Arvind K. Shukla

Improving nitrogen and phosphorus use efficiencies through inclusion of forage cowpea in the rice–wheat systems in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of India

Abstract In high productivity zones of Indo-Gangetic Plains in south Asia, the rice–wheat system is stressed due to production fatigue as evidenced by declining soil organic matter content, low efficiency of fertilizer use and diminishing rates of factor productivity. We, therefore, conducted field experiments at Modipuram, India, to conserve soil organic carbon, improve N and P use efficiency, and increase yields of rice–wheat system through inclusion of forage cowpea during the summer before cultivating the rice–wheat system. Cowpea forage harvested at 50 days removed greater amounts of N and P through aboveground biomass than those recycled through belowground roots and nodules. The NO 3 -N in soil profile below 45xa0cm depth after wheat harvest was greater under fallow during summer than under cowpea, suggesting that cowpea minimized NO 3 -N leaching beyond 45xa0cm depth. Similarly, in the treatments receiving both 120xa0kgxa0N and 26xa0kgxa0Pxa0ha −1 , NO 3 -N in soil below 45xa0cm depth was lower compared to those receiving N or P alone. After three crop cycles, soil OC content in 0–15 and 15–30xa0cm depths was greater compared to initial OC in plots having cowpea. P applied at 26xa0kgxa0ha −1 increased available P content over initial P content, and also over P content of soil under no P treatments. The available P content was, however, invariably low under summer cowpea plots as compared to that under no cowpea ones. With continuous rice–wheat cropping, the bulk density (BD) of soil increased over the initial BD at different profile-depths, more so at 30–45xa0cm depth in no cowpea plots, but inclusion of summer cowpea helped decreasing the BD in the surface (0–15xa0cm) and sub-surface (15–30 and 30–45xa0cm) soil layers. Summer cowpea grown on residual fertility after wheat harvest did not influence rice yield, but increased wheat grain yield ( P

Electrochemically impregnated aluminum-stabilized alpha-nickel hydroxide electrodes

Nickel-positive electrodes obtained by electrochemical impregnation of aluminum-substituted alpha-nickel hydroxide are found to deliver a reversible discharge capacity of ca. 450 mAh/g. This is much higher than the capacity of beta-nickel hydroxide electrodes [200 mAh/g: this work; 225 mAh/g: Dixit et al., J. Power Sources, 63, 167 (1996)] prepared under identical conditions and pasted electrodes comprising cobalt-doped nickel hydroxide [345 mAh/g: Faure et al., J. Power Sources, 36, 497 (1991)]. These observations suggest that the theoretical target-capacity for high-performance nickel-positive electrodes must be revised from the currently accepted value of 289 mAh/g (le exchange) to 491 mAh/g [1.7e exchange: Corrigan and Knight, J. Electrochem. Soc., 136, 613 (1989)]

Microbial Biomass and Carbon Mineralization in Agricultural Soils as Affected by Pesticide Addition

A laboratory study was conducted with four pesticides, viz. a fungicide (carbendazim), two insecticides (chlorpyrifos and cartap hydrochloride) and an herbicide (pretilachlor) applied to a sandy clay loam soil at a field rate to determine their effect on microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and carbon mineralization (Cmin). The MBC content of soil increased with time up to 30xa0days in cartap hydrochloride as well as chlorpyrifos treated soil. Thereafter, it decreased and reached close to the initial level by 90th day. However, in carbendazim treated soil, the MBC showed a decreasing trend up to 45xa0days and subsequently increased up to 90xa0days. In pretilachlor treated soil, MBC increased through the first 15xa0days, and thereafter decreased to the initial level. Application of carbendazim, chlorpyrifos and cartap hydrochloride decreased Cmin for the first 30xa0days and then increased afterwards, while pretilachlor treated soil showed an increasing trend.

Electrode impedance parameters and internal resistance of a sealed LiC/Li1-xCoO2 lithium-ion rechargeable battery

The individual electrode impedance parameters and internal resistance of a sealed LiC/Li1-xCoO2 lithium-ion rechargeable battery were estimated by a galvanostatic nondestructive technique. Various resistive components of the battery were found to be minimum between state-of-charge values 0.5–0.9. It is expected that the operation of the battery within about 50% of its depth-of-discharge would prolong the charge/discharge cycle life of the battery.

Design of K-Band printed array antenna for SATCOM applications

This paper presents the design of 256 (16 times 16) elements planar microstrip array antenna at K-band frequencies using corporate feeding network. The array antenna has been designed and developed for miniaturized satellite communication (SATCOM) ground terminals. The impedance bandwidth achieved for VSWR Lt 2.0 is 540 MHz (~ 2.7%). The achieved mid-band gain of the array antenna is about 29 dBi and E & H-Plane 3-dB beamwidths are 4.5deg each. The measured sidelobes level for the array is better than 12 dB. Overall efficiency of antenna array is about 50%. The array antenna was developed using the MIC photolithography technique on the 30 mil (0.757 mm) RT - Duroid 5880 (epsivr = 2.22) dielectric substrate.

Evaluation of Nutritional Status and Yield Limiting Nutrients in Oil Palm Plantations of Cauvery Delta Zone of Tamil Nadu

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) is grown in many countries, including India, to meet vegetable oil requirement. Assessment of soil properties and leaf nutrient concentration in oil palm plantations is required for effective nutrient management and higher crop yield. Therefore, the present study was carried out by analyzing 104 soil samples and 52 leaf samples collected from oil palm plantations of Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu, India. The soil properties like pH, electrical conductivity (EC), organic carbon (OC), available nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), exchangeable calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) and available sulphur (S) and boron (B) in 0–20 and 20–40 cm soil depth varied widely with CV values ranging from 7.44 to 89.4%. Leaf nutrient concentration varied from 1.11 to 3.17, 0.05 to 0.18, 0.21 to 0.98, 1.24 to 2.23, 0.17 to 0.86, 0.08 to 0.22% and 21.8 to 77.7 mg kg−1 for N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S and B, respectively. Diagnosis and recommendation integrated system (DRIS) norms and indices were derived from different nutrient expressions. The order of requirement of leaf nutrients was found to be K > P > N > Mg > B. Optimum leaf nutrient range for N, P, K, Mg and B were estimated as 1.61 to 2.11%, 0.10 to 0.12%, 0.33 to 0.81%, 0.23 to 0.73% and 30.6 to 54.8 mg kg−1, respectively, which could be used for guiding balanced application of fertilizers. On the whole, 15, 31, 2, 8 and 10% of leaf samples had below optimum concentrations of N, P, K, Mg and B, respectively.

Root Activity and Antioxidant Enzyme Activities of Rice Cultivars under Different Iron Toxicity Mitigation Options

Iron (Fe) toxicity is a widespread environmental problem of rice growing area in many parts of the world. Amendments and genotypes can be used to mitigate the Fe toxicity. Several strategies may be adopted by higher plants to cope up with high levels of soluble Fe in their environment. A field experiment was carried out in acidic laterite soil having 400 mg kg−1 di-ethylene tri-amine-penta-acetic acid extractable Fe (DTPA-Fe) to assess the root activity and antioxidant enzyme activities of rice cultivars under different soil management options in Fe toxic soil. The treatments comprised of four cultivars (two each tolerant and susceptible) and six amendments. The amendments resulted into the increase in soil pH as compared to the control, which helps in mitigation of Fe toxicity. Tolerant cultivars recorded significantly higher rice root oxidation and Fe plaque deposition as compared to sensitive cultivars under all the soil management treatments. Cultivars also differed significantly in the amount of Fe plaque on the roots under control. Iron concentration in the roots showed a reverse trend as compared to Fe oxidation and Fe plaque for all the cultivars and soil management treatments. Under high toxic Fe level (control), due to high activity of peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) mechanisms of antioxidative defense were more active for tolerant cultivars as compared to susceptible cultivars. The effect of defense mechanism of the tolerant cultivars is manifested in yield and under control condition, higher yield were reported for tolerant cultivars as compared to susceptible. Lime application is the most effective way to overcome the Fe toxicity, which increased the yield of both the tolerant and susceptible rice cultivars. Rice roots plays important role in alleviating the Fe toxicity by oxidizing the Fe2+ and excluding its uptake. Iron resistance of the tolerant cultivars is also attributed to the comparatively high levels of POD, CAT, and SOD activities in the leaf tissues. The differential response of the cultivars to the Fe-toxicity is due to differential ability of Fe compartmentation, root oxidation power and ability of cultivars to produce antioxidative stress enzymes. The mechanisms of Fe toxicity tolerance both in plant and soil are result of combined effect of genetics of the crop plant and management interventions.

Yield and zinc, copper, manganese and iron concentration in maize (Zea mays L.) grown on Vertisol as influenced by zinc application from various zinc fertilizers

September 14-15, 2012 Volume 1 Issue 2 63 Agrotechnol ISSN:2168-9881 AGT, an open access journal C oriented production systems have become important in the agribusiness sector. A change regarding the need for differentiation has occurred in the perception of companies, producers, distribution channels and other players involved in the production of agribusiness commodities. There is a discussion on how to achieve it. The use of branding which is understood as the process involved in creating and promoting strong brands is a way to obtain differentiation. The creation and promotion of strong brands for Indian agribusiness is an important aspect for the strategies of Indian agribusiness companies, farmers and agri entrepreneurs and exporters for entering as well as create a competitive advantage in the domestic and global market .Build strong brands could be a useful way to escape standard market prices for commodities, creating value, providing income for all links involved in the production chain. With the increasing trend towards the use of branded products and in this new environment of consumers seeking for quality, origin certification, confidence attributes, and for more organic and green production standards, there are huge possibilities for creation of brands that meet this kind of demand. India’s geographical location, its natural resources, and expertise in the production of certain agribusiness commodities, allows the country an opportunity for adding and creating competitive value to many domestic products.This paper quoting Indian and International examples intends to suggest propositions regarding the use of branding strategies in agribusiness commodities, concepts such as Co-branding, Branding Ecosystem and Ingredient Branding as well as problems associated with branding.Arecanut well known for consumption of its fruit (bettle nut) as a masticator in India and in the middle and Far East is being tried for utilizing its leaf sheath as an alternative fodder for animal. India has the highest producer area under cultivation of arecanut in the world and is mostly grown in southern part and in the north-eastern region of the country. Considering its higher economic profitability, many farmers have replaced it with paddy cultivation, resulting in shortage of paddy straw for its use as animal fodder. Recently the arecanut sheath has been investigated for use as a dry fodder for cattle, and an alternative to paddy straw. The arecanut tree sheds about 10 leaves (sheaths) per year hence total production of sheaths is around 4380 sheaths per year per hectare. The size of this areca sheath is about 20-35 cm feet wide and 30-120 cm length. The available machineries for chaff making have been tried to chop the arecanut sheath into suitable fodder size. However due to physical and biological characteristics of the sheath, none of them were found suitable to get desired size. A factorial experiment was therefore conducted using texture analyzer to study the cutting characteristics of the arecanut sheath for proper size reduction. Three different cutting con figurations were evaluated for cutting energy requirements, peak cutting forces required and the quality of cut obtained. A two dimensional shearing configuration was found to be suitable for size reduction of arecanut sheath with peak cutting force of 350 N. The inclination angle of cutter knife and speed of cut were not found to be significantly affecting the phenomenon of cutting.Agri-2012 September 14-15, 2012 Volume 1 Issue 2 29 Agrotechnol ISSN:2168-9881 AGT, an open access journal T ever increasing demand for large numbers of laboratory reared insects for bioassays has necessitated the development of efficient and economical methods for mass production of insect pests. Several methods have been developed for artificial rearing of cotton bollworm/legume pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera. However, it is difficult to maintain the culture of this insect in the laboratory for more than five generations because of onset of pathogen infection, and inbreeding depression resulting in reduce fecundity and egg hatching. Therefore, the present studies were planned to overcome the problems faced in maintaining the culture of H. armigera on a long-term basis under laboratory conditions. We evaluate plastic cups, glass vials, and cell well plates for maintaining the culture of this insect. The larval survival was significantly greater in insects reared individually in cellwells (95.33%), followed by glass vials (79.33 %), and poor in plastic cups and Petri plates where the insects were reared in groups. The weights of the larvae were also more in insects reared in cell wells, although the differences between different methods were not significant. The indigenously available cell well plates were quite suitable for rearing H. armigera, and these are amenable to surface sterilization, reusable, and hence, suitable for mass rearing of H. armigera.September 14-15, 2012 Volume 1 Issue 2 77 Agrotechnol ISSN:2168-9881 AGT, an open access journal B in agricultural systems is under pressure worldwide. The loss of genetic resources due to their declining use in modern agriculture has resulted in major concerns about the future vulnerability of agricultural production and related pest and disease risks and food security. Climate change and increasingly dramatic shifts in land use threaten to exacerbate the existing biodiversity crisis. Various international conventions have addressed this topic; this has moved the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources issue to the top of the international development agenda. Over the past decade, a series of important steps have been taken to protect agro biodiversity in particular, which mainly includes the plant genetic resources on which agriculture depends. These and further efforts are vital for enabling countries and communities to meet their food needs, for improving rural livelihoods, and ultimately for protecting the well-being of all people now and in the future. A prerequisite for conserving biodiversity is proper identification and establishment of identity of a particular entity. Taxonomical characterization is a tedious and time consuming task, especially for plant species with long life cycle. DNA bar-coding is emerging as a preferred global standard in molecular taxonomy, which promises to bring a significant level of automation, standardization and high-throughput data analysis for identification of biological entity. The need for a rapid, accurate, identification of closely related genotypes can be achieved by DNA based identification system .Assessment of diversity by using molecular markers has recently been proposed and demonstrated on a large scale through the use of a short DNA sequence. DNA bar-coding has already proved useful for identification of animal species. In plants it is only beginning to attract the attention of the DNA bar-coding community.September 14-15, 2012 Volume 1 Issue 2 59 Agrotechnol ISSN:2168-9881 AGT, an open access journal I tropical and sub-tropical Island climate, coconut is the major plantation crop cultivated throughout the Islands as a source to sustain the small livelihood to the small and marginal family. Copra is produced after drying coconut either through sun drying or other traditional method “Machan”. Again, due to adverse effect of heavy rainfall (2800-3500mm), temperature (25-32oC) and relative humidity (75-95%) year round, high microbial infection to the product is observed, causing low quality of copra leading to lower income to the producers. Moreover, the traditional method of producing copra is quite tedious, fetching lower remuneration price in the domestic market. Keeping in view, a biomass fired copra dryer has been designed, developed and tested in the Island conditions at Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India which is located at 11° 40’ N and 92° 46’ E. The aim was to increase in employment generation to the rural households who are engaged with traditional method of copra production. The capacity of dryer is 1000 coconuts per batch using MS frame (2.4 m x 1.2 m x 1.6 m). The drying bed made of M.S bar grill kept at a height of 1 meter above the ground level. The results indicated that the biomass fired dryer took 20hrs including 3 hrs of preheating time to reduce the initial moisture content of 55 % (w.b) to the safe final moisture content of 6% (w.b) where as in comparision to solar dryer and open sun drying, it saves 37 % and 50% of total drying time respectively. The average temperature recorded in the drying chamber was 50-55 0C. The dryer About 80 kg of fuel is used and it requires three man powers to obtain better quality copra. The coconut shell may be used for fuel which saves manpower and energy, thereby enhancing net return to the farmers.

Serum thyroxine and triiodothyronine levels in newborns: effect of gestational age

Serum T4 and T3 were measured in 31 newborns of gestational ages 32–43 weeks. Out of 31, 11 were term, 12 preterm and 8 postterm. Blood samples were taken from cord blood and from peripheral vein at 24 and 72 hours of age. Serum T4 and T3 values were low in cord blood samples, raised in 24 hours samples and then declined in 72 hour samples. In pretern newborns cord T4 and T3 values were significantly lower and there was a blunted rise and fall in 24 and 72 hours samples as compared to term newborns. In post term newborns cord serum T4 and T3 values were significantly raised while in peripheral vein samples difference was statistically insignificant as compared to term newborns. This high incidence of low cord values and transient hypothyroxinemia observed in preterm and postnatal surge of T4 may give rise to false results while screening for hypothyroidism.