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R. K. Choudhary , V. K. Garg , K. P. Asathi , Yogesh Patel

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Bajrang Singh , V. K. Garg , P. K. Singh , K. P. Tripathi

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New forests created on sodic wastelands, consisting of different community structure ameliorate the soil at various degrees according to productivity and diversity status. Three such forested sites were selected at Banthra Research Station of National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, India with different productivity and diversity indices descending from site I (S₁) to III (S₃), which were compared with a control (non forested) sodic soil site. Importance value index (IVI) decreased from 320 to 150 from site I to III. Shannon-Wiener's general diversity index was greatest in site I (1.85) and lowest in site III (1.37). Population density, basal area and biomass also declined accordingly. Dominant genera in these Forest stands were Acacia, Albizia, Dalbergia, Terminalia, Bauhinia and Syzygium whereas grasses/forbs viz.Sporobolus, Desmostachya and Dactyloctenium were common on barren sodic land. A remarkable reduction in soil pH and exchangeable sodium percentage (67-73%) was noticed in afforested sites compared to the control as a result of combined effect of increased diversity and productivity. Individual effects of diversity or productivity were measured as 42% and 58%, respectively in soil amelioration. The soil fertility increased 2 to 3 times in organic carbon and 2.7 to 3.7 times in total nitrogen content on afforested sites. However, these improvements were greatest in surface soil (0.15 m) for C and N (68 & 73%) in comparison to lower depths (51 & 65%). Among the exchangeable cations, Na⁺ reduced by 41-57% from the control in afforested sites (I and II) while Ca⁺⁺ content increased of 38-68% in these sites. In general, available Zn, Fe and Mn contents increased in forested sites I and II whereas Cu decreased significantly in site II but remains at par on site I from the control. A rapid ch!lnge in soil properties occurred on surface soil even on poor afforested site while the rate of improvement at depths below 0.3 m depicted a slow amelioration process. A combined effect of both biomass productivity and species diversity of about 92% ameliorated the soil more significantly instead of individual factors, which should be taken into account for the rehabilitation of such sodic soil sites.

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P. B. Meshram , A. K. Patra , V. K. Garg

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Studies on the detailed seasonal history and chemical control of twig gall forming black caterpillar Betousa stylophora Swinh. revealed that the moth laid the eggs on leaves of Emblica officinalis in the month of June. The pest commenced its activity from the month of June and completed one generation in a year in Satpura Plateau of Madhya Pradesh. Phorate (Thimet) 10 G followed by Carbofuran (Furadon) 3 G @ 10 gm per plant (3 years old) was found to be most effective by using both prophylactic and curative measures against this pest for tbe protection of E. officinalis plants in agroforestry models.

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P. B. Meshram , V. K. Garg

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V. K. Garg

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Seedlings of Acacia farnesiana, Acacia nilotica ssp. Cupressiformis and Prosopisjuliflora were raised in five types of growth mediums viz sand, sodic soil, sodic soil + sand, sodic soil + sand + pyrite, sodic soil + sand + peat-moss to overcome the problem of scanty ischolar_main formation while planting them into the field or container in sodic soil. Results showed that the mixture of sodic soil + sand + peatmoss produced seedlings with a brush type ischolar_main phenology compared to those grown in sodic soil. Such seedlings produced were not only taller but had a decreased ischolar_main: shoot ratio also, thus better in quality.

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V. K. Garg

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An estimate of macro-nutrients and litter production was evaluated in 5 year old plantations of Acacia farnesiana, Acacia nilotica sub sp. cupressiformis and Cassia siamea planted at three spacings corresponded to densities of 10, 20 and 30 thousand trees ha ^-1 on sodic soils at Biomass Research Centre. Banthra of National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, India. The litter yield increased with increasing plantation densities. The concentration of macro-nutrients in the leaf litter did not change due to planting spaces although differences between species existed.

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R. K. Jain , V. K. Garg

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A field study was conducted to compare the influence of a Eucalyptus hybrid, Prosopisjuliflora and Terminalia arjuna plantations of about one decade old on the physico-chemical properties while revegetating sodic wasteland at Biomass Research Centre in Banthra (of National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow) India. The relative effectiveness of these species in enrichment/improvement of the sodic soil was in the order of P. juliflora > T. arjuna > E. hybrid. Results of experiments have also indicated that the pattern of tree ischolar_mains growth synchronised with the depth of improvement and helped in an accumulation and retranslocation of soil nutrients for developing soil vegetation system on such sites.

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V. K. Garg

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Seasonal changes in tbe foliar concentration of macro nutrients (N, P, K, Ca and Mg) in about 15 years old trees of A. nilorica, P. juliflora, D. sissoo and P. pinnata growing in sodic soils were studied Leaf N concentration were higber in these trees. Levels of P in leaves were lowest than other elements. Foliar K and Ca were higher during the summer. Leaf Mg showed a pattern of decreasing concentration with time. The best time for sampling these deciduous trees to get information on plant nutrient status appear to be end of summer or beginning or rains.

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V. K. Garg , S. D. Khanduja

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Mineral composition of leaves of six forest tree species growing on an alkali soil showed highest concentration of cations in Terminalia and lowest in Callistemon. Sodium concentration was highest in Cassia leaves. The ratio of leaf - Na to total sum of cations showed preferential accumulation of Na by Callistemom in relation to other species. All the species were found to grow well with pH 9.6 to 9.8 in their ischolar_main zone.

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O. P. Yadav ¹, V. K. Garg ¹, Y. K. Yadav ², Eleni Daoutsali ³

Affiliations
1 Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar-125001, IN
2 Department of Agricultural Processing and Energy, Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125001, IN
3 Institut fur Didaktik der Chemie, Fliednerstr, 21; 48149 Münster, DE

Abstract

Nano-size platinum particles were synthesized by chemical reduction of Pt⁺⁴ ions in water-in-oil microemulsion. As synthesized platinum nanoparticles have been characterized using TEM and XRD techniques. Platinum (2%)+Alumina composite was used as a catalyst for carrying out the oxidation of CO to CO₂, over 50-500°C, in a suitably designed converter comprising a vertical quartz tube connected to a quadrupole mass spectrometer. Effects of [Water]/[Surfactant] ratio and the presence of polyethylene glycol (PEG) in the microemulsion on the size and catalytic efficiency of as-synthesized platinum nanoparticles have been investigated. The size of platinum nanoparticles grows further on increasing [Water]/[Surfactant] ratio in the microemulsion composition. Whereas, using pure alumina as catalyst, conversion of CO to CO₂ occurs at 3000C, such conversion occurs at much lower temperature (225°C) using alumina+Pt (2%) as catalyst. CO to CO₂ conversion temperature is further lowered to 200°C when the platinum nanoparticles synthesized in microemulsion, stabilized by polyethylene glycol (PEG), are used in the above composite catalyst.

Keywords

Platinum, Microemulsion, Polymer, Nanoparticles, Catalyst, Mass Spectrometer, Alumina, Poly(Ethylene Glycol).

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