Loading...
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.
Browse
9 results
Search Results
ThesisItem Open Access Development of Targeted Yield Equations for Aerobic Rice (Var. Rajendra neelam) under Integrated Nutrient Management(Dr.RPCAU, Pusa, 2022) KUMAR, NARESH; SUMAN, S. N.Field experiment was conducted at Pusa farm, RPCAU during the year 2021 to generate Targeted Yield based Fertilizer prescription equations for aerobic rice Var. Rajendra neelam under integrated nutrient management system. In order to develop fertilizer prescription equations, complex experiment of rice was conducted at nursery jhilly field with aerobic rice (cv. Rajendra neelam) by superimposing 24 treatments consisting of four levels of N (0, 60,120 and180 kg/ha), four levels of P2O5 (0, 30, 60 and 90 kg/ha), four levels K2O (0, 20, 40 and 60 kg/ha) and three level of vermicompost (0, 1 and 2 t/ha). The integrated nutrient management approach had a positive impact on organic carbon, soil available nutrient status, crop yield, and nutrient uptake by aerobic rice. When compared to other treatments, a combined application of 120 kg nitrogen, 60 kg phosphorus, and 40 kg potassium per hectare, along with 2 t/ha vermicompost resulted in the highest available NPK in soils with the highest crop yield and nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium uptake by aerobic rice. Fertilizer prescription equations were formulated for aerobic rice by following Ramamurthy’s Inductive-cum-targeted yield approach. Based on the experiment in the nutrient requirement (NR) for producing one quintal of aerobic rice was found to be 4.09, 0.90, 2.16 kg/q with respect to N,P and K respectively. The NPK contributions to aerobic rice from fertilizers were 48.11, 38.74, and 58.46 % respectively. Conversely, the percentage contribution of NPK from organic component that is organic efficiency was 7.34%, 4.25 %, 5.3%. Based on NR, CS, CF and CO the fertilizer prescription equations were developed for aerobic rice variety (Rajendra neelam) and an estimate of fertilizer dose were formulated in the form of ready reckoner for a range of soil test values and desired yield targets.ThesisItem Open Access EFFECT OF INTEGRATED NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT ON PRODUCTIVITY AND QUALITY OF SUGARCANE IN CALCAREOUS SOIL(Dr.RPCAU, Pusa, 2022) KUMAR, BRAJESH; Sinha, S.K.At Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University in Bihar, a field experiment was carried out to investigate the “Effect of integrated nutrient management on productivity and quality of sugarcane in calcareous soil” during 2021–2022.Vermicompost, green manuring (green gram), fertilizer-NPK (150:85:60) and biofertilizer (Azotobacter and PSB) were used as part of the treatments. The vermicompost was applied at planting and green gram was applied 60 days after planting (DAP). During the spring, sugarcane crop (cv. CoP 112 early) was planted. The germination percent was found non-significant and it varied from 36.5-43.4% and 46.5-55.5% at 45 and 60 days after planting respectively. Compared to strict control and 100% RDF, the combined application of organic, inorganic and biofertilizer produced a much higher number of tillers. The dry matter accumulation at 90,120 and 150 days after planting was found significant while at harvest stage it was found nonsignificant. The number of millable canes varied significantly and ranged from 70.5 × 103 to 125.4 × 103 ha-1. The maximum NMC (Number of millable cane) was obtained in the treatment receiving RDF together with vermicompost and biofertilizer (Azotobacter and PSB). Due to different treatments, the mean cane yield varied significantly and ranged from 41.8 to 94.0 t ha-1. The treatment group receiving RDF coupled with vermicompost and biofertilizer had the highest cane yield, whereas the group receiving absolute control (no fertilizer) had the lowest. Sugar yield is a function of cane yield and followed a similar trend to cane yield. The mean sugar yield varied significantly from 4.5 - 10.5 t ha-1. Brix, pol, purity coefficient and commercial cane sugar was found non-significant. The soil available N (224.33 - 278.92 kg ha-1), available P (22.28 - 36.33 kg ha-1), available K (124.67 - 165.20 kg ha-1) and available S (12.64 - 19.21 mg kg-1) varied significantly due to application of integrated nutrient management in soil. The use of organic and inorganic fertiliser sources over absolute control was also noted as a considerable increase in the Fe, Zn, Cu and Mn content of post-harvest soil. The soil organic carbon stock was found to be non-significant due to the application of nutrients from organic and inorganic fertiliser while the mean soil organic carbon (0.48 - 0.56%), soil microbial biomass carbon (129.10 - 255.90 mg kg-1), and CO2 evolution (36.83 - 60.70 mg 100g-1 soil 24 hr-1) varied significantly. The microflora population in post-harvest soil was significantly higher in treatment receiving RDF along with vermicompost and biofertilizer (Azotobacter and PSB). Due to the impact of various nutrient combinations, the absorption of N (126.97 - 292.58kg ha-1), P (12.54 - 29.96 kg ha-1), and K (114.43 - 271.43kg ha-1) varied significantly. The trend of cane output was similar to the intake of minerals. The effect of various treatment on agronomic use efficiency and physiological use efficiency was varied significantly.ThesisItem Open Access Impact of intensive fertilizer use on soil health under maize based cropping system(Dr.RPCAU, Pusa, 2022) KANDARI, ABHISHEK SINGH; Tiwari, SanjayA study was conducted in the block Khodawandpur (Begusarai) among farmers taking different cropping system (rice-maize, pigeon pea-maize, soybean-maize, maize-wheat and rice-wheat) to study the influence of fertilizer application on soil health. Several soil quality parameters were assessed during the experiment to assess the influence of five cropping systems on soil quality and then it was correlated with the yield of crops in different cropping system. The soil pH variations ranged from 8.01 to 8.26 at the surface layer (0-15cm) and from 8.18 to 8.32 at the sub surface layer (15-30cm). The rice-wheat cropping system had the lowest soil pH (8.01), followed by the rice-maize and pigeon pea-maize cropping system, which might be ascribed to soil submergence during rice cultivation and a higher amount of leaf litter falling over the field throughout crop life of the latter cycle. The range of electrical conductivity variations was determined to be 0.30 to 0.40 dS m-1. The low salt content observed in the pigeon pea cropping system at both soil layers exhibited greater variability than other cropping system. The pigeon pea cropping system has the highest organic carbon content (0.46%), followed by soybean-maize (0.41%) cropping system. The addition of organic carbon and the application of varied doses of inorganic fertilizers caused significant differences in soil available nitrogen in this study under different cropping systems. Nitrogen availability ranged from 137.98 to 178.12 kg ha-1. The maximum quantity of available nitrogen was reported in the pigeon pea cropping system might be attributed to plant biomass deposition and biological nitrogen fixing. Available phosphorus status in soil varied from 31.71 to 44.50 kg ha-1 and it followed the order: pigeon pea-maize>soybean-maize> maize-wheat> rice-wheat> rice-maize. At the surface soil layer, pigeon pea-maize cropping system had the highest soil available potassium (188.84 kg ha-1) and rice-maize cropping system had the lowest (148.24 kg ha-1). Micronutrients varied less in the cropping system. DTPA extractable Fe levels were found to be high in all the cropping systems. DTPA extractable Cu and DTPA extractable Mn were found to be higher in rice-wheat cropping systems, with mean values of 1.93 mg kg-1 and 4.87 mg kg-1, respectively. The large range in Zn concentration in surface soil (0-15cm) was observed under various farming systems. The highest levels of DTPA extractable Zn were found in pigeon pea-maize cropping systems (0.83 mg kg-1). Farmer’s fertilizer and other management techniques may be the reason behind Zn deficiency in soil. The bulk density of the pigeon pea-maize cropping system was found to be lowest (1.37 Mg m-3), whereas rice-wheat had the highest bulk density with a mean value of 1.41 Mg m-3.There was less variation in bulk density among all the cropping system. Relatively high density values were detected in the subsurface layer. Data from several cropping systems revealed that almost all the cropping systems had lower mean values of maximum water holding capacity attributed to intensive tillage and other cultural practices used by farmers. The top layer of a pigeon pea-maize cropping system had the maximum water holding capacity (32.04%), whereas the sub-surface layer of the same cropping system had 28.55%.. Water stable aggregates ranged between 23.23% to 31.03%. The pigeon pea-maize cropping system resulted in the highest mean values (31.03%), whereas the rice-maize cropping system was found to have lowest values (23.23%). Subsurface layer values were found to be lower than surface layer. Soil respiration was highest in the pigeon pea-maize cropping system (1.10 mg CO2 g-1) and lowest in the rice-maize cropping system (0.69 mg CO2 g-1). Organic material was not included during cultural activities in the majority of the farmer’s field resulting in lower soil biological parameters. Cropping systems had active C levels ranging from 169.20 mg kg-1 to 207.93 mg kg-1. In 0-15cm soil depth, the pigeon pea cropping system had the highest mean value, whereas the rice maize cropping system had the least. The dehydrogenase and fluorescein diacetate in the top surface layer ranged from 70.92 to 84.30 (μg TPF g-1 24 h-1) and 2.64 to 4.17 (μg Fluorescein g-1 soil hr-1). Legume based cropping system had the highest dehydrogenase and fluorescein diacetate in the soils of the cropping systems, while rice-maize had the least. The low quantities of dehydrogenase and fluorescein diacetate enzymes found in rice-maize might be linked to low organic carbon content and poor agricultural techniques. Yield of the crops under different cropping system was found to be significantly and positively correlated with most of the soil health parameters but in case of bulk density it was found to be negatively correlated.ThesisItem Open Access Impact of sugarcane cultivation on soil carbon pools and soil health in Samastipur district of Bihar(DRPCAU, PUSA, 2022) KUDI, BABITA; MEENA, SUNITA KUMARIA Study entitled “Impact of sugarcane cultivation on soil carbon pools and soil health in Samastipur district of Bihar’’ was carried out at Department of Soil Science, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar with the objective to establish the relationship between soil carbon pools and soil health parameters. Soil samples were analyzed in the laboratory for different physical, chemical and biological properties by Cornell Soil Health Laboratory Comprehensive Assessment of Soil Health (CASH) standard operating procedures. Sugarcane is a long duration, heavy feeder and nutrient exhaustive crop. The excessive and imbalanced use of chemical fertilizer has deterioration of soil health. The soil organic carbon content is continuously declining due to the non-addition of organic matter and to continuous cultivation of sugarcane crop which is extensive in nature. Restoration of organic matter is thus, needed for maintaining soil health and improving productivity through breakdown of continuous cultivation of sugarcane and the addition of organic amendments. A wide variation was observed for soil quality parameters which included pH mean value was 8.35±0.14 in 0-15 cm soil depth and 8.20±0.15 in 15-30 cm; electrical conductivity (EC) mean 0.59±0.18 dS m-1 in 0-15 cm and 0.48 ± 0.18 dS m-1 in 15 - 30 cm; bulk density (BD) mean 1.49 ± 0.10 g cm-3 in 0-15 cm and 1.58±0.08 g cm-3 in 15-30 cm; Wet Aggregate Stability (WAS) mean 26.9±6.6 % in 0-15 cm and 24.67±9.93 % in 15-30 cm. Among the major soil nutrients, the mean value of available N was 192±14 kg ha-1 in 0-15 cm and 187±14 kg ha-1 in 15-30 cm; mean value of available P2O5 was 29.2±5.4 kg ha-1 in 0-15 cm and 25.8±5.2 kg ha-1 in 15-30 cm soil depth; mean value of available K2O was 161±24 kg ha-1 in 0-15 cm and 154±24 kg ha-1 in 15-30 cm soil depth and available S was 8.52±1.40 mg kg-1 at 0-15 cm and 7.30±1.38 mg kg-1 in 15-30 cm soil depth. The variation in available soil micronutrients were as follows: Zn mean value was 0.57 ± 0.21 mg kg-1 in 0- 15 cm and 0.44 ± 0.22 mg kg-1 in 15-30 cm soil depth; Cu mean value was 1.24±0.58 mg kg-1 in 0-15 cm and 1.11±0.59 mg kg-1 in 15-30 cm soil depth; Fe mean value was 9.83±2.58 mg kg-1 in 0-15 cm soil and 8.44±2.52 mg kg-1 in 15-30 cm soil depth; Mn average value was 4.50±0.93 mg kg-1 in 0-15 cm soil and 3.36±0.89 mg kg-1 in 15-30 cm soil depth. Among the soil biological properties, soil protein (autoclaved citrate extractable protein), soil respiration, dehydrogenase activity and MBC mean values were 1.59±0.55 g kg-1, 0.72 ± 0.22 mg CO2 g-1 96 hrs-1, 4.86 ± 0.78 μg TPF hr-1 g-1, 113±15 mg kg-1in 0-15 cm soil and 1.19 ± 0.55 g kg-1 ,0.58 ± 0.23 mg CO2 g-1 96 hrs-1 , 3.59 ± 0.80 μg TPF hr-1 g-1 , 96.63 ± 16.90 mg kg-1in 15-30 cm soil respectively. The mean value of different soil carbon pools were as follows: Walkley-Black carbon was 5.23±1.06 g kg -1 in 0-15 cm soil and 4.56±0.96 g kg -1 in 15-30 cm soil; total organic carbon was 7.64 ± 1.20 g kg-1 in 0-15 cm soil and 7.10±1.49 g kg-1 in 15-30 cm soil; KMNO4 –C was 263±55 mg kg-1 in 0-15 cm soil and 235±54 mg kg-1 in 15-30 cm soil. Percent contribution of different SOC pools to the total SOC followed as: Non labile (32%) > Less labile (28%) > Very Labile (20%) > labile (19.7%) in 0-15 cm of soil and Non labile (35.6%) > Less labile (28.6 %) >Very Labile (18.6%) > labile (17.1%) in 15-30 cm depth of soil. Correlation coefficient of oxidisable organic carbon (0-15 cm soil) with various fractions of carbon and soil biological parameters ranged from 0.846 to 0.974. For 15-30 cm soil depth, correlation coefficient of OC was found significantly positive with TOC (0.925) and VL-C, L-C, LL-C (0.875, 0.899, 0.924, respectively). Therefore, it was recommended that the inclusion of other crops in a crop rotation leads to a build-up of active fractions of carbon, thus the biological activity that will support soil sustainability.ThesisItem Open Access RESPONSE OF INTEGRATED NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT ON ACTIVE POOLS OF SOIL ORGANIC CARBON AND BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES UNDER RICE BASED CROPPING SYSTEM(DRPCAU, PUSA, 2022) SHAI, SOURAV; SINGH, PANKAJBeing the backbone of India's food security, the Rice-wheat cropping system is the most profitable and prevailing cropping system in the Indo-Gangetic region, but recently it experienced significant decline in productivity because of depletion in soil organic matter due to low inputs of bio-resources and intensive crop rotation, depletion of soil fertility due to imbalanced use of chemicals and poor residue management leading to its burning. Residue management is a rising concern for better sustainability of Indian agriculture and environmental protection. Intensive cropping systems, lack of traditional use of agricultural crop residues, and lack of buyers of rice is pushing the farmers to opt for residue burning, which causes huge air pollution and global warming. To mitigate such problems IARI introduced a bio-decomposer method known as "Pusa Decomposer" to accelerate the decomposition of paddy straw in the field. Thus, with such background the present study entitled “Response of integrated nutrient management on active pools of soil organic carbon and biological activities under rice based cropping system” was conducted in kharif 2021 and Rice was the test crop at research farm of RPCAU, Pusa, Bihar. The present experiment is third cropping cycle that is kharif 2021 and it was carried out in randomized block design with nine different treatments and each of the treatments were replicated thrice in 3m x 4m plots. The treatments were T1 (100% RDF); T2 (50% N from Residue + 50% RDF); T3 (50% N from Residue + 50% RDF + Pusa Decomposer); T4 (50% N from Residue + 50% N from Green Manure); T5 (50% N from Residue + 50% N from Green Manure + Pusa Decomposer); T6 (Residue @ 2.5 tonnes ac-1 + Pusa Decomposer); T7 (Residue @ 2.5 tonnes ac-1) and T8 (Absolute Control). Bulk density and water holding capacity showed non-significant difference among different treatments under study and similarly, soil pH and EC had no significant impact due to integration of different nutrient sources. However available nutrients in soil had significant effect. Application of fertilizer solely or its integration with CR and/or PD showed a significant increase in available N, P and K, but crop residue incorporation failed to increase available N and P significantly as compared to control treatment whereas, integrated application of GM and CR significantly increased N & P as compared to control. On the other hand available K was significantly increased under residue incorporation i.e., in T6 and T7 compared to absolute control. Active carbon fractions like very labile and labile pools of carbon, Water-soluble organic carbon (WSC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), acid hydrolysable carbohydrate (AHC) and soil respiration decreased with increase in the depth and all of them recorded higher value in the integrated treatments T3 and T5 and lowest value in absolute control (T8). It was observed that application of Pusa decomposer (PD) both in treatment T3 and T5 recorded increase in active carbon pools as compared to the corresponding treatments viz. T2 and T4 respectively only in surface soil (0-5cm). Grain and straw yield and yield attributing characters like number of panicles per hill, number of filled grains per panicle recorded higher values in treatment T1. The treatment T2 and T3 were found to be statistically at par with T1 whereas, absolute control (T8) showed the lowest values which did not differ statistically with treatments T7 and T6 while, GM addition with CR in treatments T4 and T5 recorded significant increase in grain yield and yield attributes as compared to absolute control. The INM treatments did not significantly affect test weight and harvest index of rice. Plant height of rice during flowering stage and harvesting stage was maximum under treatment T1 (100% RDF) followed by T3 and T2. These treatments show significantly higher plant height as compared to organically treated plots and rest of the treatments i.e., T4 to T8 were statistically at par. Days to 50% flowering recorded non-significant difference among different treatments. The enzymatic activities indicated that the microbial activity in soil, recorded higher values on integration of 50% N from Residue with 50% RDF and Pusa Decomposer (T3) and in treatment T5 with 50% N from Residue + 50% N from Green Manure + Pusa Decomposer (T5) which were found to be significantly higher than T2 and T4 respectively. The research findings indicate that the maximum benefits in terms soil quality or productivity was obtained under integration of 50% fertilizer, crop residue with pusa decomposer i.e. T3 which suggest the replacement of 50% fertilizer with crop residue incorporation and pusa decomposer not only increase yield but also improve soil health which is needed for the development of sustainable systems.ThesisItem Open Access INTERACTIVE EFFECT OF ZINC AND CROP RESIDUE ON SOIL BIOLOGICAL HEALTH IN A LONG TERM EXPERIMENT IN CALCAREOUS SOIL(DRPCAU, PUSA, 2022) PRADHAN, BOBBY; Singh, HemlataThe primary key to determining whether a system, like the rice-wheat cropping system is sustainable is through conducting a long-term experiment. Recently, a variety of factors, primarily the burning of crop residues have raised concerns about the sustainability of this system. In addition to that the increasing deficiency of zinc in calcareous soils has led to a decrease in overall crop yields. In this light, a long term field experiment was started under AICRP on “Microsecondary and pollutant elements in plants and soils” in Zn deficient calcareous soil at RPCAU Research Farm, Pusa in a split plot design with main plot divided into four crop residue levels @ 0, 25, 50 and 100% and sub plots into four levels of Zn @ 0, 2.5, 5.0 and 10 kg Zn ha-1 under rice- wheat cropping system. While Zn was applied as a starter dose at the beginning of the experiment and then again after 25 years, crop residue was incorporated following harvest of each crop. The yield of 28th rice crop was recorded and the post-harvest soil samples were used for the evaluation of biological parameters such as soil enzymatic activities (dehydrogenase, phosphatase, urease and glucosidase), soil microbial biomass carbon, soil respiration, chemical parameters such as pH, EC, available nutrients and nutrient uptake in rice grain and straw was also calculated. The activities of all the studied enzymes viz. dehydrogenase , phosphatase, glucosidase and urease were found to be highest with the application of 100% crop residue incorporation and 5 kg Zn ha-1 and was at par with the application of 10 kg Zn ha-1. Soil microbial biomass carbon and soil respiration were highest under 100% crop residue incorporated plots. The total uptake of nutrients viz. N, P, K, Zn by rice crop and post-harvest soil nutrient status were significantly improved with 100% crop residue application. A highly positive correlation between soil enzyme activities, yield and nutrient uptake was also obtained suggesting the positive role of crop residue incorporation in soil. The incorporation of 100% crop residues in combination with 10 kg Zn ha-1 recorded the highest overall rice grain and straw yield followed by 100% incorporation of crop residues with 5 kg Zn ha-1.ThesisItem Open Access SOIL ORGANIC CARBON DYNAMICS UNDER LONG TERM RICE-BASED CROPPING SYSTEM IN CALCIORTHENTS OF BIHAR(DRPCAU, PUSA, 2022) KUMAR, VIKASH; Singh, Santosh KumarThe research was carried out as part of an ongoing field experiment under the AICRP on Micro Secondary and Pollutant Elements in Soil and Plants, which began in Kharif 1985 in light-textured calcareous soil. The experiment was in randomized block design with four fertility levels 0, 50%, 100%, and 150% of the recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) for each crop), and six replications with two cropping systems viz. Rice-Mustard-Moong (R-M-M) and Rice-Wheat-Sorghum (RW- S). The RDF for wheat and rice were 120:60:40; for moong-20:50:30; for Sorghum-60:50:30; and for mustard-60:40:30. After ten cropping cycles, because of substantial micronutrient deficiencies, particularly zinc, in plots receiving 150% of the RDF, out of six replications, 4 replication were superimposed with (10 kg/ha Zinc, 10 kg/ha Zinc + 5 t/ha FYM, 10 t/ha FYM and 10 kg/ha Zinc + 10 t/ha FYM). The superimposed treatments were applied in alternate years. No replication was left for statistical analysis in RBD due to superimposition in four replications. To compare the superimposed treatments, a paired t-test was used. After the 109th rice crop was harvested in 2021, during the 37th crop cycle, the current research was conducted. From the current study, Among superimposed treatment the conjoint application of 10 kg Zn along with 10 t FYM/ha proved the best treatment with respect to soil organic carbon dynamics in both the cropping system. The combined application of 10 kg Zn along with 10 t FYM/ha, it was observed that there were significant changes in soil organic carbon, fractions of soil organic carbon, total organic carbon, soil organic carbon stock, lability index and soil microbial biomass carbon while in subsurface soil no significant effect of different superimposed treatments on soil organic carbon dynamics. The values of different fractions of soil organic carbon such as very labile carbon, labile carbon, non labile carbon and less labile carbon content in treatment receiving with 10kg Zn/ha with 10t FYM superimposed treatment over control was found to be 0.41%, 0.19%, 0.12% and 0.67% in R-W-S crop rotation while in R-MM rotation it was found to be 0.44%, 0.23%, 0.08%, 0.58%. Among different fractions of soil organic carbon, the content of very labile and labile carbon fractions were found more in R-M-M rotation than in R-W-S rotation for each superimposed treatment. However, less labile and non-labile organic carbon fractions were higher in R-W-S rotation. A similar trend was also observed for total organic carbon, soil organic carbon stock and soil microbial biomass carbon. Soil organic carbon, total organic carbon, and microbial biomass carbon the percent increased in superimposed treatment over control was found to be 26.3%, 39% and 32.9% in R-W-S crop rotation while in R-M-M was found to be 30.7%, 38.4%, and 24.5%. Rice grain yield was positively and highly significantly correlated with the soil's very labile carbon, labile carbon, and organic carbon in R-W-S cropping system and in R-M-M cropping system rice yield was was positively and highly significant with very labile carbon, labile carbon, organic carbon and microbial biomass carbon. It was also positively and significantly correlated with less labile, total organic carbon content in both the cropping system. However, the non-labile carbon fraction didn‘t significantly improve rice grain yield in both the cropping system.ThesisItem Open Access Impact of intensive use of nitrogenous fertilizer on nitrate contamination in groundwater, soil and sugarcane quality in Samastipur district of Bihar(DRPCAU, PUSA, 2022) CHATTOPADHYAY, SAYAN; Kumar, AjeetA study was conducted to assess the potential of nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) leaching though soil profile and its contamination in ground water as a function of soil properties and agricultural activities in the sugarcane growing areas of Samastipur district in Bihar where, nitrogenous fertilizers were applied intensively years after years. The effects of heavy nitrogen application on sugarcane quality also estimated. Total 64 soil samples from four different depths (0-30, 30-60, 60-90 and 90-120 cm), 16 sugarcane samples and 24 groundwater samples and 8 surface water samples were collected from 8 selected villages in the study area. The soil samples were analysed for sand, silt, clay, bulk density, pH, EC available nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and nitrate- nitrogen (NO3-N) while sugarcane juice were analysed for brix, sucrose, purity and commercial cane sugar and water samples were analysed for pH, EC, NO3- N load and major cations and anions concentration. Data on predominant cropping systems, fertilizer uses were also recorded for the study area. Nitrate content in soil layers below the root zone indicates significant nitrate leaching through soil profile. The NO3 -N content in soil had significant positive correlation with silt content at all the four depths of soil. Nitrate is also positively correlated with EC (r= 0.519* at 30 cm & 0.520* at 120 cm). It had also positive correlation with OC (r=0.505*) and available nitrogen (r= 0.701**) at 30 cm depth of the soils. The negative correlation of brix (%) with N- application rate in soil was highly significant (r = -0.843**). The correlation coefficient between nitrate and sucrose (r = -0.904**) indicates that sucrose concentration in juice is significantly reduced with increasing N- fertilization rate. Similarly, N- application rate was found to be significantly and negatively correlated with purity (%) and CCS (%) and their correlation coefficient values are found to be -0.821** and -0.912**, respectively. The NO3-N load in groundwater samples were low ranging from 1.14 to 4.69 mg L−1 with only 16.7 % of them contained greater than 4.0 mg L−1 well below the 10 mg L−1, the threshold limit fixed by WHO for drinking purpose. The content increased with increasing rate of nitrogenous fertilizer application. The NO3-N load in ground water also decreased with clay content (r=-0.745*) but increased with increasing nitrate content (r= 0.909**) of soils. Results thus indicated that the groundwater of the study area is presently safe for drinking purpose but some anthropogenic activities associated with intensive cultivation had a positive influence on its loading with NO3-N.ThesisItem Open Access Development of pedotransfer functions to characterize soil physical health under different agricultural management practices(DRPCAU, PUSA, 2022) Singha, Rajib; Rai, Vikas KumarResearch was conducted on development of pedotransfer functions to characterize soil physical health under different agricultural management practices during 2021-22 in the different district of North Bihar viz., Samastipur, Muzaffarpur, Begusarai, and Darbhanga. A set of soil physical parameters were assessed in order to characterize and evaluate the influence of different cropping system and soil type on various soil physical health indicators. Soil samples were taken from 48 locations at 15 cm depth interval upto 60cm during March to April, 2022. Soil moisture content at field capacity (FC) and permanent wilting point (PWP) are important parameters to characterize the availability and transmission of available soil water. Direct measurement of FC, PWP or bulk density in deeper soil profile is labour intensive, time consuming and expensive practices. However, pedotransfer functions (PTFs) can be used to estimate these parameters indirectly with fair level of accuracy. The major limitation of these PTFs are being site specific in nature. PTF developed for a specific region may not applicable to other region with that level of accuracy. There is a dearth of literature regarding its development especially in chosen study area. Therefore, a comprehensive PTF was developed with N=172 datapoints for different dependent and independent variables. In this study, stepwise multiple linear regression (SMLR) and artificial neural network (ANN) methods were used to develop FC PTFs and BD for deep layer of the study area on the Water Holding Capacity (WHC), bulk density, sand, silt, clay, and soil organic carbon (SOC) contents. Characterization of soil physical health indicators has shown that the percentages of sand, silt, and clay varied with depth. The soil texture (USDA) of several districts ranged from clay loam to sandy clay. Among the total number of soil samples, clay loam was found most abundant, followed by sandy clay. Bulk density ranges between 1.25 to 1.45 g/cc across different depths and cropping systems. Soil compaction shows that rice based cropping system has more compactness in the root zone than the orchards. The compaction level in rice-based cropping systems was recorded to be between 2.21- 4.72 MPa, while for stressed ecology and permanent systems it varied between 0.52-4.02 MPa 0.5 - 3.0 MPa upto 60 cm of profile study. The maximum infiltration rate (mm/hr) was obtained for rice-wheat-moong at Ladhura village, and the least infiltration rate (mm/hr) was obtained for rice (CT)-maize at Kalyanpur village. All the raw data of soil physical properties were grouped in to two classes of training (N=100) and testing (N=72) independent variables. While testing these developed PTFs for FC, PWP, BD and WHC using independent data, coefficient of determination (R2) was 0.79,0.72,0.88,0.86 for SMLR and 0.77,0.76,0.82,0.85 for ANN approach respectively. Root mean square error (RMSE) for PTFs developed for FC, PWP, BD and WHC was found to be 0.01, 0.01, 0.05, 0.02 using SMLR and 0.02,0.02,0.08,0.03 using ANN respectively. Evaluation of few tested PTFs available in literature was found to have R2 0.06, for FC and PWP respectively. The PTFs developed in this study may be quite useful to researchers for use in simulation studies and also to farmers for scheduling irrigation water as per soil type.
