Ri-Bhoi District Research Articles

Soil erodibility indices under different land uses in Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya (India)

In absence of soil erosion plots for determination of erodibility index (K) for erosion models like Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) or Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) to estimate soil erosion, empirical relations are used. In the present study, soil erodibility index was determined for entire Ri-bhoi district of Meghalaya based on soil physical and chemical properties through empirical relationship and presented in a map form. Dominant land uses of the district were identified through geo-spatial tools which were viz. agriculture, forest, jhum land and wasteland. Soil samples from surface depth (01–15 cm) were collected from areas of different dominant land uses. Twenty five sampling points were selected under each land use type and geo-coded them on the base map of Ri-bhoi district. Apart from K-index, Clay Ratio, Modified Clay Ratio and Critical Soil Organic Matter were also determined for understanding the effect of primary soil particles on erodibility. In agriculture land use system K-index values were found in the range of 0.08–0.41 with an average of 0.25 ± 0.02. In case of jhum, forest and wasteland these were in the range of 0.08–0.42 with an average of 0.20 ± 0.01; 0.09–0.40 with an average of 0.22 ± 0.02, and 0.10–0.34 with an average value of 0.23 ± 0.02, respectively. Clay ratio (2.74) and Modified clay ratio (2.41) were observed to be higher in forest LUS, lower clay ratio (1.97) and modified clay ratio (1.81) were found in the wasteland indicating erosion susceptibility in forested area. The values of Critical Level of Organic Matter (CLOM) for the district ranged from 4.72 to 16.56. Out of 100 samples, only one sample had CLOM value less than 5 and rest 99 samples had values more than 5 indicating that the soils of the district had moderate to stable soil structure and offer resistance to erosion. All the indices values of geo-coded points were then interpolated in the Arc-GIS environment to produce land use based maps for Ri-bhoi district of Meghalaya. As K-index is a quantitative parameter which is used in models, the index can be then interpolated for estimation of soil erosion through USLE or RUSLE for any given situation.

HIERARCHICAL CLASSIFICATION FOR ASSESSMENT OF HORTICULTURAL CROPS IN MIXED CROPPING PATTERN USING UAV-BORNE MULTI-SPECTRAL SENSOR

Abstract. Assessment of horticultural crops under mixed cropping system has been a challenge, both for horticulturists and also to the remote sensing communities. But the recent developments in wide range of sensors onboard Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) has opened up new possibilities in identification, mapping and monitoring of horticultural crops. This paper presents the results made from a pilot exercise on horticultural crop discrimination using Parrot Sequoia multi-spectral sensor onboard a UAV. This exercise was carried out in Nongkhrah village, Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya state located in the north eastern part of India having mixed horticultural crops. A two level hierarchical classification system was followed for identification and delineation of the major horticultural crops in the village. Parrot Sequoia multi-spectral sensor having four bands has been found to be effective in discrimination of horticultural crops based on variation in spectral response of six horticultural crops viz., pineapple, banana, orange, papaya, ginger and turmeric using three commonly used indices viz., Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Red Edge Index (NDRE) and Green Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (GNDVI). NDVI and GNDVI showed nearly similar spectral response, whereas separability among the horticultural crops significantly improved with the use of NDRE. The first level of classification involving the five broad land cover classes has resulted an overall accuracy of about 91%, whereas the second level of classification for delineating the five selected horticultural crops has provided an overall accuracy of 79.8%.

Assessment of soil organic carbon stock in different agro-ecological land use of Ri-Bhoi district, Meghalaya

Assessment of soil organic carbon stock in different agro-ecological land use of Ri-Bhoi district, Meghalaya

Traditional Technology on Medicinal Plants Used by Indigenous People of Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary, Meghalaya, North East India

Meghalaya a state in North Eastern Region of India is a rich source of biodiversity which includes high potential of naturally occurring medicinal plants. The study was conducted in and around the Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary located in the Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya to investigate the uses of medicinal plants and their conservation. The Nongkhyllem wildlife sanctuary was carved out of Nongkhyllem reserve forest in the year 1981 for adequate protection of the floral and faunal species of the area and covers an area of 29 sq. km on steep hill slopes (20° to > 65°). Participation rural appraisal (PRA) methods and tools were used for interacting with them. Information was extracted through key informant interviews and focus group discussions. Plants specimen were collected and identified and preserved as voucher specimens following standard herbarium techniques. The study comprises 71 species of ethnomedicinal plants belonging to 42 families. The most dominant family recorded as a whole is Malvaceae followed by Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae, Rutaceae, Solanaceae. Herbs were found to be the most used plants in preparing traditional medicines. Among the different plant parts, the leaves were most frequently used for the treatment of diseases followed by fruit, root, flower, bark, whole plant, seed, stem, rhizome and tuber. People collect plants from their surrounding plant communities in wild, semi-wild and some are cultivated as well. However, cultivation of medicinal plants in surroundings, home-gardens, agro-forestry systems is a very new and important from conservation point of view in north east India.

Relationship Between Above-Ground Biomass and Different Vegetation Indices of Forests of Ri-Bhoi District, Meghalaya, India

Relationship Between Above-Ground Biomass and Different Vegetation Indices of Forests of Ri-Bhoi District, Meghalaya, India

Effect of Soil Orders and Land Uses on Available Soil Nutrients in Meghalaya, India

Understanding of spatial distribution of available soil nutrients is important for sustainable land management. An attempt has been made to assess the spatial distribution of available soil nutrients under different soil orders and land uses of RiBhoi, Meghalaya, India using geo-statistical techniques. Seven Land Use Land Cover (LULC) classes were selected from LULC map on 1:50,000 scale prepared by National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) viz. Abandoned Jhum (AJ), Current Jhum (CJ), Deciduous Forest (DF), Double Crop (DC), Evergreen Forest (EF), Kharif Crop (KC) and Wastelands (WL). Again, three soil orders were identified by National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (NBSS&LUP) in RiBhoi district of Meghalaya, India viz. Alfisols, Inceptisols and Ultisols. 105 soil samples were collected, 5 replicated soil samples from 21 strata derived from 7 LULC and 3 soil orders. Soil samples were analyzed for available nitrogen (N), available phosphorus (P2O5), available potassium (K2O) and available zinc (Zn) using standard procedures. One way ANOVA was carried out using IBM SPSS Statistics 20.0 software. Significance levels were tested at p≤0.05.
 N content varied from low (215.50 kg/ha) to medium (414.30 kg/ha) with mean value of 291.50 kg/ha. On the other hand, P2O5 content varied from low (19.90 kg/ha) to high (68.30 kg/ha) with mean value of 43.52 kg/ha. Similarly, K2O content varied from low (112.09 kg/ha) to high (567.84 kg/ha) with mean value of 273.68 kg/ha. Again, Zn also varied from low (0.26 ppm) to high (1.46 ppm) with mean value of 0.64 ppm.
 In Alfisols, N was found to be higher in EF, AJ & CJ than DF, DC, KC and WL. KC has been found to have lower N than all other LULC classes. Higher P2O5 has been found under EF over KC and WL. AJ has been found to have higher K2O than all other LULC classes. K2O has also been found to be higher in CJ over DC, KC and WL. DF and EF have been found to have higher K2O than KC and WL. Zn has been found to be higher in EF over CJ, DC and WL.
 In Inceptisols, higher amount of N was observed under EF over all other LULC classes. Higher N has also been found under CJ over DF, DC, KC and WL. P2O5 content was found to be higher under DF over all other LULC classes. Higher P2O5 content was also found under AJ, CJ and DC than KC and WL. Higher amount of K2O has been found under AJ over all other LULC. K2O content of soil under DF was also higher than CJ, EF, KC and WL. Zn has been found to be higher under EF over all other LULC classes. Zn content under CJ has also been found to be higher than AJ, DF, KC and WL.
 In Ultsols, higher amount of N has been found under EF compared to all other LULC classes. Lowest N content was found under KC. P2O5 content was found to be higher under EF, DF and AJ over all other LULC. K2O content has been found to be higher under CJ in comparison to all other LULC classes. K2O content of EF and DF were also found to be higher than AJ, DC, KC and WL. Again, K2O content has been found to be higher under DC compared to AJ, KC and WL. Zn content under EF and AJ was found to be higher than all other LULC classes. CJ, DF, DC, KC and WL have been found to have lower Zn content.
 It has been observed that P2O5 content is significantly higher in inceptisols irrespective of LULC classes. The study has highlighted the spatial distribution of available soil nutrients as a function of soil orders and LULC. This will be a useful input in sustainable land management programmes.

Study of Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPS) in Meghalaya State of India: Methods for Empirical Analysis

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) income plays an important role in the household economy in the rural forest dwelling communities. The study utilised both the primary data and secondary data. Primary data were collected from 30 sample households from two villages in Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya to analysis the significant of NTFPs income in the rural household economy with the objectives, (i) To study the determinants of income generation through NTFP (ii) To estimate the extent of employment generation through NTFP (iii) Price behaviour of selected NTFP in Mawiong regulated market. Econometric model and Box-Jenkins Autoregressive moving average (ARIMA) methodology were applied for the study. The study found that income from business was the major income sources (45.74 % share to the total household income). Income from NTFPs collection has the second largest share with 22.05 per cent followed by crop production with 14.61 per cent, labour with 9.16 per cent and livestock with 8.44 per cent. The lin-log model was selected as best model based on the value of R² value (0.89). Years of experience, total hours spent in NTFPs collection and average land holding have positive and significant relationship with the NTFPs income while age and distance travelled has a negative and significant association with it. Broom grass and Tezpatta contribute 2 and 1 manday/qtl/year to the total NTFPs employment. ARIMA (0, 1, 1) was the best fitted model as it has the lowest Akaike Information Criteria (AIC) and Bayesian Information Criteria (BIC). The price of Broom grass was forecasted for five weeks from 4th week of November to 4th week of December 2018 using ARIMA (0, 1, 1). The forecast Broom grass price for 4th week of November to be ` 2891.66 /qtl which will decrease to ` 2687.46 in 4th week of December.

Implication of tribal sub plan (TSP) on empowering the farmers of Meghalaya

Empowerment is a measure intended to increase self-determination, and the degree of autonomy in people and in communities so as to empower them to represent their interests in an accountable, and self- determined way through their own authority. The present study assesses the Empowerment Index of tribal farmers under Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) project undertaken by Central Agricultural University, Imphal in Ri bhoi and West Garo Hill districts of Meghalaya. A total of 390 beneficiary farmers have interviewed such that 270 farmers from Ri bhoi district and 120 farmers from West Garo Hill district. Paired t-test for the test of significance of two dependent samples was applied to test the significance of mean difference before and after the intervention TSP. A significant difference was found in all the components of empowerment index. Therefore, considerable change was observed due to TSPproject in the empowering the farmers.

Distribution and classification of phosphorus fractions and their relationship with soil properties in ultisols of Meghalaya

Ninety soil samples were collected from three depths of Barapani, Ri-Bhoi district, Meghalaya and determined phosphorus (P) fractions and their relationship with soil characteristics. The soils were acidic, low base saturated and rich in organic matter in the surface horizons. Majority of the soils was showing low cation exchange capacity (CEC), low bulk density, high available nitrogen (N), P and potassium (K). Among the P fractions, Fe-P was the most predominant followed by RS-P > Al-P > Occ-P > Ca-P > Sal-P. The overall results showed that the available P, organic-P and total-P decreased with increase in the soil depth, whereas Al-P, Fe-P, RS-P, Occ-P and Ca-P were found higher in lower horizons of the Ultisols. The Fe-P had positive correlation with clay (r = 0.45**) and negative with pH (r = -0.27**), EC (r = -0.34**) and available S (r = -0.29**). The Al-P was positively correlated with Fe-P (r = 0.332**), clay (r = 0.44**) and negative with OC (r = - 0.34**), CEC (r = -0.30**). Total-P and occluded-P were the main contributing factors for the availability of P. Multiple regression equations were also worked out for predicting different forms of P in relation to soil properties. Nutrient Index of available P for Ultisols was found under medium in category. About 60% soils of Ultisols are likely to respond of P- fertilizer.

Odonate diversity of Nongkhyllem wildlife sanctuary, Ri-bhoi district, Meghalaya, India

During studies on Odonate diversity of Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary from 2016 to 2017 a total of 58 species belonging to two sub-orders, 10 families, and 37 genera were recorded. This included 35 species of Anisoptera and 23 species of Zygoptera. Three species (Disparoneura apicalis, Agriocnemis kalinga and Calicnemia erythromelas) are new additions to the odonate fauna of Meghalaya. The genus Orthetrum was found to be the most dominant genera contributing five species. Being legally protected under state legislation, the sanctuary faces low levels of human interference and anthropogenic activities.

Socio-economic Characteristics of the Adopters and Non-adopters of Inter-cropping in Areca Nut Plantation in Ri-Bhoi District of Meghalaya

The socio-economic status of farmers plays a vital role in Agriculture. It is observed from the present study that the farmers economic level affect the livelihood of the farmers in Ri-Bhoi District of Meghalaya. The farmers have tried to change their way of cropping by introducing inter-crops with the main crops to increase their income level. The purposed of this finding was to compare the difference in the socio-economic characteristics of the adopter and non-adopter of inter-cropping in areca nut plantation in Ri-Bhoi District of Meghalaya. Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya is therefore selected for the study. Since time immemorial, areca nut has been grown in Meghalaya as an important commercial crop. Ex-Post Facto research design was used for this study. The sample study was selected through multistage sampling method in the selected study area of the respondents. Number of respondents was selected using a simple random method based on the criteria of practicing areca nut plantation and those who practiced both areca nut plus inter-cropping. A survey of 310 adopters and 310 non-adopters of intercropping in areca nut plantation were selected for the study. Collection of primary data was done by interview schedule and appropriate statistical tools were used for interpretation of the data. Independent variables included in this were gender, age, marital status, educational level, type of house, family size, family type, social category, annual income, information seeking behaviour, participation in extension activities, social participation, innovativeness, scientific orientation, economic motivation and risk orientation. Based on the study it is observed there are few variables contributing to the significant difference between the adopters and the non-adopters in related to their socio-economic characteristics.

RAPID IDENTIFICATION OF ABIOTIC STRESS (FROST) IN IN-FILED MAIZE CROP USING UAV REMOTE SENSING

Abstract. Stress in the crop not only decreases the production but can also have devastating consequences for farmers whose life depends upon the healthy crops. In recent time (January 2018) a such abiotic stress event (hoar frost) was experienced at ICAR research complex experimental filed, Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya on standing Maize crop. Therefore, remote sensing (Multispectral UAV- Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) technology were used to detect the effect of frost on in-filed Maize crop. Two set of multispectral data (before frost and after frost) with four advanced machine learning techniques viz. Random Forest (RF), Random Committee (RC), Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Artificial Neural Network were employed for detection of stress free crop and stressed crop due to frost. Results revealed that all the four methods of classification could able to identify / detect stress-free vs. stressed crops at satisfactory level. However, among the classifiers RF achieved relatively higher overall accuracy (OA = 86.47%) with Kappa Indexanalysis (KIA = 0.80) and found very cost effective in context of computational cost (time complexity = 0.08 Seconds) to train the model. In addition, we have also recorded the area of each classes and found that after frost stress-free area (36.01% of all over filed) is decreased by 11% in comparison of before frost (25.036% of all over filed). Based on the results we can suggest that the RF ensemble classification method can be used for further other crop classification in order to estimate the yield, detect the condition, monitoring the health etc.

Characterization and Classification of Soils of Jirang Block in Meghalaya Plateau

The Meghalaya plateau occupying a major portion of entire state of Meghalaya remains as an important part of the ancient Deccan plateau. A detailed soil survey (1:10,000 scale) of the Jirang block of Ri-Bhoi district was carried out using IRS-P6 LISS IV and Cartosat-1 images. Typical pedons representing major landforms of the study area viz., denudational hills, plateau and inter hill valley plain developed from granite–gneiss occurring under varying land use were characterized, classified and assessed. The soils were deep to very deep, dark grayish brown to red in colour, extremely acid to moderately acid in reaction and high in organic carbon; the latter decreased with increase in depth. Soils on high denudational hills, highly dissected upper and lower plateau and lowly dissected lower plateau are highly weathered (kandic horizons) with base saturation <35% and are classified to Ultisols. Soils on low denudational hills are highly weathered Alfisols. Soils of moderately dissected lower plateau and those on upper valley region are both Alfisols, but the latter has lower base saturation than the former. The soils of the lower valley are Alfisols with an aquic moisture regime.

Land use land cover and slope interaction mapping of Ribhoi district of Meghalaya using geospatial technique

Land use land cover and slope interaction mapping of Ribhoi district of Meghalaya using geospatial technique

Biological and molecular evidence of papaya ring spot virus pathotype P from mid-hills of Meghalaya, India

Papaya ring spot virus (PRSV) is the limiting factor of papaya production in India irrespective of agro-climatic conditions and it may cause crop losses up to 85–90%. In this study, diagnostic survey on PRSV was conducted in mid-hills of Ri-Bhoi district, Meghalaya, India during April to June, 2015. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assay detected PRSV infection in 38 of 53 samples collected from surveyed locations with an average incidence of 71.7%. The representative isolate (PRSV-P:Umiam) from mid-hill Meghalaya was maintained in healthy papaya seedlings by standard sap inoculation method and typical symptoms were expressed within 21–24 days post inoculation. Studies on the physical properties revealed that the dilution end point of PRSV-P:Umiam at 10−2, longevity in vitro for 18 h and thermal inactivation point in between 50 and 55 °C. Among the cucurbitaceous hosts, pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) alone exhibited chlorotic lesions on leaves within 20–25 days post inoculation. The partial coat protein (CP 750 bp) of PRSV-P:Umiam gene shared maximum nucleotide (~ 95%) and amino acid (~ 98%) identity with PRSV isolates reported from northern and eastern India. The CP based phylogeny clustered PRSV-P:Umiam with the PRSV isolates from north and east India.

A preliminary study of Mnar

The present paper is an initiatory investigation of Mnar, a dialect of Khasi, which is classified under the Mon-Khmer branch of the Austro-Asiatic language family. Mnar occupies the area known as Jirang, which falls under the RiBhoi district of Meghalaya. Although, Mnar shares common structural traits with other Austro-Asiatic languages, it still exhibits unique properties, providing a great opportunity for succinct investigation of the structural patterns existing in the language.

Impact of Climate Resilient Practices under NICRA Project in Ri Bhoi District of Meghalaya

The present study was conducted to identify the technological and socio-economic impact of the climate resilient technologies demonstrated at National Innovation for Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) Kyrdem village at Ri Bhoi district of Meghalaya. To assess the impact, the ex-post-facto research design, where before and after comparisons on different aspects of NICRA project were done. The statistical tools like chi square and Cramer’s V were applied for analysis of the collected information for jalkund and vermicompost to draw the meaningful and logical conclusions. Findings reveal that the average cultivable land area and productive parameters for crops and livestocks of NICRA farmers after the project interventions was significantly higher than that of before the implementation of the interventions all through in kharif and rabi seasons. Findings of cropping intensity, annual savings, expenditure pattern and crop yield were significantly higher in comparison to before implementation of the intervention. Findings of the study exhibited an encouraging impact of the demonstrated technologies in various spheres of farmer’s life of NICRA village.

Performance of rajma (Phaseolus vulgaris) cultivars under organic mulches in Meghalayan Plateau of North Eastern India

A field experiment was conducted at college of postgraduate studies farm during winter season of 2015-16 in Ri-Bhoi district, Meghalaya to study the effect of two different organic mulch on rajma cultivars. The experiment was laid out in a split plot design with three main plot treatments (mulching practices) and four sub-plot treatments (rajma cultivars) and replicate thrice. It was recorded during this field investigation, that the performance of weed mulch was better over maize stover and no mulch. The emergence percentage (89%) was better under weed mulching. The plant parameters, viz., plant height (51.19 cm after 60 DAS), number of branches per plant (7.84 after 60 DAS), pod length (15.05 cm), dry matter accumulation per meter square (1.15 kg), number of seeds per pod (6.48) was found significantly higher for the cultivar Selection-9 over remaining three varieties. Yield of 2.37 t ha-1 was recorded for weed mulch, followed by maize stover mulch (2.22 t ha-1) and no mulch (2.05 t ha-1). Similarly, weed mulch registered highest harvest index of 41.09% followed by maize stover mulch. The average yield of Selection-9 was found to be 2.52 t ha-1 which was higher significantly over other three cultivars.

Geochemical Characteristics of Metasomatised Diorites in and around Umsopri of Ri-bhoi District, Meghalaya, India

Geochemical Characteristics of Metasomatised Diorites in and around Umsopri of Ri-bhoi District, Meghalaya, India

Seismic hazard assessment of the Shillong Plateau, India

The Shillong Plateau is an earthquake-prone region in the northeastern India. Based on regional seismotectonic studies, we present here a deterministic seismic hazard assessment (DSHA) and maps of peak horizontal accelerations (PHA) for three largely populated districts – the East Khasi hills, the Ri-Bhoi, and the West Garo hills – within the Shillong Plateau. The hazard analysis methodology is based on the analysis of 72 earthquake sources (active faults) located within 500 km seismotectonic region around the plateau. Using an average sample log-likelihood approach, suitable ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs) are identified. As a variation in hypocentral distances can affect the ranks (or weights) of selected GMPEs, DSHA is performed separately for the three selected districts. Analyses show that the northern part of the East Khasi hills, eastern part of Ri-Bhoi district and the West Garo hills districts exhibit the highest PHA value of 0.46 g at site class A (hard rocks). In addition, response spectra for the Shillong city, Nongpoh, and Tura indicate that the maximum spectral acceleration reaches 0.67 g, 0.77 g, and 0.64 g at 0.1 s, respectively. These assessments indicate that the Barapani, Oldham, and Dauki faults influence significantly the seismic hazard in the studied region.