Drought: A Common Environmental Disaster

Droughts have been identified as an environmental hazard by environmentalists, ecologists, hydrologists, meteorologists, geologists, and agricultural experts. Droughts are characterised by a decrease in precipitation over a lengthy period, such as a season or a year, and can occur in virtually all climatic zones, including both high and low rainfall locations. This study reviewed drought-related impacts on the environment and other components particularly, in South Africa. Several attempts have been made using innovative technology such as earth observation and climate information as recorded in studies. Findings show that the country is naturally water deficient, which adds to the climate fluctuation with the average annual rainfall in South Africa being far below the global average of 860 mm per year. Drought in South Africa’s Western Cape Province, for example, has resulted in employment losses in the province’s agriculture sector. According to the third quarterly labor force survey from 2017, the agricultural industry lost almost 25,000 jobs across the country. In the Western Cape province, about 20,000 of these were lost which has a direct impact on income generation. Many of these impacts were linked to drought events.

Determinants of Skill Levels of Farm Youth with regard to Agripreneurship: A Multinomial Regression Approach

This study investigated various determinants of the differential level of skill as perceivedby farm youth engaged in agripreneurship. The existing agripreneurial skill levels weredelineated by developing a composite index constituting of 5 skill dimensions. Purposivesampling was adopted to select the rural youth belonging to farming background andinvolved in agripreneurship for higher income in five districts of Odisha representing fivedifferent agro-climatic zones. A total of 250 farm youth was sampled from the selected 10blocks. The findings of the study revealed that, annual income from primary occupation,agripreneurial training, social media exposure and agripreneurship experience havesignificantly affected the existing level of skill possessed by farm youth with regard toagripreneurship. The findings affirm the need for extension personnel to understand theexisting skill level, capacities, abilities of farm youth along with the factors determiningthem in order to create awareness and build capacities required for agripreneurship.

Climatic classification of Bangladesh

Using climatological data for 27 years of 16 stations an attempt has been made to classify the climate of Bangladesh by the method of Ivanov (1941. 1956 & 1958). Selianinov (1966). Gorsinkii and Shever (1976). By Ivanov's method it has been established that there are three climatic zones in Bangladesh (i) zone with simple humid climate- western bordering districts of Bangladesh; (ii) zone with sufficient humid climate -areas of Bangladesh mainly to the west of 90. E and (iii) zone with super humid climate areas or Bangladesh mainly to the east of 90"E. Almost analogous climatic zones have been obtained by Selianinov's method. By Gorsinkii's method. it has been shown that there are three climatic zones in Bangladesh' (i) quasi-maritime climate -southeastern and northeastern hilly areas; (ii} climate of the plain land- the central belt of the country. and (iii) quasi-continental clill1ate -western bordering districts. By Shevers method it has been shown that there is only sharp continental type of climate in Bangladesh.

Appraisal of Cluster Front Line Demonstration on Rapeseed and Mustard in Biharand Jharkhand

Performance of ten varieties of rapeseed and mustard were assessed through cluster frontline demonstration (CFLD) under different agro-climatic condition of Bihar and Jharkhandcontinuously for four years (2017-18 to 2020-21) by the KVKs of Bihar and Jharkhand.Among the agro-climatic zones of Bihar, highest yield was recorded in the demonstratedplot from zone III (B) i.e. South-West alluvial plain in case of variety RH 0749 (15.29 q/ha) and in Jharkhand state from zone I (Central and North astern plateau) with varietyNRCHB 101 (13.31 q/ha). Lowest technology index was observed for variety RajendraSufalam in all the zone (-4.96, 5.53, 7.18 and 22.92 % in zone I, III (B), III (A) & II) ofBihar and NRCHB 101 (23.15% in zone I) in Jharkhand. The range of extension gapwas1.38 to 4.37 and 1.13 to 4.86 q/ha under the agro-climatic zone of Bihar and Jharkhand,respectively. Pooled data shows that in Bihar, maximum net return (Rs. 46986 /ha) wasobtained in variety Rajendra Sufalam in agro-climatic zone III A of Bihar with benefit costratio 3.85:1 whereas under agro-climatic condition of Jharkhand maximum net return (Rs.39598 /ha) was recoded from variety NRCHB 101 with benefit cost ratio 2.80:1

Impact of selected teleconnection pattern on solar energy potential in different climatic zones of Nigeria

Meeting the energy demands and sustainable development goals in Nigeria requires investigation of potentials of alternative energy sources and possible challenges to their reliability. In this study, we investigated the impact of four (4) teleconnection patterns on the solar energy potential within different climatic zones of Nigeria. Our results indicate that there are weak and insignificant correlation between the studied teleconnection patterns and solar energy potential on the long run. However, monthly analysis suggests significant correlation values between all the teleconnection patterns studied and solar energy production within all the climatic regions of the country. Therefore, it is important to consider the role of teleconnection pattern in energy planning and forecasting within the region.

Ways of solving the problems of rational nature management in the areas of alluvial deposits development

A characteristic feature of the developed placer deposits is that most of them (up to 90–95%) are hard to develop, and the sands included in them are hard to enrich, due to their location in the geographic and climatic zones with a harsh climate, where perennial and deep seasonal permafrost is widespread almost everywhere. About 40% of alluvial deposits are clayey, highly clayey or cemented. As a consequence, there are significant losses of the valuable component and a large negative impact on the environment, including due to repeated re–mining. The studies presented in this paper help to significantly reduce losses and increase the productivity of the dredge, thereby increasing metal recovery.