Establishing Relationship between Saturated Paste Electrical Conductivity (ECe) and Soil:Water Electrical Conductivity (EC1:2) in Some Swell-Shrink Soils of Nagpur District, Maharashtra

Soil salinity is a major environmental hazard which adversely affects plant growth, crop production, soil and water quality and agricultural productivity.Soil salinity is determined by measuring electrical conductivity of soil water suspension. Though saturation paste ECe closely relates with plant growth and development but its measurement is laborious and time-consuming specifically in clayey soils when large number of samples are analyzed. Measurement of EC1:2 (1:2 Soil: water suspension) is very quick and economical. Therefore, a need is felt to develop a relationship between ECe and EC1:2so that the values of EC1:2 could easily be related to ECe. For this, anexperiment was conducted on four soil series representing swell-shrink soils. Soils were artificially salinized with solutions (salt) of 0.2, 0.5, 1 and 2% of chloride salts (NaCl, CaCl2, MgCl2 and their mixture) and replicated three times. The results indicate that a significant relationship (r=0.96) exists between ECe and soil EC1:2and soil ECe can be reliably predicted from EC1:2 in swell-shrink soils.

Characterization and Evaluation of Land Resources of Valia Block, Bharuch District, Gujarat

Detailed soil survey (1:10000 scale) was carried out using base map prepared from satellite data (IRS-P6 LISS IV and Cartosat-1) and Digital Elevation Models (DEM) in conjunction with Survey of India (SOI) Toposheets of 1:50000 scale in Valia block, Bharuch district of Gujarat. On the basis of landform, slope, land use/land cover and ground truth, six landscape ecological Units (LEUs) were delineated and six soil series were identified in the block. Five soil series occur on alluvial plain (cover 66.16 %) and one soil series occupies pediplain 27.61 %. These series were mapped into ten soil mapping units as phases of soil series. The representative pedons of alluvial plain were moderately deep to very deep and their sand, silt and clay content ranged from 8.2 to 44.4, 9.8 to 40.2 and 43.8 to 55.6 per cent, respectively. These pedons were neutral to strongly alkaline (pH 6.8 - 9.7), non-saline with low to high organic carbon (0.18 – 1.2 %) content, low to high calcium carbonate (5.9 - 26.6 %) and high CEC [>35 cmol (p+) kg-1]. Exchangeable complex of these pedons were dominated by Ca2+ followed by Mg2+, Na+ and K+ cations with high base saturation (72.0 to 99. 4 %). Soils were classified as Vertic Haplustepts, Typic Haplusterts, Typic Calciustepts, Typic Haplustepts and Sodic Haplusterts. The representative pedon of pediplains was shallow, dark brown (7.5YR3/2), clayey, strongly alkaline (pH>8.5), non-saline (<2 dSm-1) and had moderate organic carbon (0.50-0.75 %) and calcium carbonate (5-15 %) with high CEC [>35 cmol (p+) kg-1] and classified as Lithic Haplustepts. The soils were evaluated for their suitability for commonly grown crops (cotton, pigeon pea, wheat and chick pea) and mapping unit 2 and 4 were highly suitable for cotton cultivation and other were moderately to marginal suitable for other crops.

Soil Erosion and Crop Productivity Loss in Palghar and Thane Districts of Maharashtra

Present research work was carried out on soil erosion and crop productivity loss in Palghar and Thane districts. The study also describes tolerable soil loss and relationship between top-soil loss and yield loss. The estimated average annual soil loss was 40.45 t ha-1yr-1 before adoption of the soil and water conservation measures (by USLE method) and estimated average tolerable soil loss was 9.36 t ha-1 yr-1, for Palghar district. Similarly, for Thane district the estimated average annual soil loss and tolerable soil loss were found to be 35.89 t ha-1 yr-1 and 9.61 t ha-1 yr-1, respectively for Thane district. The estimated average conservation practice factor (P) factors were obtained as 0.32 for Palghar district and 0.30 for Thane district to bring the soil loss below the tolerable limit. After adoption of soil and water conservation measures, the estimated soil loss were 9.02 t ha-1 yr-1 and 9.38 t ha-1 yr-1 for Palghar and Thane districts, respectively.

Fluoride Concentration in Groundwater of Khapa Town, Saoner Tehsil, Nagpur District – A Case Study

Fluoride is known to contaminate groundwater in many countries notably India, Sri Lanka, China, rift valley countries in East Africa, Turkey and parts of South Africa. Sporadic incidence of high fluoride content in groundwater has been reported in 19 states and union territories across the country (CGWB 2010; Pol 2012). The fluoride occurrences in top aquifer system are endemic in many parts of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Bihar and Kerala (Agarwal et al. 1997; Latha et al. (1999); Gopalakrishnan et al. (2012). The toxicity of fluoride is generally influenced by high ambient temperature, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium contents in drinking water (BIS 1991). High level of fluoride posses serious health hazards to humans and irreversible damage to plants. The present study was carried out to assess the fluoride concentration of groundwater in the selected villages around Khapa town of Nagpur district.

Influence of Plastic Mulching on Soil Moisture, Nutrient and Microbial Biomass in Pineapple Cultivation on Undulating Hilly Areas of Nagaland

The pineapple var. Kew was planted on black polythene film mulching with double hedgerow planting to find out the influence of mulches on soil and plant. The soil samples were collected twice (kharif and rabi) at two different depths (0-15 and 15-30 cm), and the pH, soil organic carbon (SOC), nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, basal respiration and soil microbial biomass carbon were analysed. The data revealed that soil organic carbon and available N, P, and K content were slightly higher in the bottom hill than the top hill. The mulched field had higher nutrients than the non-mulched field. The fertility level varied slightly between the seasons. The biological parameters (microbial biomass carbon) were observed to be significantly higher (P≤0.05) in the bottom hill in both the seasons than the non-mulched field. The soil moisture content ranged from 5.9 % in March to 24.24 % August in the bottom hill (15-30 cm depth). The moisture content in the non-mulched field was lower than the mulched field.

Computation of Watershed Parameters of Kansa Watershed in Satara Using Remote Sensing and GIS

In present study Kansa watershed in Satara district of Maharashtra was characterized for watershed parameters. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and a high-resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) has been utilized for the estimation of morphological parameters. Several morphometric parameters have been computed and analyzed viz. linear aspects such as stream order, stream number, stream length, mean stream length, stream length ratio; areal aspects such as drainage density, stream frequency, drainage texture, elongation ratio, circularity ratio, form factor, constant of channel maintenance; relief aspects such as relief, relief ratio, relative relief, ruggedness number, length of overland flow. Impacts of morphometric parameters on flash flood characteristics have also been investigated. The presence of the maximum number of the first order segments shows that the basin is subjected to erosion and also that some areas of the basin are characterized by variations in lithology and topography. The form factor is 0.21, and the circulatory ratio is 0.42, which suggests an elongated type of catchment. Elongation ratio is 0.52, which indicates that watershed has high relief and steep slope. The estimated catchment characteristics may be useful to stimulate hydrological responses of the catchment.

Soil Resilience and Sustainability of Semi-Arid and Humid Tropical Soils of India: A Commentary

Soil is a dynamic and living natural resource, which supports to produce goods and services of value to humans but not necessarily with perpetual ability against the degradative processes. It is well known that soil formation is a slow process, and a substantial amount of soil can form only over a geologic timescale. Soil misuse and extreme climatic conditions can damage self-regulating capacity and give way to regressive pedogenesis (Pal et al. 2013), and thus might lead to the soil to regress from higher to lower usefulness and or drastically diminished productivity. Such an unfavorable transformation of soils is termed as ‘soil degradation'. However, soils do have an inherent ability to restore their life support processes if the disturbances created by anthropogenic activities are not too drastic and sudden, and mitigated with enough time is allowed for life-support processes to restore themselves. This intrinsic ability of soils to regenerate their productivity is called resilience (Szabolcs 1994). Therefore, soil resilience is the ability to bounce back or return to normal functioning, after adversity, for sustainable productive purposes.

Spatial distribution of Fe and Mn in paper mill effluent affected agricultural soils in Morigaon, Assam

The spatial distribution of heavy metals (Fe and Mn) in the paper mill contaminated area of Jagiroad, Assam, India were investigated using statistics, geostatistics and GIS techniques. The total concentration of Fe and Mn were determined for 188 samples collected from the contaminated area. The mean concentration of Fe (7629 mg kg1) was high. The highest and the lowest standard deviation were observed in the Fe (1749) and pH (0.81), respectively. Analysis of the isotropic variogram indicated that the Fe semivariogram was well described with the Gaussian model, with the distance of spatial dependence being 1354 m, while Mn was well described with the spherical model, with the distance of spatial dependence being 833 m. The ordinary kriging estimates of Fe and Mn maps showed that high concentrations of these metals occured in the low-lying areas like bils (lakes). For both the investigated heavy metals the prediction of goodness (G) value was greater than zero. This indicates that spatial prediction is better than assuming mean of observed value as the property value for any unsampled location. Thus the geostatistical method was spatial variability of Fe and Mn.

Characterization and Evaluation of Land Resources for Management of Barela Village in Seoni district, Madhya Pradesh using High Resolution Satellite Data and GIS

The present investigation was carried out in Barela village of Seoni district, Madhya Pradesh to characterize, classify and evaluate the land resources using IRS-LISS-IV and GIS. Five major landforms viz. plateau; escarpments, mound, pediment and alluvial plain were identified and delineated. Based on image characteristics, seven land uses/ land cover classes’ viz., single crop, double crop, degraded forest, wasteland, river, waterbody and habitation were identified. Five slope classes viz., very gently sloping (1-3%), gently sloping (3-5%), moderately sloping (5-10%), strongly sloping (10-15%) and steeply sloping ( 15-25%) lands have been identified using Cartosat-1 DEM (30 m resolution) and topographic information. Five soil series (Barela-1, Barela-2, Barela-3, Barela-4 and Barela-5) were tentatively identified and mapped based on landform-soil relationship. Soils, in general, are shallow moderately deep, moderately well to well drained with moderate to severe erosion and clayey in texture. The soils are neutral to slightly alkaline in reaction and non-saline and qualify for Lithic Ustorthents/ Typic Haplustepts/ Typic Haplusterts at subgroup level. The soils were grouped under land capability sub-classes IIs, IIIes, IVst and VIst and land irrigability sub-classes 2s, 3st and 4st. The soils of Barela-4 (subgroup) are moderately suitable for growing gram, soybean, maize and pigeonpea. The soils of Barela-5 (subgroup) are highly suitable for growing pigeonpea and moderately suitable for growing gram, soybean and maize. Soils of Barela-1, Barela-2 and Barela-3 are not suitable for growing gram, soybean, maize and pigeonpea. Various soil and water conservation measures and alternate land use options have been suggested based on land resources information generated for management of land resources in the village.

Effect of Sources, Levels and Methods of Potash Fertilization on Yield, Nutrient Uptake, Soil Chemical Properties and Quality of Rabi Onion in an Inceptisol

A field experiment on rabi onion (cv. N-2-4-1) was carried out at an experimental farm of College of Agriculture, Pune during the winter season of 2016-17, to study the effect of different levels and sources of potash (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg K2O ha-1) and methods of its application as a basal (30% K2O at the time of transplanting, 40 per cent through fertigation after 30 days of transplanting till initiation of bulb formation and remaining 30 per cent through fertigation after 60 days of transplanting till bulb formation at weekly intervals respectively). In addition to that one more additional treatment of 100 kg K2O ha-1 was applied in the proportion of 90 kg K2O through MOP as a basal application + 10 kg K2O through SOP as a foliar spray @ 1% after 60 and 75 days after transplanting for comparing methods of K application. The results revealed that, the application of 100 kg K2O ha-1 (90 kg K2O ha-1 as basal at the time of transplanting through MOP and 10 kg K2O through two foliar sprays of SOP at 60 and 75 days after transplanting) recorded maximum fresh bulb weight, dry matter yield, and higher bulb diameter, the higher nutrient uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur, Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu uptake by rabi onion. The perceptible improvement in available N,P,K , S and Mn content of soil due to application of 150 kg K2O ha-1 through SOP applied through soil and fertigation over control. The application of 100 kg K2O ha-1 (SOP) through soil and fertigation or 100 kg K2O ha-1 was applied in the proportion of 90 kg K2O through MOP as a basal application + 10 kg K2O through SOP as a foliar spray @ 1% after 60 and 75 days of transplanting recorded magnitudely lower mean physiological loss in weight.