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R. Kaushal , K. S. Verma , K. N. Singh

Abstract

Decomposition rates and nutrient dynamics of Populus deltoides litter was investigated in three year old coppiced plantation situated in the mid-hills of Himachal Pradesh using the nylon net bags. Complete loss of Populus leaf litter was achieved in 20 months. The decomposition constant (k) was worked out to 1.27. Significant and a positive correlation was observed between decomposition and climatic parameters viz., rainfall and temperature (R² = 0.61), whereas temperature did not exhibit any significant influence on the decomposition rate. Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) dynamics in decomposing litter revealed that concentration of nitrogen, phosphorus and calcium did not follow any specific trend during the decomposition process. Potassium and magnesium concentration, however, revealed a decreasing trend throughout the study period. Changes in absolute amount, on the other hand, followed a release pattern through the study period for N, K and Mg. P and Ca, however, depicted a three-phase pattern i.e. leaching, immobilization and release during the entire course of investigations.

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Kamal Sharma , N. K. Joshi , K. S. Verma

Abstract

Effect or four levels of phosphorus (0, 30, 45 and 60 kg P₂O₅ ha^-1) and three levels of molybdenum (0,40 and 80 g Mo ha^-1) has been studied on concentration and uptake of N, P, K and Mo by R. pseudacacia seedlings. N, P, K and Mo concentration as well as their uptake enhanced significantly with the application of phosphorus whereas with molybdenum application, only P, K and Mo showed significant enhancement. However, combined application of both, phosphorus and molybdenum proved highly effective in increasing P, K and Mo content and uptake in R. pseudacacia.

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K. S. Verma , Kamal Sharma , N. K. Joshi

Abstract

Growth and biomass production of black locust have been observed to be increased significanlly at 30 kg P₂O₅ ha^-1 Mo application did not cause any significant variation in growth parameters, However biomoss production increased significantly upto 40g Mo ha^-1. 30 kg phosphorus and 40g molybdenum per hectare applied together showed the maximum and significant increase in growth and biomass production.

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B. K. Sharma ¹, S. S. Kushwah ¹, K. S. Verma ¹, O. P. Singh ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Vegetable Science, College of Horticulture, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Gwalior, Mandsaur - 458 001, IN
2 Department of Plant Physiology and Botany, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Gwalior, Mandsaur - 458 001, IN

Abstract

Fifteen combinations of three French bean varieties viz., Arka Komal (V₁), Swaran Priya (V₂) and Contender (V₃) and five fertilizer levels (F₁- 20:40:40:20kg/ha NPKS; F₂- 40:40:40:20kg/ha NPKS; F₃ - 60:60:60:40kg/ha NPKS; F₄ - 80:60:60:40kg/ha NPKS, and F₅ -100:80:80:50kg/ha NPKS) were tested in factorial Randomized Block Design, with three replications. Among the varieties, Swaran Priya was superior for growth attributes, yield attributes and yield. Among fertilizer levels, F₅ (100:80:80:50kg/ha NPKS) resulted in highest growth parameters, yield parameters and yield of pods. Economic evaluation showed that variety Swaran Priya under F₅ (100:80:80:50kg/ha NPKS) resulted in maximum gross returns, net returns and cost:benefit ratio for green pod production.

Keywords

French Bean, Varieties, Fertilizer Levels, Growth, Yield, Economics.

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Rachit Kashyap ¹, K. S. Verma ², Meena Thakur ¹, Yashveer Verma ³, Shreya Handa ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Environmental Science, Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan-173 230, Himachal Pradesh, IN
2 College of Forestry, Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan-173 230, Himachal Pradesh, IN
3 Department of Biotechnology, Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan-173 230, Himachal Pradesh, IN

Abstract

A comparative pot experiment was conducted in 2014 to study heavy metal contamination in soil and bioaccumulation in leaves and ischolar_mains of Spinacia oleracea (spinach) on irrigation with paper mill effluent (PME). Study revealed that there was significant increase in the content of copper (Cu, +81.62 %) at (P<1%), iron (Fe, +79.62 %), zinc (Zn, +90.73 %), cadmium (Cd, +98.99 %), lead (Pb, +95.91 %), nickel (Ni, +98.40 %), chromium (Cr, +97.54 %) at (P<0.1%) in the soil irrigated with PME as compared to soil irrigated with pond water (PW) (control). Increasing PME doses from 10 % (10 % PME + 90 % PW) up to 80 % (80 % PME + 20 % PW) caused a progressive increase in the accumulation of metals, i.e. Fe, Zn, Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni and Cr in the ischolar_mains and leaves of S. oleracea. The metals accumulated in the plant parts (ischolar_main and leaves) of S. oleracea showed significant (p<5%) and a positive correlation with different concentrations of PME. Among various metallic concentrations high values of heavy metals such as Fe (10.97±0.02 mg/kg), Zn (8.45±0.10 mg/kg), Cd (7.63±0.08 mg/kg), Cu (12.12±0.09 mg/kg), Pb (6.47±0.04 mg/kg), Ni (8.48±0.10 mg/kg), and Cr (5.81±0.02 mg/kg) were found in ischolar_mains compared to Fe (9.58±0.06 mg/kg), Zn (6.68±0.06 mg/kg), Cd (5.67±0.01 mg/kg), Cu (10.30±0.11 mg/kg), Pb (4.83±0.03 mg/kg), Ni (6.84±0.02 mg/kg) and Cr (4.50±0.09 mg/kg) in leaves of S. oleracea irrigated with 80 % (80 % PME + 20 % PW) dose. Thus, the practice of using undiluted PME as agro-based organic fertilizer for irrigation increased the concentration of heavy metals which were accumulated in S. oleracea, posing a potential threat to human health from this practice of irrigation. Therefore, proper dilution of PME appears to be necessary for irrigation purpose for the minimum accumulation of heavy metals in soil and plants.

Keywords

Bioaccumulation, Heavy Metals, Paper Mill Effluent, Spinacia oleracea.

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Ravinder Singh ¹, K. S. Verma ², Sanjay Kumar ²

Affiliations
1 CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Bilaspur at Berthin-174 029, IN
2 CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Bilaspur at Berthin-174 029, IN

Abstract

Onion occupies an important place in daily diet and is semi-perishable in nature. The production of off-season onion in Kharif season in North Indian plains can stabilize the market supply of fresh onion as well as its price in winter and spring seasons. Keeping this in view, the present investigation was carried out at the experimental farm of Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh during 2013 and 2014. Two varieties namely, N-53 and Agrifound Dark Red (AFDR) were evaluated using sets and seedlings following randomized block design in four replications along with Farmer practice (FP). The marketable bulb yield of both the varieties raised through sets was significantly higher than those raised from seedlings during both the years. The higher bulb yield was the result of low mortality of seedlings and improved crop stand which resulted in higher economic returns. In another experiment on weed management practices, pre- emergence application of alachlor and pendimethalin @ 1.00 kg a.i. /ha, respectively along with hand weeding at 40 days after planting resulted in significantly higher bulb yield compared to their sole application. Hence, Kharif onion crop raised through sets of AFDR variety followed by N-53 is better than seedling raised crop under low hill conditions of Himachal Pradesh.

Keywords

Onion, Seedlings, Weed Management, Bulb Yield.

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D. Saxena ¹, Sayak Bhaumik ², S. N. Singh ², K. S. Verma ³

Affiliations
1 Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, IIET, Bareilly (UP), IN
2 Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, IN
3 Department of Electrical Engineering, KNIT, Sultanpur (UP), IN

Abstract

Power quality is becoming a major concern due to increase penetration of power electronics devices and smart grid initiatives. This paper presents an effective methodology to optimally place the Power Quality Monitors (PQMs) to get complete information of the network even under the some outages which makes the system completely observable. Binary Particle Swarm Optimization (BPSO) technique has been used to minimize the numbers of PQM required to make system completely observable and to maximize the measurement redundancy. An index based two-step method has been proposed. Simulation result of the proposed method on IEEE-14 bus system, IEEE-24 bus system IEEE-30 bus system, 13 bus feeder system, 34 bus feeder system, 37 bus feeder system are presented to demonstrate the suitability of the proposed method.

Keywords

Power Quality Monitors, Binary Particle Swarm Optimization, Observability, Optimal Placement.

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Abhishek Rana ¹, R. S. Chandel ¹, K. S. Verma ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Entomology, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur-176 062, IN

Abstract

The efficacy of six insecticides namely chlorpyriphos 20 EC (5.0 ml/kg seed), imidacloprid 17.8 SL (5.0 ml/kg seed), clothianidin 50 WDG (3.5 g/kg seed), thiamethoxam 25 WG (3.5 g/kg seed), bifenthrin 10 EC (2.5 ml/kg seed) and chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC (2.5 ml/kg seed) as seed treatment was tested against grubs of Melolontha indica Hope under laboratory conditions. Rajmash, Phaseolus vulgaris L. was used as test crop. The experiment was conducted in plastic trays filled with soil and farm yard manure (FYM) in 3:1 ratio. In each tray, ten third instar grubs of M. indica were released and 20 treated rajmash seeds were sown at a depth of about 5 centimeter. The results revealed that plants from chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC (2.5 ml/kg seed) treated seeds registered least mortality (20.0 %), followed by chlorpyriphos 20 EC (5 ml/kg seed) (21.67 %) at 10 days after sowing (DAS). The grub mortality recorded in seeds treated with chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC (2.5 ml/kg seed) and chlorpyriphos 20 EC (5 ml/kg seed) was 56.67 and 46.67 per cent, respectively at 20 DAS. Therefore, seed treatment with chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC (2.5 ml/kg seed) could be another alternative in addition to chlorpyriphos 20 EC (5 ml/kg seed) for effective management of M. indica grubs infesting rajmash under field conditions in high hills of north western Himalaya.

Keywords

Insecticides, Rajmash, Seed Treatment, White Grubs.

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