Region Of Jammu Research Articles

Assessing Ethnic Traditional Knowledge, Biology and Chemistry of Lepidium didymum L., Lesser-Known Wild Plants of Western Himalaya

Tribal communities have a long history of association living in close contact with nature as herdsmen, and their mode of use of natural products as food and medicine dates reverse to ancient time. Usually, the folklore knowledge transfers from one generation to next generation by the way of living and the mode of usage of available resources. There is less known information on taxonomy, ethnic traditional knowledge, nutrient contents and chemistry of Lepidium didymum L., a leafy wild edible Himalayan culinary herb. The authors have documented such folklore knowledge for the first time from two Himalayan nomadic and pastoral communities—Gujjars and Bakarwals, from seven regions (Patnitop, Sanasar, Kud, Batote, Bani, Nathatop and Mantalai) of Jammu and Kashmir, India. Investigations were carried out using snowball technique from 167 people both the male and the female, aged 17–68 years. As per knowledge investigated, L. didymum is commonly used as seasonal cooked vegetable, local medicine, fodder for animals, salad, chapati making and traditional dish Wazwan preparation. The field data analysis shows high use value of this species. The plant prefers to grow in subtropical and temperate climate and has high nutritive values due to the presence of high glucose, unsaturated fatty acids, proteins, vitamins and minerals. This finding will lead to the formulation of new nutraceutical products as value addition from wild edible plants for people residing in the high-altitude regions of Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere in the world.

Prevalence and different laboratory diagnosis methods for the determination of typhoid fever in Kashmir region of Jammu and Kashmir, India

Prevalence and different laboratory diagnosis methods for the determination of typhoid fever in Kashmir region of Jammu and Kashmir, India

A preliminary study of wind–solar hybrid systems potential in Jammu and Kashmir

ABSTRACT This paper deals with the study of wind–solar hybrid systems in the region of Jammu and Kashmir. Due to scarcity of less renewable energy resources in the J&K region, National Institute of Wind Energy, Chennai had installed different wind monitoring stations to measure the wind data at different locations. The survey reveals that four districts (LEH, KARGIL, POONCH and REASI) are suitable for small wind–solar hybrid systems. BIDDA (REASI) and CHUSHUL (LEH) are the two sites for small wind farm development due to the highest wind speed (more than 7 m/s) and power density (more than 400 W/m2) at 100 m agl.

Assessment of Soil Gas Radon and Exhalation Studies in Lower Himalayan Region of Jammu and Kashmir State, India

In the present work, the soil gas radon survey has been carried out for locating the trend of soil radon in the foothills of Siwalik which is covered with lithology of Pliocene unconsolidated deposits. Soil gas radon concentration and mass exhalation rate have been studied in natural soil samples of Udhampur district, Jammu and Kashmir, India using active measurement technique RAD7 and smart RnDuo monitor. The sampling measurements were chosen according to suitability of the area. Few of the locations are near the Main Boundary Thrust (MBT) and tectonically active lineaments, having reasonably high concentration of soil gas radon. The soil gas radon concentration in 15 locations of studied area has been measured at different depths (30, 45 and 60 cm) and the overall soil gas concentration was found to vary from 0.14 to 61.01 kBq m−3, respectively. This large variation in radon content might be due to radioactive nature of the bedrocks present in different geological structure. Soil pore diffusion model have been used to observe the relation between experimentally and theoretically determined soil gas radon concentrations in the studied region.

Recent recession and potential future lake formation on Drang Drung glacier, Zanskar Himalaya, as assessed with earth observation data and glacier modelling

This study assessed the changes in the area, snout and proglacial lake formation for Drang Drung glacier located in Zanskar region of Jammu and Kashmir using earth observation data of 46 years from 1971 to 2017. In addition, ice thickness and formation of potential future lakes were modelled using a distributed model—GlabTop. Our analysis indicated that Drang Drung glacier shrunk by 13.84% from 1971 to 2017. Meteorological projections of temperature and precipitation over region were used to understand climatic changes over Drang Drung region. The snout of the glacier has retreated by 925 m since 1971 at the rate of 21.11 ma−1. However, the snout retreat radically accelerated since 2014 at 60 ma−1. Analysis of available satellite data suggested that the proglacial lake formed around 2014. The lake has expanded to 16.62 ha in 2017 amassing a water volume of 2.69 mi m3 with a potential peak discharge of 2667 m3 s−1. Based on GlabTop simulation, the mean thickness of the glacier is 155 m with the highest thickness of 311 m. Climate projections indicate that the temperatures would rise by over 4 °C by the end of this century with insignificant increase in precipitation. GlabTop simulations indicate formation of two huge lakes with areas of 97 and 47 ha in the lower ablation part of the glacier which could pose a risk to the incidence of glacial lake outburst flood in the near future.

Cytological Variability in Artemisia L. inhabiting North-West Himalayas: B Chromosomes in Artemisia gmelini Weber ex Stechm

Present work is a part of our studies on the cytological details of some species of Artemisia L. inhabiting Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir state. Of the six populations investigated for three different species (Artemisia sieversiana Ehrh. ex Willd., A. tournefortiana L. and A. gmelinii Weber ex Stechm.), some variations were noticed only for Artemisia gmelinii. The species occurring in Leh region at altitudinal range of 3992 masl is diploid with 2n = 18 (n = 9). In one of the population of the species, sprawling in Hemis region (4009 masl), В chromosome was found to be present in addition to the diploid chromosome complement. Comparison of the different morphological and reproductive features revealed that the population with В chromosome had reduced vigour.

First record of Little Indian field mouse, Mus booduga (Gray 1837) (Rodentia: Muridae), from cold arid region of Leh-Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Abstract Mus booduga (Gray 1837) is a mesic rodent, recorded for the first time from the cold arid region of Leh-Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, India. The species was collected from crop fields and nearby areas from different altitudes ranging from 3187 to 3768 m above mean sea level. The paper describes the external measurements and diagnostic features of M. booduga collected from Leh-Ladakh region. Earlier records had shown its altitudinal distribution from 250 to 3695 m above mean sea level from Uttarakhand in the Himalayan region, however in the present study the mouse was collected up to an altitude of 3768 m which is the highest elevational record of this species for the Himalayan range.

Clinico-Haematological profile of Anaemia in Diabetic patients: One year study from a region of Jammu and Kashmir

Clinico-Haematological profile of Anaemia in Diabetic patients: One year study from a region of Jammu and Kashmir

Identification of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris’ causing sesame phyllody disease and its natural weed host in Jammu, India

During May–June 2016, little leaf and phyllody symptoms were observed on 8% of sesame crop in Chakbhalwal and Kotbhalwal regions of Jammu, India. Phytoplasma suspected witches’ broom symptoms on Cannabis sativa subsp. sativa was also observed in and around sesame fields with the incidence varied from 5 to 12% in different fields. Total genomic DNA from both symptomatic sesame and Cannabis plants were subjected to nested PCR assays using two sets of universal phytoplasma specific primers P1/P7 followed by R16F2n/R16R2 and 3Far/3Rev to amplify the 16S rDNA fragments. First round PCR amplification with primer pair P1/P7 did not yield expected 1.8 kb products of 16S rRNA gene region from any of the symptomatic test samples. However, DNA specific fragments of approximately 1.2 and 1.3 kb were amplified from sesame and C. sativa sub sp. sativa by using R16F2n/R16R2 and 3Far/3Rev primer pairs, respectively. BLASTn comparison and phylogenetic analysis of 16SrDNA phytoplasma sequences of sesame and cannabis phytoplasma strains revealed the association of ‘C. Phytoplasma asteris’ (16Sr I group) with symptomatic samples. The virtual RFLP analysis of the 16Sr DNA sequence of sesame and cannabis further identified as phytoplasma strains of 16SrI-B subgroup.

Morphological variability and phylogenetic analysis in Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

Thirteen common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) accessions collected from different ecological regions of Jammu and Kashmir were evaluated at four diverse locations during kharief 2009. Significant variation was observed for most of the morphological traits. Estimates of heritability (bs) were high (>60 %) for all the traits except pod length. The expected genetic gain (per cent of mean) was high (>30 %) for days to maturity, number of pods plant-1, number of seeds pod-1, 100-seed weight and seed yield plant-1 while it was moderate (10.0-30.0%) for days to 50 per cent flowering, number of branches plant-1, pod length and protein content. Seed yield plant-1 was observed to have a highly positive and significant correlation both at phenotypic and genotypic levels with number of pods plant-1, pod length, number of seeds pod-1 and 100-seed weight. But negative and significant correlations with days to 50 per cent flowering and days to maturity were estimated from pooled analysis. Classification of accessions led to the formation of two clusters wherein the maximum number 7 accessions were grouped in cluster I and the remaining six were grouped in cluster II. Analysis of traits contributing maximum to the divergence revealed that traits viz., 100-seed weight (37.10%), protein content (15.26%), number of seeds pod-1 (11.28%) and days to maturity (10.14%) to contribute to the divergence in the present experimental material.

Phenotypic diversity in timothy grass (Phleum pratense L.) collected from North Western Himalaya, India

Assessment of the phenotypic diversity of 30 landrace populations of timothy grass originated from the Srinagar and Budgam regions of Jammu and Kashmir, Western Himalaya, India was studied during the crop season (August to September) of 2013. A total of 30 accessions [Verma-124 to Verma-153 with distinct traits of feed and fodder importance were identified. Seeds of the identified accessions was collected during following dormant period (December-January) and planted for evaluation and conservation in the field gene bank. Prior to collection of seeds, passport data and data pertaining to fodder and flowering traits were recorded. Days to germination ranged from 21.27–30.43, plant height at 50% flowering ranged from 58.12–102.63cm, number of vegetative tillers plant-1 from 1.01–8.90, number of reproductive tillers plant-1 from 2.71–26.89, tussock diameter from 10.41–20.76cm, culm length from 26.57–116.52cm, leaf blade length from 14.64–23.59cm, leaf blade breadth from 0.42–0.92cm, leaf area from 6.84–18.65cm2, leaf weight from 17.89–38.63g, stem weight from 19.99–57.98g, leaf/stem ratio from 0.39–1.76, fresh fodder yield from 3.53–6.67Kg m-2, dry fodder yield from 2.36–6.45Kg m-2, spike or inflorescence or panicle length from 5.14–10.95cm, spike/inflorescence weight 8.47–22.68g, number of spikelets/spike from 3.01–3.98, ligule length from 1.31–1.47mm, number of florets/spikelet 3.12–4.04, seed length from 0.10–0.20mm, seed breadth from 0.02–0.08mm, root depth from 1.22–1.95cm, root length density from 3.04–4.63cm cm-3), 1000-seed weight from 0.76–0.92g and seed yield from 6.40–11.87q/ha. The accessions collected from different sites were found to have fairly rich diversity in parameters under study. Accession No. IC-0615761 (Verma 146: IGFRIRS-Phleum-23 was found suitable as high yielding fodder strain from North Western Himalaya with good nutritive value.

Pathological survey of barley, maize, wheat crop grown in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, India

Pathological survey of barley, maize, wheat crop grown in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, India

Technology adoption by small-scale full-time and part-time family farm households in the subtropics of Jammu & Kashmir

This paper has assessed technology adoption and its impact on the agricultural productivity for small-scale full-time and part-time farm households in the subtropical region of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). We find only 24% of the farm households being exclusively dependent on farming for their livelihoods. For the remaining households, agriculture is a secondary economic activity. They are engaged in nonfarm economic activities, and use more of external inputs, such as fertilizers and pesticides than do the fulltime farm households. The high-yielding varieties, irrigation, herbicides and nitrogenous fertilizers are identified as important determinants of crop yield.

Forms of Potassium in Mango, Citrus and Guava Orchard Soils under Rainfed Foothill Region of Jammu

Forms of Potassium in Mango, Citrus and Guava Orchard Soils under Rainfed Foothill Region of Jammu

Training Strategies Preferred by the Horticulture Extension Personnel in Jammu Region of Jammu and Kashmir State

Training strategy is a vision, direction, action, planning for training and development in an organization that requires implementation to achieve success. The study assessed the training strategies preferred by the horticulture extension personnel for attending trainings in Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir. A total of 200 horticulture extension personnel (Horticulture development officers and horticultural technicians) were sampled for obtaining training by proportionate stratified random sampling technique. Data were analysed by using frequency and percentage. The finding of the study revealed that more than one half (63%) horticulture development officers and 53 per cent horticulture technicians preferred 3–5 days training programme. Majority (60%) Horticulture development officers (HDOs) preferred SKUAST-J Chatha and about one half (45%) horticulture technicians preferred their respective district head office/KVKs as venue for attending training programme. Both horticulture development officers and horticulture technicians preferred to attend training programme in the month of October-December. Trainers for training from outside state were preferred by more than one half (53%) horticulture development officers where trainers out of their parent organisation but within the state were preferred by 3/4th of the horticulture technicians for obtaining trainings, respectively. Method as well as result demonstration techniques were perceived as very effective training methods. Major constraint expressed by horticulture development officers was shortage of staff, where pay anomalies, excess work load and lack of promotional avenues were major constraint expressed by the horticulture technicians in performing their job.

Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Nematodes in Sheep and Goats Reared by Nomads of Jammu Region of Jammu and Kashmir

The study was carried out to determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal nematodes in sheep and goats domesticated by nomads of Jammu region of J&K. A total of 283 faecal samples were collected and processed by centrifugal fecal flotation technique using 33% ZnSO4 flotation solution to ensure that the flotation is effective. 194 samples were found positive for different gastrointestinal nematodes. The study showed the prevalence rate of gastrointestinal nematodes in sheep and goats to be 65.04 % and 70.55% respectively. Haemonchus was found to be predominant in faecal samples of both sheep and goats. The young ones and females of both species showed the higher parasitic burden compared to adults and males respectively. Based on the findings of present study it is clear that sheep and goats of Jammu region reared by nomads are heavely infected with a variety of nematode parasites.

Dose assessment from exposure to radon, thoron and their progeny concentrations in the dwellings of sub-mountainous region of Jammu & Kashmir, India

The present work deals with the assessment of annual inhalation dose due to exposure of indoor radon, thoron and their progeny concentrations in the villages situated in sub-mountainous region of Jammu & Kashmir, India. The distribution of the data and the homogeneity of medians among different seasons and dwellings were assessed with the Shapiro–Wilk test and the Mann–Whitney test. The estimated total annual inhalation dose in these villages varied from 0.5 to 1.9 mSv year−1 which is less than the prescribed limit by ICRP (2008). Thus, the investigated area is safe from irradiation of radon, thoron and their progeny.

Linkage disequilibrium based association mapping of micronutrients in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.): a collection of Jammu & Kashmir, India

Micronutrient deficiencies are of major concern in human health and plant metabolism. Iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), iodine (I), selenium (Se) are regarded as micronutrients having major impact on human health. More than 50% of populations mainly from developing countries are suffering from one or the other micronutrient malnutrition. Ensuring adequate supply of these micronutrients through diet consisting of staple foods, such as common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is must. Here, we evaluated common bean genotypes that were collected from various regions of Jammu and Kashmir, India for Fe, Zn and protein contents and used SSRs to identify the markers associated with these traits. We found significant variation among genotypes for Fe, Zn and protein contents. Genotype R2 was having 7.22 mg 100 g−1 of Fe content, genotype K15 with 1.93 mg 100 g−1 of Zn content and genotype KS6 with 31.6% of protein content. Diversity study was done using both cluster and structure based approach. Further, association mapping analysis using General Linear Method (GLM) approach was done to identify SSRs associated with accumulation of Fe, Zn and protein. 13 SSRs were identified that significantly (p < 0.05) showed association with Fe, Zn and protein contents in common bean. The markers associated with Fe were located on chromosome no. 2, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10, markers associated with Zn were located on chromosome no. 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 whereas only one marker located on chromosome no. 4 was found associated with protein content. These findings will provide potential opportunity to improve Fe and Zn concentrations in common bean, through molecular breeding.

Assessment of attached and unattached progeny concentrations of 222Rn/220Rn and their contribution to dose using deposition-based progeny sensors

The exposure of radiation from natural sources to population has become an important issue in terms of radiological protection. Mostly natural radiation comes from radon (222Rn), thoron (220Rn) and their solid short-lived daughter products that are the main threat to public health risk. The results presented in this paper are from a survey carried out in 40 villages of Jammu district, Sub-Mountainous region of Jammu and Kashmir, India, to quantify progeny concentration of radon and thoron using a passive time integrating, deposition-based technique. For estimating the total (attached + unattached) progeny concentration of radon/thoron, direct radon/thoron progeny sensors (DRPS/DTPS) have been used and only attached progeny concentration of radon/thoron has been measured by using wire-mesh capped direct radon/thoron progeny sensors (WM-DRPS/WM-DTPS). The study has been conducted for a period of 1 year during winter, rainy and summer seasons in all 112 dwellings. The exposure time of the sensors was 4 months. In this survey, the variability of progeny concentration of radon and thoron based upon variation in building construction materials and seasons-wise has also been discussed and efforts have been made to provide the reason for these variations. The highest level of progeny concentration of radon/thoron was found in the mud-type dwellings compared with dwellings made of concrete, cement and marble. Indoor and outdoor gamma dose rate (µSvh−1) has also been measured and correlated indoor gamma annual effective dose (µSvy−1) with progeny annual effective dose (µSvy−1).

Recent Wetting and Glacier Expansion in the Northwest Himalaya and Karakoram

Hydroclimatic variability driven by global warming in the climatically vulnerable cold semi-arid to arid northwest (NW) Himalaya is poorly constrained due to paucity of continuous weather records and annually resolved proxies. Applying a network of annually resolved tree-ring-width chronologies from semi-arid region of Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir, India, we reconstructed April-May standardized precipitation index extending back to A.D. 1439 (576 years). The reconstructed series is featured by the most conspicuous long-term droughts during the 15th to early 17th centuries followed by a general wetting, with 1984–2014 being the wettest interval in the past 576 years. The data, consistent with other independently developed tree-ring-based hydrological records from cold semi-arid to arid NW Himalaya and Karakoram, point to an increased regional wetting in the recent decades. Such an increased wetting might have led to the anomalous behaviour of glaciers in the NW Himalaya and Karakoram in contrast to the general receding trends in the central and eastern Himalaya.