Soil Microbial Rejuvenation through Soil Resource Recycling as a part of Sustainable Management Programme: A Case Study from Lakhipara Tea Estate, Dooars, West Bengal, India

Quest for sustainability in the Indian tea industry starts on a serious note in the backdrop of several key issues such as impact of climate change on crop productivity, higher intensity of pest and diseases, rampant use of agrochemicals, issue of pesticide residues, increasing mandays cost etc. In this difficult time when most of the tea producers are looking for areas for cost curtailment, Goodricke Group Ltd., initiated the Sustainable Management Programme with the objectivity of producing sustainable teas with low pesticide footprint from the year 2014 onwards. The present study was conducted as a part of the above programme, to evaluate the effectiveness of on-farm generated compost towards soil microbial enrichment. Large-scale composting was done using Novcom composting method and end product quality was analyzed as per International Standards. Total N, P, K in the mature compost was 1.97%, 0.75%, and 0.87%, respectively but most important was the presence of self-generated microbial population in the order of 1014–1016 c.f.u. The rate of CO2 evolution, nitrification index and phytotoxicity bioassay value confirmed end product maturity and absence of any toxicity towards root growth. Assessment of Soil development Index (SDI), one year post compost application showed maximum soil development under organic soil management followed by soils receiving integrated soil management whereas nominal variation was documented under conventional soil management. Biological properties of soil were found to play a major contributory role towards variation of SDI value indicating the importance of microbial rejuvenation towards soil quality development

Search for the Chiral Magnetic Effect in Au+Au collisions at sNN=27\sqrt{s_{_{\rm{NN}}}}=27 GeV with the STAR forward Event Plane Detectors

A decisive experimental test of the Chiral Magnetic Effect (CME) is considered one of the major scientific goals at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) towards understanding the nontrivial topological fluctuations of the Quantum Chromodynamics vacuum. In heavy-ion collisions, the CME is expected to result in a charge separation phenomenon across the reaction plane, whose strength could be strongly energy dependent. The previous CME searches have been focused on top RHIC energy collisions. In this Letter, we present a low energy search for the CME in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{\rm{NN}}}}=27$ GeV. We measure elliptic flow scaled charge-dependent correlators relative to the event planes that are defined at both mid-rapidity $|\eta|<1.0$ and at forward rapidity $2.1 < |\eta|<5.1$. We compare the results based on the directed flow plane ($\Psi_1$) at forward rapidity and the elliptic flow plane ($\Psi_2$) at both central and forward rapidity. The CME scenario is expected to result in a larger correlation relative to $\Psi_1$ than to $\Psi_2$, while a flow driven background scenario would lead to a consistent result for both event planes[1,2]. In 10-50\% centrality, results using three different event planes are found to be consistent within experimental uncertainties, suggesting a flow driven background scenario dominating the measurement. We obtain an upper limit on the deviation from a flow driven background scenario at the 95\% confidence level. This work opens up a possible road map towards future CME search with the high statistics data from the RHIC Beam Energy Scan Phase-II.Comment: main: 8 pages, 5 figures; supplementary material: 2 pages, 1 figur

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Not AvailableAn attempt was made to assess the sedimentation in Nanak Sagar reservoir using multi-dated Remote Sensing (RS) images. IRS LISS III and Landsat-8 (OLI) remote sensing data were taken in the year 2007 and 2015, respectively. The original capacity curve (1962) was optimized for the study of the capacity loss to various water levels. Results showed that the morphology of the reservoir has been changed significantly due to sedimentation from 1962 to 2015. The reservoir has lost a total of 2934.64 hectares (ha) by dint of sedimentation which is accounted for 59.89 % of the total water spread area during last 53 years and average deposition was computed as 1.13% per year. From the year1962 to 2007 maximum siltation deposited in Full Storage Level (FRL) of the reservoir and from 2007 to 2015 in Dead Storage Level (DRL)in the period 2007 to 2015. It can be concluded that multi-dated remote sensing images can be used as a valuable tool for the study of temporal as well as spatial changes in any large water body.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableA limnological investigation of the manmade reservoir is necessary to evaluate the potential fish production and to provide information that could be useful in fisheries development planning. In this direction, the present study was conducted on Nanak Sagar reservoir located on Deoha River in the Tarai region of Uttarakhand. The reservoir was divided into three zones viz., in Riverine, Transitional and Lacustrine. Fourteen hydrological parameters were analyzed for various seasons such as Monsoon, Post-monsoon and Pre-monsoon from July 2014 to June 2015. The assessment of water quality of the reservoir reflects the uses of water, as well as the condition of the site from where water sample was taken. It is also noteworthy that when intensive sampling has been carried out throughout a reservoir basin to generate a “true” mean for the more common trophic state variables such as nitrogen, phosphorus and silicate concentrations, the volume weighted mean values have often been statistically indistinguishable from those measured in the different zone. Tropic status of the reservoir was mesotropic in nature found on the basis of hydrological indices. Good status of water quality of this reservoir is essential for the development of culture and capture based fisheries.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableAn investigation was conducted to evaluate the potential of antagonistic cyanobacteria/bacterial cultures amended compost and compost tea preparations for suppressing diseases caused by plant pathogenic fungi Fusarium oxysporum, Pythium debaryanum, Pythium aphanidermatum and Rhizoctonia solani in tomato. Two types of microbe-fortified composts and the compost tea preparations, along with the recommended biological control (Trichoderma formulation) and chemical control (Thiram-Carbendazim), were used for inoculating the potting mixture. Comparative performance of the treatments revealed the superiority of both the composts/compost tea preparations in enhancing seed germination, seedling length and biomass in the fungi challenged treatments. The most effective control of the diseases was obtained by the composts amended with Anabaena oscillarioides C12 and Bacillus subtillis B5 and the compost tea preparations. Both treatments provided significantly better control than the other treatments in terms of reduction in disease severity, reduction of fungal load and enhancement of plant parameters. Our study reveals the efficacy of microbe-fortified composts for use in control of the studied root diseases caused by phytopathogenic fungi.Not Availabl

Can Africa achieve food sufficiency? Taking lessons from Indian agriculture in the face of 21st century agricultural challenges

There is no gainsaying the fact that Agriculture remains the backbone of developing nation’s economy considering its importance for food security as well as major source of employment and rural livelihood. This is true in Africa as Agriculture remains the major source of income though this varies widely across countries. However, percentage share of agriculture in national GDP of many African countries in the recent time is declining. This coupled with increase in demand for food, population growth as well as changing in consumers’ food patterns have led to increment in food importation bills of many African countries in other to meet their domestic food demand. This paper therefore reviewed the possibilities of African agriculture achieving food sufficiency in the face of 21st century agricultural challenges and opportunities. Effort was made to understudy the pathway to India Agriculture attaining food sufficiency keeping in mind the similarity of India Agriculture to African agricultural scenario with nearly same opportunities and challenges. We therefore conclude that a proactive and innovative pathway should be created in Africa using policy tools, adoption of proven adaptable agricultural technologies as well as promotion of climate smart agricultural technologies for transformation of Africa Agriculture from net importer of food to food sufficiency as well as becoming net exporter of food

An Overview of Chitosan Nanofibers and their Applications in the Drug Delivery Process

Chitosan is a polycationic natural polymer which is abundant in nature. Chitosan has gained much attention as natural polymer in the biomedical field. The up to date drug delivery as well as the nanotechnology in controlled release of drugs from chitosan nanofibers are focused in this review. Electrospinning is one of the most established and widely used techniques for preparing nanofibers. This method is versatile and efficient for the production of continuous nanofibers. The chitosan-based nanofibers are emerging materials in the arena of biomaterials. Recent studies revealed that various drugs such as antibiotics, chemotherapeutic agents, proteins and anti-inflammatory analgesic drugs were successfully loaded onto electrospun nanofibers. Chitosan nanofibers have several outstanding properties for different significant pharmaceutical applications such as wound dressing, tissue engineering, enzyme immobilization, and drug delivery systems. This review highlights different issues of chitosan nanofibers in drug delivery applications, starting from the preparation of chitosan nanofibers, followed by giving an idea about the biocompatibility and degradation of chitosan nanofibers, then describing how to load the drug into the nanofibers. Finally, the major applications of chitosan nanofibers in drug delivery systems

Search for the chiral magnetic effect in Au+Au collisions at sNN=27 GeV with the STAR forward event plane detectors

A decisive experimental test of the Chiral Magnetic Effect (CME) is considered one of the major scientific goals at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) towards understanding the nontrivial topological fluctuations of the Quantum Chromodynamics vacuum. In heavy-ion collisions, the CME is expected to result in a charge separation phenomenon across the reaction plane, whose strength could be strongly energy dependent. The previous CME searches have been focused on top RHIC energy collisions. In this Letter, we present a low energy search for the CME in Au+Au collisions at sNN=27 GeV. We measure elliptic flow scaled charge-dependent correlators relative to the event planes that are defined at both mid-rapidity |η|<1.0 and at forward rapidity 2.1<|η|<5.1. We compare the results based on the directed flow plane (Ψ1) at forward rapidity and the elliptic flow plane (Ψ2) at both central and forward rapidity. The CME scenario is expected to result in a larger correlation relative to Ψ1 than to Ψ2, while a flow driven background scenario would lead to a consistent result for both event planes. In 10-50% centrality, results using three different event planes are found to be consistent within experimental uncertainties, suggesting a flow driven background scenario dominating the measurement. We obtain an upper limit on the deviation from a flow driven background scenario at the 95% confidence level. This work opens up a possible road map towards future CME search with the high statistics data from the RHIC Beam Energy Scan Phase-II