Forage Production Potential and Nitrate Nitrogen in Napier Bajra Hybrid as Influenced by Nitrogen Dose under Shaded and Un-Shaded Environments

Dairy farming is an important and prevalent subsidiary occupation along with agriculture in the state of Punjab. But because of declining land holding, the pressure on land is so high that there is little scope of expanding the area under forage crops. Crop intensification either in space (intercropping) or in time (sequential cropping) or both is the feasible option left to the farmers for enhancing the fodder production. The green fodder is deficit by about 25% in the state and there is around 65,000 ha area under Agroforestry. There is a need to explore possibility of growing fodder crops under shade of trees, as light intensity is one of the major growth resources that determine the productivity of a particular crop (Dodd et al., 2005). Data are also lacking about how fodder crops will respond to different amounts of N fertilization under shade conditions. Napier Bajra is an inter-specific hybrid between bajra (Pennisetum glaucum) and napier grass (P. purpureum) and combines high quality and faster growth of bajra with the deep root system of napier grass. It is photosensitive and flowers only in winter. Due to this characteristic, it remains in the vegetative stage throughout the year, except in winter, when it is dormant. With these points in mind, the present study was planned to find out the influence of shading in comparison with normal conditions on forage productivity and quality under varying nitrogen levels

Influence of land use/land cover changes on surface temperature and its effect on crop yield in different agro-climatic regions of Indian Punjab

Land surface temperature (LST) is an important indicator of the earth’s environmental analysis which is significantly affected by changes in land use/land cover (LULC). The Landsat 5, 7 and 8 satellite data of January and September of the years 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2016 was used to study the impact of LULC changes on LST and its effect on crop yield (rice and wheat) in SBS Nagar, Ludhiana and Bathinda districts representing three different agro-climatic zones of Punjab (India). The Landsat satellite imageries were classified for the major LULC classes (water, vegetation [including agriculture and forest], built-up and bare soil) in each district using different spectral indices. The results showed that vegetation is the key land provider for built-up development in SBS Nagar and Ludhiana districts, whereas bare soil and water bodies were the main contributor of land for expansion of built-up and vegetation over the years in Bathinda district. Compared with 1991, the surface temperature of all the land cover features has increased over the years and the increase in temperature was higher for built-up features. Among different districts, the rate of increase was highest in Ludhiana district due to higher urban sprawl. The increase in temperature was higher in the direction where land use has been changed from agriculture, bare soil and forest to urban. The air temperature in agro-climatic regions of Punjab can be estimated from LST by multiplying it with a factor of 0.86. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was significantly positively correlated with rice and wheat yield, but significantly negatively correlated with LST. It is concluded that there is potential link between LULC and crop yield via impacts on horizontal surface temperature gradients which can be differentiated from Landsat data