A field experiment was carried out at GBPUA&T, Pantnagar to study the influence of planting pattern and nutrientmanagement on growth dynamics of intercropped maize (Zea maysL.) and urdbean (Vigna mungoL.). The experiment consisting of two intercropping planting pattern (single rows at 67.5 cm with 1+1 additive and paired rows at 45/90 cm with 2+2 additive), fertilizer application methods (broadcast, furrow and side placement) and two levels of nitrogen in maize (75 and 100% of recommended) vis-à-vis the sole crops of maize and urdbean was conducted in a factorial RBD with three replications. Maize growth was not affected due to variation in planting patterns. Application of fertilizers in furrows and 100% recommended nitrogen dose (RND) in maize resulted in higher growth and better values of physiological parameters viz. plant height, shoot dry matter accumulation and LAI. Dry matter accumulation, LAI, CGR, and NAR of urdbean were found higher in paired row system compared to normal intercropping. Significant reduction in growth of intercropped urdbean was recorded over its sole crop. Grain yield of intercropped maize (3.57 t/ha) was statistically similar to its sole crop. Planting pattern did not affect maize grain yield but urdbean recorded significantly 19.5% higher grain yield under paired row system. Furrow and side placement methods were significantly superior to broadcast method with respect to maize grain yield by an advantage of 13.2 and 8.4%, respectively. Application of 100% RDN in maize resulted significantly 8.8% more grain yield than that of 75% RDN. The study indicated that there was negligible impact of intercropping on maize growth and urdbean showed better growth in paired row panting pattern.
The study was carried out during kharif 2016 and 2017 at GBPUA&T, Pantnagar to investigate the effect of potassiumsplitting and differential placement of NPK doses on dry matter yield, NPK content and uptake by hybrid maize. The experimentconsisting of two K split applications (100% K as basal and 50% as basal + 50 % before earthing up practice) and eight NPK doses (different combinations of NPK at 75 and 100% of recommended dose) was conducted in factorial RBD with three replications. The differential placement was done in equal splits at 5 cm and 10-12 cm depths. The control was farmers' practice (100% NPK dose with100% K as basal at 5 cm depth). The nutrient contents in grain, stover and rachis did not vary significantly due to different nutrient management practices except N content in stover and rachis. Dry grain (3.95 t/ha) and stover (6.17 t/ha) yields and uptake of N (110.6 kg/ha), P (32.3 kg/ha) and K (102.4 kg/ha) were found significantly higher with split application of potassium. Differential placement of 100% dose of NPK, being at par with 100% NP + 75% K and 100% NK + 75% P resulted into significantly higher dry matter yields and total N and K uptake by maize than other treatments. Significantly higher P uptake was also noticed in 100% NPK which was at par with 100% NP+75% K. Farmers' practice was significantly inferior to differential placement of 100% NPK fertilizers under both with and without K split application for yield.
The paper has estimated sustainability in Uttarakhand by computing Sustainable Livelihood Security Index (SLSI)for 13 districts of the state using secondary data on various indicators under the ecology, economy and social heads for the years 2016-17. The study has found that SLSI value for Nainital (0.59), Udham singh nagar (0.57) and Pithoragarh(0.50) districts respectively with high sustainable livelihood security status and remaining districts Dehradun (0.48), Haridwar (0.48), Pauri Garhwal (0.46), Rudraprayag (0.45), Champawat (0.44), Tehri Garhwal (0.40), Almora (0.38), Chamoli (0.32) and Bageshwar (0.30) were showed moderate sustainable livelihood security index with rank forth to twelve. District Uttarkashi (0.24) was come at last rank with value which showed that low sustainable livelihood security status. the value of ecological security index varies from 0.63 to 0.26,value of economic efficiency index varies from 0.71 to 0.11 and value of social security index varies from 0.79 to 0.33.The paper has suggested some measures for sustainability in the state in the years to come.
Rugose spiraling whitefly (RSW),Aleurodicus rugioperculatusMartin (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) was observed in several coconut farms in the Pollachi, Tamil Nadu and Palakkad, Kerala in 2016 and subsequently, the incidence and infestation of the RSW was recorded on many other horticultural crops. The origin of RSW was first described from Belize in Central America in 2004. It was first documented as a pest in Florida in urban landscapes in Miami Dade County in March 2009. In Assam, the pest was first noticed in June- July, 2018 in different areas of Kamrup, Nalbari and Darrang districts. First diagnostic visit was made jointly by officials from Department of Agriculture, Govt. of Assam and Scientist from Assam Agricultural University in few villages of Kamrup district on 25 July 2018. The pest was identified with the help of damage symptom, and by consulting different literature and photographs. Heavy infestation of rugose spiraling whitefly and secondary infection of sooty mould were noticed in coconut palms as well as other horticultural crops nearby coconut palms. Almost all the leaves of coconut, banana and other horticultural plants nearby were brownish-black in appearance due to severe growth of sooty mould. In Kamalpur and Balisatra agricultural development circles of Kamrup district 4281 numbers of family were affected by this pest covering more than 450 ha of land. The pest seems to have entered in Assam accidentally through movement of coconut seedling from South India. The deficit monsoon along with prolonged drought could be one of the primary reasons of immediate upsurge of spiraling whitefly during 2018. Emergence of sucking pest as a victim of climate change, thus, warrants close scrutiny.
Teosinte (Zea mays ssp. parviglumis), a weedy morphologically diverse sub-species is now considered as the most probable progenitor of modern maize (Zea maysssp. mays). To determine differentiation between maize and its progenitor toesinte, an investigation on phenotypic and genomic assessment was carried out. Photoperiod sensitivity is one of the traits where maize differs from teosinte. Teosinte grows for a longer time, bears tillers, more than one tassel and takes more duration in flowering. Ear morphology and kernels were entirely different in maize from teosinte. Genomic analysis using 91 microsatellites loci identified 164 alleles with a mean of 1.8 alleles per locus. Of the 91 loci, 55 were polymorphic, 31 were monomorphic, whereas five loci showed null allele between maize and teosinte. Polymorphism information content (PIC) value of polymorphic markers was 1.0. Maize and teosinte were found only 25% similar as indicated by Jaccard's similarity coefficient and dendrogram analysis of SSR data. The results therefore indicates that both at phenotypic and genome level, maize and teosinte are quite diverse probably because of the mutations in some major and regulatory genes followed by selection during evolutionary domestication. Large genetic diversity in teosinte from maize may help in domestication of wild alleles as well diversification and maize germplasm enhancement which are essentially and urgently required in maize improvement programme.
Physical properties of grains are essential requirement for design of structures, machineries and equipment. Physical properties of pearl millet grain varieties ('Pusa composite 383', 'Pusa composite 701', 'Pusa composite 1201' and 'Pro agro 9444') were evaluated at varying moisture content (range: 10-30% db). The mean value of properties were recorded for length (2.997-3.172 mm), width (2.433-2.609 mm), thickness (2.036-2.209 mm), geometric mean diameter (2.453-2.629 mm), sphericity (0.821-0.833), projected area (5.745-6.509 mm2), thousand grain mass (9.114-10.123 g), grain volume (6.324-7.833 mm3), bulk density (711.9-827.5 kg/m3), true density (1216.97-1314.17 kg/m3), porosity (37.02-41.47 %). Moreover, static friction coefficients against wood (0.220-0.397), mild steel (0.237-0.403), galvanised iron (0.231-0.408) and aluminium (0.245-0.423), emptying angle of repose (28.83-33.57 degree), filling angle of repose (24.34-29.38 degree) and rupture strength (22.36-49.47 N) were also determined. Mean values of properties like size, sphericity, projected area, thousand grain mass, grain volume, coefficient of friction at different surfaces and angle of repose increased with increase in grain moisture content; bulk density, true density and rupture strength decreased. Varietal differences were significant (p?0.05) for some of the properties under investigation. Regression yielded high R2values for linearly varying properties with moisture content except sphericity representing shape of the grain.
An investigation was carried out to study the soil available macro- and micro-nutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, B and Mo) and some physico-chemical properties in soils (0-15 cm) of Almora district (Uttarakhand). The Global Positioning System (GPS) based 291 soil samples were collected, analyzed for the extractable contents of macro and micro-nutrients and correlated with important soil properties. Soil texture of the district varied from sandy loam to sandy clay loam, soil pH1:2ranged from 4.24 to 8.86, electrical conductivity from 0.02 to 0.41dSm-1and organic carbon from 1.1 to 54.0 g kg-1. In the soils of the entire district, the ranges observed for different nutrients were: alkaline KMnO4-N (50.4 to 140.0 mg kg-1), extractable P (2.8 to 95.0 mg kg-1), K (50.5 to 405.0 mg kg-1), S (2.60 to 36.29 mg kg-1), Ca (844 to 6244 mg kg-1), Mg (120 to 2640 mg kg-1), Zn (0.10 to 19.25 mg kg-1), Cu (0.18 to 2.99 mg kg-1), Fe (1.93 to 127.02 mg kg-1), Mn (1.24 to 56.92 mg kg-1), B (0.12 to 1.11 mg kg-1) and Mo (0.02 to 0.36 mg kg-1). The relationship between soil properties and extractable macro- and micro- nutrient contents revealed that soil pH had significant and positive correlation with extractable P, K, S and Zn but had negative correlation with extractable Fe, Mn and B. Electrical conductivity (EC) was significantly and positively correlated with extractable N, K, Ca, S and Zn but negatively correlated with extractable Mn. Organic carbon showed a significant and positive correlation with extractable B but negative correlation with extractable N, K, Ca, S, Zn, Cu and Fe. In general, the soils of Almora district were very acidic to moderately alkaline in reaction, low to medium in salt concentration and generally high in organic carbon status. Based on the calculated nutrient indices (N.I.), the soils of Almora were rated low in N, medium in S and B but high in rest of the other nutrients.
The study was designed to investigate the adoption level of scientific fish farming practices by the fish farmers. The study was carried out in West Tripura district of Tripura. Random sampling technique was applied for the selection of respondent fish farmers. Quantitative data were collected from 80 respondents using prestructured interview schedule during a period from October to December, 2017. Results of the study reveals that majority of farmers were found to practice traditional farming without much scientific knowledge like “Initial soil and water testing”, “Acclimatization of fish seeds before stocking”, “Stocking appropriate number of fish seeds”, “Application of commercially available supplementary feeds” etc. However, periodical application of cow dung or any other organic manure was found to be fully adopted by more than half of the respondents (55%). Moreover from the results, significant positive correlation was found between annual income, extension contact, information source exposure, economic motivation, information management behaviour, training exposure and experience in fisheries with the adoption level of scientific fish farming practices of the fish farmers of study area.
The study was conducted at International Institute of Information Bangalore. In the study a protocol based on CAN or Controller Area Network has been implemented for communication between the Battery charger and Battery management system or BMS. Modern days electric vehicles uses Lithium ion batteries for charging which has a Battery management system to monitor various parameters of a battery such as current, voltages and temperature. The implementation of CAN protocol enables the Battery management system to communicate with the battery charger. The BMS instructs the battery charger to perform necessary action when the values of the parameters goes out of range. This helps in preventing any damages to the battery and maintain a healthy life of the battery. The charger also becomes intelligent enough to take decisions without any human monitoring. This charger can directly be deployed on board an electric vehicle.
This study has assessed the influence of financial inclusion on financial literacy among the rural households of Tamil Nadu based on the data collected from 640 respondents during the year 2018. The study used the components of financial literacy viz.financial attitude, financial behaviour and financial knowledgeas dependent variables and financial inclusion as an independent variable. One way Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was employed to investigate the differences among dependent and independent variables. When MANOVA was executed to investigate financial inclusion differences in financial literacy, the study have found a statistically significant impact of financial inclusion on the combined dependent variable. When the dependent variables were considered separately, the results have shown that financial inclusion has a significant impact on all the components of financial literacy.
Weaving, an inherent urge in the humans, has been traditionally linked with the lives of people. It is an age old practice, probably the oldest and certainly one of the most universally practiced crafts. In Punjab, the tradition of weavingdurriesis the exclusive preserve of women. A girl was taught to weave by older women of the household – her mother, grandmother, paternal aunt or sister, at a very young age. They continued practicingdurrieweaving at home during their leisure time. It helped to generate income to some of them. It is also a very flexible cottage industry as a manufacturer can be as small as he wants to be. In the light of aforesaid situation, a study was undertaken for the development of contemporary products from durries. For this,durrieswere designed using sixteen traditional motifs. These designs were developed on Computer Aided Designing (CAD) with three colour combinations. Monochromatic colour scheme for cushion cover / pillow cover, neutral colours for table runner, black with cream colour for wall hanging and gradation of grey colour for tray were the most preferred, with WMS 2.97, 2.83, 2.97 and 3.00 respectively. All these developed products were assessed for cost effectiveness. The cost of these products ranged between Rs 130/- to Rs 345/-. These contemporary products can help to revive the traditional craft ofdurrieweaving.
Eco consciousness towards the natural sources increases the demand for natural dyeing of unconventional fibre. The main aim of the present study was dyeing of Himalayans nettle fibre with natural dye. i.e., black cutch dye (a by-product ofkatthafactory). Different dyeing parameters such as dye concentration, dyeing time, dyeing temperature and MLR were optimized. Mordanting process was also carried out to improve the colour fastness of the dyed samples. One natural mordant i.e. myrobalan and two synthetic mordants namely; alum and ferrous sulphate were used for mordanting. All the mordanting parameters such as mordanting concentration, mordanting time, mordanting MLR were optimized for all three mordanting methods. Optimum results in terms of percent absorption were achieved, when nettle fibres were dyed with 6% concentration of dye for 60 minutes at 900C keeping MLR ratio was 1:40. Colourfastness was found to be improved with the use of mordants. Black cutch dye gave good results in term of colour strength, LAB values and other fastness properties. Dyeing of nettle fibres with by-product ofkatthaindustry would be helpful in value addition of Himalayan nettle fibre for further product diversification.
Pea processing industry involves preserving peas by freezing and marketing them for seasonal limitation and producing a very high amount of waste as a by-product. The waste generated from this industry is not very utilized as a valuable byproduct and considered as end products that have not been recycled or used for other purposes. In the present study, pea peels were further extracted and separated into extracted peel juice and extracted peel straw and these three byproducts were dried and converted into powder for performing proximate analysis. The result of nutrition evaluation revealed that among all three samples, pea peels have a higher value of EE (2.27%) and AIA (1.39%), the composition of extracted peel straw found to be higher in CF (2.29%) and Carbohydrate (81.06%), whereas extracted peel juice have higher quantity of CP (30.04%) and TA(7.87%). Therefore, the waste pea peels can be used as an alternative source of animal feed and serve as a better solution to the waste disposal problem by preserving this valuable biomass.
Water fetching, fuel wood and fodder collection from far off distance are the three very important task which the hill women has to perform as a part of their livelihood besides bearing the other responsibilities (household & Agriculture). Fetching water is one of the most time devoting & heavy task performed by them throughout the year due to ever shrinking water resources and forest. It leads to great drudgery in terms of time and energy consumed and also the occurrence of occupational health hazards. The present study was designed with the objective to design a device/technology/ tool to reduce the physical & physiological strain while fetching water after collecting anthropometry measurement. Results shows that 20 lit of potable water can be carried in one trip by using water bag as compared to 9-10 lit of water by traditional method. The distance travelled in fetching water was reduced from 3km/day to 1.5km/day by the use of improved technology in terms of the amount of water fetch in one trip. A major decline in physiological parameters & musculoskeletal was also recorded by fetching water using improved method. Total Cardiac Cost of Work was reduced from 794.6 beats to 725.25 beats and Physiological Cost of Work was also found to be reduced from 132.43 beats to 120.87 beats. The respondents got relief from fatigue and pain by introduction of water bag as their perceived rate of exertion was reduced from the score of 4.5 to the score of 2.6.