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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: Eltahir, Elsaffory B. A. × End date: 2022 × Type: Thesis × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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    ThesisItemOpen 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, Ranjan
    Organic 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.