Rice phenology and growth simulation using CERES-Rice model under the agro-climate of upper Brahmaputra valley of Assam

Crop growth simulation models, properly validated against experimental data have the potential for facilitating strategic decision making in agriculture. Such validated models can also make use of the information generated for site specific experiments and trials to other sites and for different time durations. For proper calibration and evaluation of crop simulation models, there is a need for collection of a comprehensive minimum set of data on soil, weather and crop management in all agronomic experiments. Keeping this in view, data from seven field experiments conducted at Jorhat (26° 47' N, 94°12' E; 87 m amsl) during 1998-2005 for long duration rice cultivar Ranjit grown under rainfed conditions were collected. Genetic coefficients required for running the CERES-Rice v4.5 model were derived and the performance of the model under the climate of upper Brahmaputra valley was evaluated. These results indicate that the CERES Rice v4.5 model is capable of estimating growth stages and grain yield of rice cultivar Ranjit in the climatic conditions of upper Brahmaputra valley with reasonable accuracy. Hence, the model have the potential for its use as a tool in making various strategic and tactical decisions related to agricultural planning in the state.

Religious Interaction in Early Medieval Kamarupa: An Insight into the Kalikapurana

Like all other world religions, Brahmanism and Buddhism, the two prominent religious traditions of India, have histories of development and transformations since their inception. Depending on the socio-economic and political scenario, religions are subject to change, often in their basic beliefs and rituals, and at a certain point of time, the interaction between diverse religious traditions also becomes inevitable. Although opponent by nature in their early philosophies, Buddhism and Brahmanism got entwined at a certain phase of history, when many Buddhist deities and rituals were accommodated within the purview of Brahmanism and vice-versa. In the history of Brahmanical tradition, this interaction is traceable in the narratives of Puranic texts composed during the first millennium years of the Christian Era (ce). For the present study, one such Puranic text: the Kalikapurana, composed in Kamarupa (early Assam) during the early-medieval period, has been taken into account to understand the process of interaction between Brahmanism and Buddhism in the historical context of early Assam. Being primarily Brahmanical religious texts, the Puranas contain traces of Buddhism only in ‘covert’ form: in the form of myth. Focussing on some myths narrated in the Kalikapurana, the present study will discuss the existence of Buddhism in the early-Brahmaputra valley prior to the coming of Brahmanism. It will help us to understand the strategies adopted by the immigrant Brahmins to accommodate the prevailing traits under the purview of Brahmanical Hinduism.

Genetic Characterization of Indigenous Duck of North-East Region using Microsatellite Markers

Background: Duck farming plays a significant role, next to chicken in the socio-economic uplift men of the rural farmers of North-East India. Pati duck is the most common duck breed in the Brahmaputra valley of Assam and the other common variety reared in North-East India is Chara-Chambeli, however it originatein Kerala. Genetic characterization plays a significant role for formulation of breeding strategies for improvement of any breed. Microsatellites are codominant in nature and are highly polymorphic. High level of allelic variation, co-dominant mode of inheritance and potential for automated analysis make them an excellent tool for genotyping, mapping and genetic characterization. Pati duck is the most common duck breed in the Brahmaputra valley of Assam and the other common variety reared in North-East India is Chara-Chambeli however its origin in Kerela. Therefore, the present investigation was carried out to characterize these two duck breeds using microsatellite markers to evaluate the genetic diversity in these two duck population. Methods: For the present study, Blood sample were collected from 50 Patiducks and 50 Chara-Chambeli ducks from different parts of North-East India. Assessment of genetic characterization of duck breeds of north-east region were carried out using 16 microsatellite markers and population genetics analysis were done by POPGENE software. Result: In the present study, all the studied loci were highly polymorphic. Analysis generated a total of 41 microsatellite alleles. The number of observed alleles (Na) with an overall mean of 1.93±0.258. However, the effective number of alleles (Ne) with a mean of 1.6933±0.2712. The Shannon’s information index was found to a mean value of 0.5685±0.1693. The overall means for observed (HO) and expected (He) heterozygosities were 0.2889±0.2477 and 0.5289±0.0853, respectively. The chi-square (χ2) test for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium revealed that all the loci are in within Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.

Discourse analysis of cultural assimilation and composition of assamese muslim society special reference to sivasagar district

This work is about the cultural elements assimilated within Islamic community and aboriginal ethnic community of Brahmaputra Valley. The cultural elements are including language, literature, women, bieliefs and ideologies, customs and traditions. Muslims who come to this valley married to local women is rare to and historians were assimilation Assamese Society. It also deals with the assemblage of Muslim community in Assam and how they adopted the customs, traditions and culture of the Brahmaputra Valley and established an intermixed culture.

RECOVERING THE SILENCED VOICES: THE PLIGHT AND TRAUMA OF KAIBARTA PARTITION REFUGEES OF SONBEEL, BARAK VALLEY OF ASSAM

The historiography of the Partition of India, the creative literature andthe films evoked out of the pangs of Partition are primarily concerned withthe Partition of Punjab and Bengal. Assam as the third site of Partition remained under the veil of silence for nearly six decades. In recent years, academic interventions are forthcoming to unveil the human history of the Partition of Assam which triggered a huge forced migration of population in the Brahmaputra Valley, Barak Valley and the hill areas of Assam. Given the discrimination that the Dalits experienced during and after the Partition of India, they are the triply marginalised group due to their caste, class and refugee identities. As the Dalits lacked agency in the Barak Valley, their plight largely remains unattended. In this context, the present paper is an attempt to recover the plight of the Kaibarta Partition refugees who were the victims of forced migration from Sylhet/ East Pakistan to Sonbeel area of Barak Valley of Assam especially, after the communal violence of 1950 in East Pakistan.

Do the Heterogeneous Determinants of Repayment Affect Differently across Borrowers of Diverse Credit Sources in Rural Assam? A Double Hurdle Approach

This study made an attempt to answer the question: Do the heterogeneous determinants of repayment affect the borrowers of diverse credit sources differently? The study is based on data collected from 240 households from three districts in the lower Brahmaputra valley of Assam through a carefully designed primary survey. Besides, the study uses the double hurdle approach and the instrumental variable probit model to reduce possible selection bias. It observes better repayment performance among formal borrowers, followed by semiformal borrowers, while occupation wise it is prominent among organised employees. It has been found that in general, the household characteristics, loan characteristics and location-specific characteristics significantly affect repayment performance of borrowers. However, the nature of impact of the factors influencing repayment performance is remarkably different across credit sources. It ignores the role of traditional community-based organisations in rural Assam while analysing the determinants of repayment performance. The study also recommends for ensuring productive opportunities and efficient market linkages in rural areas of Assam. The study is based on an original data set that has specially been collected to examine question that—do the heterogeneous determinants of repayment affect the borrowers of diverse credit sources differently in the lower Brahmaputra valley of Assam—which has not been studied before.