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Ram Prasad , P. B. Meshram , Jamaluddin

Abstract

The insecticide (Monocrotophos), hormones (Alpha Napthyl Acetic Acid) and Rallis tracel-2 (Micronutrient) were used in teak seed orchards at Behrai (Seoni, M.P.). The experiemental results showed that the growth promoting chemical and insecticides are not effective to increase the teak fruit production. Fruit dropping also does not appear to have been affected by these treatments. As the treatment applied within investigation failed to exhibit any positive correlation with the fruit production in teak and thus on older trees (about 10 years) these treatments should not be applied. The insect population can only be reduced to some extent by the treatment with insecticides only if it is beyond the tolerable level.

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Ram Prasad

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Sample plot data pertaining to seedling origin crop and first coppice crop of Eucalyptus hybrid, E. tereticornis and E. camaldulensis have been analysed. This study have shown that growth and yield from coppice crop is 2 to 3 times higher than the seedling crop of the same age. The results of the analysis have been reported in this paper.

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Ram Prasad

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Chambal ravines extending over an area of about 3.20 lakh hectares in Bhind and Morena districts of northern Madhya Pradesh are being reclaimed through aerial seeding. This programme was started in 1980 in Morena over an area of about 503 hectares. About 21,063 hectares of ravines in Morena and Bhind areas were covered by 1985. Another 30,000 hectares were covered by aerial seeding in 1986 alone. It is now proposed to take up about 25,000 hectares annually and liquidate the entire ravinous areas by 1993-94. About 1,000 tonnes of forest seeds have been sown from air and another 4000 tonnes of forest seeds are required to be sown in next few years. The appraisal of aerial seeding is being done by State Forest Research Institute, Jabalpur (M.P.) since 1981. Initial experience of carrying out systematic sampling has not been found feasible and therefore, an improvised 'time-distance' method of sampling described in this paper, was resorted to monitor the aerial seeding. In all 967 quadrats of size 10 m × 10 m were laid out on gully top, slopes and in gully beds. Seedlings were counted from these plots. The results were then statistically analysed. Results available from this survey have shown that the seedling count is highly variable (zero to 5777). On an average 200-300 seedlings/ha have been found in seeded areas. The results of aerial seeding, its practicability, operational convenience and economic feasibility vis-a-vis the recommendations and research needs have been discussed in this paper.

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Ram Prasad , S. K. Chadhar

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With the increase in various developmental activities the demand for bamboo has been increased tremendously. To save the shrinking bamboo forests and to increase the yield of bamboos the necessary measures have been suggested and discussed.

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Ram Prasad , Parvez Jalil

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An experiment to test the viability of freshly collected sal seeds (1985) from trees of different girth classes was undertaken. Sal seed was collected from Amarkantak (Distt. Shahdol). Some seeds were also stored in air-tight polythene bags for about two months 10 test their viability. It was observed that the deterioration in Sal seed takes place very fast unless it is properly stored. Severe insect damage to sal seeds appears to be responsible for the loss of seed viability.

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Ram Prasad

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Clear-fellings of congested clumps of Dendrocalamus strictus in March 1977, (sample plot-1) and 1980 (sample plot-2) were experimented in North Shahdol Division of Madhya Pradesh. The site quality of bamboo III. Clump formation and culm recruitments were observed in ensuing monsoon (July-September). Sample plot-1 was laid out in 1980 i.e, 4 years afler clear-felling. In an adjoining area the congested clumps were clear-felled in January 1980 and sample plot was laid in December 1980. Tbe clump formation and recruitment of culms was observed in the following monsoon. In sample plot-1 there were 44 clumps of which only 33 were fully developed for exploitation while remaining 11 were found to be in the process of development. A minimum of 5.36 new culms/clump to a maximum of 28.67 culms/clump were observed. In sample plot-2 a minimum of 3 new culms and a maximum of 19 new culms/cump were observed. However, in majority of the Cases tbe clumps contained less than 10 culms/clump. However, it bas been clearly brought out and from these results that tbe best method of working of congested clumps is to clear-fell them for better results. There was a declining trend observed in annual recruitment, as also in yield especially in period before gregarious flowering. This fact holds equally good in poor areas (Shahdol) as well as in better site quality areas (Balaghat).

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Ram Prasad , S. K. Chadhar

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Large tracts of rich forests are being cleared for mining in Madhya Pradesh. After mining the areas are rendered wastelands where site conditions become Inhospitable for normal plant growth. However, State Forest Research Institute, M.P., Jabalpur has got Success in evolving metbodologies for the rehabilitation and revegelation of such mined out sites. Out of the seven most successful species on the mined out areas of bauxite, an Australian species Grevlllea pleridifolia has been found most promising. This species having adopted to the site has been found to be the best producer of organic matter, Natural regeneration of this species have also been observed. This species has been fouod successful at other mined out sites (coal and dolomite) also. Botanical characteristics of this species have been described in this paper.

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Ram Prasad , S. K. Chadhar

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An exotie from Australia Grevillea Pteridifolia has been found very successful on the bauxite and coal-mined out sites of Madhya Pradesh. The biomass production efficiency of this species has been found comparable to many other species (E camaldulensis and P. carihaea).
An experiment was conducted on the bauxite mined out site at Amarkantak (Shahdol District) to determine the initial input requirements of Grevillea Pteridifolia. It has been observed that the species is very hardy and well adopted to orphaned sites as are available after mining or bauxite ore. The details of the experiment and its result have been discussed in this paper.

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Ram Prasad , Jamaluddin

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The investigation and observations relating to sal mortality revealed a complex interaction between climatic parameters, physical soil attributes (soil compactness) converting the high forest into that of coppice origin and varied biotic factor. These factors have been responsible for the loss of plant cover and site deterioration resulting in the reduced tree vigour. The available data shows that insects and pathogens are not the primary factors responsible for all mortality. Their role is only secondary after the complex interactions of climatic, biotic and management factors have reduced the tree vigour. The causative factors could be summarised as has been given in a chart form (Fig 2).

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Ram Prasad , G. P. Mishra

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Studies on the litter productivity of a natural dry deciduous teak forests of Sagar (Madhya Pradesh) have been reported in this investigation. It has been observed that T. grandis alone produced one-third of the total production of stand. The other species which dominated the litter output in stand were : T. tomentosa, D. melanoxylon, Butea monosperma and Miliusa tomentosa. Small broken pieces of minor species accounted for another one-third of the total production. Other important tree species such as A. latifolia and L. parviflora in spite of their high plant density contributed only a fraction of the tota1 litter production indicating the immature plant stand of these species. The total leaf litter production in these forests was found to be 4.959 tonnes/ha. In the light of present investigations, it can be concluded that while relatively younger crop is more efficient in litter production, their distribution pattern is most important. Abundence of plants in juvenile phase instead of seedling and coppice phase appears to produce maximum foliage. Once the trees cross the juvenile phase the canopy is closed and thus the size of crown remains constant. It was not due to bigger crown and more leaves but due to thicker branch wood. Besides age, the tree density and basal area play equally significant role in leaf litter output. This hypothesis can be explained by the basal area and litter output of T. grandis and T. tomentosa. In addition to remaining dead parts of the above ground vegetation, leaf litter considerably adds to the forest floor. Herbaceous ground flora also enrich the forest floor with organic matter both directly and indirectly. It traps around its litters and stumps a large quantity of leaf litter which would have otherwise gone out side of the ecosystem.

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Ram Prasad , G. P. Mishra

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The present investigation was carried out in teak forests of Gourjhamer Range of Sagar Division The teak forests of this Range constitute about 16.4 per cent of the total teak forests and 8.7 per cent of the total mixed forests of Sagar District. In the present investigation. the organic matter productivity of four important tree species viz T. grandis. T. tomentosa A. latifolia and D. melanoxvlon were studied in relation to their grith at breast height (gbh), and age (in T. grandis) only. While comparing different species for their net primary productivity it was found that A. latifolia was more efficient in dry matter production followed by T. tomentosa, T. grandis ond D melanoxylon. At 50-55 cm ghh the total production per tree was 433.50 kg in A. latifolia, 184.18 kg in T. tomentosa, 157.89 kg in T. grandis an 78.65 kg dry matter in D. melanoxylon. Mean annual productivity can be expressed accurately in T. grandis due to the presence of prominent annual growth rings whereas in T. tomentosa, A. latifolia, D. melanoxylon and other species of dry deciduous forest, due to the absence of prominent growth rings, assessment of age is not accurate. In such cases, gbh rather than age was found to be useful in comparing the productivity of different species.

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Ram Prasad , A. K. Sah , A. S. Bhandari , O. P. Chaubey

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The present investigation was undertaken on 15 year old (1969) and 5 year old (1979) plants of Eucalyptus camoldulensis Dehn raised on the area of Regional Forest Research Centre, Jabalpur. The entire area of planlation was divided in 5 equal compartments. Five trees from each compartment were randomly selected and felled for aboveground and belowground biomass studies. Growlh parameters in 15 year old plantation were 2-4 times that of plants in 5 year old plantations. The ischolar_main length was traced to a depth of less than 3 m in all cases. However, the lateral spread was unimaginably very vast. The mean lateral spread of 20.3 m was observed in 15 year old plants and 9.01 m in 5 year old plants. The propaganda against Eucalyptus that it is responsible for drying-up of underground water reserVe is thus disproved from these studies. These Vast lateral ischolar_main system, may be responsible to utilise even the slighest amount of surface moisture which may be available just below the surface in any form of precipitation. In terms of mean annual productivIty it was 15.92 t/h/year in 15 year old plants and 6.03 t/h year in 5 year old plants. The maximum contribution to the total aboveground biomass has been observed by stemwood in both plantations.

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Ram Prasad , Jamaluddin , V. S. Dadwal

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The nodulation behaviour in different age group of Leucaene leucocephala K-28 was studied in detail. The number of nodules considerably increased with age. The culture of rhizobium enhanced the height growth of the seedlings in laborotory and nursery conditions. The height growth and survival percentage of Leucaene seedlings in the field trial plantations were more when the seedling stock for plantation was used from seedlings grown in polythene as compared to those directly transplanted from nursey beds. The application of nitrogen fertilizer (area) in potted mixture supressed the nodule formation. It has been found that rhizobium inoculation can boost up Ibe growth of nursery stock of L. leucoctphala by producing a healthy stock of high vigour for large scale plantation of Leucaena in silvipastrol systems and social forestry programmes.

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Ram Prasad , G. P. Mishra

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In spite of uniform climatic conditions the forests of Sagar are very heterogeneous in composition and quality. The present state of vegetation appears to be the outcome of micro-climatic influences resultiug from variation in geological formations, physiography and biotic interferences.Though, Diospyros melanoxylon like teak and Anogeissus latifolia, out numbers other species in plant density, its ultimate progression to maturity is One of the lowests. This indicates a high degree of mortality mainly due to biotic factors such as grazing, cutting, leaf plucking and fires.Like other tree species; annuals and perennials, Diospyros melanoxylon in dry deciduous teak forests have been provided with the phenomenon of dying back to ensure its survival and subsequent establishment. The dying back in this species appears to last upto 10 years of age beyond which normal all-round growth takes place and plants are established.

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Saurabh Sonwani ¹, Ram Prasad ²

Affiliations
1 School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110 067, IN
2 Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, IN

Abstract

The present work focuses on the use of two coaxial polyvinylchloride (PVC) pipes for the fabrication of an electrolyser. Fine perforations in the lower part of the inner pipe were made for easy movement of ions via electrolytic material between the electrodes. The two electrodes (anodes and cathodes) were kept in the outer and inner pipes respectively. A photovoltaic panel was directly connected to the electrolyser to measure the performance of the electrolyser system at normal room temperature and pressure with 27 wt% potassium hydroxide solution. Water displacement burette flow meter was used for measurement of flow rates of the produced hydrogen and oxygen. The effects of various operating parameters on hydrogen production, variation in open circuit voltage and short circuit current produced by the photovoltaic cell with solar intensity in the daytime and their effect on H₂ flow rate, and utilization of this hydrogen gas in the hydrogen gas stove need to be studied further. The work concludes with an innovative design to prepare a simple and cheap alkaline electrolyser to produce hydrogen gas using solar energy from the photovoltaic panel that can be used in remote areas for cooking purposes.

Keywords

Electrolyser, Hydrogen, Renewable Energy, Solar Photovoltaic Panel.

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Tahseen Raza Hashmi ¹, Debjani Dey ¹, Ram Prasad ²

Affiliations
1 Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi - 110012, IN
2 Amity Institute of Microbial Technology, Amity University, Noida - 201313, Uttar Pradesh, IN

Abstract

Background: Investigations were carried out to record the spreading frequency of seven known endosymbionts specifically Portiera, Cardinium, Rickettsia, Fritschea, Wolbachia, Hamiltonella and Arsenophonus between the field populations of Bemisia tabaci collected from two host plants, viz. brinjal (Solanum melongena) and tomato (S. lycopersicum). Methods: Individual flies from each host were scanned for symbiotic bacterial infection with specific primers amplifying the 16S rRNA gene of Portiera, Cardinium, Hamiltonella, Rickettsia and Wolbachia, and the 23S rRNA gene of Arsenophonus and Fritschea. Findings: The primary endosymbiont, Portiera aleyrodidarum remained present in the samples of B. tabaci on both host plants brinjal and tomato but a variation was observed in the distribution frequency of secondary endosymbionts. Application: This irregular distribution of secondary endosymbionts strengthens the hypothesis that each endosymbiotic bacterium not only has a role in the survival but may also have a part in the polyphagus nature of B. tabaci.

Keywords

Bemisia tabaci, Distribution, Diversity, Endosymbionts, Genetic Group.

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Kartikeya Rajpal ¹, Nafe Aziz ¹, Ram Prasad ¹, R. G. Varma ², Ajit Varma ¹

Affiliations
1 Amity Institute of Microbial Technology, Amity University, Noida - 201303, Uttar Pradesh, IN
2 PMB Gujarati Science College, Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore - 452001, Madhya Pradesh, IN

Abstract

Objective: In this study we report the antibacterial and cytotoxic activity of the fungi isolated from Little Rann of Kutch, India. Methods: Antibacterial activity of crude extracts of 35 fungal isolates was assessed at an initial concentration of 40μg/ml against Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli. Promising fungal isolates were identified by their morphology. Extracts of identified isolates were further tested at varying concentrations (10-40μg/ml) against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus apart from K. pneumoniae and E. coli. Cytotoxic activity was assessed against cancer cell line MCF- 7. Phenol, flavonoid and alkaloid estimation was done to understand the fungi’s chemoprofile. Findings: In preliminary screening, six isolates showed significant activity against K. pneumoniae (14-17 mm) and E. coli (14-22 mm). These were identified as Aspergillus flavus, A. cremeus, A. versicolor, A. terreus, Penicillium purpurogenum and Eurotium amstelodami. On further evaluation of fungal extracts against four test pathogens, A. versicolor was found to be the most effective (8-11 mm), followed by A. terreus (8-10 mm) and A. cremeus (8-10 mm) at 10μg/ml each. A. versicolor and P. purpurogenum were found to be most cytotoxic, with IC50 values of 6.26 and 6.30 respectively, followed by A. flavus, E. amstelodami, A. cremeus and A. terreus. Phenolic content was highest in A. versicolor (268.77±0.18 μg/mg GAE); flavonoid and alkaloid were maximum in P. purpurogenum - 91.17±0.44 μg/mg QE and 89.13±0.28 μg/mg PNE, respectively. Improvements/Applications: Six fungi isolated from Little Rann of Kutch, India, hold tremendous potential as a source of novel antimicrobials and cytotoxics. The results warrant more exhaustive bioassays and identification of active principles.

Keywords

Antibacterial, Aspergillus, Cytotoxicity, Eurotium, Penicillium, Rann of Kutch.

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