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Dr. Y. S. Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry, Solan
Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, was established on 1st December, 1985 with the objective to promote education, research and extension education in the fields of Horticulture, Forestry and allied disciplines. Late Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar, the first Chief Minister and the architect of Himachal Pradesh perceived the importance of Horticulture and Forestry to develop and improve the State economy which led to the establishment of this University. Its history lies in erstwhile Himachal Agricultural College, Solan, established in 1962 and affiliated to the Panjab University. It became one of the campuses of Agriculture Complex of Himachal Pradesh University on its formation in 1970. Consequent upon the establishment of Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya in 1978, this campus became its Horticulture Complex and finally in 1985, assumed the status of a State University, being the only University in the country engaged exclusively in teaching, research and extension in Horticulture and Forestry.
The University is located at Nauni in Solan District of Himachal Pradesh, 13 km from Solan on Solan-Rajgarh Road, at an elevation of 1300 metres above mean sea level. Solan town is situated on national highway (NH-22) and is well connected by train and bus services.
The University has four constituent colleges, out of which, two are located at the main campus Nauni, one for horticulture and the other for forestry, having 9 and 7 departments, respectively. The third College i.e., College of Horticulture & Forestry is located at Neri in Hamirpur District on Nadaun-Hamirpur state highway, about 6 Km from Hamirpur town and is well connected with bus service. The college offers three Undergraduate Degree Programmes i.e. BSc (Hons.) Horticulture, BSc (Hons.) Forestry and B. Tech. Biotechnology and MSc degree programme in a few subjects. The fourth college i.e. College of Horticulture and Forestry, Thunag (Mandi) is located at Thunag District Mandi. This college offer BSc (Hons.) Horticulture and BSc (Hons.) Forestry degree programme. In addition, there are five Regional Research Stations, 12 Satellite Stations and five Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) situated in different zones of the State.
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ThesisItem Open Access IMPACT OF WEATHER AND ORCHARD MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON APPLE PRODUCTIVITY AND SOIL HEALTH IN KULLU DISTRICT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH(UHF,NAUNI, 2017-12) SHARMA, PRIYANKA; MOHINDER, SINGHABSTRACT The present investigation entitled “Impact of weather and orchard management practices on apple productivity and soil health in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh” was conducted during the years 2015 and 2016 at four altitudinal gradients/locations, viz. Bajaura (1090m amsl), Seobagh (1189m amsl), Naggar (1880m amsl) and Arsu (2080 m amsl), on three commercial apple varieties viz. Red Delicious, Royal Delicious and Golden Delicious. The different phenological stages (Silver tip, Green tip, Pink bud, Full bloom and Petal fall) in apple were observed at earliest at Bajaura, where the apple crop experienced higher average temperature compared to other locations. Minimum number of days for silver tip stage (54.22 days with 349.22 GDD), green tip stage (71.67 days with 484.00 GDD), pink bud stage (86.94 days with 662.54 GDD), full bloom stage (93.89 days with 749.67 GDD) and for petal fall stage (99.00 days with 807.48 GDD) were observed at Bajaura, followed by Seobagh, Naggar and Arsu. Among different cultivars, Red Delicious cultivar took minimum number of days for silver tip stage (56.58 days and 264.93 GDD), green tip stage (74.92 days with 387.44 GDD), pink bud stage (89.00 days with 526.85 GDD), full bloom stage (95.71 days with 598.33 GDD) and for petal fall stage (101.58 days with 662.14 GDD), followed by Royal Delicious and Golden Delicious. The studies on long term impact of weather parameters on apple productivity revealed that the minimum temperature during dormancy stage (Jan- March) exhibited positive and significant correlation with productivity of apple. Whereas, maximum temperature during April- June (flowering, fruit set and fruit development stage) showed negative and significant impact on apple productivity. The studies on effect of management practices and orchard aspect on soil health at different locations revealed maximum soil pH (6.77) and OC (2.92 %) in low input orchards when compared with high input orchards. Among different locations highest soil pH and EC were found in Arsu, followed by Naggar, Seobagh and Bajaura. High input orchards showed higher values of soil macronutrients, N (330.4 kg/ha), P (36.64 kg/ha) and K (287.4 kg/ha) than low input orchards. Soil micronutrients Fe, Zn and Cu were also found higher in high input orchards. In low input orchards, soil microbial count and biomass were recorded higher than high input orchards. The orchards in south west aspect recorded higher N (309.7 kg/ha) and Mn (27.60 mg/kg) as compared to orchards in north east aspect. Whereas, other soil parameters were found higher in north east than south west aspect.ThesisItem Open Access IMPACT OF WEATHER PARAMETERS ON SEED PRODUCTION OF CAULIFLOWER (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis L.) IN MID HILLS OF HIMACHAL PRADESH(UHF,NAUNI, 2017-11) SHARMA, PRIYANKA; MOHINDER, SINGHABSTRACT The present study entitled “Impact of weather parameters on seed production of cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis L.) in mid hills of Himachal Pradesh” was conducted at three locations viz; Nauni, Saproon and Kandaghat during rabi season of 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh. The location Nauni was warmest, followed by Kandaghat and Saproon. Significant variations in seed yield and yield contributing characters of cauliflower were observed due to execution of different weather conditions. The minimum number of days to flower initiation, 50 per cent flowering, initiation of seed stalk and seed set in cauliflower were observed at Nauni, followed by Kandaghat and Saproon. Number of pods per plant and number of seeds per pod were found highest at Saproon (1055.2pods/plant; 18.4seeds/pod) which is coolest location as compared to other two. The maximum seed yield (239.6 kg/ha) was obtained from this location. Nauni and Kandaghat showed reduced cauliflower seed yield compared to that obtained from Saproon. The lowest seed yield (174.0 kg/ha) was recorded at Nauni. The forenoon humidity during October to December exhibited significant and positive correlation with seed yield. During January to March minimum temperature showed significant and positive correlation with seed yield, whereas during April to June maximum temperature showed significant and positive impact on cauliflower seed production. Four classes of pollinators; honey bees, syrphid flies, other wild bees and other insect pollinators (butterflies, moths and beetles etc.) were recorded on cauliflower seed crop in three study locations. Weather parameters mainly minimum temperature and forenoon humidity influenced the foraging activity of different pollinators. Among different pollinators honey bees were most frequent visitors. The pollinator abundance was highest at Saproon followed by Kandaghat and Nauni. The cabbage aphid, cabbage caterpillar and painted bug were recorded important insect pests on cauliflower seed crop. Highest pest infestation was recorded at Nauni, followed by Kandaghat and lowest at Saproon.ThesisItem Open Access EVALUATION OF ECOSYSTEM RESPONSES TO LAND USE CHANGES IN MID HILLS OF HIMACHAL PRADESH(UHF,NAUNI, 2017) VAIDYA, PRATIMA; BHARDWAJ, S.K.ABSTRACT The present investigation entitled “Evaluation of Ecosystem Responses to Land Use Changes in Mid Hills of Himachal Pradesh” was conducted during the years 2015 and 2016 in the Department of Environmental Science, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh. The study aimed to identify the land use changes and their impact on ecosystem services such as soil, water quality, soil carbon sequestration and cultural services in mid hills of Himachal Pradesh. The study further investigated the impact of land use changes on the socio-economic status of people and their vulnerability to land use and climate change in the region. The land use changes were determined by using past thirty year primary, secondary and spatial data sets. The climate change study was conducted by taking weather data of past thirty years and was compared with 1985-95, which was taken as base decade. In order to study the impact of land use changes on ecosystem services five dominant land uses namely traditional agriculture, vegetable, orchard, urban and forest were selected in mid hills falling in Kullu and Solan district of Himachal Pradesh. In total there were five treatments, which were replicated four times under randomized block design. To assess the socio-economic impact and vulnerability to land use changes and climate change, 200 household were selected and time series data on their livelihood assets and different vulnerability indicators were collected using semi structured questionnaire. Household level vulnerability was calculated by Principal Component Analysis technique. The study revealed that area under traditional agriculture and forest were decreased by 11.04% and 12.27%, whereas vegetable, orchard and urban land use increased by 400.03%, 103.02% and 105.92%, respectively in mid hills. Increased returns from cash crops and climate change emerged as the main drivers for such changes. The region has experienced a rise of 0.05 and 1.11°C in mean minimum and mean maximum temperature and a decline of 126.47 mm in annual rainfall from over the base decade (1985-1995). Land use changes have ameliorated the socio-economic status by improving the household, farm and social assets of people of the region. Commercial vegetable and orchard land uses exhibited rise in soil bulk density and decline in pH, organic carbon and microbial biomass carbon of surface and subsurface soils as compare to forest. These commercial farming systems have enhanced the available phosphorus and micronutrient availability in soil but side by side also elevated the soil heavy metal content. Heavy metals such as As was within permissible limit; however the concentration of Cd, Cr and Pb was slightly above the permissible limit in surface soils. SQI in the region followed the trend: Forest (0.78) > traditional agriculture (0.64) > vegetable (0.60) > orchard (0.60) > urban (0.59). The dominant land uses such as vegetable, orchard and urban have started influencing the soil quality of the region as indicated by low SQI values of these systems as compare to forest. Surface soil carbon density ranged from 30.48 to 39.13 Mg C ha-1. Total soil carbon stock was in the range of 644.25 to 17940.68 Gg and was highest in forest land use. Surface and ground water EC ranged from 0.21 to 0.38 and 0.20 to 0.42 dSm-1. BOD and COD of surface water ranged from 1.17 to 19.49 and 18.75 to 98.00 mg l-1 and ground water was in the range of 1.52 to 16.03 and 18.75 to 98.00 mg l-1 respectively. Chloride, nitrate and sulfate in surface water ranged from 13.07-29.79, 0.83-2.22, 21.08 -58.62 mg l-1. Fe, Pb, Cd, Zn in surface water ranged from 0.01-0.08, 0.02-0.32, 0.00-0.03 and 0.01-0.38 mg l-1 and in ground water ranged from 0.02-0.47, 0.04-0.39, 0.001-0.04, 0.001- 0.09 and 0.01-0.38 mg l-1. Fe in urban, Pb and Cd in vegetable, orchard and urban and Cr in urban and vegetable land use slightly exceeded the limits prescribed by BIS. Land use changes such as urbanization due to hotel sector growth has positively influenced tourism. Land use changes in the region have ameliorated the cultural service but also deteriorated the valuable provisioning, regulative services provided by these ecosystems. Therefore in order to maintain sustainability in the region eco friendly practices and technologies need to be adopted in the urban land use, whereas in case of commercial vegetable and orchard faming systems the chemical inputs should be used judiciously.ThesisItem Open Access VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT OF MAJOR FRUIT CROPS TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN HIMACHAL PRADESH(UHF,NAUNI, 2017) RANA, ADITYA; BHARDWAJ, S.K.ABSTRACT The present investigation entitled “Vulnerability assessment of major fruit crops to climate change in Himachal Pradesh” was conducted during the year 2015 and 2016 by taking major fruit crops viz., apple, stone fruits (apricot, peach, plum) and mango in Himachal Pradesh. The investigation was carried out at different altitudinal gradients in fruit growing pockets viz., Kullu (Zone II), Shimla (Zone III), Solan (Zone II), Kangra (Zone II) and Hamirpur (Zone I) of the state. The study was conducted to work out the relationship of weather parameters with phenological stages of major fruit crops and assessment of their vulnerability to climate change under selected altitudinal gradients. The observations of phenophasic developmental stages were compared and correlated with respect to change in weather between altitudinal gradients and growing seasons. For determining the vulnerability of fruit crops to climate change, data on various indicators such as exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity was collected from primary as well as secondary sources and quantitative assessment was done by constructing vulnerability index. The trends of effective chill units for apple, stone fruits using UTAH model and growing degree days for mango crop were also worked out. Adaptation strategies being followed by the farmers to combat climate change in major fruit growing areas were compiled. Delineation of suitable production areas for apple, stone fruits and mango in the state was done using the relevant variables of soil, climate, land use/land cover and topographic factors in ArcGIS software. All phenological stages have been noticed be affected by increase in average air temperature and GDD for the phenophasic duration. Warming in the spring season by 2-4ºC at 100-1200 m caused an advancement of the phenophases by 7-13 days in apple crop, 2-4 days in stone fruit crops at 1200-1400 m and 5-8 days in mango crop at 400-600 m amsl compared to higher altitude. In apple growing regions, effective chill units have decreased to the tune of 215.48 to 312.48 chill units over last thirty one years. In stone fruit crops a meagre decrease of 28.39 chill units was observed. However, there was an increase in accumulated GDD (37.05-167.59) for mango crop. The average maximum and minimum temperature showed an increase since last thirty years at all major fruit growing areas, whereas, annual rainfall revealed an erratic trend. Therefore, the areas falling in the altitudinal gradient ranging from 1000-1200 m amsl in Kullu were most vulnerable for apple production due to climate change while 1600-1800 m amsl of Shimla with lowest vulnerability index score of 0.35 and was least vulnerable. The fruit growing areas at 1000-1200 m amsl of Solan district obtained highest score (0.56) and were most vulnerable for stone fruit crops production while those at 1400-1600 m amsl were least vulnerable amongst the selected altitudes. For the mango crop, altitude 1000-1200 m was found highly vulnerable while 400-600 m amsl was least vulnerable. To cope up with climatic changes farmers have adopted various adaptation and mitigation strategies such as improved water conservation techniques, varietal shifts and crop diversification with other fruits like kiwi, pomegranate and vegetables in the region. The suitability for apple fruit crop has largely changed from earlier moderately suitable to now marginal. Interestingly, stone fruits and mango crop were least affected by changing climatic conditions in the state.ThesisItem Open Access STUDIES ON AIR POLLUTION IMPACT ON PLANTS OF URBAN AREAS OF SOLAN DISTRICT IN HIMACHAL PRADESH(UHF,NAUNI, 2017) RANA, ANCHAL; BHARDWAJ, S.K.ABSTRACT The present investigation entitled “Studies on Air Pollution Impact on plants of Urban areas of Solan district of Himachal Pradesh” was conducted during the year 2015 and 2016 by considering five urban areas viz., Solan, Arki, Parwanoo, Nalagarh and Baddi of Solan district. In each urban area, four sites namely, forest, residential, commercial and traffic were considered for investigation. To study the effect of seasons on distribution of pollutants in ambient air of each selected location and its influence on urban plantation pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons were taken. In order to study the effect of ambient air pollution on urban plantation the vegetation distribution at each urban area was assessed and four commonly occurring plants were selected and their morphological characteristics were studied. The dust accumulation pattern in leaves of the selected plants was studied and their dust load was also assessed for heavy metal status and further its effect on physiological, biochemical and anatomical characteristics was also evaluated. Air pollution tolerance index was calculated on the basis of four biochemical parameters viz., total leaf chlorophyll, leaf extract pH, ascorbic acid and relative water content. The anatomical characters of leaves viz. stomatal index and density were also recorded. The anticipated performance index was assessed by combining the resultant APTI values with relevant biological and socio-economic characters. The concentration of PM10, TSPM, NO 2, SO 2 and VOC in urban areas of district was in the range of 79.94-116.31, 285.45-325.71, 20.94-35.33, 4.28-6.67 and 3.62-5.80 µg m -3 , respectively. Urban areas wise ambient air quality parameters namely PM10 , TSPM, NO2, SO2 and VOC followed a trend of Baddi> Nalagarh >Parwanoo>Solan>Arki. Among all the five urban areas Baddi registered highest PM10 mass of 116.31µg m -3 which was above the prescribed limit, however all other parameters were within the permissible limit in spite of treatment differences. Site-wise distribution of PM10, TSPM, SO 2 and VOC was in order of commercial > traffic > residential >forest. However, NO2 distribution in ambient air was highest (37.71 µg m -3 ) in traffic site followed by commercial (35.20 µg m -3 ), residential (24.48 µg m -3 ) and forest (16.53 µg m -3 ). The traffic and commercial activities in all the urban areas of Solan district has enhanced PM10 levels above prescribed permissible limits. The AQI of urban areas of Solan district was found to vary between “moderately polluted” to “polluted”. Urban areas like Arki (57.82), Solan (65.95) and Parwanoo (69.61) fall in moderately polluted category. However, Nalagarh (76.82) and Baddi (90.45) under polluted category. The foliage of urban plantation contained dust load to the range of 1.01-4.21 mg m -2 . The dust accumulation in leaves of selected plants was in order of Mangifera indica> Ficus reliogiosa> Dalbergia sissoo> Toona ciliata>Ficus palmata> Syzygium cumini> Grewia optiva> Populus deltoides> Melia azedarach. Plants grown at traffic area accumulated higher dust on their leaves as compared to control (forest). The leaves of selected plants registered highest dust load during pre-monsoon season. The concentration of heavy metals viz. Cd, Cr, Pb, Zn and Fe in the leaf dust was in the range of 0.11 to 0.55, 0.58 to 2.63, 0.90 to 5.90, 4.28 to 20.66 and 4.72 to 12.69 mg g -1 , respectively. The heavy metal like Cd and Fe content in dust of leaves of selected plants of all the urban areas were above the prescribed permissible limit. The leaf dust load noticed to reduce stomatal index and density. The biochemical characteristics like total chlorophyll, leaf extract pH, ascorbic acid and relative water content in leaves of selected plants was in range of 0.61-1.78 mg g -1, 4.20-6.67, 2.77-6.60 mg g -1 and 55.88-83.54%, respectively. Site wise distribution of total leaf chlorophyll and leaf extract pH in urban plantation was in order of forest>residential >commercial > traffic. However, ascorbic acid and relative water content was in order of traffic> commercial > residential >forest. The APTI of selected plants of urban areas ranged from 7.91–12.47. The API of selected plants was in order of Mangifera indica>Syzygium cumini>Toona ciliata> Ficus reliogiosa>Dalbergia sissoo>Grewia optiva>Populus deltoides>Ficus palmata>Melia azedarach. The plants like Mangifera indica, Toona ciliata, Syzygium cumini, Ficus reliogiosa, Dalbergia sissoo and Grewia optiva emerged to be the best tolerant species with high APTI and API for urban plantation. The tolerant plants like Mangifera indica, Toona ciliata and Syzygium cumini indicated their wide adaptability and therefore can be suggested for urban plantations and as green belt establishment in Solan district.ThesisItem Open Access Environmental impact assessment of industrialization in Paonta Sahib – Dhaula Kuan – Kala Amb industrial hub of Himachal Pradesh(YSPU, 2016) Kashyap, Rachit Raghava; Verma, K.S.Environmental impact assessment of industrialization in Paonta Sahib - Dhaula Kuan - Kala Amb industrial hub of Himachal Pradesh was conducted during the year 2014-15. The objectives of study were to inventorization and characterization of major pollutant industries; estimation of greenhouse gases from different industrial sources; study the physicochemical properties of industrial effluents, soils, water resources and efficiency of field crops to bioaccumulate the heavy metals from soil. In order to prepare greenhouse gas inventory, the methodology given in the revised 1996 IPCC guidelines and 2006 IPCC guidelines for National greenhouse gas inventory was used. 62 industrial units were selected by using simple random sampling and enlisted under the broad emission categories viz. mineral, metal and other industries. On the basis of pollution potential categorization industries were sub-divided into red (highly polluting), orange (moderately polluting) and green (non-polluting). These two sub-categories had ten (10) industries in total out of which five (5) produce cement and five (5) was in glass production. Metal industries included three sub-categories viz. iron and steel, ferroalloy and aluminium. A total of nineteen (19) industries were covered under this category, out of which nine (9) were iron and steel producing, seven (7) were in ferroalloy production and three (3) aluminium producing. All metal industries were in red list, however three (3) were large and four (4) were medium scale industries. Twelve (12) remaining metal industries were small scale industries. Among other industries all pulp and paper were red, (13) food industries were in orange and rest was in green category. GHGs viz. CO 2 (749.298 Gg), CH 4 (0.024 Gg), N 2 O (0.067 Gg), CO (1.344 Gg), NMVOC’s (2.810 Gg) emitted from Paonta Sahib-Dhaula Kuan-Kala Amb industrial hub region annually. In terms of CO 2 eq. metal industry released (751.734 Gg CO 2 eq.) the highest amount followed by other industries (528.140 Gg CO 2 eq.) and mineral industry (44.078 Gg CO 2 eq.). Values of different parameters of pulp and paper industrial effluents were high in pre-monsoon as compare to postmonsoon season. Principal component analysis (PC) outcome of three and two factors revealed natural and anthropogenic activities as contributing factors for metal profusion in the rivers. Based on pollution index, Cr, As and Zn were seriously (24.74), moderately (0.616) and slightly (0.380) polluting metals, respectively in Yamuna river. Parameters like Zn, As and NO 3 were slightly polluting, while COD (moderately), BOD (strongly) and Cr (seriously) polluting, respectively in Markanda river. Ground water quality was overall good and heavy metals accumulated in leaf samples of wheat and maize were below permissible limits. Therefore, in industrial towns continuous monitoring of soil, water and crops are needed to maintain environmental quality on sustainable basis. Data obtained in this study can be used as a baseline and reference point when assessing further changes around industrial hub of Sirmour district of Himachal Pradesh.ThesisItem Open Access ASSESSMENT OF AIR POLLUTION TOLERANCE INDEX OF PLANTS GROWING ALONGSIDE MARKANDA TO PAONTA SAHIB NATIONAL HIGHWAY (NH-7) IN HIMACHAL PRADESH(2016) PANDIT, JYOTSANA; SOOD, ANILABSTRACT The present investigations entitled “Assessment of air pollution tolerance index of plants growing alongside Markanda to Paonta Sahib National Highway(NH-7) in Himachal Pradesh” were conducted during 2015-2016 in the Department of Environmental Science, Dr. Y.S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Himachal Pradesh. These studies were aimed at understanding the seasonal variation in biochemical parameters and determining the indices of Air Pollution Tolerance and Anticipated Performance along with dust accumulation capacity of plants growing alongside Markanda to Paonta Sahib National Highway (NH-7). In the selected stretch of the Highway vegetation distribution was studied by quadrat method. The commonly occurring four plants species namely, Ficus roxburghii, Mallotus philippensis, Shorea robusta and Woodfordia fruticosa were selected for the study. In order to study the impact of vehicular activities on the plants, the horizontal distances of 010 m and 10-20 m were selected and two seasons viz. post-monsoon (October-November) and pre-monsoon (April and May) were considered. In total, there were 16 treatment combinations which were replicated four times under RBD (Factorial). The dust accumulation of the selected plant species ranged from 1.28 -71.06 mg m-2. Order of selected plant species according to dust accumulation was F. roxburghii (38.30mg m-2) > S. robusta (26.94 mg m-2) > M. philippensis (22.31 mg m-2) > W. fruticosa (16.70mg m-2). Dust accumulation was higher in pre monsoon (30.70 mg g-2) and lower in post monsoon season (21.42 mg g-2). Plants growing at a distance of 0-10 m from the Highway accumulated higher dust as compared to those at a distance of 10-20 m. The ascorbic acid content of selected plant species varied from 0.96- 2.67 mg g-1. The chlorophyll content in the leaves of selected plant species ranged from 0.82-1.82 mg g-1. The leaf extract pH of plants varied from 5.17-6.68. The relative water content of the selected plant species ranged from 78.77-90.64%. The APTI was calculated on the basis of four biochemical parameters like ascorbic acid content, total chlorophyll content, leaf extract pH and relative water content. By combining resultant APTI with some relevant biological and socio economic characters Anticipated Performance Index (API) was calculated for the selected plant species. The order of tolerance of selected plant species was S. robusta (10.28) > F. roxburghii (9.51) > W. fruticosa (8.92) > M. philippensis (8.91). The highest APTI was observed in the post monsoon season (9.76) followed by pre monsoon season (9.05). The selected plant species growing at a horizontal distance of 0-10 m from National Highway were observed to have higher values (9.70) as compared to those at a distance of 10-20 m (9.11). The relatively higher APTI value of S. robusta as compared to other species indicated its tolerance to pollution along the Highway. The assessment of the API with respect to the selected plant species was observed to fall in the range of not recommended categoryto the bestone. S. robusta with higher APTI and API has been identified as suitable plant for plantation along the Markanda to Paonta Sahib National Highwayto filter theair pollution and reduce its impact on human health.ThesisItem Open Access EVALUATION OF AIR POLLUTION TOLERANCE AND CARBON STORAGE POTENTIAL OF PLANTS GROWING ALONGSIDE THENATIONAL HIGHWAY 21(2016) KAPOOR, TANVI; BHARDWAJ, S.K.ABSTRACT The present investigation entitled “Evaluation of air pollution tolerance and carbon storage potential of plants growing alongside the National Highway 21” was conducted during the years 2014 and 2015 in the Department of Environmental Science, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh. The study aimed at determining the air pollution tolerance index, along with dust accumulation capacity of selected plants and the estimation of heavy metal load of dust. The morphological and anatomical characters of leaves viz. leaf area, orientation, stomatal density and index were also recorded. The APTI was calculated on the basis of biochemical parameters like total chlorophyll, leaf extract pH , ascorbic acid and relative water content. The anticipated performance index as well as carbon storage potential of the selected plants was also determined. The study was conducted on a uniform stretch on National Highway 21 from Bilaspur to Mandi in Himachal Pradesh. To study the impact of vehicular pollution six plant species namely Adhatoda vasica, Ficus carica, Melia azederach, Morus alba, Murraya koenigii and Toona ciliata were selected at three horizontal distances i.e.0-15, 15-30 and 30-45m from roadside. The tolerance of plants to vehicular pollution was studied during pre monsoon and post monsoon seasons. In total there were 36 treatment combinations which were replicated four times under Randomized Block Design (factorial). The total chlorophyll content, leaf extract pH, leaf relative water content, ascorbic acid, total sugar and phenols ranged from 0.84 to 5.26mg g-1, 4.85 to 7.01, 70.03 to 88.61 per cent, 1.23 to 4.81mg g1 , 5.33 to 41.56 mg g-1 and 0.86 to 4.10mg g-1 respectively. The air pollution tolerance of the selected plants was in the range of 8.37 to 12.85 and was in order of Toona ciliata > Melia azederach > Adhatoda vasica > Ficus carica > Morus alba > Murraya koenigii. The leaf dust load accumulation ranged from 0.01 to 1.48mg m-2. The concentration of heavy metals viz. zinc , nickel, lead, chromium, copper and iron in the leaf dust was in the range of 13.10 to 45.83, 2.22 to 9.11, 26.55 to 92.04, 1.32 to 6.37, 12.29 to 62.86 and 28.25 to 62.13 mg g-1, respectively. The stomatal index and density reduced due to dust accumulation on the leaves.The evaluation of API categorized the plants in the range of poor to excellent. The carbon storage potential of the selected plants ranged from 0.18 to 169.22 Mg per tree and followed the order of Toona ciliate > Melia azederach > Morus alba > Ficus carica > Murraya koenigii > Adhatoda vasica with respective values of 169.22, 110.90, 84.82, 55.28, 0.19 and 0.18Mg per tree. Toona ciliata with higher air pollution tolerance , anticipated performance index has been identified as suitable plant for plantation along the National Highway. Its higher carbon sequestration potential may be helpful in mitigating the projected climate change in the regionThesisItem Open Access ASSESSMENT OF APPLE CROP VULNERABILITY TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN HIMACHAL PRADESH(2016) HUKUM CHAND; VERMA, S.C.ABSTRACT The present investigations entitled “Assessment of apple crop vulnerability to climate change in Himachal Pradesh” was conducted during the years 2014 and 2015 at selected altitudinal gradient viz. 1500-2000 m amsl (Kullu), 2000 2500 m amsl (Shimla) and 2500-3000 m amsl (Kinnaur) in Himachal Pradesh. The study aimed to assess the vulnerability of apple crop to climate, trend of effective chill units as well as productivity trend of apple crop under selected altitudinal gradient. For determining the vulnerability of apple crop to climate change data on various indicators such as exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity was collected from both primary (farmers’ perception on climate change and apple cultivation) as well as secondary (meteorological and productivity data) sources and quantitative assessment of vulnerability was done by constructing ‘vulnerability index’. Utah model was used for determining the effective apple chill units trend. Correlation and regression analysis between various weather parameters (temperature and rainfall) and apple productivity was done for the productivity trend analysis. Weather based crop yield forecast model equation were developed and crop yield was predicted with maximum accuracy for Kinnaur (80 %) followed by Kullu (71 %) and Shimla region (66 %). Various mitigation and adaptation strategies to cope up apple cultivation with climate change at selected altitudinal gradient were developed. Climatic variability analysis indicated that annual average temperature showed an increasing trend at different altitudinal gradients as 0.071oC/year at 20002500 m amsl > 0.027oC/year at 1500-2000 m amsl > 0.001oC/year at 2500-3000 m amsl. The annual total rainfall has increased by 0.614 mm per year at 2000-2500 m amsl and 0.525 mm per year at 2500-3000 m amsl whereas it decreased by 4.165 mm per year at 1500-2000 m amsl. The apple productivity has increased at different altitudinal gradients as 2000-2500 m amsl > 2500 3000 m amsl > 1500-2000 m amsl. The effective apple chill units showed a decreasing trend at different altitudinal gradients as 11.4 chill units/ year at 2000-2500 m amsl > 9.892 chill units/ year at 2500-3000 m amsl > 6.385 chill units/year at1500-2000 m amsl. The average number of chill units hours (CU hrs) available for the apple crop at different altitudinal gradients followed a trend as 1065.95 CU hrs at 2500-3000 m amsl > 1010.65 CU hrs at 2000-2500 m amsl > 456.81 CU hrs at 1500-2000 m amsl. Sensitivity analysis of apple productivity with annual maximum temperature showed maximum negative rate of the order 4.83 tones/year at 1500-2000 m amsl followed by 1.34 tones/year at 2000-2500 m amsl and 0.68 tones/ year at 2000-2500. On the basis of vulnerability index altitude gradient 1500-2000 m amsl (Kullu) obtained rank-I and is highly vulnerable followed by altitude gradient 2000-2500 m amsl ( rank-II) and altitudinal gradient 2500-3000 m amsl (Kinnaur) (rank-III) is least vulnerable for apple cultivation. The majority (28.78 %) of farmers at an altitude gradient 1500-2000 (Kullu) m amsl have shifted for the cultivation of alternate crops like pomegranate, kiwi, vegetables etc. whereas 72.83 per cent preferred low chill apple varieties for future plantation. Hence to cope up apple cultivation with changing climatic conditions there is a need to adopt suggested mitigation and adaptation strategies at all the three selected altitudinal gradients in Himachal Pradesh