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Bikas Mandal ¹, Deb Prasad Ray ², Amrit Kumar Hansda ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Agriculture, Govt. of West Bengal, IN
2 National Institute Research on Jute and Allied Fibre Technology,12, Regent Park, Kolkata - 700920, IN

Abstract

Intensive efforts for suitable adoption and self-styled promotion of modern concept of conservation agriculture have been undertaken in India for nearly last one and half decades and it is only in the last few years our farmers have started to think of and accept the technologies. Soils under conservation agriculture have high water infiltration capacity reducing surface runoff, soil erosion and improving ground water recharge. To convince the farmers to shift from a system of crop production that encourages tillage for centuries to the one in which tillage is reduced or even avoided has become a very hard obstacle before the successful adaptation of the technology. In the north western states like Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, and eastern states of UP, Bihar and West Bengal, development and adoption of Zero Tillage cum seed cum fertilizer drill machine for seeding wheat crop in Rice-Wheat system has been the indicator of such efforts. Area under wheat with this technology is now rapidly increasing in these states because it allows reduction in production costs, time and labour, particularly at times of peak demand such as land preparation and planting of the crop and helps in sustaining the productivity with judicious utilization of valuable resources. The State is suffering the yield gap of 45-66% for this crop at present. In order to cater to the needs of increasing requirement of production, reducing the yield gap is imperative and this technology can play a very promising role in this context.

Keywords

Resource Conserving Technology, Wheat, West Bengal

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Kaushik Majumdar ¹, Deb Prasad Ray ², Somsubhra Chakraborty ³, Tapas Pandit ⁴

Affiliations
1 Soil Testing Laboratory, Kalimpong, Darjeeling, West Bengal, IN
2 National Institute of Research on Jute & Allied Fibre Technology, 12, Regent Park, Kolkata -7j,00, IN
3 Ramakrishna Vivekananda University, Narendrapur, IN
4 West Bengal Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Darjeeling, West Bengal, IN

Abstract

Darjeeling district is one of the important Hilly Districts of India. It is located in the Mahabharat Range or Lesser Himalaya at an average elevation of 6,710 ft (2,045.2m). it is noted for its tea industry and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Darjeeling hill areas are unique for environmental Eco-perception. The relief varies from 100 Mts. Above sea level to the mighty Kanchanjungha. There are different climatic zones with distinctive attributes and there are endangered animals like red panda etc along with memory orchids and medicinal plants are available in this hilly region. The soils of Darjeeling Hill area have developed depending upon the underlying geological structure. But, in general the sols have been developed by both fluvial action and lithological disintegration. The soil that have developed in the Kalimpong area are predominantly reddish in color. Occasional dark soils are found due to extensive existence of phyllitic and schists. Soil in the highlands stretching from the west to the east of the district along most of the interfluvial areas are mainly clayey loam and reddish in color. However, as per nutrient status, the soil is very poor in nutrient content in major part of hills. Further, no in depth study has been made to evaluate the nutrient status of Darjeeling District for last six (6) years from these soil samples. Data of the soil status of Darjeeling district on the basis of various parameters such as pH, ECE, Organic C, available phosphorus, available potassium, year wise from 2004 to 2010, to detect if there is any change in the trend of the soil nutrient status over those years.

Keywords

Soils, Hilly Soils, Darjeeling District

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Deb Prasad Ray ¹, Pratik Satya ², Sabyasachi Mitra ², Pradipta Banerjee ¹, Rakesh Kumar Ghosh ¹

Affiliations
1 National Institute of Research on Jute and Allied Fibre Technology 12, Regent Park, Kolkata – 700040, IN
2 Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied Fibres, Barrakpore, Kolkata–700 120, IN

Abstract

Ramie is considered as a valuable textile fibre and is known from ancient times. It is considered as the queen of all fibres due to its
lustre as well as high tenacity, enhanced strength and good microbial resistivity. The fibre is extracted from the stem of the plant.
It is an herbaceous perennial growing plant and is one of the oldest vegetable fibres that have been used for thousands of years.
The raw ramie fibres obtained by decortications consists of long fibres in which they are tightly cemented together by gum. The
raw ramie fibre contains high proportion (25-30%) of colloidal pectic gummy substances. It is apparent that removal of gum from
decorticated ramie is necessary to unveil its unique properties and make it suitable for textile purpose. The cost of extraction and
degumming is the major disadvantage of ramie fibre. The process of removal of gum requires chemical, microbial or rather
enzymatic treatment which is difficult to perform in farmers’ level. Literature scan showed that there is hardly any standard method
of degumming. Moreover, no standard method has been found full proof for extraction of textile grade ramie fibre. Therefore, an
integrated methodology which include all the above mentioned conventional methods and non-conventional biotechnological
technologies have been evaluanted to degum raw ramie fibres to obtain the textile grade ramie fibre.

Keywords

Ramie, Degumming, Natural Fibre, Chemical Degumming, Microbial Degumming, Textile

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