in Kharif with three different combinations of frequencies i.e., in the first year, alternate year and every year of zinc application along with control. Soil samples were collected and analyzed after 6 years i.e. after the harvest of wheat crop in 2018. Increasing doses and frequency of zinc application increased DTPA extractable zinc in all aggregate fractions and initial adsorption was more in small aggregate fractions than larger sized fractions. The order of DTPA extractable zinc was: 8 - 5 mm (1.01mg/kg) < 5 – 2 mm (2.37 mg kg-1) < 2 – 1 mm (3.81 mg kg-1) < 1 - 0.5mm (5.34 mg kg-1) < 0.5 - 0.25 mm (5.42 mg kg-1) < 0.25 - 0.1mm (6.13 mg kg-1). Most of the total zinc remained in residual form (80.03%) followed by crystalline form (9.19%) and the quantity of plant available form like water soluble + exchangeable (0.6%), complexed (3.16%), organically bound (1.19%), amorphous oxide bound zinc (6.6%) were very low. The order of dominance of different zinc fractions in soil was: Total-Zn (31.43 mg kg-1) > RES-Zn (25.13 mg kg-1) > CRY-Zn (2.89 mg kg-1) > ORG-Zn (2.09 mg kg-1) > COM-Zn (1.00 mg kg-1) > AMO-Zn (0.38 mg kg-1) > WS + EX-Zn (0.19 mg kg-1). All the fractions of zinc except crystalline and residual zinc had positive correlation with wheat grain yield and zinc uptake. Among all fractions Water soluble + Exchangeable and complexed fractions were the predominant forms that contributed most of the available zinc for wheat grain uptake and yield. Improvement in soil physical properties viz. bulk density and aggregate stability coupled with increase in organic carbon content and nutrient availability viz. nitrogen, phosphorous, Sulphur with application of 7.5 kg Zn ha-1 in alternate year resulted in optimum wheat grain and straw yield (45.6, 76.5 q ha-1) in the sixth year of experiment and also for rice-wheat cropping system (982.9 q ha-1). DTPA extractable zinc decreased with increasing depth of soil. The order of DTPA extractable zinc was 0-15 cm (0.99 mg kg-1) > 15-30 cm (0.81 mg kg-1) > 30-45 cm (0.31 mg kg-1) > 45-60 cm (0.21 mg kg-1)> 60-90 cm (0.19 mg kg-1). Most of the applied zinc was distributed in the upper layers of the soil (0-30 cm) than the lower layers (>30 cm).ThesisItem Open Access Assessing soil biological properties and nutrient availability after long term crop residue management in rice-wheat cropping system(Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, 2019) Eltahir, Elsaffory B. A.; Laik, RanjanOrganic sources for crop production hold a great promise due to their local availability, as it can improve physical, chemical and biological parameters of soil. Hence in a long-term experiment with crop residue managements and Zn applications in rice-wheat cropping system the objectives were to study: changes in biological properties of the soil during rice growth period, nutrient availabilities of soil, and rice yield, growth attributes and nutrient uptake. During kharif, 1994 in a Zn-deficient calcareous soil at Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa farm in split-plot design with four crop residue levels in main plots and four Zn levels in sub-plots under rice-wheat cropping system. As per treatments crop residues of previous crops were incorporated in each season whereas Zn was applied at the time of start of the experiment as starter dose and again applied after 25 years. Among the different treatment combinations, soil organic carbon varied between 5.10 mg kg-1 in the crop residue and Zn control to 7.19 mg kg-1 in crop residue management at 100% and Zn level of 10 kg ha-1 plot. Crop residue management at 25, 50 and 100% levels has significantly improved soil organic carbon, and decreased soil bulk density, free CaCO3 and penetration resistance. Soil active carbon, respiration microbial biomass carbon and autoclave citrate extractable protein are significantly influenced by all the levels of crop residue. Soil active carbon, microbial biomass carbon and autoclave citrate extractable are highest at 60 days after transplanting of rice whereas the concentration of soil respiration was highest at 90 DAT. Among the soil biological properties highest increase was found in soil respiration followed by autoclave citrate extractable protein during rice growth period. Crop residue at 50 and 100% influences soil available Zn, Fe, Mn, N and K and their uptake by rice. Crop residue at different levels influenced all the yield and growth parameters whereas Zn application at 7.5 and 10 kg ha-1 rates also had significant increase in rice grain yield as compared to Zn control plot.ThesisItem Open Access Potassium Partitioning at Different Growth Stages of Rice in Calcareous Soil of North Bihar(Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa (Samastipur), 2018) Nand, Mani Mesha; Singh, S. P.Ignorance of balanced nutrition with potash is diminishing crop yield and mining the potassium (K) from the soil. The knowledge on periodic uptake, accumulation and allocation of potassium to different parts of a rice plant should receive urgent attention in order to implement K management practices for sustainable rice production. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted in calcareous soil (medium in available K) in split-plot design with two rice varieties (Inbred and Hybrid) in main plot and six combinations of potassium management [control, NP (-K); NP+K(100 % basal); NP+K(50% basal + 50% tillering); NP+K(50% basal + 50% panicle) and NP+K(50% basal + 25% tillering + 25% panicle)] in sub-plot at Experimental Farm, RPCAU, Pusa, Samastipur, during kharif - 2017. Dry weight, potassium content and uptake by different parts of rice (root, shoot and leaves) and availability of potassium (K) in soil were determined at different growth stages (tillering, panicle, milking and maturity) of rice. Initial and post-harvest soils (0-15 cm) were analyzed for physico-chemical properties, viz., pH, electrical conductivity (EC), organic carbon (OC) and different forms of potassium (available K, water soluble K, exchangeable K, non-exchangeable K, lattice K and total K). The results revealed that the growth parameters (dry weight, plant height, panicle length, number of tillers m-2, number of panicles m-2), potassium content and uptake, grain yield and test weight increased significantly with the application of potassium in three splits (50% basal + 25% tillering + 25% panicle) as compared to the treatment where potassium was applied only as basal dose (recommended practice). The availability of K in the soil at different growth stages of rice was found to improve with split applications of potassium over basal application. At tillering stage, available K was highest in the plots receiving split applications of K i.e. 50% basal + 50% tillering, while, at panicle and milking stage, available K was highest in plots with split application of K i.e. 50% basal + 50% panicle. At maturity, it was highest in the plots with three split applications of K (50% basal + 25% tillering + 25% panicle). The effect of potassium application on changes in different forms of potassium at harvest was not significant except water soluble K which increased significantly by three split applications of potassium. Negative potassium balance in soil was recorded under all the treatments and it was more pronounced in hybrid rice than the inbred rice grown soils. Thus, it can be concluded that synchronization of split applications of potassium (50% basal + 50% panicle or 50% basal + 25% tillering + 25% panicle) with nitrogen can result in significantly higher yield of rice and K uptake compared to basal application. Although, the K rates for fertilizer recommendation need to be revised to account for the negative K balance in soil.