LEVELS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY IN HARYANA STATE 2012-2015

Today, India faces two most vital problems which are directly related to agriculture. The first one is to meet the rising demand for food and other agricultural products, and the second is the widespread poverty in rural areas. The good performance in agricultural sector can diminish levels of rural poverty and meet increasing demand of agricultural products (Ahluwalia, 1978). Agricultural productivity is a measure of the efficiency with which inputs are used in agriculture to produce an output. When a given combination of inputs produces a maximum output, the productivity is said to be at its maximum. The measurement of agricultural productivity enables a comparison of relative performance of farmers’ farms, the types of farming and geographical regions. The areas which experiences high land productivity may always have been leading agricultural regions. In the present study the measure adopted by the economists has been employed to compute the level of agricultural productivity (Bhalla 1989). The total output of selected crops is multiply by respective farm harvest prices. The figure of the output, us computed represented only the part of the total cropped area covered by the selected crops. This figure is multiplied by relevant multiplier (in ratio with area not covered by selected crops) and added to the original figure to get the total output in money terms for total cropped area. The total output is then divided by Net Sown Area (NSA) to obtain the level of land productivity in money terms (Rs/ha). To compute the land productivity for present study, the farm harvest price for 20015-16 is taken

Atmospheric Aerosols Monitoring: Ground and Satellite-Based Instruments

Aerosols are submicron particles suspended in the atmosphere which affect Earth’s energy balance directly by scattering and absorbing the of solar radiation. In addition, they can indirectly affect radiation balance by changing the micro-physical and optical properties of the cloud. The difficulties in accessing the contribution of aerosols to radiative balance are caused partly due to incomplete knowledge of spatiotemporal variabilities in physicochemical and optical properties of aerosols on regional to global scale. Several state-of-the-art instrumentation techniques for ground-based measurements and satellite remote sensing technologies have been developed in past three decades to monitor physicochemical and optical properties of aerosols for a better understanding of radiative balance and feedback mechanisms. Satellite retrievals of moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS), ozone monitoring instrument (OMI), multi-angle imaging spectroradiometer (MISR) are used for this purpose. Ground-based measurements of aerosol properties provide a basis for validation of atmospheric correction procedures and can be used for validation of aerosol models used in atmospheric correction algorithms. This chapter describes in details about the widely used ground- and satellite-based remote sensing instruments for aerosol monitoring

How earthworm and fungi can save us from global food crisis and land degradation: A review

The human population is expected to be more than 9 billion by 2050. In order to feed this huge population, we would require about additional 60-70% food which is one of the major challenges ahead of humankind as well as to researchers. Although biotic stresses in soil such as microorganisms, insects, parasites, weeds are major reasons for reduced food production, abiotic stresses such as extreme temperature, soil salinity, natural disasters, pH imbalance are  significantly affect the soil quality. There is not only degradation in soil quality but also a significant reduction in arable agricultural land in India affecting the productivity and nutrition values of the grains. Therefore, there is an urgent need to not only increase food production but also to maintain its nutritional quality.  In addition, excess use of chemical fertilizers, increasing soil pollution and metal toxicity is becoming a serious threat and are responsible for reduced crop yield, crop failures and loss in agricultural economy worldwide. Moreover, the arable lands are not only shrinking due to industrialization, modernization and urbanization, ~50% of all arable land will be impacted by salinity by 2050. Indian continent is primarily agricultural driven and per capita land cover is decreasing day by day. On top of it, unregulated uses of chemical fertilizers are adding even more stress on the soil as well as produces greenhouse gases like N2O. Therefore, management of resources for future needs is ought to attain the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) which are related to zero hunger, no poverty, good health and well being. This review describes agronomical transformation through organic manure, biofertilizer, vermicomposting and mycoremediation. These techniques are essential for maintaining the soil quality as well as can act to approach sustainability in agriculture. The ecological engineering using earthworms for enhancing and restoring soil fertility is discussed in detail along with Mycoremediation of toxins and salt by utilizing macro and arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) fungi

Estimation of reactive inorganic iodine fluxes in the Indian and Southern Ocean marine boundary layer

Iodine chemistry has noteworthy impacts on the oxidising capacity of the marine boundary layer (MBL) through the depletion of ozone (O3) and changes to HOx (OH=HO2) and NOx (NO=NO2) ratios. Hitherto, studies have shown that the reaction of atmospheric O3 with surface seawater iodide (I-) contributes to the flux of iodine species into the MBL mainly as hypoiodous acid (HOI) and molecular iodine (I2). Here, we present the first concomitant observations of iodine oxide (IO), O3 in the gas phase, and sea surface iodide concentrations. The results from three field campaigns in the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean during 2015 2017 are used to compute reactive iodine fluxes in the MBL. Observations of atmospheric IO by multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) show active iodine chemistry in this environment, with IO values up to 1 pptv (parts per trillion by volume) below latitudes of 40° S. In order to compute the sea-to-air iodine flux supporting this chemistry, we compare previously established global sea surface iodide parameterisations with new regionspecific parameterisations based on the new iodide observations. This study shows that regional changes in salinity and sea surface temperature play a role in surface seawater iodide estimation. Sea air fluxes of HOI and I2, calculated from the atmospheric ozone and seawater iodide concentrations (observed and predicted), failed to adequately explain the detected IO in this region. This discrepancy highlights the need to measure direct fluxes of inorganic and organic iodine species in the marine environment. Amongst other potential drivers of reactive iodine chemistry investigated, chlorophyll a showed a significant correlation with atmospheric IO (R D 0:7 above the 99 % significance level) to the north of the polar front. This correlation might be indicative of a biogenic control on iodine sources in this region

Absorption coefficient and site-specific mass absorption efficiency of elemental carbon in aerosols over urban, rural, and high-altitude sites in India

Temporal and spatial variability in the absorption coefficient (b<SUB>abs</SUB>, Mm<SUP>-1</SUP>) and mass absorption efficiency (MAE, σ<SUB>abs</SUB>, m<SUP>2</SUP>g<SUP>-1</SUP>) of elemental carbon (EC) in atmospheric aerosols studied from urban, rural, and high-altitude sites is reported here. Ambient aerosols, collected on tissuquartz filters, are analyzed for EC mass concentration using thermo-optical EC-OC analyzer, wherein simultaneously measured optical-attenuation (ATN, equivalent to initial transmittance) of 678 nm laser source has been used for the determination of MAE and absorption coefficient. At high-altitude sites, measured ATN and surface EC loading (EC<SUB>s</SUB>, μg cm<SUP>-2</SUP>) on the filters exhibit linear positive relationship (R<SUP>2</SUP> = 0.86-0.96), suggesting EC as a principal absorbing component. However, relatively large scatter in regression analyses for the data from urban sites suggests contribution from other species. The representative MAE of EC, during wintertime (Dec 2004), at a rural site (Jaduguda) is 6.1 ± 2.0 m<SUP>2</SUP>g<SUP>-1</SUP>. In contrast, MAE at the two high-altitude sites is 14.5 ± 1.1 (Manora Peak) and 10.4 ± 1.4 (Mt. Abu); and that at urban sites is 11.1 ± 2.6 (Allahabad) and 11.3 ± 2.2 m<SUP>2</SUP>g<SUP>-1</SUP> (Hisar). The long-term average MAE at Manora Peak (February 2005 to June 2007) is 12.8 ± 2.9 m<SUP>2</SUP>g<SUP>-1</SUP> (range: 6.1-19.1 m<SUP>2</SUP>g<SUP>-1</SUP>). These results are unlike the constant conversion factor used for MAE in optical instruments for the determination of BC mass concentration. The absorption coefficient also shows large spatiotemporal variability; the lower values are typical of the high-altitude sites and higher values for the urban and rural atmosphere. Such large variability documented for the absorption parameters suggests the need for their suitable parametrization in the assessment of direct aerosol radiative forcing on a regional scale

Isolation and characterisation of legumin promoter sequence from chickpea (<i>Cicer arietinum </i>L.)

363-372Seed specific promoters are useful for expression of foreign genes in the seeds. We have isolated a Cicer arietinum legumin promoter from λEMBL genomic library and subcloned in pBluescript II KS (-) in Eco RV and Pst I site. The 2.762 kb Hind II Pst I fragment was sequenced completely by dideoxy chain termination method by creating a set of unidirectional deletions of the inserts in pAKKIII. The insert contains mainly upstream sequence (2240 bps) and only a part of structural gene (522 bps) sequence. The 522 bps of the structural gene shows ~ 80% homology with pea legumin A and this is almost the same as chickpea legumin in its sequence. The amino acid sequence derived from the part of the structural gene was similar to the chickpea 5' part of the legumin structural gene with a few variations. A 21 amino acid signal peptide was also deduced like many other legumes. Transcription start site (CAT) was located at 55 bp upstream of the initiation codon ATG. One codon downstream to ATG codon Hind III site was present. TATA box was observed at- 30 position, with a consensus of CCTATAAATAACC. The consensus CATGCAAG, a part of legumin box was noticed at -110 bp position. At - 295 to -265 bp upstream AGGA box like sequences were observed and a 56 bp perfect repeat was located between - 913 bp and - 972 bp. Strong homology with pea promoter sequence near the CAT sequence was noticed which gradually decreased towards the upstream region. Thus the cloned fragment contains a full length promoter which can be utilised for expression of foreign genes in seeds of chickpea

Atmospheric abundances of primary and secondary carbonaceous species at two high-altitude sites in India: sources and temporal variability

Based on the time-series analyses of bulk-aerosol samples, we report on the large-scale temporal variability in the atmospheric abundances of elemental carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC) at two high-altitude sites, Manora Peak (1950 m asl in north India) and Mt. Abu (1680 m asl in western India). The total suspended particulate (TSP) mass concentration in the ambient atmosphere also exhibits large seasonal variability at both the sites; varying from 13.4 to 432.3 µg m<SUP>-3</SUP> at Mt. Abu and 12.7 to 271.7 µg m<SUP>-3</SUP> at Manora Peak. The relatively high abundance of TSP, occurring during Apr-Jun, is associated with enhanced contribution from mineral dust. Both, OC and EC abundances at Manora Peak are nearly 2-3 times higher than those at Mt. Abu; the minimum concentrations occurring during the high-dust season (Apr-Jun) and monsoon season (Jul-Aug) and maximum in winter months (Dec-Mar). At Mt. Abu, annual-average abundances of OC (range: 0.9-12.3 µg m<SUP>-3</SUP>; Av = 3.7 µg m<SUP>-3</SUP>) and EC (range: 0.06-2.3 µg m<SUP>-3</SUP>; Av = 0.5 µg m<SUP>-3</SUP>) account for about 10 and 2% of the TSP, respectively. In contrast, annual-average concentrations of OC and EC at Manora Peak are 8.7 µg m-3 (range: 2.0-22.3 µg m<SUP>-3</SUP>) and 1.1 µg m<SUP>-3</SUP> (range: 0.14-2.7 µg m<SUP>-3</SUP>), respectively; and account for about 14 and 2% of the TSP. The OC/EC ratios at the two sites (Manora Peak, range: 4.8-14.9 and Mt. Abu, range: 3.0-11.5) are significantly higher compared to those reported in the literature (2.0-3.0) for the urban regions. The high OC/EC ratios and low EC concentrations are attributed to relative dominance of organic carbon derived from biomass burning (crop waste). The average contribution of total carbonaceous aerosols (TCA; TCA = 1.6 × OC + EC) to TSP is ~24% at Manora Peak and ~16% at Mt. Abu is only 15%. The relatively high contribution of TCA, at Manora Peak, is influenced by the regional emission sources in north India. The contribution of secondary organic carbon (SOC) to OC, calculated based on minimum OC/EC ratio method, averages around 27% at Manora Peak and 16% at Mt. Abu; and brings to focus its significant role on a regional scale. The low EC concentration together with significant contribution of OC and SOC to TCA and their temporal variability suggests reassessment of relative amounts of absorbing (BC) and scattering (OC) species used in the radiative forcing models on a regional scale

Temporal trends in atmospheric PM<SUB>2.5</SUB>, PM<SUB>10</SUB>, elemental carbon, organic carbon, water-soluble organic carbon, and optical properties: impact of biomass burning emissions in the Indo-Gangetic plain

The first simultaneous measurements and analytical data on atmospheric concentrations of PM<SUB>2.5</SUB>, PM<SUB>10</SUB>, inorganic constituents, carbonaceous species, and their optical properties (aerosol optical depth, AOD; absorption coefficient, b<SUB>abs</SUB>; mass absorption efficiency, σ <SUB>abs</SUB>; and single scattering albedo, SSA) from an urban site (Kanpur) in the Indo-Gangetic Plain are reported here. Significantly high aerosol mass concentration (&gt;100 μ g m<SUP>-3</SUP>) and AOD (&gt; 0.3) are seen as a characteristic feature throughout the sampling period, from October 2008 to April 2009. The temporal variability in the mass fractions of carbonaceous species (EC, OC, and WSOC) is pronounced during October-January when emissions from biomass burning are dominant and OC is a major constituent (~30%) of PM<SUB>2.5</SUB> mass. The WSOC/OC ratio varies from 0.21 to 0.65, suggesting significant contribution from secondary organic aerosols (SOAs). The mass fraction of SO<SUB>4</SUB><SUP>2-</SUP> in PM<SUB>2.5</SUB> (Av: 12.5%) exceeds that of NO<SUB>3</SUB><SUP>-</SUP> and NH<SUB>4</SUB><SUP>+</SUP>. Aerosol absorption coefficient (@ 678 nm) decreases from 90 Mm<SUP>-1</SUP> (in December) to 20 Mm<SUP>-1</SUP> (in April), and a linear regression analysis of the data for b<SUB>abs</SUB> and EC (n = 54) provides a measure of the mass absorption efficiency of EC (9.6 m<SUP>2</SUP> g<SUP>-1</SUP>). In contrast, scattering coefficient (@ 678 nm) increases from 98 Mm<SUP>-1</SUP> (in January) to 1056 Mm<SUP>-1</SUP> (in April) and an average mass scattering efficiency of 3.0 ± 0.9 m<SUP>2</SUP> g<SUP>-1</SUP> is obtained for PM<SUB>10</SUB> samples. The highest bscat was associated with the dust storm event (April 17, 2009) over northern Iraq, eastern Syria, and southern Turkey; thus, resulting in high SSA (0.93 ± 0.02) during March-April compared to 0.82 ± 0.04 in October-February. These results have implications to large temporal variability in the atmospheric radiative forcing due to aerosols over northern India

A 1 year record of carbonaceous aerosols from an urban site in the Indo-Gangetic plain: characterization, sources, and temporal variability

This study presents a comprehensive 1 year (January 2007-March 2008) data set on the chemical composition of ambient aerosols collected from an urban location (Kanpur) in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) and suggests that the varying strength of the regional emission sources, boundary layer dynamics, and formation of secondary aerosols all contribute significantly to the temporal variability in the mass concentrations of elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), and water-soluble OC (WSOC). On average, carbonaceous aerosols contribute nearly one third of the PM10 mass during winter, whereas their fractional mass is only ∼10% during summer. A three- to four-fold increase in the OC and K+ concentrations during winter and a significant linear relation between them suggest biomass burning (wood fuel and agricultural waste) emission as a dominant source. The relatively high OC/EC ratio (average: 7.4 ± 3.5 for n = 66) also supports that emissions from biomass burning are overwhelming for the particulate OC in the IGP. The WSOC/OC ratios vary from 0.21 to 0.70 over the annual seasonal cycle with relatively high ratios in the summer, suggesting the significance of secondary organic aerosols. The long-range transport of mineral aerosols from Iran, Afghanistan, and the Thar Desert (western India) is pronounced during summer months. The temporal variability in the concentrations of selected inorganic constituents and neutralization of acidic species (SO42- and NO3-) by NH4+ (dominant during winter) and Ca2+ (in summer) reflect conspicuous changes in the source strength of anthropogenic emissions