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Videos by Benukar Biswas
System of Assured Rice Production
Growing winter crops with less water
Water efficient rice cultivation practice
Live TV programme in Bengali
1 views
Papers by Benukar Biswas
Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2017
ScienceDirect Remote sensing for agricultural applications monitoring. It assessed the applicabil... more ScienceDirect Remote sensing for agricultural applications monitoring. It assessed the applicability of GF-1 data for agricultural monitoring, and identified potential applications at the regional or national scale. Zhou et al. (2017) found that GF-1's low spectrum resolution and image distortion caused by wide swath width had posed challenges for its applications and needed to be seriously addressed.
Journal of Cleaner Production
Degradation of agricultural and forest lands is a global problem causing climate change, loss of ... more Degradation of agricultural and forest lands is a global problem causing climate change, loss of biodiversity, ecosystem services, and environmental hazards. In the red and lateritic soils of the northeast, central and southern India, land degradation remains a major problem affecting the lives of millions of people. Agroforestry systems with appropriate combinations of arable crops, horticultural trees, and forest tree species are suggested as effective strategies to combat land degradation by restoring biodiversity and ecosystem services but the scientific evidence is lacking for red and lateritic soils of northeast India. In response, a forest deciduous tree species Gmelina [Gmelina arborea Roxb.], a fruit tree mango [Mangifera indica L.], and a legume crop pigeon pea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.] were grown solely or in various combinations for ten years (July 2009 to June 2019) in the red and lateritic soil of West Bengal, India to evaluate their role in the restoration of degraded land and the potential for offering multiple ecosystems services. Eleven indicators were selected for evaluating the multifunctionality of ecosystem services having synergies between them. Results after ten years of field experiments revealed that the Gmelina-mango-pigeon pea agroforestry system has provided multiple ecosystem goods like edible seeds (pigeon pea), fruits (mango), fuelwood and timber (mango/Gmelina) sequentially, and was 2-3 times more profitable in terms of net present value compared to sole Gmelina or mango or pigeon pea. This system also offered greater climate resiliency with 1-2 times higher annual biomass production, thus offsetting greenhouse gases emission. The composite evaluation index demonstrated that this system offers the highest level of multifunctionality of multiple ecosystem services. Evidence from this long-term experimentation suggests that the crop-fruit treeforest tree-based agroforestry system has the potential to restore the land productivity of the degraded red and lateritic soils and provide multiple ecosystem services to millions of people dependent on such land. This system could potentially be out-scaled in many other similar agroecological zones of the world.
![Research paper thumbnail of Molecular characterization of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas [L.] Lam) germplasms for desirable traits by using simple sequence repeats markers](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/94637886/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](BIOCELL
Every breeding program that aims to create new and improved cultivars with desired traits mostly ... more Every breeding program that aims to create new and improved cultivars with desired traits mostly relies on information related to genetic diversity. Therefore, molecular characterization of germplasms is important to obtain target cultivars with desirable traits. Sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam] is widely considered the world's most important crop, with great diversity in morphological and phenotypic traits. The genetic diversity of 20 sweet potato germplasms originating from Bangladesh, CIP, Philippines, Taiwan, and Malaysia were compared, which was accomplished by genetic diversity analysis by exploring 20 microsatellite DNA markers for germplasm characterization and utilization. This information was effective in differentiating or clustering the sweet potato genotypes. A total of 64 alleles were generated using the 20 primers throughout the 20 germplasm samples, with locus IBS97 having the highest number of alleles (5), whereas locus IbU33 had the fewest alleles (2). The alleles varied in size from 105 (IbU31) to 213 base pairs (IBS34). The Polymorphism Information Content (PIC) values for the loci IbL46 and IBS97 varied from 0.445 to 0.730. IBS97 has the highest number of effective alleles (3.704), compared to an average of 2.520. The average Shannon's diversity index (H) was 1.003, ranging from 0.673 in IbU3 to 1.432 in IBS97. The value of gene flow (Nm) varied between 0.000 and 0.005, with an average of 0.003, whereas genetic differentiation (FST-values) ranged between 0.901 and 1.000. The sweet potato germplasm included in this study had a broad genetic base. SP1 vs. SP9 and SP12 vs. SP18 germplasm pairings had the greatest genetic distance (GD = 0.965), while SP1 vs. SP2 germplasm couples had the least genetic diversity (GD = 0.093). Twenty genotypes were classified into two groups in the UPGMA dendrogram, with 16 genotypes classified as group "A" and the remaining four genotypes, SP10, SP18, SP19, and SP20, classified as group "B." According to cluster analysis, the anticipated heterozygosity (gene diversity) of Nei (1973) was 0.591 on average. In summary, SSR markers successfully evaluated the genetic relationships among the sweet potato accessions used and generated a high level of polymorphism. The results of the present study will be useful for the management of germplasm, improvement of the current breeding strategies, and the release of new cultivars as varieties.
The application of remote sensing in quantifying the crop health status is trending. Sensors can ... more The application of remote sensing in quantifying the crop health status is trending. Sensors can serve as early warning systems for countering climatic or biological aberrations before having negative impacts on crop yield. Remote sensing applications have been playing a significant role in agriculture sector for evaluating plant health, yield and crop loss (%) estimation, irrigation management, identification of crop stress, weed and pest detection, weather forecasting, gathering crop phenological informations etc. Forecast of crop yields by using remote sensing inputs in conjunction with crop simulation models is getting popular day by day for its potential benefits. Remote sensing reduces the amount of field data collection and improves the precision of the estimates. Crop stress caused by biotic and abiotic factors can be monitored and quantified with remote sensing. Monitoring of vegetation cover for acreage estimation, mapping and monitoring drought condition and maintenance of vegetation health, assessment of crop condition under stress prone environment, checking of nutrient and moisture status of field, measurement of crop evapotranspiration, weed management through precision agriculture, gathering and transferring predictions of atmospheric dynamics through different observational satellites are the major agricultural applications of remote sensing technologies. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), vegetation condition index (VCI), leaf area index (LAI), and General Yield Unified Reference Index (GYURI) are some of the indices which have been used for mapping and monitoring drought and assessing vegetation health and productivity. Remote sensing with other advanced technologies like geographical information systems (GIS) are playing a massive role in assessment and management of several agricultural activities. State or district level information systems based on available remote sensing information are required to be utilized efficiently for improving the economy coming from agriculture.
Journal of Cleaner Production
Indian Journal of Agronomy, 2016
Farmers' participatory trials were conducted for 7 years during winter (rabi) seasons of ... more Farmers' participatory trials were conducted for 7 years during winter (rabi) seasons of 2004–05 to 2010–11, in red and lateritic zone of West Bengal, India, to evaluate the long-term effect of conventional (CT) and zero (ZT) till-age on yield and yield attributes, nutrient uptake, nutrient-use efficiency, economics of wheat [Triticum aestivum (L.) Emend. Fiori & Paol.]. The most influential climatic factor, best planting date for different cultivars and best cul-tivar corresponding to different tillage practices were also adjudged in this study. Zero tillage increased wheat yield on an average by 20.7%, net returns by 9,523/ha, N, P and K uptake by 16, 19.1 and 14.0% respectively, over CT. The most important contributing character to the total variability of wheat grain yield was number of spikes/m 2 , which contributed 11.7 and 25.8% variation to the ZT and CT yield respectively. Multiple regression coefficient analysis revealed that the influential climatic factor for ZT and CT wheat was minimum temperature and relative humidity, respectively. While evaluating performance of wheat cultivars under 2 tillage practices on different planting dates, 'PBW 343' and 'HD 2733' gave the maximum yield between 8 and 15 November, 'K 9107' and 'Swarna (L)' between 1 and 7 November with ZT method. In contrast, all the cultivars gave the maximum yield in CT within the first week of November, except 'PBW 343'. Interaction between tillage practice and wheat cultivar revealed that 'K 9107' and 'PBW 343' were most stable cultivar for this zone across tillage options. The lowest yield loss attributable to delay in planting was obtained in the cultivar 'Swarna (L)' (7.85 kg/ha/day) and 'K 9107' (7.21 kg/ha/day) for ZT and CT respectively, indicating higher stability of theses cultivars for late-sown condition in this region.
Annals of Plant Sciences, 2016
A field experiment on ‘Performance of promising aromatic rice entries and rapeseed-mustard variet... more A field experiment on ‘Performance of promising aromatic rice entries and rapeseed-mustard varieties grown as ‘ paira ’ crop under red and laterite zone of West Bengal, India’ was conducted at Rice Research Station, Bankura during 2013-14 under red and laterite areas of West Bengal. The experimental result revealed that IET 21455 recorded the highest grain yield of 4.12 t ha -1 among promising aromatic rice entries. Highest seed yield of 765.7 kg ha -1 was recorded from NML 25 among rapeseed-mustard varieties, which were grown as ‘ paira ’ crop after rice in the same field.
Scientific Reports , 2022
Direct-seeded rice (DSR) seeds are often exposed to multiple environmental stresses in the field,... more Direct-seeded rice (DSR) seeds are often exposed to multiple environmental stresses in the field, leading to poor emergence, growth and productivity. Appropriate seed priming agents may help to overcome these challenges by ensuring uniform seed germination, and better seedling stand establishment. To examine the effectiveness of sodium selenite (Na-selenite), sodium selenate (Na-selenate), zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs), and their combinations as priming agents for DSR seeds, a controlled pot experiment followed by a field experiment over two consecutive years was conducted on a sandy clay loam soil (Inceptisol) in West Bengal, India. Priming with combinations of all priming agents had advantages over the hydro-priming treatment (control). All the combinations of the three priming agents resulted in the early emergence of seedlings with improved vigour. In the field experiment, all the combinations increased the plant chlorophyll, phenol and protein contents, leaf area index and duration, crop growth rate, uptake of nutrients (N, P, K, B, Zn and Si), and yield of DSR over the control. Our findings suggest that seed priming with the combination of ZnO-NPs, Na-selenite, and Na-selenate could be a viable option for the risk mitigation in DSR.
Direct-seeded rice (DSR) seeds are often exposed to multiple environmental stresses in the field,... more Direct-seeded rice (DSR) seeds are often exposed to multiple environmental stresses in the field, leading to poor emergence, growth and productivity. Appropriate seed priming agents may help to overcome the challenges by ensuring uniform seed germination, and better seedling stand establishment. To examine the effectiveness of sodium selenite, sodium selenate, and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) as priming agents for DSR seeds, a controlled pot experiment followed by a field experiment over two consecutive years was conducted on a sandy clay loam soil (Inceptisol) in West Bengal, India. Priming with combinations of all priming agents had advantages over the hydro-priming treatment (control). All the combinations resulted in the early emergence of seedlings with improved vigour. In the field experiment, the combinations of all priming agents increased the plant chlorophyll, phenol and protein contents, leaf area index and duration, crop growth rate, uptake of nutrients (N, P, K, B...
Agricultural Sciences, 2020
System of Assured Rice Production
Growing winter crops with less water
Water efficient rice cultivation practice
Live TV programme in Bengali
1 views
Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2017
ScienceDirect Remote sensing for agricultural applications monitoring. It assessed the applicabil... more ScienceDirect Remote sensing for agricultural applications monitoring. It assessed the applicability of GF-1 data for agricultural monitoring, and identified potential applications at the regional or national scale. Zhou et al. (2017) found that GF-1's low spectrum resolution and image distortion caused by wide swath width had posed challenges for its applications and needed to be seriously addressed.
Journal of Cleaner Production
Degradation of agricultural and forest lands is a global problem causing climate change, loss of ... more Degradation of agricultural and forest lands is a global problem causing climate change, loss of biodiversity, ecosystem services, and environmental hazards. In the red and lateritic soils of the northeast, central and southern India, land degradation remains a major problem affecting the lives of millions of people. Agroforestry systems with appropriate combinations of arable crops, horticultural trees, and forest tree species are suggested as effective strategies to combat land degradation by restoring biodiversity and ecosystem services but the scientific evidence is lacking for red and lateritic soils of northeast India. In response, a forest deciduous tree species Gmelina [Gmelina arborea Roxb.], a fruit tree mango [Mangifera indica L.], and a legume crop pigeon pea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.] were grown solely or in various combinations for ten years (July 2009 to June 2019) in the red and lateritic soil of West Bengal, India to evaluate their role in the restoration of degraded land and the potential for offering multiple ecosystems services. Eleven indicators were selected for evaluating the multifunctionality of ecosystem services having synergies between them. Results after ten years of field experiments revealed that the Gmelina-mango-pigeon pea agroforestry system has provided multiple ecosystem goods like edible seeds (pigeon pea), fruits (mango), fuelwood and timber (mango/Gmelina) sequentially, and was 2-3 times more profitable in terms of net present value compared to sole Gmelina or mango or pigeon pea. This system also offered greater climate resiliency with 1-2 times higher annual biomass production, thus offsetting greenhouse gases emission. The composite evaluation index demonstrated that this system offers the highest level of multifunctionality of multiple ecosystem services. Evidence from this long-term experimentation suggests that the crop-fruit treeforest tree-based agroforestry system has the potential to restore the land productivity of the degraded red and lateritic soils and provide multiple ecosystem services to millions of people dependent on such land. This system could potentially be out-scaled in many other similar agroecological zones of the world.
BIOCELL
Every breeding program that aims to create new and improved cultivars with desired traits mostly ... more Every breeding program that aims to create new and improved cultivars with desired traits mostly relies on information related to genetic diversity. Therefore, molecular characterization of germplasms is important to obtain target cultivars with desirable traits. Sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam] is widely considered the world's most important crop, with great diversity in morphological and phenotypic traits. The genetic diversity of 20 sweet potato germplasms originating from Bangladesh, CIP, Philippines, Taiwan, and Malaysia were compared, which was accomplished by genetic diversity analysis by exploring 20 microsatellite DNA markers for germplasm characterization and utilization. This information was effective in differentiating or clustering the sweet potato genotypes. A total of 64 alleles were generated using the 20 primers throughout the 20 germplasm samples, with locus IBS97 having the highest number of alleles (5), whereas locus IbU33 had the fewest alleles (2). The alleles varied in size from 105 (IbU31) to 213 base pairs (IBS34). The Polymorphism Information Content (PIC) values for the loci IbL46 and IBS97 varied from 0.445 to 0.730. IBS97 has the highest number of effective alleles (3.704), compared to an average of 2.520. The average Shannon's diversity index (H) was 1.003, ranging from 0.673 in IbU3 to 1.432 in IBS97. The value of gene flow (Nm) varied between 0.000 and 0.005, with an average of 0.003, whereas genetic differentiation (FST-values) ranged between 0.901 and 1.000. The sweet potato germplasm included in this study had a broad genetic base. SP1 vs. SP9 and SP12 vs. SP18 germplasm pairings had the greatest genetic distance (GD = 0.965), while SP1 vs. SP2 germplasm couples had the least genetic diversity (GD = 0.093). Twenty genotypes were classified into two groups in the UPGMA dendrogram, with 16 genotypes classified as group "A" and the remaining four genotypes, SP10, SP18, SP19, and SP20, classified as group "B." According to cluster analysis, the anticipated heterozygosity (gene diversity) of Nei (1973) was 0.591 on average. In summary, SSR markers successfully evaluated the genetic relationships among the sweet potato accessions used and generated a high level of polymorphism. The results of the present study will be useful for the management of germplasm, improvement of the current breeding strategies, and the release of new cultivars as varieties.
The application of remote sensing in quantifying the crop health status is trending. Sensors can ... more The application of remote sensing in quantifying the crop health status is trending. Sensors can serve as early warning systems for countering climatic or biological aberrations before having negative impacts on crop yield. Remote sensing applications have been playing a significant role in agriculture sector for evaluating plant health, yield and crop loss (%) estimation, irrigation management, identification of crop stress, weed and pest detection, weather forecasting, gathering crop phenological informations etc. Forecast of crop yields by using remote sensing inputs in conjunction with crop simulation models is getting popular day by day for its potential benefits. Remote sensing reduces the amount of field data collection and improves the precision of the estimates. Crop stress caused by biotic and abiotic factors can be monitored and quantified with remote sensing. Monitoring of vegetation cover for acreage estimation, mapping and monitoring drought condition and maintenance of vegetation health, assessment of crop condition under stress prone environment, checking of nutrient and moisture status of field, measurement of crop evapotranspiration, weed management through precision agriculture, gathering and transferring predictions of atmospheric dynamics through different observational satellites are the major agricultural applications of remote sensing technologies. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), vegetation condition index (VCI), leaf area index (LAI), and General Yield Unified Reference Index (GYURI) are some of the indices which have been used for mapping and monitoring drought and assessing vegetation health and productivity. Remote sensing with other advanced technologies like geographical information systems (GIS) are playing a massive role in assessment and management of several agricultural activities. State or district level information systems based on available remote sensing information are required to be utilized efficiently for improving the economy coming from agriculture.
Journal of Cleaner Production
Indian Journal of Agronomy, 2016
Farmers' participatory trials were conducted for 7 years during winter (rabi) seasons of ... more Farmers' participatory trials were conducted for 7 years during winter (rabi) seasons of 2004–05 to 2010–11, in red and lateritic zone of West Bengal, India, to evaluate the long-term effect of conventional (CT) and zero (ZT) till-age on yield and yield attributes, nutrient uptake, nutrient-use efficiency, economics of wheat [Triticum aestivum (L.) Emend. Fiori & Paol.]. The most influential climatic factor, best planting date for different cultivars and best cul-tivar corresponding to different tillage practices were also adjudged in this study. Zero tillage increased wheat yield on an average by 20.7%, net returns by 9,523/ha, N, P and K uptake by 16, 19.1 and 14.0% respectively, over CT. The most important contributing character to the total variability of wheat grain yield was number of spikes/m 2 , which contributed 11.7 and 25.8% variation to the ZT and CT yield respectively. Multiple regression coefficient analysis revealed that the influential climatic factor for ZT and CT wheat was minimum temperature and relative humidity, respectively. While evaluating performance of wheat cultivars under 2 tillage practices on different planting dates, 'PBW 343' and 'HD 2733' gave the maximum yield between 8 and 15 November, 'K 9107' and 'Swarna (L)' between 1 and 7 November with ZT method. In contrast, all the cultivars gave the maximum yield in CT within the first week of November, except 'PBW 343'. Interaction between tillage practice and wheat cultivar revealed that 'K 9107' and 'PBW 343' were most stable cultivar for this zone across tillage options. The lowest yield loss attributable to delay in planting was obtained in the cultivar 'Swarna (L)' (7.85 kg/ha/day) and 'K 9107' (7.21 kg/ha/day) for ZT and CT respectively, indicating higher stability of theses cultivars for late-sown condition in this region.
Annals of Plant Sciences, 2016
A field experiment on ‘Performance of promising aromatic rice entries and rapeseed-mustard variet... more A field experiment on ‘Performance of promising aromatic rice entries and rapeseed-mustard varieties grown as ‘ paira ’ crop under red and laterite zone of West Bengal, India’ was conducted at Rice Research Station, Bankura during 2013-14 under red and laterite areas of West Bengal. The experimental result revealed that IET 21455 recorded the highest grain yield of 4.12 t ha -1 among promising aromatic rice entries. Highest seed yield of 765.7 kg ha -1 was recorded from NML 25 among rapeseed-mustard varieties, which were grown as ‘ paira ’ crop after rice in the same field.
Scientific Reports , 2022
Direct-seeded rice (DSR) seeds are often exposed to multiple environmental stresses in the field,... more Direct-seeded rice (DSR) seeds are often exposed to multiple environmental stresses in the field, leading to poor emergence, growth and productivity. Appropriate seed priming agents may help to overcome these challenges by ensuring uniform seed germination, and better seedling stand establishment. To examine the effectiveness of sodium selenite (Na-selenite), sodium selenate (Na-selenate), zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs), and their combinations as priming agents for DSR seeds, a controlled pot experiment followed by a field experiment over two consecutive years was conducted on a sandy clay loam soil (Inceptisol) in West Bengal, India. Priming with combinations of all priming agents had advantages over the hydro-priming treatment (control). All the combinations of the three priming agents resulted in the early emergence of seedlings with improved vigour. In the field experiment, all the combinations increased the plant chlorophyll, phenol and protein contents, leaf area index and duration, crop growth rate, uptake of nutrients (N, P, K, B, Zn and Si), and yield of DSR over the control. Our findings suggest that seed priming with the combination of ZnO-NPs, Na-selenite, and Na-selenate could be a viable option for the risk mitigation in DSR.
Direct-seeded rice (DSR) seeds are often exposed to multiple environmental stresses in the field,... more Direct-seeded rice (DSR) seeds are often exposed to multiple environmental stresses in the field, leading to poor emergence, growth and productivity. Appropriate seed priming agents may help to overcome the challenges by ensuring uniform seed germination, and better seedling stand establishment. To examine the effectiveness of sodium selenite, sodium selenate, and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) as priming agents for DSR seeds, a controlled pot experiment followed by a field experiment over two consecutive years was conducted on a sandy clay loam soil (Inceptisol) in West Bengal, India. Priming with combinations of all priming agents had advantages over the hydro-priming treatment (control). All the combinations resulted in the early emergence of seedlings with improved vigour. In the field experiment, the combinations of all priming agents increased the plant chlorophyll, phenol and protein contents, leaf area index and duration, crop growth rate, uptake of nutrients (N, P, K, B...
Agricultural Sciences, 2020