Papers by Pushpanjali Pushpanjali
Water
Semi-Arid Tropical (SAT) regions are influenced by climate change impacts affecting the rainfed c... more Semi-Arid Tropical (SAT) regions are influenced by climate change impacts affecting the rainfed crops in their productivity and production. Water Footprint (WF) assessment for rainfed crops on watershed scale is critical for water resource planning, development, efficient crop planning, and, better water use efficiency. A semi-arid tropical watershed was selected in lower Krishna river basin having a 4700 ha area in Telangana, India. Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to estimate the water balance components of watershed like runoff, potential evapotranspiration, percolation, and effective rainfall for base period (1994 to 2013) and different climate change scenarios of Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 2.6, 4.5 and 8.5 for the time periods of 2020, 2050 and 2080. Green and blue WF of rainfed crops viz., maize, sorghum, groundnut, redgram and cotton were performed by considering rainfed, and two critical irrigations (CI) of 30mm and 50mm. It indicated that the ...
IOCAG 2022
To make rainfed agriculture an economically viable enterprise for improving the livelihood and we... more To make rainfed agriculture an economically viable enterprise for improving the livelihood and welfare of the farming communities contributing around 40 percent of the total food production in India, it is vital to implement best management practices to keep soils healthy, conserve agronomic inputs, minimize environmental impacts, and produce adequate yields. Increases in the sudden downpour of rain invites a high amount of soil loss from agricultural fields, eroding the uppermost soil layer. Permanent fodder grass strips effectively trap sediments and check nutrient removal from soil on one hand and on other meet the green fodder demands of small ruminants. However, nutrients removed by erosion create a limitation on land productivity. It has been observed that grass systems are useful for the improvement of other soil properties (soil physical and biological properties, for example) related to soil erosion control, slope stabilization, and food production. Hence, this study brought out the impact of grass-strip-based cropping systems on the sustainability of rainfed farming. Fields with grass strips improved their soil quality from 0.39 to 0.52 over a four-year period. This concept of growing grasses on both sides of a field (in a one-meter strip) in areas of loamy fine sand to sandy loam textured soils improves soil health and significantly reduces runoff from cropped fields. A permanent belt of Brachiaria ruziziensis and Stylosanthes hamata in two meter widths was established at every fifteen meters across the direction of the slope and reduced soil loss by 65-70 percent. This mechanization of friendly technology provides sufficient green fodder for small ruminants. A castor-redgram rotation with fodder grass strips (especially Brachiaria ruziziensis) on the upper and lower sides of the slopes fetched better crop productivity, and thus the total returns increased from 137,022 rupees/ha to 178,689 rupees/ha. The use of grass strips is a low-cost measure for soil conservation, especially for slowing down the run-off from sudden downpours of high intensity. This study may aid researchers and managers in helping farmers with this low-cost and viable technology.
Agriculture, Jan 28, 2023
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Indian farming, Jan 13, 2020
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Watershed development and its management are dynamic with new challenges and complexities, render... more Watershed development and its management are dynamic with new challenges and complexities, rendering difficulties in laying out a proper development plan. There is a need for an accurate process to assess the progress of implementation. Its assessment and evaluation need a holistic approach through reliable methods. Increasing the number of indigenous remote sensing satellites, reasonable pricing of indigenous satellite data and trained human resources have further facilitated the application of remote sensing for watershed management. In this study, a cluster of five watersheds, three in Telangana State (Mangalagudem, Rampur, Chilkepalli) and two in Andhra Pradesh (R.N. Palle, Nathiobanagari Palle-II) were taken up for watershed evaluation study. A detailed methodology for the impact evaluation of watersheds using remote sensing and geographical information system (GIS) is presented in this paper. Post classification comparison of pre-and post-implementation satellite imagery for watershed is being used for impact evaluation. Land use classification was done using SOI toposheet of 1:25,000 scale and LISS-IV (MS) remote sensing imagery. Results clearly show that interventions to check soil erosion and water runoff in a watershed mode increased Rabi cropped area up to 61 per cent and Kharif cropped area up to 22 per cent in all the watersheds. There was about a 47 per cent decrease in the extended fallow area in Nathiobanagari Palle-II watershed. Thus, interventions for checking soil erosion and runoff lead to the area's sustainable development in all the evaluated watersheds.
The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences
The selection of better polarisation and incidence angle for soil moisture retrieval using RISAT-... more The selection of better polarisation and incidence angle for soil moisture retrieval using RISAT-1 microwave data was experimented at Hayathnagar research farm of ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad. Fine Resolution Sensor (FRS-1) data (spatial resolution of 3 m) and Medium Resolution ScanSAR (MRS) data (spatial resolution of 25 m) acquired from circular and dual polarised microwave data were used for the retrieval of soil moisture and to identify the best polarisation suitable for the study area. The evaluation was carried out during 2016-17. FRS-1 data was more accurate than MRS data for the extraction of soil moisture in the study area. Circular and dual-Polarisation retrieved soil moisture values were compared with volumetric soil moisture values for assessing the better polarisation. Dual polarisation and the incident angle between 15-20 degrees with R2=0.952 performed better as compared to circular polarisation with more or less than 20 degrees' incident angle. A correction factor of -0...
Indian farming, Jan 13, 2020
Indian Ecological Society, College of Agriculture, 2017
Agricultural land near to industries, often un-noticed, accumulates lot of harmful chemicals and ... more Agricultural land near to industries, often un-noticed, accumulates lot of harmful chemicals and heavy metals. A study was done to assess the soil quality (chemical and biological) near Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL) in Mindi area, for paddy fields (major crop) and corresponding adjacent fallow area with and without exposure to effluents. Soil samples were collected from paddy growing site exposed to effluents (PGSEE), paddy growing site without exposure to effluents (PGSWE), fallow land without exposure to effluents (FWE) and fallow-1-1-1 land exposed to effluents (FEE). Fallow fields with effluents release (FEE) were high in Cu (7.8 mg kg), Zn (15.5 mg kg), Pb (87.8 mg kg) and-1 Cd (1.8 mg kg) in comparison to paddy cultivated fields. The chemical and biological soil quality index and relative soil quality index shows that PGSWE is having better chemical soil quality index (CSQI): 14.29, biological soil quality index (BSQI): 2.00 soil health condition than PGSEE (CSQI: 10.20 and BSQI: 0.69).
Sustainability, 2021
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 2019
A long-term field experiment was conducted at Hayathnagar Research Farm (HRF) of ICAR-Central Res... more A long-term field experiment was conducted at Hayathnagar Research Farm (HRF) of ICAR-Central Research Institute of Dryland Agriculture with the objectives to assess the effect of soil management practices viz tillage, residue application and N levels on soil phosphorus fractions, their interrelationships among themselves, impact on soil P availability pool, crop yields and P uptake. The results of the study clearly indicated that the long-term use of tillage, application of residues and N levels had a significant effect on all the P fractions in soils, except that water-soluble phosphorus (WSP) was not significantly influenced by the tillage practices. The Tillage x Residue x Nitrogen (T × R × N) significantly influenced the reductant soluble phosphorus (RSP) and total phosphorus (TP); however, the remaining P fractions were not influenced significantly. Among the combination of soil management treatments, conventional tillage (CT)+ Gliricidia loppings @ 2 tha −1 (GL) + N level @ 90 kg ha −1 (N90) (CTGLN90) gave the highest sorghum grain yield (1432 kg ha −1) and P uptake (14.20 kg P ha −1). Among the treatment combinations, the order of superiority of treatments in terms of castor yield and P uptake was: CT+ sorghum stover @ 2t ha −1 (SS) + N90 (CTSSN90) (1788 kg ha −1 , 11.94 kg P ha −1) > Minimum Tillage (MT) + sorghum stove @2 t ha −1 (SS) + N level @ 90 kg ha −1 (N90) (MTSSN90) (1761 kg ha −1 , 14.24 kg P ha −1), respectively. Significant coefficients of multiple determination obtained from regression equations developed between sorghum crop yield and P fractions (R 2 = 0.726, p = .05) and sorghum P uptake and P fractions (R 2 = 0.620, p = .05) highlighted the importance of these fractions in influencing the crop yield and P uptake. Similarly, castor yield (R 2 = 0.748, p = .05) and P uptake (R 2 = 0.783) were significantly influenced by the P fractions. The results of the present study will be useful in understanding the effect of soil management practices on the status of P fractions and their contribution toward P uptake and crop yields.
The present study attempts to delineate and prioritize Jumar sub-watershed (subernarekha watershe... more The present study attempts to delineate and prioritize Jumar sub-watershed (subernarekha watershed) for sustainable development using geospatial techniques. The remote sensing products in conjunction with Survey of India toposheet were used to delineate different physiographic units. Seven classes were identified based on depth, slope, erosion, texture, acidity and rock out crops. Out of these classes moderately well drained and very strongly acidic soils occupy largest area i.e. 7765.4 ha (27.07% of TGA). Based on the severity of the problems, the identified classes were again grouped under various priority zones viz., high (severe limitations), medium (moderate limitations) and low (minimum limitations). About 32.38% area was classified under high priority, followed by 29.07% under medium and largest area i.e. 7765.4 ha (27.07%) under low priority zones. The high and medium priority zones require immediate protection and amelioration and hence suggested land use plan for sustainable development.
Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, Apr 1, 2021
Soil erosion and its future projection play an important role in the changing climatic scenario. ... more Soil erosion and its future projection play an important role in the changing climatic scenario. An attempt has been made to establish a relationship between NDVI and cover-management factor (C-factor) which varies with area and crop. IRS LISS III data with 23.5 m resolution is used to derive precisely NDVI and correlated with C-factor, the derived regression equation shows a good relationship between NDVI and C-factor value. An approach was made to use this area specific equation for getting C-factor for the whole Mahabubnagar district, Telangana from 2013 imagery data and the study was conducted in 2017. For future scenarios study, a relationship between rainfall, temperature, and NDVI of the whole district was derived. The NDVI value of the study area varies between 0.63 and 0.046. Based on the regression model C-factor for the future scenarios using available CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project-5) has been mapped for the whole district. Using the NDVI map, the C-factor map of the area was prepared in ArcGIS 10.0 software. The spatial distribution shows that the C-factor values varied between 0.52-0.86. On an average C-factor for 2020s, 2050s and in 2080s were 0.53, 0.76, and 0.77 respectively. The predicted C-factor values were then brought under the GIS environment and C-factor prediction maps were generated.
Food, water and energy are inseparably linked and actions in one sector influence the others. Ess... more Food, water and energy are inseparably linked and actions in one sector influence the others. Essential inputs for food production are water and energy; water extraction, treatment and redistribution need energy; and energy also requires water. Food production depends on water, land and other natural resources, in other words a range of ecosystem services. Food and agricultural practices in turn influence water and energy demand. Their demand is also influenced by dynamic nature of all the three as well by different policies. The resource stability nexus goes more troubling when considering the long-term consequences of climate change especially in developing countries like India. India is having two third of its area monsoon dependent, having diverse seasons, crops and farming system with close link between climate and water resources, nexus approach is need of the hour. The nexus approach can enhance understanding of the inter-link of the sectors and strengthen coordination among them. But it requires a major shift in the decision-making process towards taking a holistic view for developing institutional mechanisms to coordinate the actions of diverse actors and strengthen complementarities and synergies among the three sectors.
Indian Journal of Soil Conservation, 2014
The present study attempts to delineate and prioritize Jumar sub-watershed
(subernarekha watershe... more The present study attempts to delineate and prioritize Jumar sub-watershed
(subernarekha watershed) for sustainable development using geospatial
techniques. The remote sensing products in conjunction with Survey of India
toposheet were used to delineate different physiographic units. Seven classes
were identified based on depth, slope, erosion, texture, acidity and rock out crops.
Out of these classes moderately well drained and very strongly acidic soils occupy
largest area i.e. 7765.4 ha (27.07% of TGA). Based on the severity of the
problems, the identified classes were again grouped under various priority zones
viz., high (severe limitations), medium (moderate limitations) and low (minimum
limitations). About 32.38% area was classified under high priority, followed by
29.07% under medium and largest area i.e. 7765.4 ha (27.07%) under low priority
zones. The high and medium priority zones require immediate protection and
amelioration and hence suggested land use plan for sustainable development.
Agricultural land near to industries, often un-noticed, accumulates lot of harmful chemicals and ... more Agricultural land near to industries, often un-noticed, accumulates lot of harmful chemicals and heavy metals. A study was done to assess the soil quality (chemical and biological) near Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL) in Mindi area, for paddy fields (major crop) and corresponding adjacent fallow area with and without exposure to effluents. Soil samples were collected from paddy growing site exposed to effluents (PGSEE), paddy growing site without exposure to effluents (PGSWE), fallow land without exposure to effluents (FWE) and fallow-1-1-1 land exposed to effluents (FEE). Fallow fields with effluents release (FEE) were high in Cu (7.8 mg kg), Zn (15.5 mg kg), Pb (87.8 mg kg) and-1 Cd (1.8 mg kg) in comparison to paddy cultivated fields. The chemical and biological soil quality index and relative soil quality index shows that PGSWE is having better chemical soil quality index (CSQI): 14.29, biological soil quality index (BSQI): 2.00 soil health condition than PGSEE (CSQI: 10.20 and BSQI: 0.69).
Ever since agriculture started, the agricultural practices started evolving as per the requiremen... more Ever since agriculture started, the agricultural practices started evolving as per the requirements faced by the communities. Many traditional farmers in the developing world are still practicing farming methods that are sustainable and highly efficient. When local knowledge and practices developed over centuries are shared in farmers' groups who work on the land together, it clearly supports sustainable agro-ecosystem management in the region. In India, farmers have developed traditional calendars to control the scheduling of agricultural activities. Some ancient farmers developed sustainable agriculture practices that allowed them to produce food and fiber for thousands of years with few outside inputs. These practices need to be understood particularly for those practices, which are beneficial for their integration in the modern day agriculture.
Books by Pushpanjali Pushpanjali
Uploads
Papers by Pushpanjali Pushpanjali
(subernarekha watershed) for sustainable development using geospatial
techniques. The remote sensing products in conjunction with Survey of India
toposheet were used to delineate different physiographic units. Seven classes
were identified based on depth, slope, erosion, texture, acidity and rock out crops.
Out of these classes moderately well drained and very strongly acidic soils occupy
largest area i.e. 7765.4 ha (27.07% of TGA). Based on the severity of the
problems, the identified classes were again grouped under various priority zones
viz., high (severe limitations), medium (moderate limitations) and low (minimum
limitations). About 32.38% area was classified under high priority, followed by
29.07% under medium and largest area i.e. 7765.4 ha (27.07%) under low priority
zones. The high and medium priority zones require immediate protection and
amelioration and hence suggested land use plan for sustainable development.
Books by Pushpanjali Pushpanjali
(subernarekha watershed) for sustainable development using geospatial
techniques. The remote sensing products in conjunction with Survey of India
toposheet were used to delineate different physiographic units. Seven classes
were identified based on depth, slope, erosion, texture, acidity and rock out crops.
Out of these classes moderately well drained and very strongly acidic soils occupy
largest area i.e. 7765.4 ha (27.07% of TGA). Based on the severity of the
problems, the identified classes were again grouped under various priority zones
viz., high (severe limitations), medium (moderate limitations) and low (minimum
limitations). About 32.38% area was classified under high priority, followed by
29.07% under medium and largest area i.e. 7765.4 ha (27.07%) under low priority
zones. The high and medium priority zones require immediate protection and
amelioration and hence suggested land use plan for sustainable development.