Water is the primary input for crop production and increasingly becomes scarce due to its high demand in agricultural sector. Quality of water is assuming great importance with the increasing demand in industries, agriculture and rise in standard of living. Agriculture is the major user (89%) of India’s water resources. However, dwindling of freshwater resources and deterioration of irrigation water quality due to its overuse to meet up the high demands in agriculture sector becomes the serious concern in sustainable crop production. Clay pot irrigation in its simplest form consists of unglazed baked clay pots, which are buried up to the neck in the soil and filled with water. This method is one of the most efficient systems of irrigation known and is ideal for many small farmers. Clay pot irrigation, a traditional system of irrigation alternative to drip method is the latest advancement and effective innovation of localized methods of irrigation and found suitable where water scarcity becomes major stress for crop production. It also helps to improve soil physical properties particularly the structural status in soil and also enhances the water use efficiency of the crop, soil organic carbon and builds up soil fertility.

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Nitrogen is one of the key factors for increased grain production of hybrid maize. A newly developed hybrid maize variety Rampur Hybrid-2 was evaluated for grain production by the application of different levels of nitrogen (60, 120 and 180 kg N/ha) at varying plant densities (55555, 66666 and 83383 plants/ha) along with 60 kg P2O5 and 40 kg K2O /ha in the acidic soil (pH 5.3) of National Maize Research Program, Rampur, Chitwan during the years of 2008/09 and 2009/10. Factorial randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications was the design of experiment. The crop was planted at the plot size of 18 m2 (3.6 m × 5 m). maize was planted in the month of September and harvested in February. The result indicated a sharp response of nitrogen application to this crop whereas the effect of density was observed to be non-significant. Two years mean yield results showed that highest grain yield (11.10 t /ha) was recorded when the crop was supplied with 180 kg nitrogen and with 83383 plants /ha followed by the crop supplied with 120 kg N /ha and 66,666 plant population (10.69 t /ha). The experimental results revealed that application of high dose of N (180 kg N /ha) could help increase hybrid maize grain production in the acidic soils of Chitwan valley. Agronomy Journal of Nepal (Agron JN) Vol. 3. 2013, Page 33-41 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ajn.v3i0.8984

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A field study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of different new generation fungicides and biopesticide against Phytophthora capsici in black pepper. Five commercial fungicides and a biopesticide were tested and natural infection due to P. capsici was recorded. Disease indexing was done by visual observation on leaf blight, spike infection, leaf shedding and yellowing of vines. Among the different fungicides, spraying and drenching with Fenamidone 10WDG + Mancozeb 50WDG @ 0.2% was found to be the most effective with 12.4% disease intensity. It was followed by Copper hydroxide 77 WP @ 0.2% with 17.8% disease intensity. Dimethomorph 9WP + Mancozeb 60WP and Cymoxanil 8WP + Mancozeb 64WP were also effective against Phytophthora infection and found better than the existing practice of spraying Bordeaux mixture and drenching Copper oxy chloride. Soil application of talc based formulation of PGPM mix @ 50 g/vine and foliar spray at 2% concentration also resulted in considerable reduction in the severity of Phytophthora infection in black pepper. Highlights m Application of Fenamidone 10WDG + Mancozeb 50WDG or Copper hydroxide 77 WP @ 0.2% during 1 st week of June, August and October can effectively manage Phtophthora foot rot in black pepper m Other effective fungicides include 0.2% Dimethomorph 9WP + Mancozeb 60WP and Cymoxanil 8WP + Mancozeb 64WP m Repetitive application of Plant growth promoting microorganisms on to the plant and to the rhizosphere soil will provide better protection against Phytophthora capsici in black pepper.