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The proficient supply of water and nutrients is a key factor for successful vegetable production under greenhouses. This field experiment was conducted during 2018–2019 under a completely randomized design to evaluate the effects of drip irrigation and nutrient schedule on soil water dynamics and the productivity of greenhouse tomato. The experiment consisted of two irrigation schedules, i.e., I1 (irrigation applied from week 1 to 2 on the basis of 100% pan evaporation (Epan), week 3 to 8 on the basis of 40% of Epan, week 9 to 14 on the basis of 60% of Epan, week 15 to 20 on the basis of 80% of Epan, week 21 to 24 on the basis of 100% of Epan) and I2 (irrigation applied on the basis of 100% of Epan throughout the crop period) with a five-nutrient schedule, viz., F1 (100% NPK applied through the conventional method), F2 (100% N applied through fertigation + PK through the conventional method), F3 (100% NK applied through fertigation + P through the conventional method), F4 (100% NPK applied through fertigation) and F5 (50% NPK applied through the conventional method + 150% NPK applied through fertigation). The soil moisture content (SMC) and its depletion were measured during growing season. The tomato yield was significantly higher under I2. However, water use efficiency (WUE) was significantly higher under I1 treatment. Among the nutrient schedules, the yield and WUE were significantly higher in F5 treatment. The net returns were highest under F5 and lowest under F1. The Benefit:Cost ratio was highest in F4 and lowest under F1. The irrigation level I2 (irrigation applied on the basis of 100% of Epan throughout the crop period) with fertigation treatment F4 (100% NPK applied through fertigation) was the best strategy for obtaining the maximum productivity of tomato under the greenhouse. It can be concluded that the drip-based fertigation enhances the crop yield and net returns and therefore may be promoted to increase the income of the farmers.

The present study examined 35 morphometric parameters related to stream/drainage network, catchment geometry, and relief aspects for hydrological characterization of the Thana Dam catchment using geospatial tools and techniques. The dam catchment was delineated using the high-resolution Advanced Land Observing Satellite Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (ALOS PALSAR) Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data in ArcGIS 10.4.1 software using the Arc Hydro tools. The catchment is comprised of 4th order stream, obtained using a stream threshold value of 100 m length. The lower values of elongation ratio (0.61), circularity ratio (0.22), and form factor (0.29) indicated higher soil erosion potential, mainly due to their inverse relationship with land erodibility. Moreover, the higher values of stream frequency (15.7), drainage density (>5.0), drainage texture (7.48 km-1), and mean bifurcation ratio (4.08-6.33) indicated higher runoff potential, which would intensify the soil erosion, mainly due to their direct relationship with erodibility. Bifurcation ratio, elongation ratio, circulatory ratio, form factor, altogether indicated an elongated shape of the catchment with a fine drainage texture. The higher values of bifurcation ratio and texture ratio of the catchment also indicated severe overland flow (low infiltration rate) with a limited scope for groundwater recharge in the area, which in turn might significantly encourage the soil erosion. Overall, it was concluded that the catchment has a huge runoff potential resulting in high soil erosion due to its fine texture, impermeable subsurface material, steep slope, low infiltration rate, limited vegetation, longer duration of overland flow, and higher surface runoff. The morphometric analysis was found to be suitable for identifying catchment shape and the factors affecting hydrologic conditions and erodibility of the catchment. Thus, Geo-informatics based morphometric analysis of a reservoir catchment can be useful to study the erosion potential in relation to hydrologic (rainfall-runoff relationship) and other related land characteristics (e.g., relief, slope, infiltration rate, etc.).

The trend analysis of historical rainfall data on monthly, annual and seasonal basis for three locations in lower Shivaliks of Punjab, viz., Patiala-ki-Rao (1982-2015), Ballowal Saunkhri (1987-2015) and Saleran (1984-2017) has been done in the present study using linear regression model, Mann Kendall test and Sen’s slope. Further, the data for annual and seasonal rainfall and rainy days has also been analyzed on quindecennial basis, i.e., for the period of 1986-2000 and 2001-2015. The analysis of data showed that annual rainfall in the region ranged from 1000 to 1150 mm. The trend analysis of the data shows that the monthly rainfall is decreasing at Patiala-ki-Rao and Saleran, however, the trend was significant for May at Patiala-ki-Rao; and in March and November at Saleran. At Ballowal Saunkhri, the decreasing trend is observed from May to October, however, the trend is significant only in August. The decrease in annual and monsoon rainfall is about 13 to 17 mm and 12 to 13 mm per year respectively at three locations in lower Shivaliks of Punjab. The highest annual (1600-2000 mm) and monsoon (1500-1800 mm) rainfall during the entire study period was recorded in the year 1988 at three locations. The decadal analysis of the data shows below normal rainfall during April to October. The analysis of the rainfall and rainy days on monthly, annual and seasonal averages of 15 year basis showed that both rainfall and rainy days have decreased during the 2001-2015 as compared to 1986-2000 during all the seasons of the year.

The present study proposes a Geographic Information System-based runoff and sediment yield model. The model derives the study watershed characteristics using the Digital Elevation Model. The model calculates the runoff (using the NRCS curve number method) and sediment yield (using MUSLE) on each cell (pixel) of the DEM and routes these hydrological parameters over the overland flow cells into the drainage channels to the watershed outlet using Time-Area histogram method. The backend and frontend of the model is developed in Python and HTML + JavaScript code, respectively. The model develops the runoff hydrograph and sediment graph at the watershed outlet. The performance of the developed model has been assessed by comparing the model output with the observed runoff and sediment yield measured at the outlet of forest micro-watershed located in Shivalik foot hills of North-West India. The statistical analysis reveals the reasonably well performance of the developed model in simulating runoff and sediment yield as is corroborated by low values of PBIAS, MAPE, MBE and RMSE and high values of correlation coefficient and model efficiency.

The WEPP watershed model was applied for simulation of storm-wise runoff and sediment yield from two forest watersheds (WS-I and WS-II) having an area of 1.85 and 21.3 ha, respectively, situated in Shivalik foot-hills of North-West, India. The WS-I was divided into 29 hillslopes and 18 channels, while WS-II was divided into 35 hillslopes and 25 channels. CLIGEN software was used to create the climate file, which was based on the observed meteorological data. The soil, slope, and land-use management files were created for each hillslope and channel. The model was calibrated on WS-I and then applied to WS-II to ascertain whether the model must be calibrated every time it is applied to a new watershed in the region. The WEPP model was calibrated and validated by using the hydrological data of 22 storms (1982–2004) for WS-I and 13 storms (2001–4) for WS-II. The statistics showed that calibrated model for WS-I, simulated storm-wise runoff, and sediment yield for WS-II with advisable precision as substantiated by the lower values of RMSE (5.43 mm and 0.31 Mg/ha) and average error (2.09 mm and 0.09 Mg/ha) and high values of correlation coefficient (0.93 and 0.86) and model efficiency (83.90% and 69.50%). It is evident from this study that once the WEPP model has been calibrated on a representative watershed, it can be effectively applied to uncalibrated/ungauged watersheds in Shivalik foot-hills for watersheds with similar characteristics.

Background: Traditional knowledge plays an important role in the conservation of floral diversity and is often used for the treatment of numerous diseases in local medicinal systems. Diverse cultural groups in the Himalayan regions have their own local indigenous healthcare systems, with medicinal plant applications that differ depending on geography and ecology. Therefore, it is important to understand plant ecological behavior for prioritizing conservation efforts and comprehending the impact of climate change on plant phenological traits. Methods: Ethnopharmacological data was collected through interviews and group discussions using semi-structured and close-ended questionnaires from different ethnic groups i.e., Gujjar, Bakarwal, and Kashmiri. The data was subjected to hierarchical cluster analysis and ordination techniques (Principal Component Analysis) using multivariate software. Results: The present investigation documented a total of 32 plant species belonging to 31 genera in 23 families. Across the 23 families, the distribution of species was unequal, half of the species belonged to just 6 families (Asteraceae, Berberidaceae, Lamiaceae, Ranunculaceae, Solanaceae and Amaranthaceae) while the remaining half belonged to 17 families. Amongst the parts of plants, roots were the most utilized plant part with 25% of usage followed by whole plant (22%). Gastro-intestinal disorders were treated with most species (18%), followed by pulmonary infections (13%). A heat map showed two distinctly separated clusters based on the degree of intensity of flowering timing of the flora and month. Based on the conservation assessment, out 19% of all species observed fell in the Critically Endangered category of IUCN, followed by 6% in the Vulnerable category. Conclusions: This study provides the ethnopharmacological and ecological scope of the plants of the Kashmir in the northern Himalaya. There is need to develop strategies to conserve and sustainably harvest these plants in order to maintain their long-term benefits in the medicinal field. Key words: Flowering time; Disease cured; Conservation; Kashmir

Maintaining sustainable crop production on undulating, sloppy, and erodible soils in Shivalik foothills of North-west India is a challenging task. Intercropping is accepted as a highly sustainable system to reduce soil erosion and ensure sustainable production by making efficient use of resources. Field experiments were conducted in the rainy season (July to September) during 2015, 2016, and 2017 to evaluate the effect of land slopes and maize and cowpea strip-intercropping on productivity and resource conservation at the Regional Research Station, Ballowal Saunkhri located in the Shivalik foothills. During three years of experimentation, a total of 23–26 runoff events were observed in the maize crop grown in the rainy season. The results from this 3-year field study indicate that maize grain yield was significantly higher on a 1% slope and cowpea on a 2% slope. This accounted for significantly higher net returns (US$ 428 ha−1) with a benefit-cost (BC) ratio of 2.0 on a 1% slope. Runoff, soil, and nutrient losses were higher on a 3% slope as compared to 1% and 2% slopes. N, P, and K loss on a 3% slope were 3.80, 1.82, and 4.10 kg ha−1 higher, respectively than a 1% slope. The adoption of a strip-intercropping system with a 4.8 m maize strip width and 1.2 m cowpea strip width resulted in significantly higher maize equivalent yield than sole maize and other strip-intercropping systems. This system showed the highest land equivalent ratio value (1.24) indicating a 24% yield advantage over sole cropping systems of maize and cowpea, and fetched the highest net returns (US$ 530 ha−1) with a benefit-cost ratio (BC ratio) of 2.09. This system also reduced runoff and soil loss by 10.9% and 8.3%, respectively than sole maize crop. On all the land slopes, maize and cowpea strip-intercropping systems showed a significant reduction in N, P, K, and organic carbon loss as compared to sole maize. Thus, on sloping land, the maize and cowpea strip-intercropping system decreases surface runoff, soil, and nutrient loss, and increases yield and income of the farmers as compared to a sole maize crop.