Associated red and black soils are common in the Deccan plateau and the Indian peninsula. The red soils are formed due to the progressive landscape reduction process and black soils due to the aggradation processes; and they are often spatially associated maintaining their typical characteristics over the years. These soils are subject to changes due to age-long management practices and the other factors like climate change. To maintain soil quality, it is essential to monitor changes in soil properties preferably using benchmark (BM) soil sites. One such example lies at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) farm in Patancheru, India where red (Patancheru) and black (Kasireddipalli) soils co-exist in close association under almost similar topographical condition, which also represents very commonly occurring spatially associated soils. The database generated over the years for these two dominant soils that are under cultural practices for the last 2-3 decades, helps us understand the relative changes in properties over a time scale. To do this exercise, we revisited the BM spots as the data on the original characterization of these soils since the development of the farm, are available, for comparative evaluation. We also attempted to make prediction of future changes in properties for these two important and representative black and red soils of the ICRISAT farm in Patancheru, India.
Purpose A study was conducted to characterize the 'Madhyam culture' (Excel Crop Care Limited.), an aerobic-composting microbial consortium culture, and understand composting dynamics, product quality and use in crop production vis-à-vis vermi-composting (using earthworms). Methods 16S rDNA analysis was used to characterize aerobic-composting culture. Aerobic-composting and vermi-composting technologies were evaluated to decompose sorghum straw and dung biomass (80:20 ratio; primed with 0.5% urea and 4% rock phosphate) to study days to maturity and composting dynamics in terms of changes in temperature and microbial population. Compost quality was tested for macro-, micro-nutrients and C:N ratio, and evaluated for food production in on-farm trials. Results 16S rDNA analysis screened sixteen bacterial isolates-eight related to genus Bacillus, three to each Halobacillus and Staphylococcus, one to each Microbacterium and Streptomyces. The population of bacteria was 4.5 cfu ml −1 at 10 −7 dilution. Aerobic-and vermi-composts matured in around 50 and 60 days, respectively. Aerobic-composting throughout recorded relatively higher bacterial population, and higher temperatures during the initial phase. Aerobic-compost tested for high nutrient (1.55% N, 0.93% P, 1.00% K) content and stable C:N ratio (10.3) compared to vermi-compost (1.11% N, 0.43% P, 0.96% K and C:N ratio of 11.7). Field evaluation of both composts showed yield benefit and saving of chemical fertilizers up to 25%. Conclusions Aerobic-composting (using microbial consortium culture), like vermi-composting, proved to be an effective technology with advantage of no requirement to maintain ambient living conditions in lean periods as is required for earthworms in vermi-composting, but needs more energy/labor for biomass turnings.
Soil organic carbon (SOC) and rainfall are generally positively related, whereas a negative relationship between soil inorganic carbon (SIC) and rainfall with some exception is observed. Land use pattern in black soil region (BSR) of the semi-arid tropical (SAT) India, consists of 80% under agriculture, followed by forest, horticulture, wasteland and permanent fallow. For sustainable agriculture on these soils, there is a concern about their low OC status, which warrants fresh initiatives to enhance their OC status by suitable management interventions. In the BSR region, cotton, soybean and cereal-based systems dominate but it is not yet clear as to which cropping system in the SAT black soils is most suitable for higher OC sequestration. Many short-term experiments on cotton or cereal-based systems clearly suggest that cotton or cereal-based cropping systems including leguminous crops perform better in terms of SOC sequestration whereas soybean-legume combination do not add any substantial amount of OC. In sub-humid bioclimatic zones (1053-1209 mm mean annual rainfall), soybean is grown successfully with wheat or fallowing, and SOC concentration is maintained at 0.75% in the 0.30 m soil layer under integrated nutrient management. In view of enhancement and maintenance of OC in many shortterm experiments conducted in various agro-climate zones of SAT, it is realized that OC accumulation in soils of the semi-arid ecosystem with suitable cropping and management practices could be substantial especially in cotton-pigeon pea rotation, and thus the discussed crop rotations in each major bio-climatic zone stand for wide acceptance by the SAT farmers.
This investigation explores the ab initio DFT method for understanding surface structure of hematite and the nature and energetics of phosphate adsorption. Using the full potential linearized plane wave method (FP-LAPW), we derived the structure and energies of various magnetic forms of hematite. The antiferromagnetic (AFM) form was observed to be the most stable. Hematite surfaces with Fe-termination, O-termination, or OH-termination were studied. The OH-terminated surface was the most stable. Stability of hematite surfaces follows the order OH-termination > Fe-termination > O-termination. Thus, surface reaction with hematite would occur with the OH at the surface and not with Fe atoms. The structure of phosphate adsorbed on hematite was derived. Bonding is through the H atom of the OH at the surface. An alternative mechanism of phosphate adsorption on hematite has been derived. Adsorption energy is high and suggests chemisorption rather than physisorption of phosphate on hematite.
The inductively coupled plasma (ICP)-based method provides the opportunity to determine phosphorus (P) along with other major, secondary, micro and trace elements in plant materials. This study was conducted to compare and evaluate the relative efficacy of the inductively coupled plasma-optical spectrometry (ICP-OES) method with that of colorimetric method using Skalar autoanalyzer, for determining P in 428 grain samples of 8 diverse crops. The results on grain P analysis by the two methods, for individual as well as for all crop samples combined, showed that were highly positively correlated (r varied from 0.84 to 0.98, p<0.0001 for the 8 crops, and R 2 for all crop grain samples was 0.9201, p<0.
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