No abstract

No abstract

A field experiment entitled, "Effect of land configuration and weed management on mungbean productivity under temperate conditions of Kashmir" was conducted during Kharif seasons of 2014 and 2015 under AICRP on MULLaRP. The soil of the experimental field was silty clay in texture, low in organic carbon and medium in nitrogen, phosphorus potassium. The experiment consisted of two treatments of land configuration viz., Flat Bed Method (FBM) and Ridge method (RM) in main plot and four weed management treatments viz., Weedy check, Pendimethalin @ 1.0 kg a.i/ha PE, Imazethapyr 10 % SL @ 55 g/ha at 15 -20 DAS and Pendimethalin 30 EC PE fb imazethapyr 10 % SL @ 55 g/ha at 15-20 DASlaid out in strip plot design (SPD) with three replications. The experimental results revealed that the grain yield of Flat Bed Method (L1) was at par with Ridge Method (L2) and there was non-significant difference with respect to yield attributing characters. Weed density (No./m 2 ) and weed dry matter (g/m 2 ) also exhibited non-significant difference at 30 and 60 days after sowing (DAS) of crop. Among weed management practices, weedy check recorded the lowest grain yield of 552 kg/ha and showed significant difference when compared with rest of the treatments, whereas highest grain yield of 818.75 kg/ha was recorded with pendimethalin 30 EC @ 1.0 kg/ha-PE followed by imazethapyr 10 % SL @ 55 g/ha at 15-20 DAS, imazethapyr 10 % SL @ 55 g/ha at 15-20 DAS and pendimethalin 30 EC @ 0.75/1.0 kg a.i /ha PE in decreasing order. Pendimethalin 30 EC @ 1.0 kg/ha-PE fb Imazethapyr 10 % SL @ 55 g/ha at 15-20 DAS, imazethapyr 10 % SL @ 55 g/ha at 15-20 DAS and Pendimethalin 30 EC @ 0.75/1.0 kg a.i /ha PE recorded 48.04 %, 33.92% and 18.62% increase in grain yield respectively than weedy check. The major weeds identified in the experimental field were Cynodon dactylon, Sorghum halepense, Conyza spp., Matricaria spp., Poa spp. among Grassy weeds; Convolvulus arvensis, Amaranthus viridis, Chenopodium album among broadleaved weeds and Cyperus rotundus among sedges. Highest monetary returns and B: C ratio (Rs. 68500/ha and 1.96) was recorded in pendimethalin 30 EC @ 0.75/1.0 kg a.i. /ha PE fb imazethapyr 10 % SL @ 55 g/ha at 15-20 DAS (W4) and lowest monetary returns and B: C ratio (Rs. 46160/ha and 1.07) was recorded in weedy check. Among weed management practices, uncontrolled weedy check resulted in 32.58 per cent reduction in grain yield of mungbean. K e y w o r d sMungbean, Grassy weeds, Green gram, Weed management.

The UN Sustainability Goals emphasise on use of renewable sources of energy viz wind, solar, hydro power, biomass etc which are increasingly becoming important in the global energy mix. India with a 900 GW potential, aims to have 175 GW by 2022 and about 40% of total power production from renewable sources by 2030 with solar source contributing the most (83 %). Solar energy is the most fundamental renewable energy resource with many agricultural applications. The abundance of solar energy makes it suitable for electricity and thermal applications and hence can be used in agriculture in photovoltaic electricity generation, powering irrigation, crop and grain drying, pesticide application, green house heating and ventilation, cold storages etc. North western Himalayan regions are energy-poor with high energy requirements. Low ambient temperature, high Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) and Direct Net Irradiance (DNI) of 4.8-6.43 kWh per square metre per day indicate huge solar potential, higher solar photovoltaic electricity and solar thermal production efficiency. Solar energy can replace or supplement conventional sources used for domestic and agricultural applications in the region. However, the use of solar energy is limited by policy and regulatory obstacles, financial obstacles, land availability constraints and low PV conversion efficiency. Hence a robust policy, financial measures and technological refinement are needed to remove the bottlenecks. In this paper, attempts have been made to discuss solar energy use in agriculture, scope in the north western Himalayan region of India and future recommended strategies.

No abstract