Rapeseed-mustard is premium oilseed crop as far as edible oil availability is considered. Even after intensive improvement programme, still there is need to fill the gap between demand and supply. Estimates of epistasis though plays highly significant role, still always overlooked in almost all the statistical analysis. In present investigation, the epistasis is calculated using triple test cross analysis. The additive × additive [i] type epistasis was found to be significant for days to maturity and plant height. The estimates of non-additive [j+l] epistasis emerged highly significant for all the characters except days to 50% flowering, length of main raceme, siliquae on main raceme, primary branches per plant, number of seeds per siliqua and test weight. Total epistasis showed highly significant estimates for days to maturity, plant height, secondary branches per plant, siliqua length, siliqua density, oil content and seed yield per plant. The [i] type epistasis × blocks exhibited significant estimates only for siliqua length. None of characters showed significant estimates of [j+l] type epistasis x blocks and total epistasis x blocks. The present investigation reflected significant role of epistatic components which should be taken into consideration while suggesting breeding methodology to attain maximum outcome.
Field experiment was conducted at G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Udham Singh Nagar (Uttarakhand) during the rabi season of the year 2014-15 for -three dates of sowing and five planting geometries of mustard crop to test the truthfulness and usefulness of InfoCrop model; and subsequently to optimize the farm resources and decision making. In this study InfoCrop v 2.1 model was used to derive genetic coefficients of the Indian mustard var. RGN - 73 followed by its validation. After successful calibration of the model, simulated and observed values of the experiment were found to be in a good agreement for seed and biological yield while model underestimated the ¬LAI. Results showed a reduction of seed yield from 1780.5 kg/ha to 1556.5 kg/ha for the delay in sowing from 22nd October to 11th November under field conditions and a similar trend of decrease in yield was also simulated¬. Probability analysis was carried to optimize date of sowing at three levels e.g., 90%, 75%, and 60% for the past five years (2010 -2014). The results showed that optimum sowing window for mustard under Pantnagar region lies in the month of October (22nd -28th October) giving a potential yield of up to 2091.7 kg/ha. The planting geometry of 30 × 10 cm and, 30 × 20 cm and 30 × 30 cm was found favorable to get maximum yield under late and timely sown conditions, respectively.
The present study entitled was conducted with an aim to find out the efficacy of endophytes and their Microbial Consortium (MC) on per cent germination of rice seeds and effect on vigour index of rice seedlings. The parameters for vigour index were recorded on 7th, 14th and 21st days after germination. Rice seeds of CAU-R1 variety was used for determining the plant growth promoting (PGP) activity of the endophytes alone and in consortium under In vitro. It was found that Microbial Consortium (MC) of endophytes showed more effectiveness than the individual endophytes on Per cent seed germination (98.33%) and vigour index after 7(778), 14(2134.50) and 21(2541.42) days of seed germination.
To study the impact of the subsurface placement of vermicompost manure on the root density, growth and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L. Var. UP 2526) the most important cereal crop in the Northern region of India, an experiment was conducted under field conditions in Mollisols soil at Honey Bee Research and Training Centre, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology Pantnagar by using Tractor Drawn Subsurface Manure and Seed Applicator which was designed in Farm Machinery and Power Engineering Department of the University. An experiment was conducted with five different treatments by the subsurface manure applicator machine on the field at different exposure lengths of rectangular orifice of manure hopper viz., control, ¼th, ½nd, ¾ th and full opening position. The exposure length of fluted roller seed metering device of the machine was fixed at 1/2nd opening position by a seed rate adjustable lever under all treatments for different forward speeds viz., 2, 4 and 6 km/h and the vermicompost having 31 % moisture content (d.b) was used in all treatments. The depth of placement of wheat was fixed 50 mm by tractor automatic draft and position control lever. The treatment T1 (100 % RDN) showed the best results due to providing maximum plant height, leaf area index, root length and yield of wheat crop. Thus, subsurface application of vermicompost is recommended for higher wheat production. Subsurface placement of vermicompost by the machine resulted in thrice benefits by increasing the wheat yield as well as reducing the application rate of vermicompost per hectare in the field and reducing the labour requirement.
The field experiment was carried out during Rabi season of 2020-2021 at experimental block of School of Agricultural Sciences of the Shri Guru Ram Rai University (SAS-SGRRU), Pathribagh, Dehradun, Uttarakhand to study the effect of various nutrient management approaches on growth, yield, quality and net profit of the wheat crop. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with eight treatments viz., Control (T1 ), 100 % RDF (T2 ), 0 % RDF + FYM @ 3 t ha-1 (T3 ), 0 % RDF + FYM @ 3 t ha-1 + PSB (T4 ), 50 % RDF + FYM @ 3 t ha-1 (T5 ), 50 % RDF + FYM @ 3 t ha-1 + PSB (T6 ), 75 % RDF + FYM @ 3 t ha-1 (T7 ) and 75 % RDF + FYM @ 3 t ha-1 + PSB (T8 ) which were replicated three times. The soil of the experimental field was sandy loam with low available nitrogen & organic carbon, medium available phosphorous and available potassium. Application of 50 % RDF + FYM @ 3 t ha-1 recorded 74.3 % more wheat grain yield; 34.2 and 79.7 % more wet and dry gluten per cent respectively, compared to 100 % RDF, which is significantly higher than other nutrient management approaches. Substitution of 50 % inorganic fertilizers with FYM can be adopted for economical viable and sustainable wheat production with improved yield and quality in Western Himalayan region of Uttarakhand.
This study was conducted in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, Southern Nigeria to investigate the suitability of agricultural land resources at semi detailed soil survey level using the nonparametric approach. Eight soil mapping units were established and suitable guidelines specific for each pedons were followed in establishing the suitability of the land for cassava and yam cultivation. The data from the eight pedons covering 49,631.54 hectares area were used for the assessment. The results showed that 40,681.54 hectares representing 81.97%of the total land in Khana LGA were moderately suitable (S2) for cassava production; while 8,950 hectares representing 18.04 % of the total land area were also marginally suitable (S3) for cassava production. An area of 30,582 hectares representing 61.82% were moderately (S2) suitable for yam production and 4,750 hectares representing 8.57 % were marginally suitable (S3); while 12,450 hectares representing 25.08% were currently not suitable (N) for yam production. Furthermore, the study showed that cassava and yam can adapt to similar environment in terms of climate, soil physical characteristics and fertility. Thus, land suitability map produced from this study would guide the choice of site to increase and sustain cassava and yam production in Khana.
Sixty-three pigeonpea germplasms were screened for two years at G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar to study the resistant traits in the germplasm against pod borer complex viz., Helicoverpa armigera, Maruca vitrata and Melanagromyza obtusa. Lowest mean pod damage was observed in PA 517 (5.05%) followed by PA 526 (7.27%), PA 515 (7.79%), PA 529 (7.83%) and other 38 least susceptible germplasms as promising cultivars of pigeonpea against pod borer complex. Further, selected germplasms were studied for biophysical and biochemical traits of resistance which were substantiated with correlation studies with per cent pod damage by pod borer complex and the results showed that germplasms having lesser pod length, higher pod width, higher pod wall thickness, lower number of seeds per pod, lower number of pods per plant, higher trichome length, higher trichome density, higher phenols, lower sugars and lower proteins were less attacked by the pod borer complex. The combination of these traits of pigeonpea can be used as effective and reliable selection criteria to select resistant germplasm against pod borers.
Soybean, together with all other oilseeds, accounts for the majority of the diet and is hence the most significant crop. During Kharif 2020, this study was carried out in Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, to collect data on the pest complex and natural enemies linked with the soybean. During the course of the study, 35 insect pest species were identified, with 8 major pests (Stem Fly, Girdle Beetle, Bihar hairy caterpillar, Tobacco caterpillar, Green semilooper, White fly and Aphids) being described. To determine the natural potential for addressing insect problems, the accompanying natural enemies were also recorded. The results of this study shows that the peak activity of different insect pest at particular time such as stem fly was observed in the third week of September with 100% of infestation while the peak activity of lepidopterous pests such as Spodoptera litura (5.3 larvae per meter row) and Spilosoma obliqua (7.3 larvae per meter row) were found in the last and second week of September respectively. The sucking pests (white fly and aphids) were found on their peak at the first week of September with 16.6 pests per plant. The natural enemies including coccinellid, spiders, syrphid flies and pentatomid bug were also noticed preying on the pests. The findings of this study will aid in the development of effective insect pest management strategies, particularly against the mentioned pest with the involvement of natural enemies
Experiments were conducted to study the fumigant toxicity of essential oils of mint (Mentha arvensis), peppermint (Mentha piperita), spearmint (Mentha spicata), citronella (Cymbopogon winterianus), Nilgiri (Eucalyptus citriodora), eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus), and pine (Pinus roxburghii ) and their combinations against Lesser grain borer, Rhyzopertha dominica (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae) and Rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (Linnaeus) (Coleoptera : Curculionidae). All the oils except Nilgiri and eucalyptus oils were highly effective against both the insects at 0.2 per cent (v/w) as they suppressed 90-100 per cent progeny of test insects. Increase in concentration of essential oil to 0.4 per cent enhanced their fumigant toxicity; however, Nilgiri oil remained less effective against both the insects even at this level while eucalyptus oil became moderately and highly effective against R. dominica and S. oryzae, respectively. All the two, three, four, five, six and seven essential oils combinations were highly effective against both the insects at 0.20, 0.13, 0.10, 0.08, 0.07 and 0.06 per cent each, respectively, except mint + eucalyptus which was less effective against R. dominica and citronella + Nilgiri, citronella + eucalyptus, Nilgiri + eucalyptus and peppermint + Nilgiri + eucalyptus oils which showed slightly less efficacy against S. oryzae. The mixture of peppermint + eucalyptus, peppermint + pine and eucalyptus + pine at 0.1+0.1 per cent completely checked the progeny production of both the insects.
The long-term efficacy of some essential oils was studied against Lesser grain borer, Rhyzopertha dominica) and Rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae) at 0.40%(v/w) under laboratory condition. After 6 months storage, essential oils of Mentha arvensis), M. piperita), M. spicata), Pinus roxburghii), Cymbopogon winterianus), Eucalyptus globulus), Curcuma longa), M. citrata) and P. graveolens) were found to be highly effective by inhibiting 91.9 to 100.0 per cent progeny of R. dominica). On the other hand, the oils of E. citriodora) and C. flexuosus) became least effective due to 7.5 and 59.1 per cent suppression of progeny after 6 months. Treatment of grain with essential oils of M. arvensis), M. piperita), M. spicata), P. roxburghii), C. winterianus), E. globulus), C. longa), M. citrata) and P. graveolens) suppressed 97.3, 99.2, 99.1, 98.2, 96.8, 99.5, 98.9, 94.3 and 89.7 per cent infestation of this insect, respectively, after 6 months storage. The oils of M. arvensis), M. piperita), M. spicata), P. roxburghii), C. winterianus), E. globulus), C. longa), M. citrata) and P. graveolens) also suppressed 97.2, 99.2, 99.1, 98.3, 98.7, 98.6, 95.6 and 89.8 per cent weight loss after 6 months storage. The oils of M. arvensis), M. piperita), M. spicata), P. roxburghii), C. winterianus, E. citriodora) and E. globulus) were also highly effective against S. oryzae) after 2, 4 and 6 months storage due to 90.1 to 100.0 per cent inhibition of progeny. Except C. winterianus), all these oils were also highly effective in reducing the infestation and weight loss of grain due to S. oryzae) after 4 and 6 months storage. The result indicated that essential oils were highly effective against R. dominica) and S. oryzae) for 6 months and they can be used for protection of grain in short to medium term storage.
Black scurf is an important disease of potato caused by Rhizoctonia solani Kühn, which affects the quantitative and qualitative attributes of the crop. Chemicals are the quickest and most effective way providing varying degree of effectiveness to control this disease. Rising concerns over the ill effects of chemicals and increasing demand for organic potatoes have spurred researchers to look for organic alternatives. In this regard, various chemicals, plant extracts and organic amendments were tested under laboratory conditions. Urtica diocia at 25 per cent concentration was found to be the best among the five plant extracts tested under In vitro conditions inhibiting 83.54 per cent mycelial growth of the test pathogen followed by Pinus roxiburgii @ 25 per cent. In vitro evaluation of liquid organic amendments revealed that kunapajala (KJ) treatments were found to be better than jeevamrut and duspharni ark as KJ2 inhibited 100 per cent followed by KJ1 inhibiting 99.60 per cent mycelial growth of R. solani at 10 per cent concentration. Among the nine chemicals, the best results were depicted by penflufen as systemic fungicide and pencycuron as contact fungicide recording 94.11 and 91.02 per cent inhibition of R. solani mycelial growth at 10 and 100 µg ml1 concentration, respectively. The chemicals were further tested in the field on the crop variety Kufri Bahar during the rabi season of 2020-21 at Vegetable Research Centre, Pantnagar. Among them tuber treatment with penflufen @ 0.082 per cent was found best as it recorded 89.97 and 93.23 per cent reduction in disease incidence and disease index over control, highest yield (36.65 t/ha) and best B: C ratio (17.45). Although the chemicals were found better but U. diocia and Vrikshayurveda based kunapajala exhibited immense potential against Rhizoctonia solani the incitant of black scurf of potato which can be exploited to minimize our dependence on chemicals for its management.
Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) is a high value cash crop which is grown in different states of India including Uttarakhand, a hilly area situated in northern Himalayas. The low productivity of ginger is due to prone to various diseases and insect pests in which rhizome rot disease is one of the major obstacles caused by the fungus Pythium spp. and Fusarium spp. that reduces the yield potential drastically and may cause economic damage of 50-90 % to the crop under conducive environmental conditions. Rhizome rot disease is one of the most important ginger diseases in view of severe crop losses as it directly affects the economic part of the plant. Keeping this in view, a field experiment was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of different chemical and non-chemical treatments against ginger rhizome rot. The experiment was comprised of 14 treatments (T1 to T14) including Control (untreated), applied as seed treatment followed by two soil drenching. All the treatments were found significantly superior towards plant growth promotion, rhizome yield and disease suppression when compared to untreated control. However, the treatment T6 (Metalaxyl 3.3% + Chlorothalonil 33.1% SC) was found best with respect to disease suppression (81.09% ROC) and yield (14.01 t/ha) followed by T5 (Metalaxyl 4%+ Mancozeb 64% WP) with 78.66 % ROC for rhizome rot and yield of 13.89 t/ha and T13 (Trichoderma harzianum @ 0.5% +Pseudomonas fluorescence @ 0.5%) with 78.60% ROC for rhizome rot and yield of 13.42 t/ha which were statistically at par. With respect to plant growth promotion, treatment T13 (Trichoderma harzianum @ 0.5% +Pseudomonas fluorescence @ 0.5%) was found best with maximum number of tillers, plant height and number of leaves followed by T14 (Herbal Kunapajala @ 12.5%), T11 (Trichoderma harzianum @ 1%) and T12 (Pseudomonas fluorescence @ 1%). The highest cost benefit ratio (1: 2.56) was recorded with the treatment T13 whereas the next highest ratios of 1: 2.53 and 1: 2.50 were achieved with the treatments T6 and T5, respectively. This study, thus, concludes that all the treatments reduced severity of disease and improved plant growth traits though the treatment T13 was found most promising and economic when applied as seed treatment along with two periodic soil drenching as it minimized ginger rhizome rot and at the same time improved growth parameters and yield with highest cost benefit ratio followed by the treatments T6 and T5 under present experimental materials and conditions.
Pokkah Boeng disease is one of the most important diseases of sugarcane and is coming up as a serious issue of concern for sugarcane growers. Fusarium moniliformae variability persisting in different areas may have correlation with the severity of the disease prevalent in those areas. Therefore, a study was conducted to find out morphological variability of the isolates of pathogen in different sugarcane growing areas in Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand. Twenty isolates of the Fusarium moniliformae from Kichha, Sitarganj, Khatima, Nanakmatta, Bazpur, Pantnagar, Jawahar nagar and Kashipur showed variation in colony characteristics, conidial shape and size, indicating the existence of variability among them. Colony texture of the isolates varied from fluffy profuse submerged to cottony and wide range of pigmentation pattern was observed. Macro conidia in different isolates ranged from 21.8- 8.74µm.
Meloidogyne enterolobii is a tropical or subtropical nematode and has a broad host range, including cultivated plants and weeds. For decades, the control of sedentary nematodes has relied heavily on chemical nematicides. The present investigations were carried out to study bio-intensive management of Meloidogyne enterolobii causing root-knot disease in tomato. The experiments were laid out using different treatments of biocontrol agents (Trichoderma asperellum (Ta-14), Pseudomonas flourescens (Psf-173), PBAT 3 (consortium of Ta14 & Psf173) and Paecilomyces lilacinus (commercial) with the combination of Biofumigation (Brassica juncea & Raphanus sativus). Nematicide carbofuran was used as chemical check. All the treatments showed positive effect on the growth parameters of tomato plants. Combination of PBAT3+Biofumigation(M) resulted in maximum fresh root (7.38g) and shoot weight (36.07g) with minimum number of root galls (18.33 galls per root system) as compared to the combination of other treatments.
The investigation was carried out at Horticultural Research Center, Patharchatta, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, (Uttarakhand), during the year 2020-2021. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with 12 treatments (T1 : Nimbecidine @ 0.4%, T2 : Kunapajala @ 10%, T3 : Starch @ 1%, T4 : Starch @ 2%, T5 : Mineral oil @ 0.5%, T6 : Mineral oil @ 1.0%, T7 : Starch @ 1 % + Mineral oil @ 0.5%, T8 : Sodium bicarbonate @ 1% + mineral oil @ 0.5%, T9 : Nutrients mixture (boric acid @ 0.2% + calcium nitrate @ 0.2% + zinc sulphate @ 0.2%), T10: Fruit bagging (ordinary brown paper), T11: Fruit bagging (organic / UV/ water resistant brown paper), T12: Control) and the treatment were replicated thrice. The results of the study revealed that the treatment T11 (fruit bagging with organic / UV/ water resistant brown paper bags), was found to be most effective for increasing the yield (14.58 kg plant-1, 19.43 tonnes hectare-1), fruit weight (298.23g), shelf life (15.05 days), TSS (20.95 ºB), total sugars (16.86%), reducing sugar (5.20%) and total carotenoids (5.86 mg/ 100g). The net return (737027.2 Rs/ha) was also observed higher with the treatment T11. Thus, fruit bagging with organic /UV / water resistant brown paper bags was found most effective for increasing the yield, shelf life, quality and net return in late maturing mango cv. Amrapali.
The study aimed to develop a valid and reliable questionnaire as an aid to assess the nutrition friendliness of schools by assessing nutrition knowledge of early adolescents. Considering the school education as the major source of information, NCERT books of science for class 1st-8th were referred and 64 items were selected initially for the questionnaire. The study participants included 46.7 per cent boys, and 53.3 per cent girls of early adolescent age. For validating the questionnaire formed, it was tested in school setting. Validity (face and content), item difficulty and reliability (internal consistency reliability and testretest reliability) of the questionnaire were the main outcome measured. Reliability coefficients such as Spearman-Brown and Cronbach’s alpha were calculated for internal consistency of the test and for test-retest reliability Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used. Final questionnaire developed had 39 items under 3 subscales. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.73 for overall test along with significantly higher and positive (r = 0.79, P < 0.001) test-retest reliability coefficient. Mean scores from the questionnaire were lower in boys (Mean 59.07 ± 4.98, min: 47, max: 67) than girls (Mean: 60.75 ± 4.17, min: 56, max: 72) (p=0.3231). This tool had good reliability and also easy-to-administer with practical applications to assess nutrition friendliness of schools.
Leaf protein concentrate (LPC) is a cheap and vegetarian source of high-quality protein that can be used for dietary enrichment in various food products. The aim of this study was to compare different plants for preparation of LPC. It was found that LPC yield for curry leaves, drumstick leaves and tobacco leaves were 1.64±0.40, 6.60±0.29 and 4.32±0.17 %, respectively. Crude protein content of drumstick and tobacco leaves were 33.01± 2.48 % and 63.72± 2.99 % respectively. Tobacco leaves were identified as best source of LPC and were taken up for further nutritional evaluation. The moisture, total ash, crude protein, fat, crude fibre, carbohydrate and physiological energy value of fresh tobacco leaves were 75.38%, 3.45%, 10.39%, 0.28%, 4.13%, 6.37% and 69.56 kcal/100g, respectively. The moisture, total ash, crude protein, fat, crude fibre, carbohydrate and physiological energy value of tobacco LPC was 9.4%, 6.16%, 62.34%, 8%, 8.7%, 5.4% and 342.96 kcal/100g respectively.
Agri enterprises have predominance of health risk factors which affects to the workers health and overall wellbeing. The health problems of workers in agri enterprises increased due to incessant long working hours and uncomfortable work posture. The most common health problems experienced by workers in agri enterprises are job strain and musculoskeletal discomforts. Thus, present investigation was undertaken with the objective to assess the job strain and muscle fatigue among the workers engaged in different activities of small scale unorganized agri enterprises. Two analysis tools i.e., Job Strain Index and Rodgers Muscle Fatigue were used to find out the exposure of critical risks among the workers in different agri enterprises. The results revealed that among all the selected agri enterprise activities, highest job strain was found for the workers working in grain packaging activities particularly in loading and lifting of grains packets (JSI score 81 for each hand.) Weaving enterprise, vegetable cutting and grain packaging activities were associated with very high muscle fatigue as analyzed by the Rodgers overall priority matrix. The prevalence of job strain and muscle fatigue was found at hazardous level in workers engaged in small scale unorganized agri enterprises.
Weeding is the most important farm operations in crop production system. It is one of the most drudgery prone operation performed by the farm women. Majority of the farm women do weed control using hand tools like sickle or khurpi in squatting and bending position which decreases the work efficiency and involves a lot of drudgery and time. The main purpose of the present study is to demonstrate weeding implements (Single Wheel Hoe and Twin Wheel Hoe) for weeding in soybean crop with the objective to reduce drudgery with muscular stress and fatigue. Twenty five farm women were selected randomly from different villages of Rajgarh district for the study. The study measured the changes in heart rate (HR), area covered during weeding and cardiac cost of work (CCW) of the subjects in traditional methods of weeding (squatting and using a sickle or khurpi) vis-a-vis weeding implements (Single Wheel Hoe and Twin Wheel Hoe). It is evident from the results of the demonstration that usage of weeding implements led to significant (p<0.05). Drudgery reduction was recorded as 52 and 58 per cent for single wheel hoe and twin wheel hoe, respectively. The results underscored the importance of weeding implements usage by farm women for intercultural operations leading to reduced exhaustion and fatigue.
Nutrition transition of India in last few decades has increased the problem of overweight and obesity in its population. This has created double burden of malnutrition and also increased the risk of NCDs not only in adults but children as well. One of them is hypertension, a silent killer associated with high morbidity and mortality. Present study was aimed to study the association between childhood obesity and hypertension among children. Sixty obese (exposed group) and sixty non-obese children (control group) of 6-15 year were selected through purposive and random selection, respectively from school setting. Overall, prevalence of hypertension among children (n=120) was 26.7% (12.5% girls and 14.2% boys). Obese children (43.3%) were more likely to be hypertensive than non-obese children (10%) [X2 (2, N=120) =24.1, p= < .01]. Compared to diastolic blood pressure, systolic blood pressure was affected more by various anthropometric measures with significant positive correlation (with body weight, height, BMI, WC, %BF and Σ SF4 (p<0.01) in both boys and girls of 6-15yrs. High BMI and waist circumference increases the risk of elevated BP in children. Childhood obesity and hypertension among children had a significant positive relationship, indicating the necessity for screening obese children for hypertension to avoid future risk of NCDs.
Spring water is inexpensive and high quality, but once the groundwater emerges out as spring, it loses its natural protection provided by the overlying rock layers and therefore becomes more vulnerable to contamination threats from surface and atmospheric conditions. The increasing human population has led to urbanization and other development activity which has resulted in degradation of quality of groundwater. It is believed by huge number of people that spring water contains the perfect blend of minerals within a matrix of clean water. The myth that spring water is healthy is not entirely true as it picks up natural minerals as well as any naturally occurring metals some of which can cause serious harm. It is therefore necessary to assess and check the quality of spring water at regular interval of time. This has been explained clearly by the help of considerable number of references in this paper. The quality of water is described according to its physical and chemical characteristics. The present paper describes the importance of different physico-chemical parameters of water quality. To check the suitability of water fit for drinking purposes, Water Quality Index (WQI) method is also described.
Haridwar district lies in the western part of the Uttarakhand which is spread over in an area of 2360km 2. The river Ganga is the major resource for agricultural sector in the district as far as minerals and water supply are concerned. In the study area, majority of population depends on animal husbandry and agriculture for their livelihoods. The district receives a good amount of annual rainfall up to 950 mm but due to lack of rainwater harvesting interventions, the rainfall drains out in the form of runoff which leads to dry condition in the district. The major problem of the district was fertility of the soil. Thus, to have an idea upon the fertility of soil a complete mapping using Q-GIS was done to determine the quality of water for drinking and irrigation purpose using inverse distance weighted method. The main objective for using GIS is that it can be used widely for analyzing and storing of data, which can be further visualized on a map. It provides an automated cartographic transformation, helps for generating graphics and thematic maps. The result showed that the groundwater for Roorkee and Bhagwanpur block should be used for irrigation with higher restriction, whereas in rest blocks with moderate restriction. Bhagwanpur, Laksar and Chudiala areas needs to reroute the industrial waste for sewage treatment before meeting the streams.
The present study highlights the effectiveness and advantages of remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS)-based morphometric analysis for quantitative and qualitative assessment of Nanak Sagar catchment, Uttarakhand. For mapping remotely sensed data, GIS have been proven to be the most powerful advanced technology. The fundamental areal, linear and relief aspects of morphometric analysis were calculated after processing the DEM (Digital Elevation Model) in GIS software. The entire catchment area was divided into 13 sub-watersheds and 21 morphometric parameters were calculated for each one of them. SRTM-DEM was used in the analysis, to extract the drainage network as well as various thematic maps. Stream order (Nu ), stream length (Lu ), mean bifurcation ratio (Rbm ), drainage density (Dd ), length of overland flow (Lg ), basin length (BL ), circulatory ratio (Cr ), elongation ratio (Re ), form factor (Ff ), shape factor (Sf ), infiltration number (I n ), stream frequency (Stf ), relief (R), relief ratio (Rh ), ruggedness number (Rn ) were the parameters considered. With the total area of 407.20 km 2, drainage basin was found of having dendritic nature, and is classified as 6th order basin. SW7 is more vulnerable to erosion than other subwatersheds, with high values of I n, Stf, and Dt and should be consider for planning and management followed by SW6 and SW5. Overall analysis shows that reservoir have nearly fewer structure wise disturbances as Dd values lies between 3 to 6 and elongated shape of all sub-watersheds shows minimum runoff potential but increased yield of sediment load due to high infiltration numbers and relief.
The effect of selected carbon sources (i.e., Mollasses, Potato & Wheat flour) on biofloc development and fish growth was evaluated during November 2019 to February, 2020 using four treatments in three replicates viz., T¬0 (Control), T1 (Molasses as carbon source), T2 (Potato as carbon source) and T3 (Wheat flour as carbon source). Healthy and disease-free fish fingerlings of Cyprinus carpio haematopterus (1.633±0.177 g), Labeo catla (10.725±0.177 g), Ctenopharyngodon idella (4.550±0.177 g), Cirrhinus mrigala (1.925±0.177 g), Labeo rohita (4.950±0.177 g) and Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (11.567±0.177 g) were stocked in circular FRP tanks (dia. 2.5 m, water volume 4.0 m3) @ 200 fingerlings/tank (50 fingerlings/ m3) in the ratio of 20:15:10:15:20:20, respectively. Selected water quality parameters (water temperature, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, dissolved oxygen, free carbon dioxide, pH, total alkalinity, ammonia and nitrate) were studied weekly. During the experimental period the range of various physico-chemical parameters was demarked from all the tanks viz., temperature (13.3±0.2 to 25.4±0.25°C), electrical conductivity (302.03±0.16 to 462.69±6.71 µS cm-1), total dissolved solids (171.17±0.450 to 243.48±11.16 mg L-1), dissolved oxygen (3.95±1.13 to 10.05±0.33 mg L-1), free carbon dioxide (0 to 2.96±1.84 mg L-1), pH (2.527±0.047 to 8.84±0.300 mg L-1), total alkalinity (50±2 to 193.333±4.16 mg L-1), ammonia (0.015± 0.013 to 0.18±0.277 mg L -1) and nitrate (0.733±0.208 to 3.8±0.6 mg L-1). The recorded net fish weight gain in different treatments were 15.95 g (T1), 13.64 g (T2), 18.04 g (T3 ) and 16.02 g (T0). The highest SGR for Cirrhinus mrigala (2.14 % d-1), Cyprinus carpio haematopterus (2.13 % d-1), Labeo catla (1.41 % d-1), Ctenopharyngodon idella (2.09 % d-1) and Hypophthalmychthys molitrix (1.10 % d-1) were in T3 group while Labeo rohita performed best in T1 group with highest SGR of 1.31 % d-1. The results clearly indicated that the wheat flour is a good option for carbon supplementation in biofloc systems, which needs to be further tested in natural pond fish culture systems.
Nanotechnology is a branch of science and engineering, which plays a crucial role in numerous areas like medical, agricultural, pharmaceutical sector. Various nanoparticles are considered to be efficient drug delivery carrier. The usage of nanoparticles in vaccine formulation facilitates improved antigen stability, immunogenicity as well as slow release and targeted delivery. Several organic and inorganic nanoparticles have been evaluated for application in nanomedicines for targeted drug delivery as vaccine adjuvant system. Various Polymeric nanoparticles such as Poly Lactic Acid (PLA), Poly Lactic-Co-Glycolic Acid (PLGA), Polycaprolactone (PCL), Chitosan, Gelatin etc. have been studied as drug delivery agent for the treatment of diseases. Among inorganic nanoparticles, Calcium phosphate nanoparticles have been considered as most suitable and safe vaccine adjuvants due to their high biodegradability and biocompatibility. These nanoparticles are cost-effective and have hydrophilic nature, better stability and potential efficacy to produce better immune response in comparison to other nanoparticle adjuvant system.
The present study was conducted on 308 Sahiwal cows sired by 38 bulls spared over a period of 32 years (1981- 2012), maintained at the Instructional Dairy Farm and AICRP on cattle -Sahiwal (field unit) at G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, and ChakGanjaria Government Cattle Farm Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The overall least- square means for first lactation milk yield (FLMY), first lactation length (FLL), first peak yield (FPY), days attain to first peak yield (DAFPY), age at first calving (AFC), first calving interval (FC1) and first service period (FSP) were as 1927.50±36.68 kg, 290.42±5.57 days, 11.15±0.39 kg and 41.78±2.97 days, 1281.89±15.57 days, 426.70±8.53 days and 140.85±8.90 days, respectively. The season was found to influence the first lactation milk yield at 5% level of significance. The period of calving significantly (P < 0.05) influenced first peak yield and age at first calving while it was non-significantly influencing FLL, FLMY, DAFPY, FC1 and FSP.
The present study was conducted to evaluate the impact of Probiotics and growth stimulants on growth performance of murrah buffalo calves. The calves were selected from Livestock Research Center at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture & Technology, Meerut. Eighteen murrah buffalo were divided into three groups. T0 as control in which animals were fed normal basal diet while in group T1 and T2 animals were fed in addition to normal basal diet, one and two bolus of probiotics and growth stimulant (Ecotas bolus), respectively. Each bolus contains (Lactobacillus sporogenes 20×106 CFU, Saccharomyces cerevisiaei 25×109CFU, Aspergillus oryzae 20×106 CFU, Zinc sulphate 200 mg, Cobalt sulphate 40 mg, Copper sulphate 100 mg, DL-Methionine 1 g and Fructo-oligosaccharide 250 mg). The parameters studied were growth Body weight at fortnightly interval, body weight gain, average daily gain, feed consumption and Feed conversion ratio. The supplementation of probiotics and growth stimulants had significant effect on body weight gain, average daily gain and FCR. Probiotic and growth stimulants supplementation showed improved total gain 26.22 and 33.32 %, ADG 23.48 and 32.35 % and FCR 12.32 and 15.67 % in T1 and T2 group respectively. On the basis of above results It may be concluded that the “Ecotas bolus” a combination of probiotics and growth stimulants improved growth performance and feed conversion efficiency in buffalo calves.
