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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 Study of Osmotic dehydration of Pointed Gourd (Trichosanthesdioica)(Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, 2018) Kumari, Nisha; Sharma, P. D.Fresh, good quality Swarnarekha variety of pointed gourds were procured from the local market of Pusa and washed under running water followed by cutting into discs of size approximately (30 mm diameter and 4 mm thickness). Osmotic dehydration experiments were conducted employing CCR Design for three independent variables with five levels each [Salt Concentration (SC) -5, 10, 15, 20, 25%; Solution Temperature (ST) -30, 35, 40, 45, 50oC; Immersion Time (IT) -30, 60, 90, 120, 150 min.]. A total 20 combinations of these independent variables were formed to see their effect on different dependent variables like Water Loss (WL, %), Solute Gain (SG, %) and Moisture content of osmo-dehydrated product (MC, %). Out of total 20 experiments, the best combination was selected on the basis of optimization by Response Surface Methodology. Second order multiple regression equations were developed for all the dependent variables which were optimized using Response surface methodology. A laboratory model tray dryer was used for drying pointed gourd discs. Three different samples of pointed gourd discs viz. untreated, blanched and osmosed (optimized) were taken for drying experiment at each level of drying air temperature (50, 60 and 70oC). Drying time, drying rate and moisture reduction were calculated later on the basis of observed data. The dehydrated pointed gourd discs were taken for quality evaluation by sensory method, rehydration and proximate composition analysis. Osmotic dehydration treatment facilitated better results with optimum solution of SC-10.27 %, ST- 45oC and IT- 120 minutes with an optimized yield as WL- 43.113%, SG- 8.304% and MC of osmo-dehydrated sample- 74.604 %. Drying of osmosed pointed gourd samples at 60oC drying air temperature provided shortest drying time to produce best quality dried product as compared to blanched and untreated pointed gourd samples. The drying time of osmosed sample was reduced to 480 minutes as compared to 600 and 840 minutes taken by blanched and untreated pointed gourd samples respectively. The above osmotically dehydrated pointed gourd samples showed best rehydration characteristics to yield good quality rehydrated sample which can be preserved and used during off-season.ThesisItem Open Access Effect of Fertigation and Plastic Mulching on Capsicum cultivation under Polyhouse(Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa (Samastipur), 2018) Kumari, Sadhani; Nirala, S. K.The research work entitled “Effect of Fertigation and Plastic Mulching on Capsicum cultivation under Polyhouse” was carried out under eighteen treatments with three level of irrigation, three level of fertigation with plastic mulch and without plastic mulch with three replications. Indra variety of capsicum was selected for experiment. The field layout design was done by using Randomized Block Design (RBD). The monthly crop water requirements was computed for the months of October, November, December, January, February, March and April, it was found as 2.17 cm, 1.8 cm, 1.24 cm, 0.93 cm, 3.36cm, 7.13cm and 9.0cm, respectively. Overall, in terms of the total depth of water requirement of capsicum during the entire crop period was estimated to be 25.63cm. The composite effect of irrigation, fertigation and mulching on vegetative growth, number of branches, yield parameter (number of fruit per plant, fruit weight, yield per plant) and quality of fruit(diameter of fruit, length of fruit) was found to be better in treatment T2(I1F1M1, i.e.,120 % RDF with 100% WR through drip with plastic mulch). The maximum diameter of capsicum fruit was recorded 8.37 cm, length of capsicum fruit11.72 cm, maximum number of fruits per plant 12.5, height fruit weight 168.00 gram, height yield (kg/plant)2.44 kg and height yield 93.74 t/ha in treatment T2. The maximum water use efficiency was found in treatment 62.49 (kg/ha-cm) and fertilizer use efficiency was found 101.67 in treatment T2.The maximum benefit cost ratio was estimated to the tune of 2.99 in treatment T2 followed by 2.21 in treatment T4.ThesisItem Open Access Performance Evaluation of FAO-AquaCrop Model for Maize crop in Eastern Part of Indo-Gangetic Plain(Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa (Samastipur), 2018) Kumar, Vicky; Chandra, Ravishhe present study was undertaken to study the response of different level of irrigation on crop growth, yield, biomass and water use efficiency of Rabi maize under North Bihar condition. A further field investigation was also undertaken to evaluate of FAO-AquaCrop model for Rabi maize under different level of furrow irrigation at experimental field of AICRP on Irrigation Water Management, Dr. RPCAU, Pusa (Samastipur), Bihar. Crop growth, yield, biomass and water use were measured under different treatments. The AquaCrop model was used to simulate Rabi maize yield and biomass under full deficit irrigation and rainfed treatments. Evaluation of AquaCrop model was accomplished using the observed values from field experiment during 4th Nov. 2016 to 13th April 2017 for Rabi maize. The biometric parameters like plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves and canopy spread were significantly superior in treatment T1(control/full irrigation) compared to other deficit irrigation and rainfed treatments. The biometric parameters like plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves and canopy spread for treatment T1(control/full irrigation) was 179.80 cm, 29.90 mm, 12 and 87.70 cm respectively. Rabi maize yield was highest for treatment T1 with a value of 11.12 t/ha, followed by treatment T2 (75% of CI) with a value of 10.98 t/ha and lowest for treatment T4 (Rainfed) with a value of 3.35 t/ha. Biomass was highest for treatment T1 (CI) with a value of 24.92 t/ha, followed by treatment T2 (75% of CI) with a value of 24.65 t/ha and lowest treatment T4 (Rainfed) with the value of 7.931 t/ha. The crop yield and biomass were significantly higher for treatment T1 (control/full irrigation) compared to other treatments. The water use efficiency of Rabi maize yield decreased with increase in irrigation level for all treatments of furrow irrigation. Water use efficiency was highest for treatment T3 with a value of 310 kg/ha-cm followed by treatment T2 with a value of 303 kg/ha-cm. The water use efficiency was significantly higher treatment T3 (50% of CI) compared to other treatments. The adapted values of canopy growth coefficient and canopy decline coefficient were 15.4% day-1 and 9.5% day-1 respectively for Rabi maize. The days of emergence, sowing to flowering, senescence and maturity were 6, 60, 142 and 161 days respectively. The adopted values of water productivity (WP) were obtained as 30.7 g m-2. The harvest index was obtained as 48%. The AquaCrop model evaluated for grain yield and biomass under different irrigation levels resulted in prediction error ranging from 2.25% to 9.59% and 2.44% to 11.84% respectively. The AquaCrop model was evaluated for simulation of grain yield and biomass of Rabi maize for all treatment with the prediction statistics 0.971 < E < 0.988, 0.221 < RMSE < 0.731, 0.987 < R2 < 0.997 and 0.421 < MAE < 0.806 t ha-1. The AquaCrop model predictions for grain yield and biomass of Rabi maize were in line with the observed data corroborated with E and R2 values approaching one. The AquaCrop model was more accurate in predicting the maize yield under full and 75% of CI as compared to the rainfed and 50% of CI.ThesisItem Open Access Planning and Design of Surface Drainage System for Jhilli Chaur (Pusa Farm), Samastipur (Bihar)(Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa (Samastipur), 2018) Kumari, Shuchi; Bhagat, I. B.Waterlogging in chaur area is due to inadequate provision of outlets and continues for more than 2-3 months. Paddy and Sugarcane are the principle crops in the chaur land whose yield get affected by the waterlogging. It also causes delay in land preparation for Rabi crops. Proper planning of the drainage system was done for the Jhilli chaur. For this hydrological analysis of rainfall was done in order to find the maximum rainfall for one day, two days, three days, four days, five days, six days and seven days. The maximum rainfall at seventy percent probability level was found to be 88.35 mm, 111.11 mm, 126.21 mm, 148.41mm, 164.52 mm, 175.757 mm, 189.52 mm for 1 day, 2 days, 3 days, 4 days, 5 days, 6 days and 7 days, respectively for Pusa. Maximum evaporation was found to be 6.25mm/day in the month of May and minimum evaporation was 0.93 mm/day in the month of December. The average pan evaporation (3.66 mm/day) for the month of June, July, August, September and October had been used for calculating the drainage coefficient. - Double ring infiltrometer was used for calculating infiltration rate. The average infiltration rate for 1 day, 2 days, 3 days, 4 days, 5 days, 6 days and 7 days was 0.68, 0.52, 0.41, 0.36, 0.32, 0.29 and 0.28 mm/h. The waterlogged area was divided as upland, medium land and low land according to the elevation obtained from contour map of the area. The contour map was obtained with the help of software Google Earth, TCX Converter, Arc GIS and Global Mapper. The total area of Jhilli chaur was 12 ha. Jhilli chaur was divided into two parts; Jhilli chaur-A and Jhilli chaur -B, having separate outlets. Total area of Jhilli chaur-A under upland, medium land and low land was 1.289, 2.321 and 1.235 ha, respectively while for Jhilli chaur-B it was 1.671, 4.705 and 2.033 ha, respectively. Seven days drainage coefficient of Jhilli chaur- A and Jhilli chaur- B has been found to be 4.63 cm/day and 2.34 cm/day, respectively. Water stagnation could takes place to an extent of 2.39 ha-m and 4.20 ha-m in Jhilli chaur -A and Jhilli chaur- B respectively. One lateral for Jhilli chaur-A and one lateral for Jhilli chaur- B is sufficient to drain excess water from the field. Total volume of earth work was computed as 118.51 m3.ThesisItem Open Access Storage behaviour of Green Gram (Vigna radiata) in Hermetic and other types of Storage Bags.(Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa (Samastipur), 2017) Kumari, Asha; Shrivastava, M.Green gram (Vigna radiate) grains were procured from local market, cleaned and graded by two screen cleaner-cum-grader. Large sized grains were divided in three sub-lots of 70 kg each to prepare experimental lots of three different initial moisture contents (12.32, 14.04, 16.04 % w.b.). Storage study was conducted by storing 10 kg green gram grains in 4 types of bags (jute, plastic, polythene, hermetic) with and without treatment (aluminium phosphide tablets) at 3 different initial moisture contents. Total 21 such bags were kept in laboratory for 33 weeks duration during September, 2016 to April, 2017. Daily observation of ambient temperature and relative humidity was taken throughout the study period. Weekly observations of five dependent quality parameters - water activity, 1000 grain weight, moisture content, germination and grain damage were recorded for 27(jute bags) to 33 weeks (hermetic bags). All standard methods/instruments were used to measure/determine dependent parameters. It was observed that water activity, moisture content, and grain damage goes on increasing with increasing storage duration, while 1000 grain weight and germination decreased with advancement of storage duration across all 21 experimental combinations. The overall variation range for water activity was 0.551 - 0.989, for 1000 grain weight was 49.04 - 33.20 g, for moisture content was 12.32 – 25.67 % w.b., for germination was 81.7 to 1.3 %, and for grain damage was 2.33 to 78.67 %. Variation was more in case of untreated samples as compared to treated samples. Hermetic bags stored green gram was found better in all quality parameters even after 33 weeks of storage duration. On the contrary, green gram stored in jute bags got damaged with heavy infestation of pulse beetle in 27 weeks of storage duration. Statistical analysis through UNIANOVA revealed that initial moisture content emerged as most significant independent variable to affect 1000 grain weight, moisture content, germination and grain damage with exception of water activity which was affected by treatment the most. The interaction of bags*imc affected 1000 grain weight, germination and grain damage, while the interaction of bags*trt and trt*imc affected water activity and moisture content respectively. Hence the hermetic bag could be recommended safely for storing green gram for longer duration without affecting its quality.ThesisItem Open Access Design, Development and Evaluation of Continuous type Ohmic Heating Unit for Liquid Foods(Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa (Samastipur), 2016) Kumar, Chandan; Kumar, VishalThe concept of ohmic heating obeys Ohm’s law (V = IR). The passage of electric current through an electrically conductive food material results in heat generation due to the electrical resistance of the foods on basis of joule’s law [H= I2Rt = .A continuous type ohmic heating unit was designed for volumetric/processing capacity of 10±5 l/s and which can be able to elevate the temperature up to 25±5 0C. Concentric tubes (2 Nos) with inner tube diameter 5 cm; outer pipe 7.5 cm and length 1.25 m was selected based on preliminary trials (Joule’s law and Ohms law) for considering various piping combinations to get the desired capacity and elevated temperature. The selected pipe sizing provided a 1.25 cm gap between the pipes for the liquid flow. The thickness of the two stainless steel pipes were calculated using Lame’s stress analysis and it was found that pipe thickness of 1.15 mm is sufficient against the pressure exerted by liquid food. The velocity head loss was determined using Darcy-Weisbach equation and Bernoulli’s law. The support frame was designed considering the various loads at the different section in the frame, shear force acting and the bending moments. All the sections of the frame including the legs were fabricated using angle iron plates 37.5 mm width and 2.25 mm thickness. The designed and fabricated ohmic heating section was tested for its performance in batch mode and continuous mode at different potential difference (25, 30 and 35 V). The experiments were done in triplicate. The unit was tested for three liquid foods i.e. sugarcane juices, milk and watermelon juice at a voltages 25, 30 and 35 V and temperature increase was measured at every three minute interval at 3, 6 and 9 minutes using the thermocouples. The ohmic heating was evaluated for its performance in continuous mode on sugarcane juice, milk and watermelon juice at frequency (A) of alternating current at 40, 45 and 60 Hz; applied voltage (B) at 25, 30 and 35 Volts and volumetric flows rate (C) at 12, 18 and 24 l/h. Experiments were performed for each liquid food as per the experimental combination of Behnken design. All the observed data from 17 combinations of Box Behnken design were used to calculate the effect of different dependent parameters for ohmic heating of liquid foods by developing multiple regression polynomial equations.. For ohmic heating of sugarcane juice in continuous mode, the optimized process conditions emerged out as frequency (A) – 45 Hz, applied voltage (B) – 31.1 V and flow rate (C) – 12 l/h in order to obtain optimized yield as temperature (T) – 19.840C; and system performance coefficient (SPC)-67.12 % with desirability of 0.699. For ohmic heating of milk juice in continuous mode, the optimized process conditions emerged out frequency (A) – 38.75 Hz, applied voltage (B) – 30 V and flow rate (C) – 24 l/h in order to obtain optimized yield as temperature (T) – 25.160C; ; and system performance coefficient (SPC)-89.16 % with desirability of 0.967. For ohmic heating of watermelon juice in continuous mode, the optimized process conditions emerged out as frequency (A) – 42 hertz, applied voltage (B) – 30 V and flow rate (C) –24 l/h in order to obtain optimized yield as temperature (T) – 31.540C; ; and system performance coefficient (SPC)- 76.84 % with desirability of 0.825.ThesisItem Open Access Estimation of groundwater recharge by water budget method in conjuction with water table fluctuation method.(Rajendra Agriculrural University, Pusa (Samastipur), 2015) Kumar, Avinash; Jain, S. K.Estimation of groundwater is an effective tool for proper planned and optimal utilization of water resources in the context of future requirement. Our main purpose for the estimation of groundwater in Patna and Gaya district is to make a complete assessment of groundwater resources and produce information that can be incorporated for future requirement. The study was undertaken based on the recommendation of groundwater estimation committee, 1997 (GEC-97). Methodology used the estimation of annual groundwater recharge from rainfall and other sources including irrigation, water bodies and artificial recharge, determination of present status of groundwater utilization and categorization of assessment units based on the level of groundwater utilization and long- term water level trend. Water level fluctuation techniques and empirical norms were used for recharge estimation. The data collected for investigation were water table fluctuation, rainfall, cropping pattern, number of groundwater structures, geographical area, groundwater draft, ponds area etc. The study reveals that for Patna and Gaya district the total annual groundwater recharge is 123796.4 ha-m and 107866 ha-m, the net annual groundwater draft for all uses is 57933.2 ha-m and 54390.6 ha-m, the net groundwater available for future irrigation development is 59673.2 ha-m and 48082.1 ha-m respectively. The stage of groundwater development is 49.3% for Patna district and 53%for Gaya district which fall in safe categories for both districts. The surplus of groundwater available for future agriculture is 12583.7 ha-m and 7173 ha-m and the additional energy requirement for abstraction of surplus of groundwater available for future agriculture is 4.80 × 106 KWh and 1.55 × 106 KWh for Patna and Gaya district respectively.ThesisItem Open Access Evaluation of SCS Curve Number Models(Rajendra Agriculrural University, Pusa (Samastipur), 2014) Azad, Amarnath; Sahu, R. K.The importance of modelling of event-based rainfall-runoff process is well known among the hydrologists. One of the popular method to estimate the volume of direct surface runoff for a given rainfall event is the Soil Conservation Service Curve number (SCS-CN) method. However, the past research endeavors suggested a need for further improvement, overhauling or replacement of the method. Therefore, many modifications of the method were presented in the recent past. Very recently, an improved version of SCS-CN model called as SME model was reported incorporating hydrological more sound procedure for accounting antecedent moisture in the MS model which is an important modified version of the SCS-CN model. The present study evaluates the performances of the SME model, the MS model and the original SCS-CN model for the rainfall-runoff datasets of the selected four watersheds of Jharkhand (India). The model parameters were estimated by using the non-linear Marquardt algorithm of constrained least squares. The sensitivity analysis of the SCS-CN models for assessment of sensitivity of various parameters of the models was conducted by using method of perturbation. All the three models are evaluated on the basis of standard error (SE), root mean square error (RMSE), and normalized root mean square error (NRMSE). The lower is the SE or RMSE or NRMSE, the better is the model performance, and vice-versa. The results of the application of the models to the selected watersheds indicated that for MS model and SME model, the optimum value of λ in all the four watersheds is zero. The optimum values of S for MS model for Adda-1, Chitankhari, Indra and Karimati watersheds are found to be 266.78, 256.61, 194.47 and 233.72 mm respectively while the optimum values of S0 for SME model are found to be 194.39, 329.60, 214.51 and 259.90 mm respectively. The original SCS-CN model is found to be very much sensitive to model parameter CN and hence utmost care is needed to determine the CN. The MS model is more sensitive to the parameter CN (or S) than the parameter λ. The SME model is most sensitive to the parameter CN (corresponding to S0) followed by β while it is least sensitive to the parameter λ. Further, the MS and the SME models are less sensitive to CN as compared to original SCS-CN model. The MS model and the SME model perform equally well and much better than the original SCS-CN model (with λ=0.2 or 0.3). Moreover, the MS model and the SME model show consistent performance compared to the original SCS-CN model. As the SME model has theoretically many advantages over the MS model and the duo perform equally well, the SME model is suggested for the practical applications.ThesisItem Open Access Comparative study of drip and surface irrigation methods on potato (Solanum tuberosum) crop.(Rajendra Agricultural University, Pusa (Samastipur), 2014) Hussain, Mairaj; Gupta, S. P.An investigation was carried out to evaluate the comparative study of drip and surface irrigation methods on potato (solenum tuberosum) crop. The field experiment was conducted for potato crop var. Kufari Ashoka during Rabi season of 2012-13 at the research form of water management plot of south pangabri upland adjoining to Rajendra Agricultural University, Pusa Farm. The experiment was designed as per Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications. The irrigation treatments consist of drip irrigation at operating pressure of 0.4 kg/cm2 (I1), 0.6 kg/cm2 (I2), 0.8 kg/cm2 (I3), 1.0 kg/cm2 (I4), 1.2 kg/cm2 (I5) and furrow irrigation (I6). The water applied during the season was maximum (180 mm) in I6, while the minimum water used in I1. The maximum water use efficiency (329.12 kg/ha-mm) was recorded in treatment I5. Whereas, the minimum value (118.76 kg/ha-mm) was observed under I6 treatment. The percent saving of water over furrow irrigation was maximum (47.29%) in treatment I5. The maximum emission uniformity (90.8%) was found in treatment I5 with coefficient of manufacturing variation (0.09). while minimum (80.88%) emission uniformity was found in treatment I1 with coefficient of manufacturing variation 0.12. All the growth parameters like plant height, no. Of leaves, and leaf area index were significantly influenced by irrigation treatments. The treatment I5 (1.2 kg/cm2) was found significantly superior to I1, I2, I3 and I6 But statistically at par with I4. Yield of tuber was found maximum (312.22 q/ha) in treatment I5. Yield attributes like no of tuber per plant, size of tuber per plant, fresh tuber weight per plant were significantly influenced by treatment and the maximum value was obtained in treatment I5. Gross return and net return were significantly higher in treatment I5 and also benefit: cost ratio was maximum (2.88) in treatment I5. On the basis of analysis of the data, it can be concluded that the potato crop irrigated with drip irrigation with 1.2 kg/cm2 operating pressure system given highest value of net return. So it would be more beneficial in comparison to surface irrigation method.