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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 Effect of tree spacing and organic manures on growth and yield of vegetable crops under Melia composita Willd. based agroforestry system(YSPU, 2015) Bhat, Suhail Ahmad; Pant, K.S.The present investigations entitled “Effect of tree spacing and organic manures on growth and yield of vegetable crops under Melia composita Willd. based agrisilviculture system” was carried out at Agroforestry Research Farm, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh for two consecutive years, 2012 and 2013. The experiment was carried out on the existing 6 years old Melia composita Willd. based agroforestry system. The experiment was laid out by using Randomized Block Design (factorial) with seven different doses of organic manures, T1 FYM (5 t ha-1), T2 FYM (7.5 t ha-1), T3 FYM (10.5 t ha-1), T4 vermicompost (2.5 t ha-1), T5 vermicompost (3.5 t ha-1), T6 vermicompost (5 t ha-1), T7 control (no manure) with three replications and two distinct tree spacings viz. 8 m x 5 m and 8 m x 4 m under Melia and one open condition (without trees). The pooled result revealed that yield and growth performance of winter season vegetable crops was almost same for both spacings and open spacing. In summer season crop yield reduction upto 45% and 50% was observed in capsicum under tree spacings 8m x 5m and 8m x 4m respectively when compared to sole cropping. Similarly 70% and 74% fruit yield reduction was also observed in tomato under tree spacings 8m x 5m and 8m x 4m respectively as compared to sole cropping. The difference in crop yield during winter season was found to be negligible. Among pea crops, maximum pod yield was recorded in spacing 8m x 4m which was significantly at par with 8m x 5m whereas, minimum pod yield was recorded in sole crop. However in cauliflower, maximum curd yield was recorded in sole crop and minimum curd yield was recorded in tree spacing 8m x 4m which was, however, statistically at par with spacing 8m x 5m. On the other hand optimum use of organic manure benefited the intercrop by improving the growth of plants even in the presence of trees as compared to sole plots during both Kharif and Rabi crop season. In most of the cases vermicompost @ 5 t ha-1 showed highest crop yield followed by Vermicompost @ 3.5 t/ha and FYM @ 10 t ha-1. On contrary with that, control plots (no manures) recorded minimum crop yield, during both the cropping seasons. Use of organic manures increased the growth of vegetable crops, higher doses of organic manures were found more effective in improving the growth of vegetable crops in presence and absence of Melia composita trees. The findings of present study suggested that cultivation of vegetable crops in combination with trees like Melia composita, especially during winter season may be recommended for better economic return from the agroforestry systems. However, during summer season decrease in growth and yield parameters of tomato and capsicum within the agroforestry system probably indicates intense competition for critical resources like water, nutrients, photo synthetically active radiation. Soil chemical properties like soil organic carbon, pH, EC and nutrients availability were improved under agroforestry system than sole crop system. The availability of nutrients like N, P, K were high where, higher doses of organic manures were applied in agroforestry system as well as in sole crop system. It also suggested that the agroforestry system have higher potential of producing biomass (woody and nonwoody) than monocropping system.ThesisItem Open Access Evaluation of different physicochemical and biological pretreatments for enzymatic hydrolysis of hardwood for ethanol production(YSPU, 2014) Kaushal, Richa; Sharma, NiveditaIn the present investigation, an attempt was made to utilize hardwood as substrate for its degradation by potential microorganisms and evaluated different pretreatments to enhance their rate of hydrolysis - a key step for its bioconversion to ethanol. In total 20 microorganisms including 17 bacteria and 3 fungi were isolated. Among them, SD5 and RS2 were screened for cellulase and SD8 for xylanase production and were identified as B. simplex SD5, B. subtilis RS2, B. subtilis SD8 by 16S rRNA PCR technique and registered with NCBI under accession no KF844070, KF844069 and KF844068, respectively. Among fungi, WF5 and RF1 were selected for enzyme production and were identified using ITS 5.8S rRNA technique as T. harzianum WF5 and R. oryzae RF1 and registered under accession no. KF844067 and KJ1921199, respectively. Cellulase and xylanase enzymes were optimized through classical approach one factor at a time (OFAT) and Response surface methodology (RSM) varying medium, pH, temperature, inoculum size, incubation time, and substrate concentration. The partial purification of hydrolytic enzymes was done by ammonium sulphate precipitation. Full length gene sequences of BsSD8-xylanase of B. subtilis SD8 and four GHs namely three subunits of cellulase, Endoglucanase (ThWF5-Endo-glucanase), Exo-glucanase (ThWF5-Exo-glucanase) and -glucosidase (ThWF5- Glucosidase), and xylanase (ThWF5-Xylanase) of T. harzianum WF5 were pulled out and characterized. To reduce the production cost of ethanol, cheap untreated and pretreated lignocellulosic forest biomass i.e. hardwood were used as a substrate for sugar production. Among different hardwood species used, Eucalyptus and P. deltoides wood were selected for saccharification by bacterial and fungal hydrolytic enzymes, respectively. Among different physical, chemical and biological pretreatments, H2SO4 + H2O2 + steam pretreatment was found best for sugar production. Bioconversion of H2SO4 + H2O2 + steam pretreated E. teretecornis and P. deltoides wood to ethanol was studied under two different fermentation processes i.e separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). Different protocols had been designed to delimit the constraints of fermentation process. SHF was evaluated by modifying four different sub-processes of non-detoxification and detoxification as well as nonpooling and pooling of pretreated liquor. Maximum ethanol was achieved in protocol IV i.e. 7.02 g/l by co-culture of S. cerevisiae I + P. stipitis in E. teretecornis wood and 15.62 g/l in P. deltoides wood with fermentation efficiency of 61.05%. Scale up of SHF with P. deltoides wood using fungal enzymes and co-culture of S. cerevisiae I + P. stipitis was performed in 7.5 L bioreactor, achieving highest ethanol production after 52 h of fermentation. Among SHF and SSF, SHF in protocol IV i.e. pooled sample followed by detoxification was found to be the best and in case of strains used for fermentation, co-culture of S. cerevisiae I + P. stipitis was observed the best combination for highest bioethanol production.ThesisItem Open Access Evaluation of some introduced rootstocks for peach, plum and apricot(YSPU, 2013) Nagi, Manpreet; Krishan KumarThe present investigations entitled “Evaluation of some introduced rootstocks for peach, plum and apricot” were conducted in Department of Fruit Science, Dr Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan. Eight exotic Prunusrootstocks (Cadaman, Citation, GF 31, GF 677, Ishtara, Manicot, Montclar and Rubira) along with two local seedling rootstocks viz., Wild Apricot and Wild Peach were assessed for their ability to propagate by conventional vegetative methods, their graft success with commercial scion cultivars and their tolerance to drought and cold stress conditions. Exotic rootstocks namely Montclar (39.9 %) and Rubira (25.8 %) were more amenable to propagation through IBA treated hardwood cuttings than Ishtara (13.6 %), GF 31(13.4 %), Citation (8.6 %) and Wild Peach (10.8 %). As many as three rootstocks Manicot, Cadaman and Wild Apricot did not respond to multiplication through hardwood cuttings. These rootstocks followed similar trend on propagation through softwood cuttings except the fact that the success rate was relatively lower than that achieved through hardwood cuttings. Overall, IBA treatment of 2000 ppm and 1000 ppm was found to result in maximum rooting in Montclar through hardwood (39.9 %) and softwood (26.6 %) cuttings, respectively. The success of multiplication throughstooling varied from very good (Rubira, Manicot, GF 31), good (Citation, GF 677) and low to very low in Wild Peach and Wild Apricot. Three rootstocks Montclar, Ishtara and Cadaman did not record any success in propagation through stooling. Maximum success was recorded in Rubira with nectarine cv. Snow Queen (50.0 %); in Manicot with apricot cv. Ema (43.3 %) and plum cv. Santa Rosa (50.0 %); in Montclar with plum cv. Red Beaut (43.3 %) and peach cv. July Elberta (43.3 %); in Ishtara with peach cv. July Elberta (60.0 %) and nectarine cv. Mayfire (50.0 %); in GF 31 with apricot cv. Ema (23.3 %), nectarine cv. Mayfire (40.0 %) and plum cv. Frontier (46.6 %); in Citation with peach cv. July Elberta (46.6 %); in GF 677 with plum cv. Santa Rosa (53.3 %); in Wild Peach with nectarine cv. Mayfire (53.3 %) and in Wild Apricot with apricot cv. NewCastle (43.3 %) and plum cv. Red Beaut (43.3 %). Exotic clonal rootstocks, on the whole, showed better graft success with scion cultivars than local seedlingrootstocks. Rootstocks namely Manicot, Montclar, Ishtara, Citation and Wild Apricot were observed as more drought tolerant than Rubira, GF 31, GF 677 and Wild Peach, whereas Manicot, GF 31, Ishtara and Cadaman were found to be more cold hardy than Rubira, Montclar,GF 677 and Citation.ThesisItem Open Access Studies on epidemiology and management of pink canker (Corticium salmonicolor Berk. & Br.) in apple(DYSPU, 2013) Durga Prashad; Ved RamPink canker (Corticium salmonicolor Berk. and Br.) in apple is one of the major limiting factor in its cultivation affecting both yield and fruit quality in Himachal Pradesh. Present investigations were undertaken with an objective to study the prevalence of the disease, role of abiotic environmental factors in disease development and to devise suitable disease management strategies. Pink canker was found to occur in moderate to severe form in different apple growing areas of Mandi, Shimla, Kullu and Sirmour districts of Himachal Pradesh. Based on morphological, cultural and molecular characters, the pathogen was identified as Corticium salmonicolor Berk. and Br. Moderate temperatures (19 + 2o C) coupled with high RH (80%) favoured disease development. Conidial germination and germ tube length was high in Mandi isolate. Out of nine cultivars only, Tydeman Early Worcester was found moderately susceptible under field conditions. Ace Spur, Spur Winter Banana and Granny Smith exhibited moderately resistant reaction under flask condition. Under congenial condition, the pathogen infected leaves and fruits of Royal Delicious. Among integration of fungicide and plant oils, integration of Contaf + Brassica juncea var. cunefolia and combinaion of Score + Brassica juncea var. cunefolia provided maximum wound recovery (92.94% and 91.86% respectively) and callus formation (>10 mm). The combination of Contaf + Cow urine + Melia azedarach + Vitex negundo + Artimisia roxburghiana + Juglans regia + Roylea elegans and Score + Cow urine + Melia azedarach + Vitex negundo + Artimisia roxburghiana + Juglans regia + Roylea elegans in white paint exhibited maximum wound recovery (87.17% and 85.81% respectively) and callus formation (>10 mm) during 2011-12. Among combination of fungicides + antagonists, significantly maximum wound recovery (80.47%) was recorded in Contaf + Pseudomonas sp. followed by a combination of Contaf + Trichoderma hamatum (79.95%).ThesisItem Open Access Common property resources and rural livelihood security: A study of common pasturelands in hills of Nepal(YSPU, 2012) Regmi, Sudarshan Prasad; Sharma, RavinderThe study analyzed the linkages of common property resources (pastureland) with the rural livelihood security of people in Rasuwa district of Nepal. A stratified multistage random sampling design was used to select a sample of 180 respondents from three different climatic zones, viz., temperate (2000-3000 masl), sub-alpine (3000-4000 masl) and alpine (4000-5000 masl). The selected samples were further classified as users’ and non-users’ depending upon their dependence on common pastureland. The result of the study revealed that 63.33 per cent of sampled respondents were users and 83.33 per cent were exclusively dependent on agricultural farming. The pasture to herder ratio was found higher in the temperate zoneand lower in sub-alpine and alpine zone indicatingthat as the altitude increased the number of herder also increased. A maximum likelihood estimates using Tobit model was used to determine collective effort for the pastureland management. It was revealed that area of common pastureland, Gini ratio and income from livestock were positively and significantly whereas, membership to local organization and quadratic form of Gini ratio were negatively and significantly affected the management of the common pastureland. The Tobit analysis revealed that probability in thecollective effort of an average illiterate farmer having Gini ratio of 0.40 and non-member to local organization with landholding of 0.30 ha has probability of 0.261; which further decreased to 0.197 with increased landholding (0.60ha). Further increase in educational level from illiterate to primary lowered in probability to 0.158. The condition of pastureland in physical term and availability of forage were high in alpine zone than the other regions and overall condition was found to be fair to good; with highly weed infestation and unwanted shrubs (56.12 %). The major determinants of the good pastureland condition found using Tobit analysis; were land holding, land to man ratio, family size, household work force, forage availability index andthe status of respondent being user of the pastureland. The findings explicitly indicated that livestock income contributed 51.89 per cent to user household income whereas remittance as off-farm income constituted 59.92 per cent of the non-users’ household income. It was found that food availability based on their own production level of wheat, rice and maize) was deficit in all categories of respondent and climatic zones. Whereas, when potato crop was considered as stable food, then the food available become sufficient. The analyze of the major determinants for willingness to pay for betterment of pastureland condition inferred that were cost of stay, management level, and livestock units were found positively and significantly, and family size and value of resource use negatively and significantly affecting the willingness to pay of with cost of stay being most important (<0.01) factor for both users and non-users of the pastureland. It was further investigated that probability of extent for willingness to pay (WTP) for average respondent in the study area increased with increased in cost of stay, livestock income and family size. The expected amount of WTP for average respondent in overall situation varied from NRs. 304.53 to 680.00 ha 1 yr 1, whereas, in case of nonuser it varied from NRs. 216.58 to 362.62 ha 1 yr 1 . In case of users it increased from NRs.2163.29 to2666505.45 ha 1 yr 1 implying thereby that users were highly motivated to pay more than the non-users in the study area. Itwas revealed that respondents were willing to pay higher price for the higher quality of pastureland improvement. The findings of the present study strongly recommend that there should be a separate pastureland policy to bring several activities related to the pastureland management so that livelihood of the users may be strengthening in future.ThesisItem Open Access Biological and molecular characterization of apple stem pitting virus(YSPU, 2015) Brakta, Ajay; Thakur, P.D.Surveys conducted during 2011 and 2012 in different apple growing areas of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir revealed viral disease incidence ranging from 3 to 60 per cent. Chlorotic spots coupled with necrotic lesions on apple leaves were the predominant symptoms. Orchards located at Regional Horticulture Research Station, Mashobra and Dhangvi village of Kotkhai area were selected for conducting biological and serological detection of apple stem pitting virus (ASPV). Serological detection through DAC and DAS-ELISA resulted in the detection of apple stem pitting virus (ASPV) either alone or in mixed infection with apple chlorotic leaf spot virus (ACLSV), apple mosaic virus (ApMV) and apple stem grooving virus (ASGV). Biological detection of one of the ASPV seropositive isolate on herbaceous hosts resulted in the production of symptoms on Chenopodium quinoa, C. amaranticolor, Nicotiana tabacum var. White Burley and Phaseolus vulgaris. Detection on woody indicators (Malus pumila Spy 227 and Jay Darling) under field conditions through double grafting of inoculators and indicator budwood resulted in the production of typical viral symptoms on leaves in Jay Darling and Spy 227indicators. Graft incompatibility and necrotic symptoms were produced at the graft union of Spy 227 indicator followed by decline and dieback. Leaf samples drawn during March to May months were found suitable for the ELISA of ASPV whereas petals were the best source in addition to seropositive detection of ASPV in anthers and sepals. Association of ASPV with viral symptoms in apple was also confirmed by RT-PCR assays. Internal control primers along with coat protein gene specific primers were used to overcome the problem of false negative results. Molecular characterization of full coat protein gene of 3 ASPV isolates, 5 ASGV isolates and partial characterization of coat protein gene of 10 ACLSV isolates was carried out and the resultant sequences were then submitted to NCBI. Phylogenetic analysis of sequences showed the presence of variability among isolates and confirmed that there is no correlation between the geographic origin and genetic diversity of these isolates, which does not allow drawing conclusion on their origin and dispersion. Serological indexing resulted in the selection of 13 trees of 7 cultivars free from infection of ASGV, ACLSV, ASPV and ApMV in ELISA test of 36 symptomless trees of 12 cultivars.ThesisItem Open Access Studies on Marssonina blotch pathogenesis and its management through novel methods(YSPU, 2015) Phurailatpam, Sumitra; Sharma, J.N.Marssonina blotch caused by Marssonina coronaria is one of the most important disease of apple particularly in Himachal Pradesh. Present investigations were undertaken with the objectives to carry out detailed study on Marssonina blotch pathogenesis in apple, investigate the effect of Marssonina blotch on the physiological parameters of the host plants and develop novel methods of disease management through induced resistance. Based on morphological and molecular characters, the isolates collected from different locations of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand associated with Marssonina blotch of apple were confirmed to be belonging to Marssonina coronaria. Colonies of all the isolates were dark brown to black without aerial mycelium with colony diameter ranging from 9 to 14 mm. Conidia were hyaline, ampule shaped, one septate, constricted at the septum and guttulate, and the conidial size ranged from 3-8×12-28 μm. Molecular characterization of the seven isolates of Marssonina spp. showed 96-100% homology to with Marssonina coronaria. Phylogenetic tree depicted that all the isolates were close clustered to Chinese isolates deposited earlier in the NCBI. Pathogenesis studies revealed highest percentage of conidia germination of Marssonina coronaria on the leaves of Starking Delicious cultivar and minimum in Granny Smith. Whereas, shortest incubation and latent periods were recorded in Starking Delicious leaves showing that the cultivar was susceptible to all the isolates tested, while Tydeman’s Early Worcester showing moderately susceptible and Granny Smith moderately resistant reaction. Effect of Marssonina coronaria infection on host physiology studies of different apple cultivars revealed that reducing and non-reducing sugar contents were more in uninoculated leaves of all the test cultivars which reached maximum with time lapse. Total phenolic content, polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase and PAL activity, auxins and gibberellins were more in inoculated plants during all the sampling intervals in all the three test cultivars. Induced resistance studies against Marssonina blotch pathogen on potted plants by using systemic acquired resistance (SAR) chemicals and bioagents revealed that salicylic acid and acibenzolar-S-methyl @ 100 ppm were found to be at par and most effective in all the cultivars tested with minimum disease severity (1.08 to16.50 %) and maximum disease control (66.77 to 88% ) in the polyhouse.Whereas, among bioagents tested, Pseudomonas flourescens @ 10-5 dilution was the best with minimum disease severity (1.33 to 18.50 %) and maximum disease control (61.45 to 83.33 %). To know the mechanism of induced resistance in all the cultivars tested after treatment with SAR inducers and bioagents, post-inoculation with the pathogen showed that the biochemical parameters (reducing and non- reducing sugar contents; total phenolic content, peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase , PAL activity; -l, 3-glucanase and chitinase activity and ROS production) were highest in salicylic acid treated leaves and minimum in dipotassium phosphate; whereas in bioagent treated leaves they were recorded in highest levels in case of Pseudomonas flourescens and minimum in Bacillus subtilis. Further, on comparison among the cultivars, it was found that their contents were higher in resistant Granny Smith leaves than that in the susceptible cultivar Starking Delicious.ThesisItem Open Access Studies on integrated management practices against storage rot of ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.)(YSPU, 2014) Sharma, Sushma; Dohroo, N.P.The present investigation entitled “Studies on integrated management practices against storage rot of ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.)” was conducted in the Department of Plant Pathology. Maximum incidence of the disease was recorded under heaps (47.0%) and pits (25.0%) at Rajgarh locality of Sirmaur district followed by Kasauli under heaps (17.0%) and pits (17.0%) in Solan district. Three different types of symptoms and their causal organism causing storage rot of ginger were studied during storage period in pits i.e. soft rot (Pythium ultimum), dry rot (Fusarium oxysporum) and red rot (Verticillium chlamydosporium).Frequency occurrence of F. oxysporum was found maximum (50%) among fungi causing storage rot of ginger in storage pits and heaps. Fifteen different varieties of ginger were evaluated for their relative resistance to storage rot however, none of the varieties showed resistant reaction while study undertaken in vitro conditions all the varieties were moderately resistant to the disease. During mycoflora studies, ginger obtained from Nahan market recorded (27.93%) significantly higher weight loss followed by sample collected from Shimla market (21.10%). Minimum incidence (20.49%) was recorded when rhizomes were stored at 150C temperature. Highest reducing sugar, non reducing sugar and orthodihydroxy phenol content were recorded in healthy rhizomes of different varieties in comparison to their diseased rhizomes. Highest phenolic, polyphenol and peroxidise content was recorded in diseased rhizomes of different variety in comparison to their healthy rhizomes. Genomic DNA amplification of all isolates of Fusarium spp. produced reproducible bands, out of which ISSR-1, 2 and 3 primers showed 90.9 per cent polymorphism and ISSR-4 showed 100 per cent polymorphism. ISSR-2 was identified as most suitable marker for differentiating Fusarium spp. Hot water treatment at 500C resulted in minimum disease severity (20.32%), minimum decay (17.40%) and rot (20.60%) in comparison to control. Among different fungicides tested under in vitro and field conditions Bavistin was found most effective with 84.63 per cent inhibition in average mycelial growth of the storage rot pathogen. Pooled data indicated minimum storage rot incidence (20.30%) and maximum per cent rhizome recovery (83.67%) in rhizomes treated with Bavistin. Among different botanicals, cow urine and neem formulations minimum incidence 20.67 and 24.70 per cent was recorded in cow urine and neemazal as compared to their control. Trichoderma harzianum was found quite effective (65.08%) in inhibiting the storage rot pathogen while Bacillus subtilis was found effective in inhibiting the mycelial growth of the pathogen upto 55.05 per cent. Integration of Bavistin + HWT + T. harzianum resulted in minimum storage rot incidence (7.2%) after 30 days of storage as compared to control.ThesisItem Open Access Vegetation dynamics of chir pine forests along altitudinal gradient in Giri catchment of Himachal Pradesh(YSPU, 2013) Mahato, Debasis; Gupta, B.The present investigation entitled “Vegetation dynamics of Chir pine forests along altitudinal gradient in Giri catchment of Himachal Pradesh” was carried out in Giri catchment, a component of Giri-Bata catchment in Himachal Pradesh located between 30o 33¢ 48² and 31o 16¢ 08² N latitude and 77o 02¢ 32² to 77o 38¢ 22² E longitude. This catchment is distributed in Shimla, Sirmaur and Solan districts of Himachal Pradesh and is comprised of 135 subwatersheds. The climatic condition of experimental sites ranges from tropical/sub-tropical through sub-humid to sub-temperate climate and clay to sandy soils. In each experimental site three sample plots of size 0.1 ha for trees, two plots of 10mx10m were marked to study shrubs and in each sample plot, 6 quadrates of 50cmx50cm were harvested to study herbs characteristics. Composition, density (plants/ha), basal area (m2/ha), biomass (q/ha), carbon stock (q/ha) of different vegetation layers and soil properties of grasslands and Chir pine forests for herb and shrub layers were analyzed in 42 experimental sites of 14 representative subwatersheds during 2010-2011. The data were analyzed by using factorial RBD, Duncan test, variability analysis through statistical techniques viz., measures of dispersion, Bertlett’s test of significance and TWINSPAN, whereas cluster analysis was carried out by CAP (Version 4.0) software. The floristic composition comprised of 4%, 5%, 7%, 21%, 25%, and 38% trees , sedges, legumes, grasses, shrubs and forbs respectively under Chir pine forest. However, grasslands consist of 7% sedges, 8% legumes, 25% grasses, 27% shrubs and 33% forbs. Herbage density (tillers/m2) in grasslands ranged form 926.65-1445.34, 851.32-1256.03 and 603.33-1128.01 for E1 (900-1300m), E2 (1300- 1700m) and E3 (1700-2100m) at different Silting Yield Index (SYI). The E1C1 (1295.58) reported significantly higher herbage density of grasslands than others. In Chir pine forests, the herbage density varied from 744.00 to 1279.34, 609.34 to 1086.65 and 420.68 to 827.99 for E1, E2 and E3, respectively at different SYI classes. The herbage density in Chir pine forests was significantly higher at E1C1 than other interactions. The shrub density varied from 1666.67 to 2866.67, 1300.00 to 2399.99 and 1466.67 to 2699.99 in grasslands, whereas, 2300.01 to 5066.67, 1466.67 to 4199.99 and 1400.01 to 3400.00 in Chir pine forests for E1, E2 and E3, respectively at different SYI classes. Herbage basal area (cm2/m2) varied from 40.10 to 56.01, 36.34 to 49.61, 25.21 to 45.93 in grasslands and 32.81 to 54.09, 28.27 to 49.39, 18.56 to 37.43 in Chir pine forest for E1, E2 and E3, respectively at different SYI classes. The shrub basal area (m2/ha) varied from 0.137 to 1.719, 0.136 to 0.685, 0.383 to 1.632 in grasslands and 0.240 to 2.338, 0.181 to 1.136, 0.299 to 2.223 in Chir pine forests for E1, E2, E3, respectively at different SYI classes. The C. montanus at E1 (IVI= 116.98) and E2 ( IVI=146.65), while, H. contortus, at E3 (IVI= 118.02) were dominant herbage species in grasslands. In Chir pine forests, dominant species was T. anathera with IVI 155.46, 186.77 and 180.68 at E1, E2 and E3, respectively. In grasslands the dominant shrub species at E1 was C. carandus, at E2 was M. africana while, at E3 was B. lycium. In Chir pine forests, M. africana at E1 and C. carandus at E2 while B. lycium at E3 were the dominant shrub species. The aboveground, belowground and total herbage biomass for were (28.44 to 46.13, 21.37 to 43.23, 14.75 to 41.80), (15.61 to 27.93, 11.11 to 27.87, 7.39 to 27.53) and (44.05 to 70.29, 32.48 to 68.17, 22.14 to 61.59) at E1, E2 and E3, respectively in grasslands. In Chir pine forests, the aboveground (23.25 to 44.07, 18.58 to 42.14, 18.02 to 37.75), belowground (11.96 to 22.01, 9.15 to 19.57, 7.95 to 17.70) and total herbage biomass (35.21 to 66.08, 27.73 to 61.33, 26.30 to 54.17) for E1, E2 and E3 were recorded. The shrub aboveground (4.621 to 9.884, 3.699 to 7.212, 3.741 to 9.302), belowground (0.969 to 3.184, 0.550 to 2.163, 0.757 to 2.197) and total (5.75 to 11.70, 4.59 to 8.83 and 4.56 to 11.50) biomass were recorded in grasslands for E1, E2 and E3. In Chir pine forests at E1, E2 and E3, shrub biomass for aboveground (9.295 to 19.810, 4.538 to 11.838, 5.469 to 18.018), belowground (1.151 to 3.972, 0.768 to 3.405, 0.940 to 3.125) and total (9.82 to 23.78, 6.11 to 14.16 and 6.71 to 21.14) were recorded. Average total biomass was highest at E2 (1399.04) as compared to E1 (1244.92) and E3 (1000.43). Total carbon stock (herb+shrub+soil) in grassland ranged from 308.69 to 520.16, 380.70 to 539.17, 429.75 to 550.27 for E1, E2 and E3, respectively. In Chir pine forests, the total carbon stock (herb+shrub+tree+soil) varied from 964.80 to 1263.58, 1138.69 to 1305.66, and 828.27 to 1170.01 for E1, E2 and E3, respectively at different SYI classes. The soil pH in grassland varied from 5.99 to 7.71, 6.03 to 7.56 and 6.17 to 7.68 whereas, in Chir pine forests 5.94 to 7.01, 5.91 to 6.93 and 6.23 to 6.84 at E1, E2 and E3, respectively. In grasslands, the bulk density was 1.06 to 1.22, 1.03 to 1.19 and 0.95 to 1.15, while, in Chir pine forests, 1.00 to 1.22, 0.96 to 1.12 and 0.93 to 1.05. In grassland SOC varied from 1.16 to 2.29, 1.52 to 2.47 and 1.81 to 2.75 whereas, at Chir pine forests it ranged from 1.68 to 2.48, 1.96 to 2.84 and 2.33 to 2.84 at E1, E2 and E3, respectively.