Browsing by Author "Prithwiraj Dey"

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Choice of varieties and organic-inorganic nutrient integrations in rainfed buckwheat can affect the performance of succeeding green gram grown on residual fertility
(Taylor and Francis Ltd., 2023) Augustina Saha; Shirshendu Samanta; Prithwiraj Dey; Rahul Halder; Ashim Chandra Sinha
Rainfed farming is a low-input agricultural practice that is vulnerable to environmental fluctuations. In this study, we tested a resilient low input cropping system of buckwheat and green gram under different integrated nutrient management schedules. Specifically, we investigated the effects of three buckwheat varieties and four nutrient management schedules on buckwheat and green gram grown yields on residual fertility. Our findings suggest that 50% organic substitution resulted in the highest buckwheat yield, while the highest yield of green gram was achieved with 100% and 50% organic nutrient substitution. The Shimla B-1 variety of buckwheat showed the highest yield, while the low-yielding VL Ugal-7 variety resulted in the highest yield of succeeding green gram. Despite the poor green gram yield obtained after the highest-yielding buckwheat variety, the Shimla B-1 variety resulted in the highest system yield which was 24.6% higher than the VL Ugal-7 due to higher income obtained from buckwheat. It was also found that integrating vermicompost and Azotobacter as a source of organic nutrients with inorganic schedules can maintain a positive nutrient balance in the system. Overall, this study highlights the potential of a resilient buckwheat-green gram cropping system for low-input rainfed farming situations, with implications for sustainable agriculture. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
EDCs exposure-induced alteration in the germination, growth, and physiological trait of the plant
(Elsevier, 2024) Anuj Saraswat; Shri Ram; Sonal Sharma; Rukoo Chawla; Neha Khardia; Deeksha Chauhan; Dinesh Kumar Vishwakarma; Md Basit Raza; Vishnu D. Rajput; Prithwiraj Dey; Ram Swaroop Meena; Biswaranjan Behera
Environmental health is a major concern around the world due to the exponential increase in pollutant discharges into the environment from industrial and agricultural activities. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are a broad category of natural or synthetic substances with properties that may cause endocrine disruption in an intact organism, its progeny, or (sub)populations. Everyday products such as plastics, personal care products, and cleaning agents, as well as pesticides, herbicides, and industrial chemicals, may contain EDCs. These chemicals can enter the environment through air and water pollution and can accumulate in the food chain, leading to widespread exposure in both humans and wildlife. EDCs can disturb the normal functioning of plants, humans, and animals. These compounds can enter in plant through roots and atmospheric air and hinder the activity of several enzymes and hormones. Several studies showed that EDCs have negatively affected the various physiological processes of plants such as photosynthesis, which are discussed in this chapter. To tackle the challenges posed by EDCs, numerous organizations and governments have urged for enhanced research, regulation, and public awareness of these chemicals. Certain countries have implemented legislation to limit the use of EDCs in specific products, and several manufacturers have voluntarily removed EDCs from their products. Nonetheless, further action is required to minimize exposure to EDCs and safeguard human and environmental health. In summary, EDCs are a complex and prevalent group of environmental pollutants that pose significant risks to human and wildlife health. Thus this chapter will focus on how EDCs exposure induces alteration in the plant’s germination, growth, and physiological trait. © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Management of soil cover and tillage regimes in upland rice-sweet corn systems for better system performance, energy use and carbon footprints
(Elsevier Ltd, 2024) Arindam Kundu; Champak Kumar Kundu; Prithwiraj Dey; Soham Rana; Jhumur Majumder; Anurag Bera; Bappa Paramanik; Partha Sarathi Patra; Md Galal Uddin; Mohamed Abioui; Anuj Saraswat
This study investigates the effects of tillage and mulching regimes on rice-sweet corn systems in the lower Gangetic plains, focusing on region-specific and crop-specific impacts on soil-crop-environmental parameters. The experiment consisted of three levels of tillage: conventional (CT), minimum (MT), and zero (ZT), and four levels of mulching: live, leaf litter, paddy straw, and no mulching. The results show that ZT tillage resulted in higher bulk density (BD) compared to other treatments, despite an increase in soil organic carbon (SOC). Live and leaf litter mulching led to slight reductions in BD in the upper soil layers. CT resulted in net depletion of SOC whereas ZT registered a positive sequestration rate of 1.19 Mg ha−1 yr−1. Live and leaf litter mulching increased SOC sequestration by 42.6% and 38.8% compared to paddy straw mulching, respectively. Initially, ZT resulted in a 10.3% reduction in system productivity compared to CT, while MT yields were comparable to CT. However, mulching regimes consistently improved production by 16.4%–25.2% as compared to no mulch. ZT and MT were found to be more affordable than CT, with cost savings of 18.2% and 6.8%, respectively. ZT had the highest B: C ratio, indicating better economic efficiency. Among the mulching treatments, live mulching was the most economical. Both ZT and MT saved input energy by approximately 22.9% and 13.5%, respectively compared to CT. Live mulching resulted in the highest net energy and energy output. Compared to CT, ZT reduced carbon footprint (CF) by 41.5 and 22.2% in rice and sweet corn, respectively. MT scored midway between ZT and CT in all parameters. CT exhibited several limitations, including high input energy requirements, high cost of cultivation, poor economic efficiency, negative environmental impacts, and loss of SOC. ZT initially experienced yield reduction and lower net returns in the early years. Therefore, MT was identified as the best alternative in the initial years before transitioning completely to ZT, as it provided comparable yields to CT with better overall benefits. Among the soil cover regimes, live mulching was found to be the most favorable option across all dimensions. © 2024 The Authors
Use of Agrochemicals in Agriculture: Alarming Issues and Solutions
(wiley, 2022) Biplab Mitra; Arnab Roy Chowdhury; Prithwiraj Dey; Kali Krishna Hazra; Abhas Kumar Sinha; Akbar Hossain; Ram Swaroop Meena
Agricultural growth affects the economic growth of a country through the supply of food and other raw materials to nonagricultural sectors, and it is quite obvious that agricultural productivity through judicious use of inputs could play a vital role in structural change in the economy. But the indiscriminate use, rather misuse of chemical inputs in agriculture, has led to many problems in our ecosystem. A rough estimate of pesticide usage among the different developing countries shows that East Asia (including China) and Latin America consume almost 70% of the total pesticide use with only 4% in Sub-Saharan Africa. Due to the irrational use of agrochemicals, the degree of pollution in soil, air, water, and ecosystem as a whole is a big concern for us. A typical estimate of soil surface nitrogen balance for agricultural land in India reveals that inorganic fertilizer is the major contributor of nitrogen inputs in the ecosystem (10.8 Tg N) followed by manure (1.53 Tg) and a positive balance of 2.32-1.89 Tg N was found which is responsible for various environmental hazards. The judicious use of inputs matching with the requirement of the crops and their application below residue detection limits are the priority areas to protect our future generations from hazardous effects and to provide food to every mouth on the other hand. We have to assess the harmful effects of various chemical inputs used in agriculture continuously, and suitable strategies are to be developed orienting towards the rational use of inputs. The major impacts of chemicals and their contaminants are alterations in species diversity, degradation of physical-chemical-biological parameters of soil, water, and atmosphere, making them of inferior quality. This chapter describes the impact of alarming uses of chemicals on agricultural systems, water bodies as well as on the environment on one hand, and framing of suitable strategies targeting judicious use of inputs in agriculture on the other. Strategies include sustainable resource management through conservation agriculture practices, site-specific nutrient management, precision farming, integrated management of pests and diseases, agricultural waste management, and use of nano-molecules in addition to some biotechnological tools and policy interventions. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021.