Lakh Tonnes Research Articles

Design and Development of Sugarcane Leaf Stripper

Background: India is the second largest producer of sugarcane in the world. Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Bihar are Indian states have maximum production of sugarcane. During 2019, approximately 307 lakh tonnes of sugarcane was produced in India, which is nearly 11.8 per cent of the global sugarcane production. Sugarcane crop has very long leaves. Stripping of sugarcane leaves is a major problem, which requires labor-intensive effort. Therefore, to resolve this problem, a tractor operated sugarcane stripper machine was designed using the computer aided design (CAD) software. Methods: In main frame of CAD design, a power transmission system, transportation system, feed hopper conveyer, sugarcane de-topper and a stripper system were designed. This machine will reduce human drudgery. Currently, this sugarcane stripper machine is getting very good acceptance nationwide. Further research has been undertaken at Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India. This machine was designed. Result: Use of this machine will also help in reducing the cost and time of operation. In future, this machine will help in improving quality of stripping as well as ensuring effective utilization of the resources. The Design and development of sugarcane leaf stripper machine will play a significant role.

Millets for Food and Nutritional Security in the Context of Climate Resilient Agriculture: A Review

The world is dealing with both agrarian and nutritional issues. We must concentrate on dry lands in order to further increase grain production because agricultural lands with irrigation facilities have been fully utilised. It is difficult to use dry lands to produce enough high-quality grains because of their low fertility. Millets, a crop that complies with climate change regulations, outperform other grains like wheat and rice in terms of poor growing conditions and high nutritional value. Sustainable food systems aim to provide sufficient and nutritious food, while maximising climate resilience and minimizing resource demands as well as negative environmental impacts. We perform a series of optimizations to maximize nutrient production (i.e., protein and iron), minimize greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and re-source use (i.e., water and energy), or maximize resilience to climate extremes. We find that increasing the area under coarse cereals (i.e., millets, sorghum) improves nutritional supply (on average, +1% to+5% protein and +5% to +49% iron), increases climate resilience (1% to 13% fewer calories lost during an extreme dry year), and reduces GHGs (−2% to −13%) and demand for irrigation water (−3% to −21%) and energy (−2% to −12%) while maintaining calorie production and cropped area. The extent of these benefits partly depends on the feasibility of switching cropped area from rice to coarse cereals.
 Climate-resilient millets are regarded as "Miracle Grains" because of their ability to adapt to a wide range of ecological conditions while using less water for irrigation and producing more effectively in low-nutrient soils. They exhibit little vulnerability to environmental stresses and only minimal demand for artificial fertilisers. Reviving interest in millet groups as nutritious foods that can improve food and nutritional security and reduce malnutrition is necessary. Two main groups of millets are great millets (Sorghum and Pearl millet) and Small millets (Finger millet, Foxtail millet, Little millet, Proso millet, Barnyard millet, Kodo millet and Brown top millet) classified based on the grain size. Both great and small millets have traditionally been the main components of the food basket of the poor people in India. India stands first in area of millets with 90.94 lakh Hectare followed by Niger with 69.99 lakh Hectare. Millets area of the entire world accounts for 312.44 lakh Hectare. India also stands first in production of millets with 115.6 lakh tonnes followed by Niger with 37.9 lakh tonnes. Millets Production of the entire world accounts for 284.59 lakh tonnes. Uzbekistan stands first in yield of millets with 7563 kg per ha followed by Switzerland with 4236 kg per Hectare, yield of the entire world accounts for 910 kg per ha (Food and Agricultural Organization, 2017).
 Millets contain high amounts of proteins, fiber, niacin, thiamine and riboflavin, methionine, lecithin and little of vitamin E. They are rich in minerals like iron, magnesium, calcium and potassium also. Due to their nutritional value, millets may help prevent cancer, reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, stop the growth of tumours, lower blood pressure, lower the rate at which fat is absorbed, delay gastric emptying, and increase gastrointestinal bulk. Value-adding millet grains as ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook foods provides farmers with a good opportunity to increase income generation, promotes production, and fosters marketing, all of which lead to the creation of jobs, income, and nutritional security. However, the successful harvest of small millets justifies the incorporation of tried-and-true and climate-smart technologies for the satisfaction of the population's future needs. The review paper focused on all these aspects. Moreover, the research scope mentioned in the review paper implies future directions for enhancing millet-based agriculture viable in diversifying food baskets and achieving food and nutritional security in a hunger-free society.

A Study on Price Spread and Marketing Efficiency of Honey Value Chains in Thrissur District of Kerala

Honey is produced and consumed in large quantities all over the world. India ranks eighth among honey producing countries, with a production of 0.62 lakh tonnes of honey, which contributed 3.83 percent to the world production of honey (2020). The objective of the study was to identify the value chain actors in the study area and to analyse the price spread and marketing efficiency of honey in different value chain. Thrissur district was purposively selected for the study. The study was conducted during the months of May and June 2022 and in total, 100 beekeepers, all the four processors, 30 wholesalers, 30 retailers and 30 consumers were randomly selected for the study. The tools used for the study were price spread and marketing efficiency by Shepherds method. Four value chains were identified in the study area, in which the value chain I has the highest price spread and the value chain III has the least price spread which include only beekeepers and consumers. Marketing efficiency of honey value chain was computed using Shepherd’s method and the channel III was found to have the maximum efficiency with the score of 19.27, which include only beekeepers and consumers, whereas, channel I had the least marketing efficiency with score of 4.71 which mainly includes beekeepers, processors, wholesalers, retailers and consumers. The study concluded that Channel III was efficient, from which beekeepers got the highest price of Rs. 30000 from the consumers directly.

Fisheries Sector in Kerala: Emerging Issues and Policy Responses

The present paper discusses the status of the fisheries sector in Kerala with emphasis on emerging issues and policy responses. In Kerala, still, the traditional fishermen dominate the field although in recent times the State has been witnessing the emergence of a dual structure with the traditional sector on the one side and the modern fishing sector on the other. There has been a mismatch between fish production and consumption in the State. The fishermen’s per capita income growth has been volatile in the State while the per capita income of an average Keralite has almost remained stable. Marine fish production forms the major share of total fish production in the State. It is obvious that at the all India level, the overall fish production registered a remarkable increase from 107.62 lakh tones in 2015-16 to 137.5 lakh tonnes in 2019-20, a growth of over 30 per cent. But at the same time, Kerala’s fish production did not make a substantial improvement which is evident from the fact in 2019-20, its fish production actually declined to 6.8 lakh tones from 7.27 lakh tones in 2015-16. Climate changes, oceanic plastic waste, infrastructural bottlenecks, the vulnerability of fishermen have been identified as emerging issues.

Effective Utilization of Stabilized Spent Wash Bio-Compost for Tomato Crop and Comparison of its Yield with Commercial Composts

India is an agro-based country and in the year 2020, about 1082 lakh hectares of agricultural land have been planted, in turn, consuming 3161 lakh tonnes of fertilizer annually. However, excessive fertilizer usage has a negative impact on the soil quality and is evident by the fact that the crop response ratio has decreased from 12.1 in the 1960s to 5.0 in the 2010s. Hence, organic compost can be used as an alternative to fertilizer, reducing its negative impact on soil quality. The present study is a part of a larger investigation and its scope is confined to the utilization of bio-composts for the growth of tomato crops. Additionally, a comparison of these bio-composts was carried out with commercial composts through assessment of yield and number of fruits. Seeds were sown on prepared land, germination was observed on the 7th day, and saplings were produced on the 30th day. The dosage of each compost was fixed at 60ml per plant and was applied on the 31st and 51st days of the study period. Commercial composts produced yields of 673 ± 32.01, 830 ± 32.19 and 1560 ± 77.62 g respectively, with 54 ± 4.16, 81 ± 11.50, and 104 ± 13.50 fruits. All the bio-composts outperformed control and commercial composts in terms of yield. With 140 ± 11.50 fruits, BC5 produced a maximum yield of 2938 ± 93.72 g, which is 723 % higher than the control. Hence, it is concluded that the use of bio-compost is more effective than commercial composts and provides a much higher yield. Further studies need to be conducted to evaluate the quality of yield obtained by various bioassay tests.

A Study on Electronic Waste Management in India

Abstract: In the electronic industry, e-scraps or e-wastes refer to electronic goods that are discarded or unneeded. About 50 million ton of e-wastes are produced every year. Depending on their reactions, there might be potential danger. E-wastes, such as computer batteries and other electrochemical waste, may cause unwanted results, so it is important to consider them along with physical wastes. India generates about 1.5 lakh tons of e-waste annually, and almost all of it ends up in the informal sector as there is no organized alternative. It is well documented that humanity's capabilities were enhanced by the industrial revolution. However, the revolutionary changes experience by societies across the globe due to the application of electronics are deeper and more widespread than the impact of the industrial revolution. Human society has been profoundly changed by the electronics age and has become more connected than ever before. Electronic items have contributed to smoother communication, economic growth, and job opportunities. However, in addition to the positives, technology has brought to light a number of concerns, such as the growing problem of ewaste, which society must confront head on. In the existing situation, it is always possible that human health and the environment would be in trouble. If coordinated legislation and activities for efficient e-waste management and disposal were not enacted. This paper aims to provide a quick overview of the relatively new notion of e-waste, its production in India, and the associated environmental and health implications. It emphasizes the booming informal and nascent official e-waste recycling economies, as well as the urgent need for more explicit legislation and a forward-looking strategy. The paper also examines global e-waste trading and international experience in this area. There is also a list of references at the conclusion for further reading. Each year, hundreds of thousands of consumer electronics, computers, monitors, phones, printers, televisions and other portable devices become outdated and were mainly dumped to the landfills or poorly recycled. Recent technological development and growing demands for new and better functioning electronics accelerate the amount of electronic waste (e-waste) worldwide, making it to be one of the fastest growing streams in many countries. The estimated lifespan of electronics is about three to five years because of the increasing rates of consumption, new developments and urbanization.

Energy Assessment of Manual Transplanting Rice and Dry Direct Seeding Rice Production Systems in Combined Nalgonda District, Telangana

Background: Rice is the major crop in India in terms of area, production and consumption. Rice occupies about 23% of the gross cropped area and 35% of the total area under food grains in the country. Rice is of one key importance to the economy as well as a staple food for Telangana people, requiring about 50 lakh tons annually to feed the state population. In recent times the area under rice cultivation has been increased and is expected to hit the one crore acre mark by rabi season 2022. In any type of crop production system an accountability of inputs, energy spent, yield and costs must be monitored, by that one can modify it or substitute it for obtaining the better results. Methods: Due to decline in the share of agriculture workers in the country, there is a need to adopt new technologies in rice cultivation. Dry direct seeding of rice refers to direct sowing of rice seeds in the dry field rather than by transplanting seedlings from the nursery. A study was conducted to compute the inputs and energy consumptions in manual transplanted rice production (MTR) and dry direct seeding rice production (DDSR) methods of paddy cultivation in the combined Nalgonda district of Telangana State, during 2020-21. Firstly, the different operations performed in these two methods were listed out, then by using suitable energy equivalents total energy consumed in two methods of operations were calculated. Result: The human energy spent in the manual transplanted rice production and dry direct seeded rice productions were 506 and 92.84 MJ/ha respectively. Specific energy noted for dry direct seeded rice production and manual transplanted rice productions were 2.10 and 2.28 MJ/kg respectively. A total saving of Rs. 16,000/- ha-1 was recorded by practicing the dry direct seeded rice production method over the manual transplanted rice production method. On comparing both the methods for overall energy consumption, manual energy consumption and cost of cultivation DDSR method was found to be more efficient than MTR method in the district.

RECENT FLORICULTURE IN INDIA

This report finishes a research of the floriculture sector's recent advancements in India, notably in terms of key cut flower producing states, industry growth, and export potential. The primary focus is on commercially farmed cut and loose flowers. Documentation was carried out throughout the previous two decades. The purpose of this study is to look at the export performance, the composition of exports, the means of transportation for floriculture exports, and the share of floriculture exports. India produces roughly 19 lakh Tonnes of loose flowers and 8.90 lakh Tonnes of cut flowers per year on 3.40 lakh hectares of land, bringing in considerable revenue to the exchequer through domestic & global commerce. India is ranked 18th in the world, with a 0.6 % of the worldwide floriculture trade. Exports grew at a CAGR of 4 % during the previous decade. In 2010-11, India was the greatest exporter to the United States, with US $ 12.72 million, US $ 16.06 million in 2014-15, and US $ 19.49 million in 2019-20. Exports through air are on the rise, rising from 27 % in 2010-11 to 40.21 percent in 2019-20, with a compound annual rate of 0.06 percent.

Nutrient Use Efficiency and Productivity of Field Pea (Pisum sativum L.) Influenced by Combined Nitrogen and Sulphur Application

Background: Field pea usually grows in the cold areas of the world unlike the other major pulses of the world. India is one of the largest producers of field pea (8.11 lakh tonnes) in the world on an area of 6.06 lakh hectares (FAOSTAT, 2019). The productivity of field pea is 13.37 q/ha which is quite low compared to France (40.4 q/ha), Italy (30.99 q/ha), Japan (24.8 q/ha) and USA (23.8 q/ha) (FAOSTAT, 2019). One of the reason for low productivity of field pea in India besides other aspects is imbalanced use of fertilizers. However, to apply chemical fertilizers especially nitrogen causes environment pollution. Thus the present study was undertaken to investigate combined effect of sulphur and nitrogen on field pea to increase the productivity and to reduce nitrogen rate. Methods: Field experiment were carried out at Faculty of Agriculture, Wadura, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Kashmir, India during Rabi 2016-17 and 2017-18 under rainfed conditions. The experiment was laid out in factorial RBD with three levels of nitrogen (N0= 0 kg/ha, N1 = 15 kg/ha, N2 = 30 kg/ha) and four levels of sulphur (S0 = 0 kg/ha, S1 = 15 kg/ha, S2 = 30 kg/ha, S3= 45 kg/ha) with three replications. Field pea variety Shalimar Pea-1 was sown with row to row spacing of 30 cm. During both the years, the crop was sown on 2nd week of October and harvested at physiological maturity. Result: Application 30 kg S/ha and 15 kg N/ha recorded significantly higher seed yield of field pea. Similarly the agronomic efficiency and yield attributing characters were also found significantly higher with application of 30 kg S/ha and 15 kg N/ha. Further increasing levels of sulphur and nitrogen application do not significantly improved seed yield of field-pea. Similar trend was recorded in yield contributing character and agronomic efficiency.

A sustainable approach to designing high volume fly ash concretes

The construction industry is one of the significant contributors to global warming and the depletion of natural resources. It also contributes to about 40% of global energy usage and 30% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while being responsible for 8% of worldwide carbon emissions. Though concrete is the most sought-after building material for the infrastructural needs in India, its production is far from environmentally sustainable. The recent growth in the construction projects sector puts India at risk of increasing the GHG emissions and natural resource depletion. Such issues are exaggerated further by the generation of industrial byproducts such as fly ash. India produced 624.56 lakh tonnes of fly ash from coal/lignite-based thermal power plants in 2021, of which about 21% is unutilized. The choice of building materials concerning the local climatic conditions, assessment of life cycle costs, and thermal comfort of buildings help resolve the issue. In addition, it is imperative to design concrete that incorporates industrial byproducts such as fly ash more than current codal provisions. The study presents the design and early-age test results of self-compacting concrete (SCC) and no aggregate concrete (NAC). While the SCC uses crushed granite stones and river sand as aggregates and replaces 60% of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) with fly ash, the NAC replaces 80% of OPC with fly ash and is devoid of any aggregates. The present study uses class F fly ash sourced from a specific electrostatic precipitator (ESP) field. The physical tests viz., wet sieve analysis, specific gravity, and pozzolanic activity index (PAI) along with the chemical analysis demonstrate the fly ash's quality. The flowability, passing ability, and viscosity tests show that the designed SCC mix exhibits necessary fresh properties. The SCC achieves a compressive strength of 34.72 MPa at seven days curing age while achieving more than two-fold improvement at 56 days. NAC shows equivalent compressive and similar flexural strength while the splitting tensile strength is not comparable enough to that of the SCC.

Impact of Integrated Crop Management in Green gram under Rice fallows

India accounts for 33 per cent of the world area and 22 per cent of the world production of pulses. Green gram (Vigna radiate L. Wilczek.) is the third important pulse crop in India after chick pea and red gram. It is grown in about 36 lakh hectares with the total production of about 17 lakh tonnes with a productivity of about 500 kg per hectare. The reasons for low productivity include non adoption of improved varieties and unawareness of recommended crop production and protection technologies. The extent of adoption of improved agricultural technologies is a crucial aspect under innovation diffusion process and is most important for enhancing vertical agricultural production. Keeping this in view, frontline demonstrations on green gram were conducted at 20 locations in Chodavaram block of Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh, with an objective to demonstrate the high yielding varieties (HYVs) and latest improved technologies to the farmers. The demonstrations included adoption of HYVs (WGG-42 and IPM-2-14), seed treatment, integrated nutrient management and timely plant protection in comparison to farmers practice. The incidence of Yellow vein mosaic was 0-5 per cent in improved varieties compared to 20-25 per cent in local variety. Both the varieties, WGG-42 and IPM-2-14 recorded 5.3 quintals per ha and 5.8 quintals per hectare, which was much higher than the local variety cultivated by farmer (3.8-4.0 q/ha). The cost economics also reflected the superiority of ICM practices which registered BC ratio of 3.53-3.56 when compared to farmers practice (2.76-3.10).

Production of paver block using construction demolition waste and plastic waste – A critical review

This paper’s aim is to find out the suitability of recycled plastic trash and construction and demolition debris (C & D) into paver blocks, with the goal of lowering the paver block's cost when compared to a traditional concrete paver block. Nowadays plastic has become a major problem, as plastic is non-biodegradable material it blocks drains, pollutes rivers and affect the environment. In India, over 56 lakh tonnes of plastic waste are created each year. Because plastic waste degradation is a long process, an idea of combining C & D trash with melted polyethylene terephthalate plastic waste to form a paver block was reviewed. The use of polyethylene terephthalate type plastic was considered for this report. The concrete waste part is considered as C & D waste for the present study for the convenience of narrowing the results. The effect of mechanical strength test such as compressive strength and flexural test along with durability tests such as water absorption test and fire resistance test were studied. The possible mix proportions were studied and noticed that no water is required as the hot liquid plastic helps to combine all the ingredients. Hence, we have an “eco-friendly” paving block.

​Effect of Moisture Content on Engineering Properties of Green Gram for Designing of Agricultural Equipment

Background: Green gram is a popular pulse crop in India (with 2.02 MT production over a cultivated area of 4.26 Mha) and Odisha (20.8 lakh ha area with a yield of 10.60 lakh tonnes). The information on the engineering properties and its behavioural changes with moisture content is vital for handling and designing of different agricultural processing equipment. Methods: This work mainly focused on studying green gram variety’s (Sujata) engineering properties at five different moisture levels (within a moisture range of 10.58 to 45.45% (d.b.). Standard methods and procedures were followed in the study and the output results were compared with previous research work to justify the variation or anomaly in some cases. The curve estimation method (regression analysis) was followed to find the best-fit curve and equation for the parameters studied. Result: The geometric mean diameter (GMD) of grain increased from 3.75 to 4.12 mm within the moisture content (MC) range and the variation was statistically significant (p less than 0.05). Sphericity and surface area varied significantly from 0.83 to 0.82 and 44.13 to 53.45 mm2, respectively, within the range of moisture contents studied with a high correlation among the data. Mass of thousand grains augmented (44.13 to 53.45 g) with a rise in MC and the data followed logarithmic and inverse curves. Bulk and true densities of green gram declined significantly from 860 to 670 kg m-3 and 1330 to 1240 kg m-3 with an increase in the moisture content. The porosity of green gram increased significantly from 35.75% to 46.38% and the terminal velocity raised from 9.20 m s-1 to 11.10 m s-1 with an increase in MC. The dynamic angle of repose increased significantly from 30.95 to 46.57o with MC. A significant variation in the coefficient of internal friction (0.78 to 0.90) was observed for the grains. The coefficient of static friction of grain increased significantly for different surfaces (MS, SS, Plywood and GI) with a rise in MC. The MS surface produced the highest coefficient of static friction and SS had the least. The results confirmed significant effect of MC on all engineering properties of green gram.

Growth Performance of Groundnut in Ananthapuramu District of Andhra Pradesh – A Temporal Analysis

Ananthapuramu district is considered as one of the major groundnut growing districts in the Andhra Pradesh state, with an average area, production and yield of 7.04 lakh hectares, 3.65 lakh tonnes and 512 kg ha-1 respectively, during the present millennium (from 2000-01 to 2018-19). Though the district is drought prone and majority of the cultivated area is under rainfed ecosystem, groundnut still continues to be one of the largest cropped area in the district. This interesting feature of the district has driven to take up the study on the performance of groundnut in the district through Compound Annual Growth Rates (CAGR) and decomposition analysis. CAGR of area, production and yield of the groundnut and decomposition analysis of groundnut production in the district were analyzed from 1970-71 to 2018-19. For lucidity, the study period was divided in three sub-periods viz., Period I (1970-71 to 1985-86), Period II (1986-87 to 1999-2000) and Period III (1999-2000 to 2018-19). It was evident from the results that, the growth performance of groundnut in Ananthapuramu district declined over the years, particularly in Period III, which implies that, despite lot of efforts from researchers and government to encourage groundnut production at macro level, the contribution of groundnut at district level showed a declining trend. This scenario could be attributed to low farm level yields with higher farm level inefficiencies, gaps in production technology, geographical location of the district under rain shadow region, declining scenario in the length of growing period, shift towards competing crops, poor post-harvest support, changing climate, lower yields, low extension contact at field level, low market prices and high abiotic and abiotic stresses. It was opined that, groundnut cultivation in the district should be encouraged with the partnership of private institutional players, where the farmers would get high quality seed, agro-advisory, post-harvest support, value addition support, remunerative and assured price support etc., encouragement of value addition, reduction of the length of market channels to reduce the supply gap between farmer and consumer would help in realignment of the growth performance of groundnut in the district.

Ecological and historical perspectives of rice cultivation in Kerala: a synthesis

Rice, the staple food for the people of Kerala, is cultivated since time immemorial in the state. The 15th century Malayalam book of verse titled Krishi Gita describes the cultivation systems and locally adapted varieties of rice for various ecological and geographic regions of medieval Kerala. Although rice constitutes the principal crop of the state, its area has been declining since the mid-1970s: i.e., from 8.82 lakh hectares in 1974-75, the area has dropped to 2.02 lakh hectares in 2018-19 (77.1% reduction). The production has also declined from 13.76 lakh tonnes in 1972-73 to 5.78 lakh tonnes in 2018-19. While low per capita land availability (0.13 ha) has led to increasing land use intensification in Kerala, abandoned farmlands are also increasing, which is paradoxical. Conversion of paddy fields to cash crops is widespread. The net result is a major decline in area and production of rice in Kerala, which has made serious inroads into the state's food production capacity. In addition, it affected the diverse kinds of ecosystem services provided by the crop. Rice ecology in the state is varied and is strongly conditioned by local climate and land forms. It rangesfrom below sea-level cultivation (e.g., Kuttanad, Pokkali and Kole lands) to rice paddies in the High Ranges of Idukki and Wayanad (800-1500 m above sea-level). Rice cultivation also has profound environmental implications including climate change impacts. This paper reviews the literature on ecological and historical aspects of rice production in Kerala.

Growth in Vegetable Production and its Decomposition in Karnataka

Vegetables are important constituents of Indian agriculture and nutritional security. Along with health benefits, vegetables help in flourishing countries economy, as it provides a great opportunity for income and employment generation for the farming sector. The study has an objective to understand the extent of growth each vegetable experiencing and to derive the major factor for the growth in Karnataka, utilizing time-series data. The total area showed an increasing trend over the period with about 40 % increase in a span of two decades. However, figures for increased production were more appealing than its area, as it has shown 60 % increase. Total production of vegetables in Karnataka has increased from 42 lakh tonnes in 1998-99 to 68 lakh tonnes in 2018-19, with an annual growth rate of 3.9 %. The highest growth in production was observed in onion (7.5% annually) followed by tomato and cole crops. The area effect was the most responsible factor for increasing production of tomato, onion, guards, cole crops and other vegetables group. Thus, in effect for overall vegetables, it is 66 % of the total increased production effect. However, for potato and leafy vegetables, only yield effect was found to be positively contributing to the production.

Response of Blackgram (Phaseolus mungo L.) Varieties to Weed Competition and to Pre and Post Emergence Herbicide Application during Rabi

Background: Blackgram (Phaseolus mungo L.), a major pulse crop of Andhra Pradesh grown in an area of 3.52 lakh ha with a production of 2.93 lakh tons during rabi season (Anonymous, 2019). One of the major characteristics for selection of blackgram varieties for rabi season under conditions of receding soil moisture in black soils is their early vigour and good weed smothering capability. Early varieties due to their early growth habit can cover the land and thus can smother weeds better than late maturing varieties. Further some variations are observed to be more tolerant to post emergence herbicide application. Hence, there is need to evaluate the promising blackgram varieties for their weed competitiveness and tolerance to pre and post emergence herbicidal application.Methods: A field experiment was carried out at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Lam, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, with an objective to find out the competitive ability of blackgram varieties to smother weeds during rabi season of 2015-16 and 2016-17 under upland conditions. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with three replications. The treatments consisted of five methods of weed control as main plots, viz., pendimethalin 1.0 kg ha-1 PE, imazethapyr 50 g ha-1 PoE, pendimethalin 1.0 kg ha-1 PE fb imazethapyr 50 g ha-1, PoE, manual weeding at 20 and 40 days after sowing (DAS) along with inter cultivation at 30 DAS and unweeded; four blackgram varieties, viz., GBG 1, PU 31, LBG 787, LBG 752, as sub treatments which were replicated thrice.Result: Weed dry matter recorded at 45 days was lower and weed control efficiency (WCE) was higher with pendimethalin 1.0 kg ha-1 PE fb imazethapyr 50 g ha-1 PoE and was on par with manual weeding with inter cultivation. All the varieties were comparable and equally effective in controlling weed dry matter. Yield of variety GBG 1 was higher due to higher yield attributes viz., no. of pods per plant and 100 seed weight. Among the weed control methods manual weeding treatment with inter cultivation recorded significantly higher yield followed by a combination of pendimethalin 1.0 kg ha-1 PE fb imazethapyr 50 g ha-1 PoE. Further, varieties GBG 1 and PU 31 performed better in manual weeding treatment with intercultivation and without any herbicide use.

Utilization of Waste Sludge as a Construction Material -A Review

The waste sludge from water and sewage handling plants and numerous industries, has long been considered a problematic in environmental management. The surge in population growth and industrialization has increased the amount and harmfulness of the waste generated. Waste sludge disposal is a major problem in urban areas as it causes serious environmental impact. Till today burning harmful waste in landfills is one of the common methods of waste disposal, leading to serious health and environmental damage. Absence of proper set-up for systematic disposal and reprocessing of harmful waste has led to such waste disposal in India. Final waste management has been a growing concern for governments in recent years. Stringent environmental protocols and industrial evolution have augmented waste dumping requirements. Thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises simply dump their waste, which is often toxic and dangerous, in open areas and nearby water sources. Over the past three decades, many cases of serious and permanent damage to the environment by these industries have become significant. The recently a study was conducted by ASSOCHAM and PwC which approximates that nearly 75 lakh tons of hazardous waste is produced in India per annum. This much huge quantity of industrial waste requires enormous area at landfill disposal locations. But, due to inadequate availability of land area, there is an urgent requirement for alternative disposal methods. Due to the great demand placed on the building materials industry, civil engineers have been challenged to convert waste into construction materials. One last resort for this waste is the construction industry, where the greatest demand for raw materials can engross a lot of waste. This paper presents the different studies carried out to reuse the waste sludge in making different construction materials..

Effect of packaging and storage on physico-chemical characters of powder prepared by spray drying of blended juices of cashew apple

Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) belongs to family Anacardiaceae is one of the important dry land plantation crop cultivated in India, ranks third in its export value in the international trade for its kernels. The production of cashew apple in India is about 65.36 lakh tones and around 90% of the harvest gets wasted and the remaining 10% of harvested apple is either consumed as fresh or processed industrially. To preserve the juice of this seasonal fruit, spray drying is one of the best method to convert liquid state feed into a dried particulate form and utilized during unseasonal days. The four best treatments of blended juice of cashew apple with other fruit juices were selected and required quantity of powder was prepared from the respective treatments and they were packed in polythene pouches and aluminum pouches and kept for storage as per the treatments. Each pouch was filled with 20 g of powder and sealed immediately with hand sealing machine and kept under ambient condition for storage studies up to 90 days and recorded the physical and chemical parameters at 15 days interval. The powder with the blended juice treatment combinations of B1 (75% cashew apple juice + 25% pineapple juice at 170 °C inlet temperature with flow rate of 10 ml/min) has recorded the lowest moisture content (12.30%), the lowest bulk density of 0.369 g/cm3, lowest wettability of 14.57 seconds and the highest solubility of 92.12% recorded packed in laminated aluminum pouches at initial day of storage and powder quality was retained upto 90th day of storage with free flowing nature. Whereas, in polythene pouches stickiness of the powder was observed from 30th day of storage. The powder packed in laminated pouches can be used for long term storage upto 90 days of storage under ambient condition.

Trade Dynamics of Basmati and Non-Basmati Rice Exports from India

India is the world's largest producer and leading exporter of basmati rice. India produces about 70 per cent of the total world basmati rice production and the rest is produced by Pakistan. During 2017-18 the country has exported globally about 40.56 Lakh tonnes of Basmati Rice and 86.48 Lakh tonnes for Non-Basmati rice, the worth of 268.70 billion and 229.68 billion respectively. Basmati rice has got good export demand and fetches good export price in international markets due to such uniqueness. The higher price of basmati rice in international market made basmati rice as export competitive product. The present study is to analyze the export performance and its competitiveness of basmati non-basmati rice in India. In this paper rice trade dynamics of changes in terms of value of exports of basmati and non-basmati rice from India to different export markets have been measured by employing the Markov-Chain model. U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia are found to be stable destinations for Indian basmati rice exports from Markov-Chain results. Whereas, Benin, Bangladesh and UAE are found to be major destinations for non-basmati rice exports. The most unstable markets among the non-basmati rice importing countries were Cote D Ivoire and Liberia with the zero per cent retention. In order to sustain in the international market, Indian export price needs to be competitive besides improvement in quality and sanitary standards.