South Western Punjab Research Articles

Economic evaluation of cluster front line demonstrations on chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) in Faridkot district of South Western Punjab

A study was conducted in South Western Punjab (India) during 2016-18 to assess the economic performance of clusterwise front line demonstration on chickpea (var PBG-7). One hundred ninety five front line demonstrations (FLDs) were conducted at farmers’ fields to demonstrate the effect of improved technologies on the productivity of chickpea using cluster village approach in Faridkot district of Punjab duringRabi 2016-17 and 2017-18. The productivity of chickpea under demonstration plots ranged between 11.9 to 13.2 q and 12.2 to 14.1 q/ha during year 2016-17 and 2017-18, respectively, whereas, under farmers’ practice the productivity varied from 9.5 to 10.7 q and 9.0 to 11.2 q/ha for respective years. The extension gap in the demonstration plots over potential yield was the lowest i.e., 1.8 q/ha in cluster I, whereas, the highest extension gap was recorded in cluster II (3.35q/ha) while the average extension gap over all the clusters was 2.57q/ha. The highest value of technology gap of 7.95 q/ha was recorded in cluster I, however, the least value was recorded in cluster IV (6.35) with the average technology gap of 7.10 q/ha over all the clusters. The technology index (%) was 31.75 for cluster IV, 33.50 for V, 35.5 for III, 37.0 for II and the highest, 39.75 per cent for cluster I, while, the mean technology index was 35.5 per cent. The value of net returns per ha under demonstration plots was Rs. 23550 and Rs. 26310, whereas, farmers practice gave net returns of Rs.14110 and Rs.14180 per ha, respectively, for the years 2016-17 and 2017-18. The benefit : cost ratio ranged from 1.80 to 2.00 for 2016-17 and 1.81 to 2.10 for 2017-18 under demonstration plots while the value of same varied between 1.42 to 1.59 and 1.31 to 1.63 under farmers’ practice for year 2016-17 and 2017-18, respectively.

Field evaluation of productivity of gobhi sarson (Brassica napus) under cluster frontline demonstrations in Faridkot district of South-western Punjab

One hundred fifty three front line demonstrations (FLDs) were conducted on farmers’ fields to demonstrate the effect of improved technologies on the productivity of canola type gobhi sarson var. GSC-7 using cluster approach in district Faridkot of Punjab during Rabi 2016-17 and 2017-18. The productivity of gobhi sarson under demonstration plots ranged between 19.2 to 20.4 q and 19.9 to 20.8 q/ha, respectively, for year 2016-17 and 2017-18, whereas, under farmers’ practice, the productivity varied from 14.1 to 14.2 q and 16.6 to 17.1 q/ha for the respective years. The maximum value of extension gap to the tune of 5.10 q/ha was recorded in cluster IV followed by cluster III and V (4.75 q/ha), cluster II (4.65 q/ha) and the least was in cluster I (4.10 q/ha). The technology gap in the demonstration plots over potential yield was the lowest i.e. 1.80 q/ha in cluster IV, whereas, the highest technology gap was recorded in cluster I (2.70q/ha). The technology index was 8.09 per cent for cluster IV and the highest (12.13%) for cluster I while the mean technology index was 9.48 per cent. The value of net returns per ha under demonstration plots was Rs. 71594 and Rs. 72170, whereas, farmers’ practice gave net returns per ha of Rs. 40626 and Rs. 52626 for the year 2016- 17 and 2017-18, respectively. The benefit: Cost ratio varied between 3.76 to 4.05 for 2016-17 and 3.73 to 4.04 for 2017-18 under demonstration plots while the value of same under farmers’ practice varied between 2.46 to 2.55 and 2.80 to 2.93, respectively, for year 2016-17 and 2017-18.

Source apportionment, chemometric pattern recognition and health risk assessment of groundwater from southwestern Punjab, India.

The groundwater quality of southwestern Punjab, India, is a serious cause of concern due to the presence of chemical contaminants in it. However, limited studies of groundwater quality, sources of chemical contaminants and their health risks are available for the region. Hence, this study was conducted to investigate the source, distribution and potential health risk assessment of groundwater quality in three districts of southwestern Punjab, India. The spatial distribution of groundwater chemical contaminants and their potential health risks have been illustrated using inverse distance weighting interpolation technique. The concentration of fluoride (F-; ranged from 0.08 to 4.79mgL-1) exceeded the WHO limit (1.5µgL-1) in 80 and 50% samples collected from Bathinda and Ludhiana districts, respectively. The uranium (U) concentration ranged from 0.5 to 432µgL-1 and shows ~ 85%, 75% and 10% of samples collected from Bathinda, Barnala and Ludhiana districts exceeded the WHO drinking water limit (30µgL-1), respectively. The groundwater quality of the Bathinda district is a matter of concern due to elevated levels of alkalinity, hardness, fluoride, uranium and nitrate (NO3-). The principal component analysis shows close association between F- and U, which indicates their geogenic origin. Further, they also seem to be subordinately influenced by diffuse anthropogenic activities. The clustering of Cu and Pb with NO3- and SO42- indicates their anthropogenic origin. The non-carcinogenic health risk assessment indicates that F-, NO3- and U are the major health risk pollutants in the study area. The carcinogenic health risk of As and Cr exceeded the USEPA limits (10-6) in the entire study area, but observed to be more serious for the district Bathinda (10-3-10-5). The spatial distribution maps illustrate that the health risk for Bathinda district inhabitants is higher than Barnala and Ludhiana districts.

Kitchen gardening in south Western Punjab

Small kitchen gardens provide an opportunity to farmer's to have access to vegetables at a lower cost when they are available in the market at a higher price. Vegetable kits were distributed to farmer's in five major blocks of Mansa district during summer and winter season. Among the five major blocks of the district maximum average yield was recorded in block Bhikhi (74.96kg in winter and 54.92 kgper plot in summer) followed by Mansa, Sardulgarh and Jhunir. Minimum yield was recorded in block Budhlada (47.3kg in winter and 34.34 kg per plot in summer). On an average, winter vegetables worth 862.22 and summer vegetables worth 1105.91 could be procured from an area of 20 m2. The total income incurred from an area of 20m2 in a period of six months was 1968.13. Thus, yearly income of about 3936 is incurred if different vegetables are grown in the form of a small kitchen garden with 20m area.

Scientific dairy management practices followed by dairy farmers in South-Western Punjab

Scientific dairy management practices followed by dairy farmers in South-Western Punjab

Yields, Yield Gaps and Economic Efficiency of Mustard Cultivation in South-Western and Central Punjab, India

Yields, Yield Gaps and Economic Efficiency of Mustard Cultivation in South-Western and Central Punjab, India

Assessment of Sequestered Organic Carbon and Its Pools Under Different Agricultural Land-Uses in the Semi-Arid Soils of South-Western Punjab, India

This is a study of long-term impact of agricultural land-uses on soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration, its depth-wise distribution among some selected carbon pools, and their contribution towards loss of C through mineralization as CO2 to understand the present situation as well as to elucidate future strategies. Soil samples from croplands, horticultural lands, and uncultivated lands in semi-arid India (south-western Punjab) were assessed for basic physico-chemical properties, SOC, SOC stock, KMnO4-oxidizable C (KOC), particulate organic C (POC), and C mineralization (CO2-Ccum). Orchards showed highest potential to sequester carbon imparting a trend of horticulture > croplands > uncultivated lands regarding SOC and its pools. Weighted mean values showed the similar trend where croplands and uncultivated lands were mostly at par. Up to 90 cm depth orchards exhibited highest SOC stock (74.89 Mg ha−1) followed by croplands (53.87 Mg ha−1) and uncultivated lands (43.72 Mg ha−1). Decrease in C along the profile was pronounced under croplands. The studied pools were positively correlated with highest magnitude observed in between POC and SOC (r = 0.831, P = 0.01). Least positive linear relation with C mineralization was exhibited by POC particularly under horticulture, and highest C mineralization was recorded in the case of KOC under cultivation. Due to having greater POC contents which is less susceptible to mineralization loss, horticulture exhibited long-term stability of soil C than croplands. Croplands suggest faster loss of soil C for the presence of labile KOC fraction in a comparatively higher extent. Therefore, inclusion of horticultural land-use could be considered as a positive strategy to maintain the future productivity as well as sustainability of the studied area where intensive cultivation is prevailed.

The effect of recent climate shifts on optimal sowing windows for wheat in Punjab, India

AbstractThe productivity of wheat is highly vulnerable to climate change. Optimizing the sowing period of a crop may be one of the most important climate resilient strategies to optimize yield. First, the CERES-Wheat model was used to analyze effects of climate change on the optimum sowing window of wheat. Second, it was used to determine the optimum sowing window for different zones within Punjab state, India. The simulation results suggested that climate change has caused a shift in the optimum sowing window of wheat. The current (2006–2015 weather data) optimum sowing window is 22–28 October in north eastern Punjab, 24–30 October in central Punjab, and 21–27 October in south western Punjab. The rate of decrease in productivity with delay in sowing from the optimum sowing window by each day was lowest for north eastern Punjab (36.09 kg ha−1 day−1) and highest for south western Punjab (70.80 kg ha−1 day−1). The methodology followed in this study can be useful in determining the optimum sowing time of various crops.

Energy auditing and optimization approach for improving energy efficiency of rice cultivation in south-western Punjab, India

Abstract Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is an important energy intensive cereal crop in India. In the present study, energy input and output were audited to optimize energy use in rice cultivation using data collected from 40 farmers during face-to-face interview. Average total energy input (EI) of 52.4 ± 1.3 GJ ha−1 produced total energy output (EO) of 259 ± 4.7 GJ ha−1, with energy productivity (EP) of 0.16 kg MJ−1. Results revealed that rice cultivation was energy efficient with energy ratio (ER) of 5.0 ± 0.12 and net energy gain (NEG) of 206 ± 4.5 GJ ha−1. In rice, irrigation water (∼40%) and chemical fertilizers (24.7%) had highest contribution towards EI. A non-parametric production function of DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) applied to optimize energy use in rice, elucidated 20 decision making units (DMUs) as efficient, whilst 50% as inefficient. The average technical efficiency (TE), pure technical efficiency (PTE) and scale efficiency (SE) of rice farms were 0.94, 0.97 and 0.97, respectively. Our results revealed that between 9.4 and 2170 MJ ha−1 energy (0.2 and 46.9% of total saving) could be saved, if inefficient DMUs adopt the management practices of efficient DMUs. An average energy saving of 579 ± 166 MJ ha−1 by efficient DMUs accounts for ∼8.8% of the EI.

Employment and Income Pattern of Migrant Agricultural Labour in South Western Punjab

The present study was undertaken to examine the employment and income pattern among migrant agricultural labour in southwestern, Punjab during 2017–18. Multistage random sampling technique was used to select the 120 respondents from four clusters of villages of Sri Muktsar Sahib district of Punjab. The results of the study revealed that the majority of permanent and casual migrant agricultural labour belonged to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Uttarakhand. The majority of respondents belonged to Hindu and Muslim religion. The study further revealed that both permanent and casual migrant agricultural labour rendered their services in agriculture for 234 and 206 days respectively. Permanent casual and migrants earned `95087 and`63662 in a year from hiring out of labour in agriculture. The per capita expenditure on food and non-food items were `26562 for permanent migrant agricultural labour and `20142 for casual migrant agricultural labour. Permanent and casual migrant agricultural labour recorded `68525 and 43520 as their surplus income respectively.

Air pollution and its association with respiratory dysfunction among healthy adolescents: a cross sectional study from South Western Punjab, India

Background: This study has been performed to compare the pulmonary functions of healthy adolescents studying in schools situated in highly polluted areas with those studying in schools of low polluted areas of south western Punjab.Methods: This study was conducted in various schools located at Faridkot and Bathinda city. These places had been identified by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) as having low and high air pollution levels respectively. Study Population divided into two groups that is Group A: 300 children from schools situated in Bathinda city. Group B: 301 children from schools situated in Faridkot city. Spiro Excel spirometer was used, and following parameters were obtained: FVC, FEV₁, FEV₁% (relation of FEV₁ to FVC), PEFR, FEF25-75%. Results: FVC was low in males and females in the high polluted group as compared in the low polluted group (p = 0.042; significant; males) (p = 0.039; significant; females). FEV₁ was low in males and females in high polluted group as compared in low polluted group (p = 0.003; significant; males) (p = 0.026; significant; females). In this study only, males showed a significant fall in mean percentage of FEF25-75%. PEFR was low in males in high polluted group as compared to that in low polluted group (p = 0.007; significant) while in females it was insignificant.Conclusions: It is concluded that in South Western Punjab, air pollution has detrimental effect on pulmonary functions (FVC, FEV₁, FEV₁%, FEF25-75% and PEFR) in healthy adolescents.

Economic analysis of garment construction enterprise adopted at house hold level by rural women of district mansa

The present study was conducted in Mansa district of south western Punjab. Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Mansa conducted five training programmes on garment construction during the year 2011 to 2016. In these training programmes, total 108 farm women and rural girls participated from different villages of Mansa District. Out of these 108 trainees, about 61 per cent trainees started stitching articles at household level on demand basis. These 66 trainees were interviewed during the year 2017–18 to study the socio-economic profile and to identify motivational factors influencing adoption of garment construction activity. The survey also focused on the level of income generation among trainees through garment construction. The study revealed that majority of the women was in the age group of 20–40 yr of age. Majority of the trainees (54.5%) was from backward or schedule caste category. The desire to augment family income and family tradition were two motivational factors behind adoption of the garment construction activity. It was found out that about are 42.4 per cent ladies stitched on an average sixteen suits in a month and were earning Rs 150/-per suit as stitching charges. The expenditure incurred on the purchase of raw material was for stitching suit was minimal i.e. Rs. 14/-per suit only. Average net returns from garment construction activity ranged from Rs. 2176/-to Rs. 2816/-month. The study concluded that training programmes on garment construction are helping the rural women in augmenting their family income and thus helping them to meet their basic daily needs.

Accessibility of marginal and small farmers to institutional credit in south western Punjab

Punjab agriculture has become capital intensive since the inception of ‘Green Revolution ’. Following technological change and greater need for credit to facilitate the adoption of technology, the question of small farmers ’effective access to institutional finance is of crucial significance. Empirical evidence has indicated higher dependence of marginal and small farm categories on exploitative informal sources of credit, thus making them more vulnerable. It was found that factors like farm size, total annual income, location of the financial institutional agency and purpose of loan were affecting the availability of credit from formal sources of credit in case of sampled farmers. Then, low rate of interest, charged by institutional sources of finance and credit limits formed of borrowers by these agencies emerged as the primary reasons for preferring institutional sources of credit. While lesser formalities, timeliness and easy access were the factors weighing heavily in favour of non-institutional sources of finance.

Impact of Dairy Cooperatives on Income and Employment of Farmers in South Western Punjab

The present study has been conducted in Sri Muktsar Sahib District which is facing the problems of periodic cotton crop failures, the water logging and it is emerging as milk producing district in South-Western region of Punjab. The uncertainty of income from the crop sub-sector forced the farmers to shift towards dairy to earn regular income for their livelihood. Therefore, the task of milk cooperative societies assumed the prime importance to streamline the production and marketing of milk. The results of the study clearly indicated that overall net income was higher (27446) in the member group than non member group (20355). The reason for the relatively higher profits of member farmers was provision of improved inputs and technical knowhow by the co-operatieves which help in improving the productivity level. The overall labour utilization per annum per milch animal was also higher (101 man days) in the member group than the non-member group (92 man days). The study noticeably indicated a positive impact of dairy cooperatives on the income and employment generation of milk producers in the study area.

Economic Viability of Kinnow Orchards in South-Western Punjab

The study revealed that expenditure on plant materials and planting charges had the largest share (25.07 per cent) in the initial cost on establishment of kinnow orchard followed by digging/filling of pits (20.21 per cent) and fencing (19.77 per cent). The annual operational/maintenance cost was low in the initial years, which consistently increased with the increase in age of the orchard. Plant protection measures, pruning, manuring/fertilization and watch and ward were the major components of operational cost. It was emerged out that net returns received by the sample kinnow growers were quite high for selling the produce themselves in the market as through elimination of pre-harvest contractor; the net margins of this important intermediary get transferred to the farmers. The benefit cost ratio and IRR at 1.53 and 30.25 per cent respectively in case the output was sold by growers in the market directly were significantly higher as compared to 1.26 and 19.24 per cent for disposal of output to the pre-harvest contractors. Overall, benefit cost ratio more than unity and higher internal rate of returns (IRR) were indicative that investment in kinnow cultivation in study area was attractive.

Impact of climate change on extreme rainfall events and rainfall distribution pattern in Punjab

The recent years in south-western Punjab witnessed exceptionally heavy rainfall events associated flash floods in many areas. The long-term changes (1980–2012) in extreme rainfall over south-western Punjab were investigated in the present study. The study area (Bathinda, 30° 09′N; 74° 55′ E; 211 m above MSL) located in semi-arid region comes under agro-climatic zone V of Punjab. The average maximum and minimum temperature of Bathinda is 31.4 and 16.8°C, respectively. The average annual rainfall of this region is about 515 mm. The annual rainfall of Bathinda was higher during 1981–1990 than other decades. The extreme rainfall events increased from 1981–1990 but decreased form 2001–12. The nine extreme rainfall events were observed in first two decades 1981–90 and 1991–2000, but in recent decade (2001 onwards), only three extreme rainfall events were recorded. The recent decade showed much variation in rainfall extremes with highest rainfall events in September compared to June, July and August. During monsoon season, the wettest month July received above normal rainfall only once while monsoon withdrawal month September received four times above normal rainfall during recent decade. The results of the study will be useful for hydrological planning and disaster managements.

Activity ratios of 234U/238U and 226Ra/228Ra for transport mechanisms of elevated uranium in alluvial aquifers of groundwater in south-western (SW) Punjab, India

The concentrations of total dissolved uranium (U), its isotopic composition (234U, 235U, 238U) and two long lived Ra isotopes (226Ra and 228Ra) in alluvial aquifers of groundwater were determined to investigate the groundwater flow pattern in the south-western (SW) Punjab, India. Particular attention was given to the spatial variability of activity ratios (ARs) of 234U/238U and 226Ra/228Ra to predict the possible sources and supply process of U into the water from the solid phase. The measured groundwater 234U/238U ARs were ∼1 or >1 in the shallow zone (depth < 30 m) with high U concentration and <1 in the deeper zone (depth > 30 m) with relatively low U concentration. The simultaneous elevated U concentration and 234U/238U ARs in waters were possibly due to differences in imprints of rock–water interactions under hydrologic conditions. However, 234U/238U ARs < 1 clearly indicate the lack of recharge from surface water to groundwater leading to 234U deficit in groundwater. This deficit might be also attributed to alpha recoil processes under strong dissolution. Overall, the decreasing pattern of 234U/238U ARs observed from SE to SW or NW ward clearly indicates a groundwater flow paths from SE to SW/NW. Similarly, 226Ra/238U ARs < 1 for all water samples reflect that the precursor 238U is fairly mobile relative to 226Ra. This might be due to unusually high amount of 238U in groundwaters and subsequently the different geochemistry of the two isotopes. On the other hand, 226Ra/228Ra ARs in groundwaters varied widely and observed about 50–300 times higher than 238U/232Th ARs in granitic rocks or soils. Such elevation in ARs might be attributed to different dissolution properties of their parents during water–rock interactions or lattice damage during decay or local enrichments of uranium in the aquifers.

Understanding and modeling of the vertical downward migration of 238U within the soil profile of south-western (SW) Punjab, India

The vertical downward migration of 238U in soils collected from south-western Punjab was studied from the depth distributions using the diffusion–convection model. The time-dependent convective rates (ν) of 238U were found to be in the order of 10−7–10−4 cm year−1, whereas under the assumption of steady state (time-independent), values were in the order of 10−5–10−4 cm year−1. However, the diffusion rates (D) were in the order of 10−6–10−3 cm2 year−1 and under the steady state, values obtained to be relatively higher as 0.002–0.70 cm2 year−1. These values were within the range of reported literature values.

Pedosphere Degradation due to Seasonal Water Logging in Southwestern Punjab

Introduction of irrigated agriculture has turned some basin lands seasonally waterlogged. Seasonally waterlogged soils remain poorly understood particularly in relation to the changes in pedosphere and pedogenic pathways. Present investigation evaluated changes in the pedosphere and its implications in pedogenic pathways of these seasonal waterlogged soils. Five soil profiles along the central transit of the waterlogged area of the southwestern Punjab (74°30′–74°45′E longitude and 30°03′75″–30°33′07″N latitude) were studied. On seasonal water logging, the present land depicts shift of matrix colour from yellowish brown to olive brown, decay in the thickness and strength of structured B-horizons, increase in exchangeable Na and soluble salts in the surface horizons, fall of exchangeable divalent cations to exchangeable-Na ratio and an increase in the mobility of citrate–bicarbonate–dithionite extractable free Fe and Mn. Seasonal water logging resulted in two phases of degeneration, deterioration of structured B-horizon and the dispersion of clays and soluble salts and their inconsistent downward movements with water table front. The operating soil process is incipient hydromorphism.

Characterization of Hydrogeochemical Processes and Fluoride Enrichment in Groundwater of South-Western Punjab

The advent of green revolution, increase of industrialization, and fast pace of urbanization and population explosion have induced unplanned abstraction of groundwater for more than 5 decades causing decline in water table. Groundwater is being depleted at a mean rate of $$4.0\pm 1.0$$ cm/year over the Indian states of Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana (including Delhi). Groundwater quality is vulnerable to anthropogenic and geogenic sources. Hydrogeochemical processes occurring in an area are generally governed by climatic factors, soil and rock–water interaction, internal mixing, other geochemical processes, and the landuse and landcover practices. The impacts of these processes on groundwater quality can be deciphered using conventional graphical plots, water facies, and saturation indices (estimated using PHREEQC). Several water quality indices were also evaluated to characterize the suitability of water for drinking and irrigation purpose. It was observed that the climatic conditions coupled with rock–water interaction, weathering, and ion exchange are controlling the geochemistry of groundwater in this region. The water table is rising in some regions due to seepages from canal, thus imparting brackish/saline character to groundwater quality and therefore making it unfit for drinking, domestic use, and irrigation. The saturation indices indicate the undersaturation of minerals such as fluorite and gypsum, leading to augmentation of fluoride in groundwater. It is imperative to pay particular attention to practices in areas where aquifers are highly vulnerable to reduce pollution and its impact on public health. This means that proper landuse planning and agricultural practices have to be enforced in the most sensitive areas.