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Ravisankar, N.
- Physico-chemical, Biochemical and Microbial Characteristics of Soils of Mangroves of South Andaman: Impacts of Anthropogenic Disturbances
Authors
Source
Indian Forester, Vol 131, No 5 (2005), Pagination: 660-666Abstract
The impacts of anthropogenic disturbances like cutting of mangrove for fuel wood, making poles and fencing purposes and also illegal encroachment of mangrove area on the physico-chemical, biochemical and microbial characteristics of soils (0-30 cm) of major mangroves of South Andamans viz., Rhizophora mucronata, Rhizophora apiculata, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Xylocarpus granatum, Ceriops tagal and Nypa fruticans were the focus of this study. For this purpose we included soils from the inter-tidal areas of 10 disturbed and undisturbed mangrove forest sites of South Andaman. The soil pH, clay, cation exchange capacity (CEC). Al20 a and Fe203 a levels exhibited minimum variation between the disturbed and undisturbed sites. In contrast, organic C, total N, Bray P and K levels exhibited marked variation between the sites and were considerably lower at the disturbed sites. In comparison to the undisturbed sites, the levels of all the general and specific biochemical parameters were considerably lower at the disturbed sites due mainly to significant reductions in organic matter/ substrate levels. The study also indicated the low N availability and the possibility of fungi dominating over bacteria at both the mangrove sites. Overall, the study suggested that the number and activity of soil microorganisms depend mainly on the quantity ofmineralizable substrate and the availability of nutrients in thse mangrove soils.- Soil Diversity of Andaman & Nicobar Islands
Authors
Source
Indian Forester, Vol 132, No 7 (2006), Pagination: 779-784Abstract
An attempt has been made in this paper to arrive at an estimate for the first time on the distribution and extent of coastal areas of Andaman&Nicobar Islands based on the soil characteristics. The paper also suggests the future land use for the improvement in crop productivity in Andaman and Nicobar Islands based on inventory of soil resource and other natural resources, description of various constraints, limiting productivity for sustainable bioproduction like deforestation, erosion etc. The study has been made in this paper to go deep in to that facet and advocate remedial measures as a pioneer work in Andaman&Nicobar Islands.- Spatial Analysis of Groundwater Quality in the Tsunami Affected Coastal Areas of Tamilnadu, India
Authors
1 Department of Civil Engineering, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar-608 002, T. N., IN
Source
Nature Environment and Pollution Technology, Vol 6, No 4 (2007), Pagination: 583-588Abstract
Groundwater is a precious resource lying beneath the earth's surface. More than 50% of Indian population depends on groundwater for drinking water supplies. Problems due to groundwater pollution have been amplified due to urbanization, industrialization, solid and hazardous waste disposal, fertilizers, chemicals, and natural calamities such as cyclones, earthquakes and tsunami etc. In India, recent tsunami has affected most of the coastal regions of Tamilnadu. Therefore, it is very important to study the effect of tsunami on coastal water quality and to implement necessary water management strategies for sustainable development.
The study area is the coastal region of Sirkazhi taluk, Nagapattinam district, Tamilnadu, India. The water quality in this coastal region has been affected significantly by December 26, 2004 tsunami, and this study has attempted to find out the source, degree, extent and nature of the groundwater pollution in the study area. Historical data on groundwater quality of observation wells of the study area were collected from the year 1970 to 2000. Groundwater samples after tsunami were collected from the study area and analysed for water quality parameters. Various maps were prepared using ILWIS-GIS package. It was observed that the major pollution is due to conductivity, sodium and chloride. Results show that there is significant degradation in the water quality due to tsunami in the study area. A micro level study is to be carried out to manage efficiently the groundwater quality of the study area for sustainable development.
- Improvement in Productivity and Economics of Major Food Production Systems of India through Balanced Dose of Nutrients
Authors
1 ICAR-Indian Institute of Farming System Research, Modipuram, Meerut 250 110, IN
Source
Current Science, Vol 112, No 12 (2017), Pagination: 2470-2474Abstract
Increasing the nutrient use efficiency in major food production systems has always been a major concern because of escalating costs of production of crops, especially with regard to nutrient management. 'Researcher-designed farmer managed trials' were conducted during 2013-14 through farmer participatory research covering the major food production systems in India. A total of 144 trials in rice-rice, 156 in rice-wheat, 48 in rice-green gram and 60 in maize-wheat systems were conducted with 7 treatments. Across the various National Agricultural Research Project zones and cropping systems, farmers applied 29%, 25%, 71% and 100% lower level of N, P2O5, K2O and micronutrients respectively, than the recommended dose. Application of recommended dose of NPK + deficient micronutrients in all the systems recorded higher yield over farmer package. Balanced application of recommended NPK + deficit micronutrients gave additional yield. The increase in agronomic efficiency (AE) of nitrogen (two times on an average), phosphorus (45%) and potassium (60%), partial factor productivity and relative response was also observed with the balanced application compared to N, NP and NK alone. Higher increase of AE of N and P was observed in rice-rice system while AE of K was observed in rice-wheat system. Increase in net returns was found to be 24.9%, 63.3%, 27.4% and 92.2% with the application of NPK + deficient micronutrients over farmer practice in rice-rice, rice-wheat, rice-green gram and maize-wheat systems respectively, whereas the increase in cost of cultivation due to addition of P, K and micronutrients was found to be only 4.8%, 7.3%, 13.0% and 17.9% for the respective systems.Keywords
Agronomic Efficiency, Food Systems, Nutrient Application, Partial Factor Productivity, Productivity and Economics.References
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