Assessment of bacteria and SPM in the indoor air of households of urban area of Jammu (J&K), India

The present study was conducted to assess status of bacteria (Gram +ve and Gram –ve) in the indoor air of Households located in Jammu city. The study area was divided into eight Sites. At each site two Households were selected randomly and in each Household sampling of SPM (?g/m3) and bacteria (CFU/m3) was done twice at three sub sites. Total bacterial count and SPM was found to be maximum (9308.24 CFU/m3and1006.12 ?g/m3 respectively) in Households near Water Body and total bacterial count and SPM was minimum (5251.00 CFU/m3and 659.09?g/m3respectively) in Households near Hospital. A significant positive correlation (r) was found between SPM and no. of Gram +ve (+0.18 to +0.78) as well as between SPM and no. of Gram –ve (+0.21 to +0.76) bacteria in the study area

A framework for refining soil microbial indices as bioindicators during decomposition of various organic residues in a sandy loam soil

Assessment of soil quality is an invaluable tool in determining the sustainability and environmental impact of agricultural ecosystems. Soil microbial indices like microbial biomass and microbial activity are important criteria for the determination of soil quality. Laboratory incubation study was undertaken to examine the influence of eight crop residues widely varying in biochemical composition on the periodic changes in important soil microbial indices {(microbial (Cmic: Corg), metabolic (qCO2), carbon mineralization (qC) and microbial biomass change rate (qM) quotients)} at 28 days and 63 days after incubation (DAI) in a sandy loam soil. A. sativa amended soil showed maximum soil respiration rate (14.23 mg CO2-C g-1 soil day-1) whereas T. aestivum amended soil showed maximum microbial biomass C (790 µg/g). The metabolic quotient among different crop residues ranged from 11.1 to 19.8 ?g CO2-C ?g-biomass-C-1 h-1 at 63 DAI. The results indicate that incorporation of different crop residues has positive effect on microbial flora and their activity. Microbial quotient (Cmic:Corg) was significantly positively correlated with microbial biomass carbon (MBC), qC and qM. The study suggests that the biochemical composition of different crop residues seems to be of better option for long term sustainable crop production with maintenance of soil quality in a sandy loam soil