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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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Author: CHOUDHARY, SANJU × End date: 2021 × Start date: 2021 × Type: Thesis ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    DEVELOPMENT OF SITE-SPECIFIC NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR FINGER MILLET IN CALCAREOUS SOILS OF BIHAR
    (DRPCAU, PUSA, 2021) CHOUDHARY, SANJU; Pramanick, Biswajit
    A field experiment was conducted during Kharif season 2020, at Crop Research Centre, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Bihar to study the “Development of site-specific nutrient management practices for finger millet in calcareous soils of Bihar”. The soil of experimental plot was sandy loam and alkaline in nature with pH 8.2, low in organic carbon i.e. 0.47% and bulk density was 1.42 g/cc. The objectives were, to find out the optimum rate of N, P and K application for finger millet; to study the effect of different nutrient management practices on growth and yield of the crop and; to work out the economics of the various treatments. The experiment consisted of eight treatments comprising T1 – Control, T2 – N omission, T3 – P Omission, T4 – K omission, T5 – 75% recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), T6 – 100% RDF, T7 – 125% RDF and T8 – 100% recommended dose of P and K + 30 kg/ ha N as basal + green seeker based N application. These treatments were evaluated under randomized complete block design with three replications. The results revealed that Green Seeker based N management (T8) exhibited the highest plant height, dry matter accumulation and crop growth rate. Similarly, the highest values of yield attributing parameters, grain yield, straw yield and harvest index were recorded under application of Green Seeker based N management treatment (T8) which was statistically at par with 125% RDF. Further, control, N – omission, P – omission and K – omission significantly reduced growth, yield attributing parameters, grain yield, straw yield and harvest index compared to T8. The result showed that the highest N contents (%) in finger millet grain and straw were recorded under application 100% recommended P and K + 30 kg/ha N as basal and rest N management as per green seeker reading (T8), however the highest P and K contents in grain and straw of finger millet were found with 125% RDF (T7) and this treatment was found at par with T8. Similarly, higher N uptake by grain and straw of finger millet were estimated with T8 (application of 100% recommended P and K + 30 kg/ha N as basal and rest N management as per green seeker reading) and the highest P uptake by grain was estimated with T8 and at par with T7 and T6 (100% RDF) but the highest P uptake by straw was estimated with T7 (125% RDF) and both the treatments was found at par. In case of K uptake, the highest values of K uptake by grain and straw were estimated with T7 (125% RDF) and this treatment was found at par with T8 (application 100% recommended P and K + 30 kg/ha N as basal and rest N management as per green seeker reading) and T6 (100% RDF). Application of 100% recommended P and K + 30 kg/ha N as basal and rest N management as per green seeker reading proved economically beneficial as it recorded significantly higher gross returns (102065 Rs/ha), net returns (74825 Rs/ha) and B:C ratio (2.75) over rest of the treatments. From this one year study, it can be concluded that the application 100% recommended P and K + 30 kg/ha N as basal and rest N management as per green seeker reading can improve the growth, yield, and economics of finger millet in calcareous soils of Bihar.