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

‘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

Laboratory and field studies demonstrating the insecticidal potential of diatomaceous earth against wheat aphids in rice-wheat cropping system of Punjab (India)

Aphids have acquired the status of major pest in North-western plains of India. A complex of five species infests the wheat in this part of the country. The diatomaceous earth (DE) has the potential to substitute the most widely used method of chemical control. Laboratory and field investigations were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of DE either as soil or foliar application for suppression of wheat aphids during 2013–2014 and 2014–2015. The fecundity, adult longevity and total developmental duration of Rhopalosiphum padi decreased with the increasing dosage of soil application of DE in laboratory evaluation. However in field studies, no significant difference in aphid population was observed among different levels of DE application in soil. Foliar application of DE 150 kg/ha and higher dosages significantly reduced aphid population for initial two days but thereafter it had no effect on aphid prevalence. Wheat plant dusted with different dosages of DE did not show any visible injury but the reduction in chlorophyll content was observed in them. Overall, poor field efficacy coupled with loss of chlorophyll and safety issues relating to foliar application of DE proved against its use for control of sucking insect pests

Mean field analysis of quantum phase transitions in a periodic optical superlattice

In this paper we analyze the various phases exhibited by a system of ultracold bosons in a periodic optical superlattice using the mean field decoupling approximation. We investigate for a wide range of commensurate and incommensurate densities. We find the gapless superfluid phase, the gapped Mott insulator phase, and gapped insulator phases with distinct density wave orders.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, 4 table

Antisite Domains in Double Perovskite Ferromagnets: Impact on Magnetotransport and Half-metallicity

Several double perovskite materials of the form A_2BB'O_6 exhibit high ferromagnetic T_c, and significant low field magnetoresistance. They are also a candidate source of spin polarized electrons. The potential usefulness of these materials is, however, frustrated by mislocation of the B and B' ions, which do not organise themselves in the ideal alternating structure. The result is a strong dependence of physical properties on preparative conditions, reducing the magnetization and destroying the half-metallicity. We provide the first results on the impact of spatially correlated antisite disorder, as observed experimentally, on the ferromagnetic double perovskites. The antisite domains suppress magnetism and half-metallicity, as expected, but lead to a dramatic enhancement of the low field magnetoresistance.Comment: 6 pages, pdflatex, EPL styl

Axial Vector Current Matrix Elements and QCD Sum Rules

The matrix element of the isoscalar axial vector current, $\bar{u}\gamma_\mu\gamma_5u + \bar{d}\gamma_\mu\gamma_5d$, between nucleon states is computed using the external field QCD sum rule method. The external field induced correlator, $$, is calculated from the spectrum of the isoscalar axial vector meson states. Since it is difficult to ascertain, from QCD sum rule for hyperons, the accuracy of validity of flavour SU(3) symmetry in hyperon decays when strange quark mass is taken into account, we rely on the empirical validity of Cabbibo theory to dertermine the matrix element $\bar{u}\gamma_{\mu}\gamma_5 u + \bar{d}\gamma_{\mu}\gamma_5 d - 2 \bar{s}\gamma_{\mu}\gamma_5 s$ between nucleon states. Combining with our calculation of $\bar{u}\gamma_{\mu}\gamma_5 u + \bar{d}\gamma_{\mu}\gamma_5 d$ and the well known nucleon $\beta$-decay constant allows us to determine $< p,s| {4/9}\bar{u}\gamma_{\mu}\gamma_5 u + {1/9}\bar{d}\gamma_{\mu}\gamma_5 d + {1/9}\bar{s}\gamma_{\mu}\gamma_5 s |p, s>$ occuring in the Bjorken sum rule. The result is in reasonable agreement with experiment. We also discuss the role of the anomaly in maintaining flavour symmetry and validity of OZI rule.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, revtex

Openpit Mine Slope Stability – A Case Study

For profitability steep overall slope angle is essential for openpit mines without endangering the safety for the life time of the pit. Openpits have been designed to depths of 150 to 200 metres. For optimum slope angles of the footwall and the hanging wall of a rock phosphate mine, near Udaipur, Rajasthan , geotechnical investigation covering discontinuity mapping, analysis of data, testing of geo-mechanical properties in laboratory and in in-situ condition were conducted. Slope monitoring was done by precise surveying instruments to give advance warning of impending ground movement. On the basis of geotechnical studies the mine has been designed with an overall slope angle of 33 degrees up to 200 metres depth