Nisha Sahu

Indian Institute of Soil Science | IISS · Division of ESS

Agricultural land is decreasing and the demand for food is increasing day by day. Hence, it is necessary to increase the annual food production to satisfy the alarming population. This led to uncontrolled overuse of chemical fertilizers, macro-micro-nutrient deficiency, degradation of soil fertility, and rapid climate change. Traditional chemical f...

Secondary metabolites (SM) are compounds which are not only very important for plant survival but also play an essential role in their mechanism of action and have a number of medicinal properties to improve human health. Its content varies with plant species and horticultural plants are excellent sources of SM. These compounds have antioxidant act...

The definition of climate change provided by the UNFCCC is ‘a direct or indirect change in human activity that alters the structure of the earth’s atmosphere and which is in addition to the natural climate change observed at comparable times’. Climate change is predicted to result in an increase in air temperature between 1.40C and 5.80C, an increa...

The agricultural system is very much dependent on the interaction and association of plants with the rhizospheric soil microbes. The microbial diversity found in the rhizosphere is unique and distinct from the other parts of the soil. The rhizospheric population is very important in terms of plant nutrients. Field studies reveal that different farm...

The Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) belongs to family Sapindaceae and is known as the queen of the fruits. It is highly specific to climatic requirement, probably due to this reason, its cultivation is restricted to only few tropical and subtropical countries in the world and few states in the country, where it is grown commercially. India is the s...

Organic farming is integral part of agricultural cultivation practice which is popular in our country since ancient times. It is clearly mentioned in the Holy Quran that at least one third of what you take out from soils must be returned to it implying recycling of the post-harvest residues. Organic farming is the natural method of growing crops us...

The climatic data of 107 meteorological stations of Central India were collected and maps of various climatic parameters were generated by using ArcGIS 10.5 software. Potential evapotranspiration (PET), rainfall, water deficit and moisture index trends were analyzed for 30 years (1988-2018). PET was computed by using Modified Penman-Monteith method...

About Hot springs

The sun burn and fruit cracking in litchi were high in 2019 (10.5% and 10.1%) when temperature was high with low rainfall during fruit growth while low in 2017 (1.9% and 3.7%) when temperature was low. Lack of soil moisture and high temperature reduced the fruit weight in Kasba cultivar by (26.2%) and rainfall induced cracking in the cultivars Beda...

Thirty genotypes were evaluated for incidence of sun burn and fruit cracking. Fourteen genotypes were affected by sun burn with maximum in genotype IC-0615602 (54.48%). Sixteen genotypes were free from sun burn which possessed maximum cuticle thickness ranging from 1.99 mm in IC-0615585 to 1.95 mm in IC-0615595 whereas susceptible genotypes possess...

The LGP was assessed using meteorological data (1988-2018) and MODIS-based NDVI data between 2000 to 2018. The meteorological data indicated that highest rainfall (1569 mm) was observed in Nagpur-Rural tehsil and the lowest rainfall was recorded in Narkhed tehsil (982 mm). Highest PET was observed in Hingna tehsil (1758 mm) and the lowest PET was r...

Deficiency of micronutrients in the soils of semi-arid tropical (SAT) environments is a major limiting factor for crop production. This study aims to model the spatial variability of soil micronutrients in croplands of Thimmajipet block, Mahabubnagar, Telangana, India. We collected 1508 georeferenced surface (0–15 cm) soil samples at a grid interva...

The paper explains the change and land use during 2005-15 and noted an increase of area in the settlement by 15%, while a decrease in the area in agriculture by 3.61%.

In this study, a quantitative assessment of spatial extent of arid and semi-arid climatic zones of India was performed for the period from 1988 to 2018 using potential evapo-transpiration (PET) calculated by Modified Penman Method, estimated from global climate data sets. Climatic water balances computed for 625 stations across the country are used...

The effective pollination period (EPP) was studied in three litchi cultivars. viz. Shahi, China and Bedana, with the objective of evaluating the best time of pollination for all cultivars involved in hybridization. The pollen grains of the previous season stored at low temperature (−20 °C) along with fresh pollen grains collected during the current...

This review will help to exploit the potential uses of longan, an exotic sub- tropical fruit which has high therapeutic values. In this review, traditional value, nutritional composition, bioactive compounds and other uses have been focused. Longan fruits are very tasty and its organoleptic qualities are unique because fruit has a succulent, edible...

ealybug (Drosicha spp.)is a polyphagous pest which attacks on a wide range of fruit crops, vegetable crops and as well as ornamental crops (Ganjisaffaret al., 2019; Chowdhuryand Sontakke, 2015). It is cottony in appearance, small oval, soft-bodied sucking insects. This is found on new emerging leave as well as mature, stems, panicle, fruits and roo...

In the present study, we analyzed spatio-temporal vegetation dynamics to identify and delineate the vegetation stress zones in tropical arid ecosystem of Anantapuramu district, Andhra Pradesh, India, using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Vegetation Condition Index (VCI), and Vegetation Anomaly Index (VAI) derived from time-series Mod...

Understanding the probable period of onset and withdrawal of monsoon, amount of rainfall and its distribution over a cropping season is prerequisite to timely agricultural operations, selection of crop varieties and cropping pattern in a region. Dhanora block is one of the eight blocks of Seoni district with undulating landform, erratic rainfall an...

A study was conducted to interpolate and to explore the analysis of spatial variability of major soil nutrients in Basaltic Terrain of Nagpur district, Maharashtra. A total of 235 soil samples (0-25 cm) were collected grid wise at an interval of 250 m using GPS. Soil chemical properties i.e. available nutrients (N, P and K) were measured in laborat...

The present investigation was carried out in Barela village of Seoni district, Madhya Pradesh to characterize, classify and evaluate the land resources using IRS-LISS-IV and GIS. Five major landforms viz. plateau; escarpments, mound, pediment and alluvial plain were identified and delineated. Based on image characteristics, seven land uses/ land co...

A quantitative assessment of soil loss was done using Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model, remote sensing and digital elevation model (DEM) in integrated raster based GIS in Bareli watershed, Seoni district of Madhya Pradesh. GIS data layers including rainfall erosivity (R), soil erodibility (K), slope length and steepness (LS), cove...

Radioisotopes emit some extraordinary types of energy in form of rays (alpha, beta and gamma), which are very helpful to human beings in minute quantity. These rays are invisible spontaneous and penetrating. Their presence can be easily detected with the help of the latest devices such as Geiger Muller and Scintillation Counters. These instruments...

Soil is an important part of natural environment which should be nurtured and monitored regularly to retain its fertility. Accurate and quantitative spatial soil information is necessary for dealing burning global issues such as land degradation and food security. Digital soil mapping is one such innovation which explicit spatial soil information w...

Although it is easy to be disheartened by the lack of partial outcomes from biological control research in the last 30 years, it would be wrong to conclude that biological control cannot be developed to the point where it makes significant contribution to integrated management programs for nematodes. Robust and durable system of natural suppression...

Timely and reliable information on soils with respect to their nature, extent and spatial distribution is vital for optimal utilization of natural resources on a sustained basis. The technological advances in the field of remote sensing, global positioning system (GPS) and geographic information system (GIS) have augmented the efficiency of land re...

Timely and reliable information on soils with respect to their nature, extent and spatial distribution is vital for optimal utilization of natural resources on a sustained basis. The technological advances in the field of remote sensing, global positioning system (GPS) and geographic information system (GIS) have augmented the efficiency of land re...

The soil scientists along with microbiologists had a big responsibility to come forward with a sustainable solution to enhance soil nutrient supplying capacity, without applying the agrochemical and mineral fertilizers. The only way out to this problem is through the use of efficient microbes which plays a vital role as organic or biological agents...

In the study, the digital elevation models from ASTER GDEM and Cartosat-1 of 30m resolution were used to evaluate the thresholds in automatic extraction of stream network at six thresholds of 0.05km², 0.125km², 0.25km², 0.50km², 1.0km² and 2.0km² in Neri watershed in basaltic terrain of Central India. At stream thresholds of 0.05km², Cartosat-1 DEM...

Nowadays, due to continuous degradation in soil quality, a healthy soil system is the result of a complex network of physical, chemical, and biological soil quality indicators. Healthy soils provide a balance between the needs of both farmers and community. Soil organic matter (SOM) helps to sustain the soil health as well as its quality, inactivat...

The focus of agriculture in India is slowly shifting from value horticultural crops farming such as fruits and vegetables. The change of subsistence systems to commercial cultivation of horticultural crops possesses new challenges for improving crop productivity and quality. Amongst sev attributing to low productivity, inadequate pollination is the...

Major ion geochemistry was used to characterise the chemical composition of groundwater in part of semiarid Deccan plateau region to understand the geochemical evolution and to evaluate the groundwater quality for irrigation. The study area comprises peninsular gneissic complex of Archean age, younger granites and basaltic alluvium. Forty-nine geor...

Heavy metals are potentially toxic to human life and the environment. In a greenhouse pot experiment, Typic Ustochrepts soil order (alluvial soil) with pH 5.7 was used. African marigold variety Pusa Narangi was used as a test crop. The soil was artificially spiked with different cadmium (Cd) levels (0, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 mg kg-1). Critical toxic...

Recent trend in Banana processing, its medicinal values and by-products are reviewed for utilizing it in a better way. India is largest producer of banana in the world and it is grown almost all parts of the India. All the parts of banana are useful and it has great medicinal and tradition values in human health. Banana fruits are excellent food su...

The Volume contains 387 abstracts covering on various aspects of Advances in Natural Resources, Inventory and Monitoring, Soil Quality and Challenges in Resilient Agriculture, Land Degradation and Abiotic Stress Management, Climate change, land use/land cover, dynamics and land use planning, Water Management in Rainfed and Irrigated Agro-Ecosystems...

Morphometric analysis is significant for investigation and management of the watershed. This study depicts the morphometric analysis of Miniwada Watershed in Nagpur district, Maharashtra, Central India using Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques, which has been carried out through measurement of various aspects like linear, aerial and reli...

In the present study, an attempt has been made to describe the technique for large-scale soil mapping using remote sensing data. Based on erosional and depositional processes, seven major landforms namely plateau top, scarp slopes, plateau spurs, pediment, undulating plain, valley and floodplain have been delineated using Cartosat-1 DEM (10 m), con...

Heavy metals are potentially toxic to human life and the environment. Various extraction procedures were employed for measuring extractable concentrations of potential toxic elements in soil. In a greenhouse pot experiment, three taxonomically different soil orders viz. Typic Ustochrepts (alluvial soil), Typic Rhodustalfs (red soil) and Entic Chrom...

Timely and reliable information on soils with respect to their nature, extent, spatial distribution is very crucial for optimal utilization of available natural resources on a sustained basis. The technological advances in the field of remote sensing, Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) have augmented the efficie...

The nematode trapping ability of nematophagous fungi Dactylaria brochopaga and Monacrosporium eudermatum to colonize tomato root and parasitize and kill root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita was evaluated, along with the capability of the fungi to induce the accumulation of defence-related biomolecules in tomato plants under the greenhouse and f...

Sorption isotherms have been widely used to assess the heavy metals retention characteristics of soil particles. Adsorption behaviour of cadmium (Cd) in soils is an important process which exerts a major influence on its uptake by plant roots. Desorption behaviour of the retained metals, however, usually differ from that of adsorption, leading to a...

Acephate, dimethoate and phosphamidon are organophosphate pesticides with high toxicity and may significantly affect soil microbial activities. However, the magnitude of this effect is unclear yet. The potential harmful effect of these pesticides on soil enzyme activity was accessed in the soil collected under controlled laboratory conditions. We e...

During the course of our investigation on the selective isolation and in vitro pathogenicity tests of the nematode egg parasite and endoparasitic Catenaria anguillulae and the nematode-trapping fungus Dactylaria brochopaga against Anguina tritici, and Meloidogyne graminicola, the two biocontrol agents were also examined for their capabilities to co...

Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) is an effective tool to understand the technology adoption profile in a cropping system, to get first-hand information about their needs, resources available, identify location specific problems and researchable issues and ultimately to come up with tangible possible solutions drawn as an action plan. The present...

Aims: To study the biocontrol potential of nematode-trapping fungus Arthrobotrys oligospora in protecting tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) against Meloidogyne incognita and Rhizoctonia solani under greenhouse and field conditions. Methods and results: Five isolates of the nematode-trapping fungus Arthrobotrys oligospora isolated from diffe...