Himachal Journal of Agricultural Research

Rajendra Prasad ¹, Anupam Sharma ¹, Sweta Sehgal ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Agronomy, Forages and Grassland Management, College of Agriculture, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur 171062, HP, IN

Abstract

Rice blast, caused by the fungus Magnaporthe grisea Sacc. is one of the most important rice diseases found throughout the globe. It usually damages leaves and panicles and reduces the photosynthetic area of the plant and may even lead to the death of the plant. However the disease does not develop until the favorable weather conditions prevail. Present work was undertaken to study the influence of weather parameters on rice blast in mid hill conditions of Himachal Pradesh. Field experiments were conducted during 1984 to 2012 at Palampur, located in mid hills of the Himachal Pradesh. Two varieties; Hasan Sarai and China 988 were sown on two dates (5^th and 15^th June) under upland irrigated situation. The first leaf symptoms of the disease appeared in the last week of July or the first week of August, when the mid-tillering stage synchronized with favourable weather conditions during all the years. It was observed that days with minimum temperature ≤ 20 °C, rainfall and cloud cover were important for the appearance and progress of this disease. During disease incidence, period of lower night temperature (19.1 °C), more number of days with minimum temperature ≤ 20 °C (11 days) and lower rainfall (246.6 mm) and more cloud amount (135 hrs) was observed during blast years as compared to non-blast years. It was also found that the maximum and mean temperature one week prior to disease appearance was 1.8 and 1.2 °C lower than the non-blast years indicating warmer temperature during the entire rice growing season is responsible for lower disease incidence and its further progress.

Keywords

Rice Blast, Magnaporthe Grisea, Minimum Temperature, Rainfall, Cloud Cover, Disease Incidence.

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Rajendra Prasad ¹, Vedna Kumari ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Agronomy, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur-176 062, IN
2 Department of Crop Improvement, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur-176 062, IN

Abstract

The present study was carried out to assess the impact of rainfall on the spread, production and yields of rabi oilseed crops in Himachal Pradesh during the past forty years (1968-69 to 2007-08). Year-wise trend analysis in rapeseed-mustard indicated a significant increase in area, production and productivity while a significant decrease was observed in linseed with time. Pentadwise shift indicated 71.7% increase in the area under rapeseed-mustard during 8^th pentad over 1^st pentad which might be due to 92.6% increase in rain fall during 8^th pentad over 1^st pentad. The technological inputs including improved varieties resulted in 105.6% increase in production and 20.4% increase in productivity. Pentad-wise shift in rapeseed-mustard area also exhibited a significant positive correlation with rainfall. In linseed, pentad-wise shift indicated a drastic reduction in area (78.8%), production (89.3%) and productivity (51.2%) during 8^th pentad over 1^st pentad. There was a negative and non-significant correlation of area with rainfall. The study indicates that under rainfed conditions, the farmers preferred rapeseed-mustard over linseed. Linear regression analysis indicated that the increase in seasonal rainfall may not be the sole reason for area expansion in rapeseedmustard. On the other hand, a much part of variation in area as well as production in linseed appeared be due to variation in seasonal rainfall.

Keywords

Area, Production, Rapeseed-Mustard, Linseed, Rainfall, Mann-Kendall Trend Test.

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Rajendra Prasad ¹, Vedna Kumari ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Agronomy, Forages & Grassland Management, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur-176062, IN
2 Department of Crop Improvement, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur-176062, IN

Abstract

The present study was carried out to assess the influence of rainfall on the changes in spread, production and productivity of sesame in Himachal Pradesh during past forty years (1968-69 to 2007-08). The year-wise and pentad-wise trend analysis carried out following Mann- Kendall non parametric trend test indicated a significant decrease in area while no trend in production was observed under this crop. The dominance index also exhibited a gradual decrease in sesame area during past four decades. There was 48.7% reduction in area and 26.1% in production while only 1.2% decrease in quantum of rainfall was observed during 8^th pentad over 1^st pentad. The relationship between percent shift in area, production and productivity vis-à-vis rainfall was not significant. Hence, 41.4% increase in productivity during 8^th pentad over the 1^st pentad could be attributed to agro-technological interventions including varietal improvement.

Keywords

Sesame, Area, Production, Rainfall, Mann-Kendall Trend Test.

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Rajendra Prasad ¹, Anupam Sharma ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Agronomy, Forages and Grassland Management, College of Agriculture, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur - 176062, IN

Abstract

Spatial distribution of annual rainfall and rainy days, dependable rainfall and rainfall trends in Himachal Pradesh was assessed using rainfall data(1971-2014) of 40 rain gauge stations. The normal annual rainfall of Himachal Pradesh was observed to be 1267 ± 375 mm spreading over 66 rainy days. Highest annual rainfall to the tune of 1000 mm at 75% probability was noticed in 16 (with 6 located alone in the Kangra district) out of 40 rain gauge stations. An expected annual rainfall in the range of 400-600 mm was observed in mid and high hill regions of the state comprising districts of Shimla with two stations and Mandi and Kinnaur each with single station. Ten observatories indicated significant decreasing trend in rainfall while seven showed increasing trend. Increasing trend in annual rainfall was observed mainly in Shimla (Kumarsain, Rohru and Shimla) and Mandi (Karsog, Chachiot and Sarkaghat) districts. Ten stations had an increasing trend in number of annual rainy days, whereas, six had decreasing trends. The heavy rainfall event trends were non- significant at most of the stations except Pachhad and Sundernagar where it was observed to be decreasing under 75-100 mm category. In more than 100 mm category, decreasing trend at Palampur, Nurpur, Nichar and Pachhad and increasing at Malan, Berthin and Sarkaghat was observed.

Keywords

Annual Rainfall, Rainy Days, Rainfall Variability, Dependable Rainfall, Trends, Himachal Pradesh.

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Rajendra Prasad ¹, Anupam Sharma ², Manoj Kumar Negi ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Agronomy, Forages and Grassland Management, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur - 176 062, IN
2 Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur - 176 062, IN

Abstract

Weather extreme could be any weather parameter be it rainfall or temperature that lies outside a locale's normal range of weather intensity. The negative or adverse impact of extreme weather events could be significant whether directly or indirectly inducing stress on plant growth and performance. Enlisting extreme weather events is highly useful to ascertain their occurrence and probable impact in future. The highest single day rainfall (amount of rainfall received in 24 hours' time) was as high as 381.7 mm at Dharamshala in district Kangra, while the other stations in Himachal Pradesh received the lower single day rainfall. The longest dry spells were more frequent with higher variation during October to December which coincided with sowing of the rabi crops than March to May corresponding to grain filling and maturity of the rabi crops and flowering and fruit development stage in mango, apple and stone fruits. In the recent past, the highest recorded maximum temperature was 48.5°C at Dhaulakuan, district Sirmaur while the lowest minimum temperature was -9°C at Salooni, district Chamba. There was decline in number of cold waves, severe cold waves and total number of days with minimum temperature below normal. The occurrence of extreme weather events showed no pattern or periodicity but they continued to affect sowing, flowering, fruit development and maturity in field/ horticultural crops in the state.

Keywords

Highest Single Day Rainfall, Dry Spells, Cold Waves, Field Crops, Vegetable Crops, Horticulture Crops.

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Dixa Tanotra ¹, Sarwan Kumar ¹, Rajendra Prasad ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Agronomy, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur-176 062, IN

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during kharif season 2016 at farmer’s fields in district Hamirpur. The experiment included 8 treatment combinations was conducted in random block design with three replications. The experiment was carried out during June to September in Bhoranj, Nadaun and Taunidevi blocks with different dates of sowing viz. Gwardu (L₁) 30>sup>th May, Dhamrol (L₂) 30>sup>st May, Mann trebest location. Higher crop growth rate (42.5 g/m²/day) and plant height (202.3 cm) were recorded in Nadaun block at Mann treti (Location L₃) with 500-800 mm rainfall. The Farmers practice (FP₂) showed significantly higher plant height (216.7 cm), leaf area index (1.91), crop growth rate (46.5 g/m²/day) and relative growth rate (0.0069 g/g/day). Farmer’s practice proved to be better than zero budget natural farming at all the three locations. Key words:

Keywords

Farming Practice, Location, Maize, Physiological Parameters and Rainfall.

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