Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) ratoon crops comprise more than 0·50 of India's sugarcane acreage and reduce the cost of cultivation by 25-30%. However, ratooning is seldom practised beyond 1-2 ratoons because the yield declines in successive ratoons due to compacted soils with decreased fertility restricting root development and plant growth. Therefore, a field experiment on sugarcane was conducted from 1998 to 2003 at the Sugarcane Research Institute, Muzzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh), India to evaluate the effects of combinations of trash management with key cultural practices (stubble shaving, ridge dismantling, sub-soiling along stubble rows, trash mulching and earthing-up) on growth and yield of sugarcane up to the third ratoon. Two treatment combinations (ridge dismantling + stubble shaving + sub-soiling along stubble rows + trash mulching at 8 t/ha (T 5 ) and all these plus earthing-up in June (T 6 )) showed similar growth, yield and economics of ratoon crops. Both these treatments produced significantly higher shoot populations, leaf area index (LAI), dry matter (DM) accumulation, net assimilation rate (NAR), number of millable canes, ratoon cane yield and sugar, soil organic carbon (SOC) content at harvest and higher net returns besides lowering weed density, weed dry weight and bulk density of soil compared with other treatments. T 6 produced the highest cane yield of 77, 72 and 65 tonnes (t)/ha, which was 23, 27 and 29% more than trash burning alone (T 1 ) in first, second and third ratoon crops, respectively. Although T 6 had the same yield as T 5 , it led to significantly lower soil bulk density at 0-150 mm depth, higher SOC contents and greater benefit: cost ratios in the first, second and third ratoon crops, respectively compared with trash burning only. Adoption of the crop management components, separately or in combination, improved on trash burning only (the control treatment). Trash mulching sustained the improved yield and economic returns of sugarcane ratoon crops.

Genetic divergence among the twenty four sugarcane genotypes collected from various sugarcane research institutions of northern India were tested in a randomized complete block design with three replicates during the cropping seasons 2013 -14. The assessment of the genetic diversity was based on the eighteen cane yield and quality characters. The results of the study indicated that, the genotypes were grouped into five clusters based on the genetic distance using Mahalanobis's statistics. Higher inter-cluster distance was recorded between cluster II and V (89.668) indicating high genetic diversity among these two clusters. Thus, exploitation of genotypes within these two clusters as parents for crossing could produce good sugarcane segregants. The lowest intra cluster distance was reported in the cluster III (14.897) revealed that clones are identical and can not to be used as parents in crossing that results hybrid not desirable for the characters studied. A critical analysis of cluster means for different traits indicated that cluster I was desirable for cane yield, CCS (t/ha), single cane weight, stalk diameter, germination (%), cluster II was better for juice extraction percentage, cluster III for better juice purity percent, brix (%), sucrose (%) and CCS (%) for 12 months and cluster V was the best source for NMC (000/ha), stalk length with other good cane and sugar yield traits. The average D 2 values among clones ranged from 29.998 (CoH 08262) to 69.791 (CoPb 09214).

The failure of the pressure vessel containing pressure liquefied petroleum gas leads to Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapour Explosion (BLEVE). Further, ignition of released gas results in the formation of fireballs. In the present paper the semi-empirical equations are presented that represent the impact assessment of thermal radiation hazards from the liquefied petroleum gas fireball. Also an attempt has been made to determine the safe separation distance.

In the wheat-sugarcane rotation, which covers more than half of the growing area in subtropical India, planting of sugarcane is delayed until after the wheat harvest in April-May. This allows little time for the sugarcane to produce tillers and so results in smaller millable cane populations and yields than those from more timely (February-March) plantings. This study considers techniques such as ring and trench planting which might allow a high seed rate to compensate for reduced tillering. Yields obtained using these systems were about 20 t ha" 1 greater than from the conventional flat planting method, because of a better distribution of primary shoots from the parent sett and reduced plant competition during the early stage of growth. The cost of cane production was greatest with the ring system and least with the conventional planting method but deep tranches gave the best net return.Efecto de la te'cnica de cultivoy la densidad de cultivo respecto del rendimiento de la caiia azucarera de siembra tardia en la India Central del Norte. RESUMENEn la rotacion de trigo/cafia azucarera, lo cual cubre mas de la mitad de la superficie de cultivo de la India subtropical, la siembra de la caiia azucarera se retrasa hasta haber finalizado la cosecha del trigo en abril/mayo. Debido a ello, la cafia azucarera cuenta con muy poco tiempo para producir retoiios, resultando en una menor cantidad de cana procesable, y en rendimientos inferiores a los obtenidos con plantaciones realizadas durante el tiempo adecuado (febrero/ marzo). Este estudio considera tecnicas tales como el cultivo con aro o zanja, la cual permite una alta tasa de semilla para compensar por la reduccion en los retoiios. Los rendimientos obtenidos utilizando estos sistemas fueron aproximadamente 20 t ha~' superiores a los obtenidos con el convencional metodo de cultivo llano, debido a una mejor distribution de los brotes primarios provenientes del arraigo madre y una reduccion en la competencia entre plantas durante las primeras etapas del crecimiento. El mayor costo para la production de cana se dio con el sistema de aro, mientras que el menor costo se dio con el sistema de cultivo convencional, pero el sistema de zanjas produjo la mejor rentabilidad neta.

With the tremendous increase in the population, per capita consumption of cement production has increased by many folds. This has lead to an exponential increase in the carbon dioxide levels causing extreme pollution to the environment. Necessary steps have been taken by the researchers worldwide to find alternatives to cement so as save the environment from this rising pollution. In this paper coal bottom ash [CBA] which is a by product of coal burning thermal power plant is used as partial replacement of sand and Waste limestone dust [WLSD] as partial replacement of cement in concrete. These two are the waste materials and their utilisation in concrete proves economical as the cost of concrete will be less and dumping cost of these two materials is a problem of discussion therefore, the replacements are done at 0%, (10%, 5%), (20% ,5%), (30% ,5%), (40%, 5%),(60%, 5%), (80%, 5%) of sand and cement respectively at fixed water cement [W/C] ratio (0.45) and fixed slump ranges with mix (1:1.2:2.5). The result showed that at fixed W/C ratio the strength (compressive strength, flexural strength, split tensile strength) and durability increased initially at small percentages of (10%, 5%), (20% ,5%), (30% ,5%) and later when the percentage of replacement is increased as (40%, 5%),(60%, 5%), and (80%, 5%) the strength and durability decreased.