Welcome to Guest !
 
       IUP Publications
              (Since 1994)
Home About IUP Journals Books Archives Publication Ethics
     
  Subscriber Services   |   Feedback   |   Subscription Form
 
 
Login:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - -
-
   
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 

The IUP Journal of Soil and Water Sciences
November '09
Focus

Indian agriculture is highly dependent on monsoon rains and its vagaries still play havoc with it. The agriculture year starts on June 1 and ends with May 31 of the next calendar year. In between it has two cropping seasons.

Articles
   
Price
(INR)
Buy
Impact of Summer Monsoon Precipitation on Winter Crop Yields Across India
Soil Fertility and Plant Diversity in Sabal Forest Reserve, Borneo
Increasing Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) with Chlorophyll Meter and Leaf Color Chart
Residual Phytotoxicity of Chlorsulfuron Applied in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) on Succeeding Crop of Maize (Zea mays L.)
Rainwater Harvesting and Management Technology for New Livelihood of Submontane N-W Tract Zone Farmers of India
Sediment Observation in River Basins: A Case Study
Select/Remove All    

Impact of Summer Monsoon Precipitation on Winter Crop Yields Across India

-- Preethi and J V Revadekar

The Indian economy largely depends on agriculture. The winter cropping season, also known as rabi, starts after the summer monsoon and continues up to spring or early summer months. Rainfall occurring at the end of summer monsoon season provides stored soil moisture for rabi crops, which are sown in the post-monsoon season (October-November). Variation in the frequency of heavy rain spell has a profound impact on the ecosystem. Therefore, an attempt has been made in this study to analyze the frequencies of moderate to very heavy precipitation events in India during the summer monsoon season (June through September) using a high resolution (1° x 1° latitude-longitude) gridded daily rainfall datasets prepared by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and its association with rabi foodgrain yield, collected from the DES (2006). The study indicates that a variation in the foodgrain production during rabi season in India is strongly linked to the variation in frequencies with respect to various fix threshold values of rainfall and shows positive correlation coefficients. However, its spatial coverage varies from threshold to threshold. Spatial coverage of positive correlations for the number of rainy days with rabi foodgrain production is more than the total precipitation of the summer monsoon season. Also spatial coverage of correlation coefficients and its level of significance decreases with increase in the threshold value of rainfall with respect to which frequencies are computed.

Article Price : Rs.50

Soil Fertility and Plant Diversity in Sabal Forest Reserve, Borneo

-- Hashim N R

This study highlights soil fertility status as well as plant structural and compositional makeup in two different forest types after being exposed to different levels of anthropogenic disturbances. The mineral soil chemical analysis (pH, conductance, percentage of carbon and nitrogen, Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC), potassium, sodium, magnesium, calcium, and total and available phosphorus) showed that the concentrations of the chemical elements were lower than the values of published results from other studies in Borneo, suggesting a serious habitat degradation due to prior land-use in the forest reserve. In terms of plant abundance and richness, the logged-over forest fragments were dominated by small trees, whereas the understorey of tree plantations was composed of dense ferns and sedges with very low tree abundance and species richness. This study therefore provides important information on the management of soils and plant diversity in the tropics.

Increasing Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) with Chlorophyll Meter and Leaf Color Chart

-- M Z Hussain, Shakeel A Khan, T M Thiyagarajan

Low Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) continues to be a problem in wetland rice situation as nitrogen (N) is subjected to several transformation losses in the rice ecosystem. Chlorophyll meter (SPAD) and Leaf Color Chart (LCC) can be potentially employed for the precise N measurement, which is based on the leaf N status to synchronize the timely N application with the crop demand. Two field experiments were conducted during 1998 and 1999 at Coimbatore, India with the rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars of ADT 36 (short duration) and ASD 19 (long duration) respectively for efficient N management based on the leaf N status of rice. The experiments consisted of four SPAD and LCC-N regimes, blanket N recommendation, green manure N regime and Controlled Release N (CRN) fertilizer regimes, which were compared with the zero-N regime. The technology involves the indirect measurement of leaf N status by the chlorophyll meter and LCC and N application only if the measured meter value is below the predetermined threshold value. The study reveals that N requirement with LCC was higher than SPAD for all the time intervals of measurements. In terms of NUE parameters, LCC was inferior to SPAD-N management, but the lesser cost of LCC, when compared to SPAD meter, provides an opportunity as a simple tool for the individual rice farmers to own it. The study also reveals that the application of controlled release N fertilizer as polymer coatings at the rate of 60% of blanket N recommendation would save 40% of fertilizer N.

Article Price : Rs.50

Residual Phytotoxicity of Chlorsulfuron Applied in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) on Succeeding Crop of Maize (Zea mays L.)

-- Amarjeet, S S Punia and Ashok Yadav

Field experiment was conducted from 1999 to 2001 to evaluate chlorsulfuron at different doses for weed control in wheat under different irrigation levels and its residual effect on the succeeding crop of maize. Chlorsulfuron at 30 g ha_1 resulted in 71.1% Weed Control Efficiency (WCE) and 4,630 kg ha_1 grain yield, which was statistically on a par with chlorsulfuron applied at 40 or 50 g ha_1. The grain yield of wheat was increased by increasing the number of irrigations from three to five (i.e., 4,081 to 4,783 kg ha_1). The phytotoxicity decreased, and the growth and yield of maize increased with the corresponding increase in the number of irrigations applied to wheat. Phytotoxicity to maize increased with each successive increase in the dose of chlorsulfuron applied in wheat. Chlorsulfuron at 30 g ha_1 resulted in 49.0% toxicity to maize, which was significantly lower than toxicity under chlorsulfuron at 40 or 50 g ha_1. The toxicity at 20 g ha_1 was 29.3%. Consequently, the fodder yield of maize reduced with an increasing dose of chlorsulfuron applied in wheat. Chlorsulfuron at 20 and 30 g ha_1 caused 24 and 52% reduction in fodder yield of maize, as compared to untreated control. The reduction in yield further increased to the extent of 67 and 83%, where chlorsulfuron was applied at 40 and 50 g ha_1, respectively, in wheat. In order to achieve satisfactory weed control, chlorsulfuron at 20-30 g ha_1 could be applied in wheat, but maize should not be grown in rotation.

Rainwater Harvesting and Management Technology for New Livelihood of Submontane N-W Tract Zone Farmers of India

-- M S Hadda and Sanjay Arora

The N-W (northwestern) tract zone of India receives high precipitation rate varying from 850-1100 mm, but suffers from water scarcity during winter season (October to March). Due to non-availability of irrigation facilities and deep to very deep water table in the area, the alternative method is to explore minor irrigation potential through rainwater harvesting structures/tanks or through effective water-conservation measures or roof top. A cost-effective rainwater harvesting tank varying in capacities from 0.80 ha m to as high as 1.20 ha m capacity has been developed in the districts of Solan and Hoshiarpur in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, respectively. However, farmers may have the option to design a tank of suitable capacity as per the water requirements of crops intended to be cultivated and also for other diversified use of stored water for crop production, fish rearing, kitchen garden purposes and other uses during winter season (October to March) that suffers mainly from stress period. The designed water harvesting tanks were made up of clay, Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) black agri-film and brick lining in order to reduce the seepage losses. Using the stored water judiciously and economically in various farm activities is most acceptable especially for the cultivation of ginger and tomatoes, etc. This economically viable and easily adoptable technology needs to be disseminated and popularized among large sections of farmers. This paper describes all aspects, including cost of preparation, size and capacity of water harvesting tank, water loss, lining material used, water productivity and diversified use of stored water. In addition, the paper highlights the future strategies to be followed in the area.

Article Price : Rs.50

Sediment Observation in River Basins: A Case Study

-- K Purandara and A V Shivapur

Search
 

  www
  IUP

Search
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Click here to upload your Article

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Automated Teller Machines (ATMs): The Changing Face of Banking in India

Bank Management
Information and communication technology has changed the way in which banks provide services to its customers. These days the customers are able to perform their routine banking transactions without even entering the bank premises. ATM is one such development in recent years, which provides remote banking services all over the world, including India. This paper analyzes the development of this self-service banking in India based on the secondary data.

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is playing a very important role in the progress and advancement in almost all walks of life. The deregulated environment has provided an opportunity to restructure the means and methods of delivery of services in many areas, including the banking sector. The ICT has been a focused issue in the past two decades in Indian banking. In fact, ICTs are enabling the banks to change the way in which they are functioning. Improved customer service has become very important for the very survival and growth of banking sector in the reforms era. The technological advancements, deregulations, and intense competition due to the entry of private sector and foreign banks have altered the face of banking from one of mere intermediation to one of provider of quick, efficient and customer-friendly services. With the introduction and adoption of ICT in the banking sector, the customers are fast moving away from the traditional branch banking system to the convenient and comfort of virtual banking. The most important virtual banking services are phone banking, mobile banking, Internet banking and ATM banking. These electronic channels have enhanced the delivery of banking services accurately and efficiently to the customers. The ATMs are an important part of a bank’s alternative channel to reach the customers, to showcase products and services and to create brand awareness. This is reflected in the increase in the number of ATMs all over the world. ATM is one of the most widely used remote banking services all over the world, including India. This paper analyzes the growth of ATMs of different bank groups in India.
International Scenario

If ATMs are largely available over geographically dispersed areas, the benefit from using an ATM will increase as customers will be able to access their bank accounts from any geographic location. This would imply that the value of an ATM network increases with the number of available ATM locations, and the value of a bank network to a customer will be determined in part by the final network size of the banking system. The statistical information on the growth of branches and ATM network in select countries.

Indian Scenario

The financial services industry in India has witnessed a phenomenal growth, diversification and specialization since the initiation of financial sector reforms in 1991. Greater customer orientation is the only way to retain customer loyalty and withstand competition in the liberalized world. In a market-driven strategy of development, customer preference is of paramount importance in any economy. Gone are the days when customers used to come to the doorsteps of banks. Now the banks are required to chase the customers; only those banks which are customercentric and extremely focused on the needs of their clients can succeed in their business today.

more...

 
View Previous Issues
Soil and Water Sciences