B.Hema Malini, Pampa Chaudhuri: Drought Vulnerability and its Implications on Agriculture in Orissa State.
Drought is a condition of moisture deficit to such a degree to have an adverse effect on vegetation, livestock and man over a sizable area. Orissa state is not only susceptible to frequent cyclones but also to droughts. Analysis of droughts at 15 representative stations was carried out based on water balance technique. The study revealed that on an average Orissa has experienced 11 drought years during the period extending from 1976 to 1999. Of these, the droughts occurred in 1979 and 1996 were very disastrous in terms of intensity. Similarly, a maximum number of droughts in the state were recorded during 1980-1989. The study indicates that overall drought proneness of the state ranges between 47.8 to 56.3 per cent. The drought vulnerability of the state is more in its southern parts. The agro-climatic regionalization suggests that more than half of the agricultural area is suitable to millets only. Correlation of paddy yield with the drought incidence indicated high negative deviations. The study is helpful to assess the crop suitability and to prepare a systematic irrigation scheduling and crop weather calendar in order to minimize the impacts of droughts in the state.
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Omvir Singh, Rekha Sharma: Assessment and Demand of Water Resources in Rewari District of Haryana.
Water has emerged as an exceedingly important resource and its increasing demand in agriculture, domestic and industrial uses ranks it a resource of strategic importance. Its adequate and continuous supply is the most important input in agriculture and has made a significant contribution in providing stability to food grain production and self–sufficiency to societies. This resource can be optimally used and sustained only when quantity of water is assessed at micro level. In the present study an attempt has been made to assess the availability and demand of water resources at block level during kharif and rabi season in Rewari district of Haryana during 2004-08. The average depth of available water during the study period in the district was observed to be 453 mm, out of which rainfall, canal and groundwater contributed about 56.7%, 37.2% and 6.1%, respectively. The available water within the district is not adequate to meet the total crop water demand during rabi season however water is surplus for the kharif season crops. The average seasonal crop water demand of the district was estimated to be about 212 mm for kharif season and 254 mm for the rabi season. The annual water demand exceeded average annual available water in the district by 1831 ha-m. The above findings point towards the fact that, there is a need for scientific and rational conservation and utilization of water resources in the district which is possible through interventions like design of suitable recharge structures that would commensurate with the rate of draft and can bridge the gap between water availability and demand.
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Vishwa B.S. Chandel, Karanjot Kaur Brar: Climatic Extremes and Changing Climate in Western Himalayas: A Study of Cloudburst Incidences in Himachal Pradesh.
Our climate is changing faster than ever before and this has been causing various types of natural disasters such as droughts, floods and cloudbursts. Cloudburst is a weather anomaly representing highly concentrated rainfall both in time and space. Himachal Pradesh is a part of a dynamic and complex Himalayan region where climate is very variable. Cloudburst results excess and intense rainfall that can lead to flash floods in the state. Cloudburst related disasters have an established history of causing catastrophes, therefore, these are of grave concern for this mountainous state whose economy is directly linked to prevailing climatic conditions. This work, therefore, is an effort to understand cloudburst occurrences as an indicator and expression of changing climatic conditions in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The spatio-temporal analysis reveals the fact that such events have not only increased over time but their area of influence has also expanded over a larger space. In addition there is seasonal spread which indicates changing rainfall regime over the area.
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Abha Lakshmi Singh, Moirangleima Kh., Md Zahir Abbas, Saleha Jamal: Incidence of Diseases among Residents Living Near the Municipal Landfill Site in Aligarh City.
This paper seeks to examine incidence of diseases among residents living near the Municipal landfill site at Pala Sahibabad in Aligarh City. The study is mainly based on the primary sources of data collected through field surveys with the help of questionnaire interviews put to 320 residents living within 300m around this landfill site. The study showed that residents reported occurrence of diseases such as conjunctivitis, malaria, hookworm infections, amoebiasis, typhoid, diarrhea, cholera, jaundice etc. during the last two years. There was higher incidence of diseases among residents living closer to the landfill site as compared to those living farther away.
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Rupinder Kaur, Gian Singh: Magnitude and Correlates of Agriculture Indebtedness in Punjab.
The paper in hand is the 2nd part of a study on “Extent and Determinants of Indebtedness among Farmers in Rural Punjab: Inter-Regional Analysis”. The first part of the study was devoted to highlight the regional variations in the degree of indebtedness among farmers in Punjab. The study area, i.e., Punjab state was divided into five regions i) Siwalik Foot-hill Region, ii) Central Plain Region (North), iii) Central Plain Region (South), iv) Western Plain Region (South), v) Western Plain Region. The regional differentiations in terms of extent of debt, sources of debt, purpose of debt, rate of interest and determinants of indebtedness were studied. Linear regression was used to analyse the relative indebtedness among different farm-size categories and various spatial regions of the state (Kaur and Singh, 2009).This part of the study is addressed to “Magnitude and Correlates of Agriculture Indebtedness in Punjab.”
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D.K.Tripathi: Vegetation Cover Mapping of Gauriganj Block, Sultanpur District (U.P.) - Using Satellite Remote Sensing.
The present study is aimed to map out the green vegetation cover in Gauriganj block (lies between 2607' 5'' to 260 10' 5'' N latitude and 810 36'45'' to 810 45' 18'' E longitudes), Sultanpur District, (U. P.) using modern geo-technique of remote sensing . The multispectral high resolution satellite data IRS P6, LISS III, January, 2006 has been processed in ERDAS IMAGINE version 9.1 software to map and analyze the spatial pattern of vegetation cover. The spectral enhancement of satellite image was carried out applying Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) approach. The output NDVI map demonstrates the high spatial variation in vegetation cover. According to NDVI ranges (-0.54 to 0.69), the study area has been divided into six categories of vegetation cover. The output of the study may prove better input in planning for eco-conservation and sustainable development in the study area.
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Gaurav Kalotra: Trends and Spatial Patterns of Sex Ratio Among In-migrants to Punjab (2001).
Punjab has the second lowest sex ratio of 876 females per 1000 males in the country as per 2001 Census. Migration is perceived normally as a sex selective phenomenon and in patrilineal societies males are more prone to migrate, disturbing the sex composition not only of the source region but also of the areas of destination. The recent in-migration to Punjab, however, shows a contrary trend in which there is an excess of females over males. This paper attempts to analyze the spatial patterns of sex ratio among in-migrants to Punjab in 2001 using district wise census data.
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Suryawanshi D.S., Pagar Sanjay Dagu: A Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Crop Diversification in Nashik District - Maharashtra.
In this paper an attempt has been made to explain changes in crop diversification patterns in Nashik district from 1970-71 to 2004-05. In 1970-71, maximum crop diversification was found in Nashik, Dindori and Kalwan tahsils, whereas it was the minimum in Nandgaon tahsil. But in 2004-05 high crop diversifications was recorded in Nashik, Dindori, Kalwan and Trambak tahsils, whereas it was low in Sinner and Deola tahsils. During the study period the area under cereals (except baara) and pulses decreased, on the other hand the area under fodder, fruits and vegetables increased remarkably because, such crops yield regular, quick, and high returns to the farmers.
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Map Series-III: R. C. Chandna: Growth of Population in Punjab and Haryana:1991-2001
Both Punjab and Haryana, which at one time were part of the same state continue to display contrastingly different demographic scenario, especially with regard to growth of population and growth related attributes. During 1991-2001, while Punjab's population grew only by 20.1 per cent which was lower than the national average (21.54 per cent), that of Haryana recorded a growth rate of 28.4 per cent which was significantly higher than the national average.
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Doctoral Abstract: Neelam Bageshwari: Integrated Planning and Rationalization of Rural Settlements - An Ecological Approach - A Case Study of Sanganer Tehsil, Jaipur (Rajasthan)
The process of urbanization feeds land transformation from rural to urban which leads to socio-economic transformation in the rural areas. The rural areas where there has been a penetration of million cities face a typical situation of imbalanced development and ecological problems. The process of development brings about a change in the rural ecology and is responsible for various environmental and socio-economic problems. No doubt, the government has initiated many programmes for rural development, but the expected results have not been attained mostly due to lack of micro-level analysis and planning.
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