Background and aims Several investigations have assessed the soil organic carbon (SOC) content in... more Background and aims Several investigations have assessed the soil organic carbon (SOC) content in forest soil. However, very few studies have explored the spatial variability of SOC content in forest soil using deterministic and geostatistical techniques. Telangana hosts various forest types, including dry deciduous scrub, dry teak forest, southern dry mixed deciduous forest, and non-forest areas. The present investigation aims to identify the best-fit model for SOC content distribution and examine how various forest types influence SOC content in forest soils in Telangana, India. Methods The air-dried soil samples were analyzed for their SOC content using the wet digestion method. Deterministic and geostatistical methods used to assess the spatial distribution of SOC content in unsampled regions. Data were utilized to create spatial SOC maps using five interpolation methods: Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW), Ordinary Kriging (spherical, gaussian, and exponential), and Empirical Bayesian Kriging (EBK). The accuracy of these models was evaluated through cross-validation, semivariogram and considering metrics like coefficient of determination (R 2 ) and the mean error (ME) and root mean square error (RMSE). The order of SOC content was observed as follows: southern dry mixed deciduous forest > dry teak forest > dry deciduous scrub > non-forest for all soil depths, except at 30-60 cm. The results indicate that the EBK model has the highest R 2 value (0.228) followed by OK-Spherical (0.219) and Exponential (0.216) for a soil depth of 0-30 cm. The OK-spherical model has the highest R 2 value (0.139) followed by OK-Gaussian (0.135) and EBK (0.132) for a soil depth of 30-60 cm, and IDW has the highest R 2 value (0.168) followed by OK-exponential (0.144) and EBK (0.135) for a soil depth of 60-90 cm. The study examined soil organic carbon (SOC) content and its spatial distribution across various forest types in Telangana, utilizing deterministic and geostatistical methods. Southern dry mixed deciduous forests exhibited higher SOC content, whereas lower SOC content were observed in dry deciduous scrub and non-forest areas. Evaluation of interpolation methods indicated that geostatistical methods (EBK and OK) outperformed IDW at soil depths of 0-30 cm and 30-60 cm, while the deterministic method (IDW) performed well at a depth of 60-90 cm. Increasing sampling points and incorporating elevation or topographical information could improve the accuracy of the interpolation model, emphasizing the importance of using both deterministic (IDW) and geostatistical (OK and EBK) methods for generating the SOC content spatial distribution map in the entire study area.
Antitranspirants are applied to plant foliage to curtail water loss. Antitranspirants, in general... more Antitranspirants are applied to plant foliage to curtail water loss. Antitranspirants, in general, reduce the transpiration loss of water occurring mainly through closing stomatal pores present on the leaf surface. Keeping these points in view, a pot experiment was conducted to find out the effect of application of leaf reflectance type antitranspirants, viz., kaolinite (kaolin) and long-chain fatty alcohol (Green Miracle) on yield and nutrient uptake of rice under both submerged and water stress condition grown in inceptisol in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The present investigation was carried out in a greenhouse and rice (HUR-105) was grown under both submerged and water stress conditions. The kaolin (0%, 4%, 6% and 8%) and Green Miracle (0.00%, 0.15%, 0.30% and 0.60%) water suspension / solution respectively, were sprayed twice viz. in during vegetative-stage (50 days after transplanting) and panicle initiation stage (70 days after transplanting). The N, P and K content in straw and grain were analyzed for nutrient uptake pattern by rice crop. Results indicated that antitranspirants treatments affected dry matter production significantly. Plants treated with Green Miracle and kaolin produced more dry matter than untreated check (control). The nutrient uptakes by rice crops were also significantly improved by the application of both Green Miracle and Kaolin.
Climate Change in Asia and Africa - Examining the Biophysical and Social Consequences, and Society's Responses, 2021
Asian agriculture sector contributes about 44% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. Predominantly pa... more Asian agriculture sector contributes about 44% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. Predominantly paddy rice cultivation couples with indiscriminate use of agrochemicals, burning of fossil fuels in farm machinery majorly causes GHG emissions from farmlands in Asia. Presently, Asian soils have 25% cropland soil organic carbon (SOC) content but with moderately to highly vulnerability towards land degradation. To make up the soil carbon losses which has occurred due to continuous cultivation and tillage, it is recommended to adopt suitable carbon management practices to sequester carbon in soil through their physio-chemical protection. Conservation agriculture (CA), cover crop, crop diversification, integrated nutrient management (INM) and balanced fertilisation promotes better soil structure formation, stabilisation of aggregate associated carbon, microbial polymerisation of organic matter as well as a better root architecture. Carbon management practices not only improve soil fertility ...
Micronutrients are considered as inevitable elements in the production of quality food produce be... more Micronutrients are considered as inevitable elements in the production of quality food produce because of their involvement in various enzymatic as well as metabolic processes. The deficiency of micronutrients in plants is reflected as significant reduction in yield and quality. During last few years imbalanced nutrient fertilization and decrease in nutrient use efficiency leads to soil mining and its sickness which ultimately result to decline in crop yield and production potential in Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP) an intensively cultivated area of India. Ignorance of micronutrients in long run may cause malnutrition too later on. Considering this fact micronutrients viz. Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn and B were analyzed using standard methods along with the factors affecting its availability (pH, soil organic matter and soil texture and availability of major nutrients). The range (mean) values of DTPA-extractable Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn were 16.20 to 43.60 (24.16), 1.02 to 6.46 (2.95), 0.44 to 3.17 (1.56), and 0.50 to 1.80 (0.75) in Gangpur; 13.20 to 35.60 (22.79), 0.70-7.00 (3.45), 0.38 to 1.72 (1.23) and 0.52 to 1.14 (0.73) mg kg-1 soil in Bhawanipur village. Results revealed the sufficiency of all the micronutrients in the selected region but giving an indication to maintain such levels in future also.
Citric acid, gluconic acid, and humic acid are effective biostimulants and potassium salts of the... more Citric acid, gluconic acid, and humic acid are effective biostimulants and potassium salts of these organic acids are evidenced to have positive impacts in plant nutrition. This experiment aimed to compare the performances of organic potassium salts, viz. potassium citrate (C), potassium gluconate (G), and potassium humate (H) with commercially available inorganic potassium salt on submerged rice. Treatments included foliar application of three organic potassium salts (C, G, and H) and foliar or soil application of inorganic potassium sulfate (S), alone or in combination, with different doses. Foliar application of organic potassium salts resulted in enhanced plant height (1.6%), chlorophyll content (11.6%), grain yield (6.9%), and nutrient uptake (N, P, K, and S) by rice than inorganic K 2 SO 4. Conjoint application of H (half of RDF-K as foliar spraying) and S (half of RDF-K as soil application) obtained highest straw (22.4 g/kg soil) and grain yield (5.6 g/kg soil). Moreover, potassium humate performed best among the different potassium salts used and significantly enhanced the number of leaves, root biomass, and nutrient uptake. This study confirmed the growth promoting attributes of organic potassium salts by improving yield and nutrient uptake of submerged rice.
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