Multi-criteria assessment to screen climate smart rice establishment techniques in coastal rice production system of India

Introduction: Conventional rice production techniques are less economical and more vulnerable to sustainable utilization of farm resources as well as significantly contributed GHGs to atmosphere. Methods: In order to assess the best rice production system for coastal areas, six rice production techniques were evaluated, including SRI-AWD (system of rice intensification with alternate wetting and drying (AWD)), DSR-CF (direct seeded rice with continuous flooding (CF)), DSR-AWD (direct seeded rice with AWD), TPR-CF (transplanted rice with CF), TPR-AWD (transplanted rice with AWD), and FPR-CF (farmer practice with CF). The performance of these technologies was assessed using indicators such as rice productivity, energy balance, GWP (global warming potential), soil health indicators, and profitability. Finally, using these indicators, a climate smartness index (CSI) was calculated. Results and discussion: Rice grown with SRI-AWD method had 54.8 % higher CSI over FPR-CF, and also give 24.5 to 28.3% higher CSI for DSR and TPR as well. There evaluations based on the climate smartness index can provide cleaner and more sustainable rice production and can be used as guiding principle for policy makers.publishedVersio

Construction status and prospects of the Hyper-Kamiokande project

The Hyper-Kamiokande project is a 258-kton Water Cherenkov together with a 1.3-MW high-intensity neutrino beam from the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC). The inner detector with 186-kton fiducial volume is viewed by 20-inch photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) and multi-PMT modules, and thereby provides state-of-the-art of Cherenkov ring reconstruction with thresholds in the range of few MeVs. The project is expected to lead to precision neutrino oscillation studies, especially neutrino CP violation, nucleon decay searches, and low energy neutrino astronomy. In 2020, the project was officially approved and construction of the far detector was started at Kamioka. In 2021, the excavation of the access tunnel and initial mass production of the newly developed 20-inch PMTs was also started. In this paper, we present a basic overview of the project and the latest updates on the construction status of the project, which is expected to commence operation in 2027

Prospects for neutrino astrophysics with Hyper-Kamiokande

Hyper-Kamiokande is a multi-purpose next generation neutrino experiment. The detector is a two-layered cylindrical shape ultra-pure water tank, with its height of 64 m and diameter of 71 m. The inner detector will be surrounded by tens of thousands of twenty-inch photosensors and multi-PMT modules to detect water Cherenkov radiation due to the charged particles and provide our fiducial volume of 188 kt. This detection technique is established by Kamiokande and Super-Kamiokande. As the successor of these experiments, Hyper-K will be located deep underground, 600 m below Mt. Tochibora at Kamioka in Japan to reduce cosmic-ray backgrounds. Besides our physics program with accelerator neutrino, atmospheric neutrino and proton decay, neutrino astrophysics is an important research topic for Hyper-K. With its fruitful physics research programs, Hyper-K will play a critical role in the next neutrino physics frontier. It will also provide important information via astrophysical neutrino measurements, i.e., solar neutrino, supernova burst neutrinos and supernova relic neutrino. Here, we will discuss the physics potential of Hyper-K neutrino astrophysics

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Not AvailableWind erosion is a severe land degradation process in hot arid western India and affects the agricultural pro duction system. It affects crop yield directly by damaging the crops through abrasion, burial, dust deposition etc.and indirectly by reducing soil fertility. In this study, an attempt was made to quantify the indirect impact of wind erosion process on crop production loss and associated economic loss in hot arid ecosystem of India. It has been observed that soil loss due to wind erosion varies from minimum 1.3 t ha−1 to maximum 83.3 t ha−1 as per the severity. Yield loss due to wind erosion was found maximum for groundnut (Arachis hypogea) (5–331 kg ha−1 yr−1 ), whereas minimum for moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia) (1–93 kg ha−1 yr−1 ). For pearlmillet (Pennisetum glaucum), which covers a major portion of arable lands in western Rajasthan, the yield loss was found 3–195 kg ha−1 yr−1 . Economic loss was found higher for groundnut and clusterbean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) than rest crops, which are about 191–12465 ha−1 depending on the severity of wind erosion. For mustard (Brassica spp.) and wheat (Triticum spp.) the economic loss was about 47–3181 ha−1, whereas for pearl millet the economic loss was lowest ( 36–2294 ha−1 ). In this calculation only indirect impact of wind erosion in terms of reduction in soil fertility was considered. There is need of future research work for assessing the direct damage on crops by wind erosion process, addition of which may lead to higher magnitude of losses.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableWind erosion is a severe land degradation process in hot arid western India and affects the agricultural production system. It affects crop yield directly by damaging the crops through abrasion, burial, dust deposition etc. and indirectly by reducing soil fertility. In this study, an attempt was made to quantify the indirect impact of wind erosion process on crop production loss and associated economic loss in hot arid ecosystem of India. It has been observed that soil loss due to wind erosion varies from minimum 1.3 t ha−1 to maximum 83.3 t ha−1 as per the severity. Yield loss due to wind erosion was found maximum for groundnut (Arachis hypogea) (5–331 kg ha−1 yr−1), whereas minimum for moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia) (1–93 kg ha−1 yr−1). For pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), which covers a major portion of arable lands in western Rajasthan, the yield loss was found 3–195 kg ha−1 yr−1. Economic loss was found higher for groundnut and clusterbean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) than rest crops, which are about 191–12465 ha−1 depending on the severity of wind erosion. For mustard (Brassica spp.) and wheat (Triticum spp.) the economic loss was about 47–3181 ha−1, whereas for pearl millet the economic loss was lowest ( 36–2294 ha−1). In this calculation only indirect impact of wind erosion in terms of reduction in soil fertility was considered. There is need of future research work for assessing the direct damage on crops by wind erosion process, addition of which may lead to higher magnitude of losses.Not Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableWind erosion is a severe land degradation process in hot arid western India and affects the agricultural production system. It affects crop yield directly by damaging the crops through abrasion, burial, dust deposition etc. and indirectly by reducing soil fertility. In this study, an attempt was made to quantify the indirect impact of wind erosion process on crop production loss and associated economic loss in hot arid ecosystem of India. It has been observed that soil loss due to wind erosion varies from minimum 1.3 t ha−1 to maximum 83.3 t ha−1 as per the severity. Yield loss due to wind erosion was found maximum for groundnut (Arachis hypogea) (5–331 kg ha−1 yr−1), whereas minimum for moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia) (1–93 kg ha−1 yr−1). For pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), which covers a major portion of arable lands in western Rajasthan, the yield loss was found 3–195 kg ha−1 yr−1. Economic loss was found higher for groundnut and clusterbean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) than rest crops, which are about Rs. 191–12465 ha−1 depending on the severity of wind erosion. For mustard (Brassica spp.) and wheat (Triticum spp.) the economic loss was about 47–3181 ha−1, whereas for pearl millet the economic loss was lowest (Rs. 36–2294 ha−1). In this calculation only indirect impact of wind erosion in terms of reduction in soil fertility was considered. There is need of future research work for assessing the direct damage on crops by wind erosion process, addition of which may lead to higher magnitude of losses.Not Availabl

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Measurement of isotopic separation of argon with the prototype of the cryogenic distillation plant Aria for dark matter searches

International audienceThe Aria cryogenic distillation plant, located in Sardinia, Italy, is a key component of the DarkSide-20k experimental program for WIMP dark matter searches at the INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy. Aria is designed to purify the argon, extracted from underground wells in Colorado, USA, and used as the DarkSide-20k target material, to detector-grade quality. In this paper, we report the first measurement of argon isotopic separation by distillation with the 26 m tall Aria prototype. We discuss the measurement of the operating parameters of the column and the observation of the simultaneous separation of the three stable argon isotopes: Ar$^{36}$, Ar$^{38}$, and Ar$^{40}$. We also provide a detailed comparison of the experimental results with commercial process simulation software. This measurement of isotopic separation of argon is a significant achievement for the project, building on the success of the initial demonstration of isotopic separation of nitrogen using the same equipment in 2019