Impact of Organic Farming on Yield and Quality of BASMATI Rice and Soil Properties

The management of soil organic matter is critical to maintain a productive organic farming system. No one source of nutrient usually suffices to maintain productivity and quality control in organic system. In addition, the inputs to supplement nutrient avail-ability are often not uniform presenting additional challenges in meeting the nutrient requirement of crops in organic systems. With this concept, a field experiment was conducted at the research farm of Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India during 2003-06 in rice-wheat-green gram cropping system. In this experiment, different treatments comprising organic amendments such as Blue Green Algae (BGA) 15kg/ha, Azolla 1.0 tonne/ha, Vermicompost and Farm Yard Manure (FYM) 5.0 tonne/ha each applied alone or in combination were tested in organic crop production. These treatments were compared with absolute control (N0P0K0) and recommended dose of chemical fertilizer (N80P40K40). In wheat crop Azotobacter replaced Azolla, but other treatments remained same. For rice, a scented variety ‘Pusa Basmati 1’ and for wheat and green gram HYVs were taken. Biomass of green gram was incorporated in soil after picking of pods and wheat was sown using zero tillage practice. The obser-vations on grain yield, contents of Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu in rice grains, insect pest inci-dence, soil nutrients and microbial activity were taken. Results revealed a significant enhancement in grain yield of rice over absolute control due to the application of different organic amendments applied alone or in combina-tions. Rice grain yield increased by 114 to 116.8% over absolute control when all the 4 organic amendments were applied altogether. The rice grain yield (4.0 t ha-1) obtained under combined application of four organic amendments was at par with the yield recorded under recommended dose of chemical fertilizer application. An interesting observation recorded was that there was no serious attack of any insect pest or dis-ease in organically grown crop. Soil microbial population (Actinomycetes, Bacteria, Fungi and BGA) enhanced due to the application of organic amendments in compari-son to absolute control as well as recommended fertilizer application that in turn re-sulted in a notable enhancement in soil dehydrogenase and phosphatase enzyme activity. Soil organic carbon and available phosphorus contents were also found to be significantly increased due to organic farming practice over control as well as chemical fertilizer application. Rice grain analysis for nutrients viz. Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu showed a significant increase in Fe and Mn content in the treatments having 2 or more organic amendments over control. Zn and Cu content also increased but the increment was significant with combined application of 3 or 4 organic amendments. The study revealed that addition of four organic amendments viz. BGA, Azolla, FYM and Vermicompost could give the optimum yield (4.05 t/ha) of organic Basmati rice and improve grain and soil quality

Current-Processing Current-Controlled Universal Biquad Filter

This paper presents a current-processing current-controlled universal biquad filter. The proposed filter employs only two current controlled current conveyor transconductance amplifiers (CCCCTAs) and two grounded capacitors. The proposed configuration can be used either as a single input three outputs (SITO) or as three inputs single output (TISO) filter. The circuit realizes all five different standard filter functions i.e. low-pass (LP), band-pass (BP), high-pass (HP), band-reject (BR) and all-pass (AP). The circuit enjoys electronic control of quality factor through the single bias current without disturbing pole frequency. Effects of non-idealities are also discussed. The circuit exhibits low active and passive sensitivity figures. The validity of proposed filter is verified through computer simulations using PSPICE

Hydrodynamic signatures of stationary Marangoni-driven surfactant transport

We experimentally study steady Marangoni-driven surfactant transport on the interface of a deep water layer. Using hydrodynamic measurements, and without using any knowledge of the surfactant physico-chemical properties, we show that sodium dodecyl sulphate and Tergitol 15-S-9 introduced in low concentrations result in a flow driven by adsorbed surfactant. At higher surfactant concentration, the flow is dominated by the dissolved surfactant. Using Camphoric acid, whose properties are {\it a priori} unknown, we demonstrate this method's efficacy by showing its spreading is adsorption dominated

‘So people know I'm a Sikh’: Narratives of Sikh masculinities in contemporary Britain

This article examines British-born Sikh men's identification to Sikhism. In particular, it focuses on the appropriation and use of Sikh symbols amongst men who define themselves as Sikh. This article suggests that whilst there are multiple ways of ‘being’ a Sikh man in contemporary post-colonial Britain, and marking belonging to the Sikh faith, there is also a collectively understood idea of what an ‘ideal’ Sikh man should be. Drawing upon Connell and Messerschmidt's discussion of locally specific hegemonic masculinities (2005. “Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept.” Gender and Society 19 (6): 829–859), it is suggested that an ideal Sikh masculine identity is partly informed by a Khalsa discourse, which informs a particular performance of Sikh male identity, whilst also encouraging the surveillance of young men's activities both by themselves and by others. These Sikh masculinities are complex and multiple, rotating to reaffirm, challenge and redefine contextualised notions of hegemonic masculinity within the Sikh diaspora in post-colonial Britain. Such localised Sikh masculinities may both assert male privilege and reap patriarchal dividends (Connell, W. 1995. Masculinities. Cambridge: Polity Press), resulting in particular British Sikh hegemonic masculinities which seek to shape the performance of masculinity, yet in another context these very same performances of masculinity may also signify a more marginalised masculinity vis-à-vis other dominant hegemonic forms