Getting Lost in PURI , | VLOG 1 | INDIA | (Teaser )

In the city Of Temples by the shore of Bay of Bengal , the feel of Solitude amidst the escaping Crowd . We Bring You the Teaser off our First VLOG Series of this Season . 

southern parts of Western Ghats is the origin for ‘matti' bananas

The Western Ghats is home to many endangered species of flora. Continuous research in Megamalai and forest surrounding Mangaladevi Kannagi Temple in Theni district has proved that southern parts of Western Ghats is the origin for ‘matti' bananas ( Musa Accuminata), a variety predominantly grown only in Kanyakumari district in the State.
Researchers believe that this cultivable variety could have been evolved from continuous domestication of the ‘wild matti' present in the southern Western Ghats, said V. Ganesan, District Forest Officer.
Hill banana is a popular fruit in the country, known for its nutritional value. The origin of this species had been traced to the Indo-Malayan belt. Cultivatable banana evolved from two wild species — ‘ Musa acuminata' and ‘ Musa Balbisiana.' Though various varieties such as ‘Poovan,' ‘Rasthali,' red banana, Hill banana, Nendran, Monthan, dwarf Cavendish, Ney poovan and ‘matti' are famous in various part of the State, knowledge about wild species was very limited, Mr. Ganesan said.
A related genus of ‘kalvazhai' ( Ensete Superbum), known to occur on Western Ghats, was found in Mangaladevi Kannagi Temple forest area recently.
Plant exploration and expeditions conducted by the forest officer in the rainforests abutting private estates in Megamalai, one of the biodiversity hotspots in Western Ghats, resulted in discovery of the wild banana, popularly known as ‘Channa vazhai.' After in-depth study of morphological characters of leaves, pseudo stem, flowers and fruits, the variety resembled to that of cultivated ones.
Similar study conducted on various parts of Western Ghats between Anamalai and Kanyakumari in the past decade confirmed the origin of ‘Matti' variety of the wild banana, Mr. Ganesan said.

Taken from www.hindu.com

Nasa terms ongoing Indian winter as ‘deadly'

The US National Aeronautical and Space Administration (Nasa) has termed as ‘deadly' the 2010-11 winter bearing down on north India.
The cold even reached the city of Agra, where the mercury plunged to only one degree above freezing, Nasa said in a recent report.

DENSE HAZE
Northern parts of the country have been chilled by the cold wave that prompted officials to distribute blankets and firewood to those in the usually temperate region but without adequate shelter.
An image taken by Nasa's Terra satellite on January 14 showed a dense haze stretching from the foothills of the Himalayas southward into the metropolitan areas of New Delhi, Lucknow, Patna and Kolkata.
The haze was due to a combination of cold-weather fog thinning during the daytime, burning of wood and other fuels to battle the chill as well as farmers setting agricultural burns typical of the season.

POOR VISIBILITY
The ensuing smoke reduced visibility caused extensive disruption to rail, road and air transportation across the region over the past three weeks.
Meanwhile, the Nasa report coincided with the latest national agro-met advisory bulletin brought out by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) that called on farmers to arrange for more smoking around the field to prevent the crops from cold/frost injury.
Minimum temperatures have been below normal by 3 to 5 deg Celsius over parts of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, east Madhya Pradesh, north Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and interior Orissa, the IMD report said.
Farmers in these regions have also been advised to apply light and frequent irrigation to the standing crops.

SOUTHERN COLD
In Telangana and Rayalaseema in peninsular India, the nurseries of vegetables may be covered with polythene sheet to protect seedlings from cold/frost injury.
But low temperature conditions prevailing in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh are favourable for the wheat crop which is at tillering stage.
However, frost damage of potato has been reported in parts of Uttarakhand.
Frost has been reported also from Malwa plateau in Madhya Pradesh.
The bulletin advised farmers to apply light and frequent irrigation to standing crops and arrange for smoking around the field.
Nurseries of the vegetable crops are particularly vulnerable and should be protected by covering with plastic sheets.

MAIZE CROP
Taking the advantage of mostly dry weather in several parts of the country, farmers were advised to adopt intercultural operation to the crops followed by irrigation.
As the maize crop is sensitive to moisture and nutrients, stress irrigation and nutrient management have been advised for better yields and to help the cob attain full length with good quality grains.

Tomato
Tomato may be adversely affected due to frost in Meghalaya and needs irrigation.
Early harvesting may also be useful in saving the crop, the bulletin said.
Crops are in good condition in southern States of the country. However, given lack of any significant rain, irrigation may be applied to the standing crops to ensure good harvest.

Increasing temperatures will take a toll on rice production in Asia: Rogue “Peer Review” Study

Rice yields 'to fall' under global warming, screamed the headlines of the BBC. The breaking story was based on a  “peer reviewed “ study that said that “the production of rice—the world's most important crop for ensuring food security and addressing poverty—will be thwarted as  temperatures increase in rice-growing areas with continued 'climate change'.

The story was broken by BBC’s environmental reporter, Richard Black on 9^th August and picked up by media all over the world. The next day, WUWT, the climate sceptic blog of Anthony Watts and the most popular science blog with over 55 million hits, picked up the story and challenged readers to write their own story. This prompted readers from all over the world to react to the study. Such was the tornado of reactions that Richard Black wrote back to Anthony Watts the very next day to inform that he would formally retract the story.

But the story still needs to be told so that it deters the climate activist brigade from WWF, Greenpeace, Christian Aid, etc from using this discredited study to misinform environmental/NGO activists and the general public using this study as a reference. The study is an insult to the toiling Asian farmers as well as activists working to promote organic agriculture.

It was Somerset Maugham who wrote “truth is in the detail”. In our new article, we illustrate how catchy catastrophic headlines are invariably misleading, if at all you read the fine print. Most people don’t and accept the headlines on face value. But as you delve deeper, you will find alarmists only stretching truth and the manipulating statistics. The climate alarmists also hide under the shield of “peer review”. This rogue study is an excellent example of the quality standards of “peer review”.

Read More: http://devconsultancygroup.blogspot.com/2010/08/increasing-temperatures-will-take-toll.html

Monsoon is 17 days behind schedule

As on date (July 1), the South-West monsoon is nearly 17 days behind schedule over the Gangetic plains of North India.
The normal date on which it enters Uttar Pradesh is June 14. It has advanced only up to the western parts of Bihar.
Outlook based on various international and Indian weather prediction models available suggests that monsoon rainfall activity over entire peninsular India, especially the west coast, is likely to be good for next week because of strong monsoonal flow over Arabian Sea.

Westerly flows
But elsewhere, the wind flow over North-west India (including Delhi) is predominantly westerly in the lower levels.
The region is under the influence of a prevailing western disturbance which may continue to stay for two more days, according to a group of meteorological experts.
Under its influence, there would be partly cloudy sky and isolated thunderstorm/light rainfall activity over the region.
Since winds over the region are also coming from Arabian Sea, the humidity level is expected to be high.
Under these situations, the region may not witness severe heat wave conditions but the day temperatures may remain slightly above normal.
The group maintained the view that there is little probability of formation of a low pressure area over the head Bay of Bengal during next seven days.
The ‘low' is necessary for revival and advancement of monsoon over the Gangetic plain.

Cyclonic circulation
Nevertheless, there are a few models which suggest formation of a cyclonic circulation over North Bay of Bengal and adjoining Orissa during the next two days.
This may move westwards across Central India and cause good rainfall activity for three days from Friday over areas of north peninsula and central India.
This might also cause scattered rainfall activity over parts of Bihar, Jharkhand and East Uttar Pradesh during this period.
Whether this spell of rain will be sufficient to advance monsoon over these areas will depend on the extent of coverage and sustenance of the activity.
Available predictions from a majority of the models do not, however, suggest advancement of monsoon beyond East Uttar Pradesh, even with the help of a predicted cyclonic circulation.

Uttar Pradesh

The status of sowing operations in the region is as follows:
As on June 30, nursery for paddy has been raised in 81 per cent of the area as against 89 per cent in 2009.
If monsoon arrives in Uttar Pradesh by the first week of July, there would be no adverse impact on yield.
If it fails to show up by this time, necessary measures would need to be implemented.
Normally, sowing of maize gets started from June 15 in the State. As on June 30, only 13 per cent area has been sown as against normal area of 80 per cent.
Delay in sowing may lead to a juvenile crop vulnerable to water logging during the time of high rainfall in July which may eventually reduce the overall yield.
The sugarcane crop is in good health despite dry conditions in June and is not suffering from major pest/diseases.
The delay in monsoon up to the first week of July may not adversely affect the crop. But delay beyond this may slow down the growth/elongation and eventually reduce the yield.
As for pigeon pea, the area sown is 17 per cent as against normal area of 80 per cent.
But the crop can be sown up to beginning of August. There would be no impact of late arrival of monsoon.
Monsoon has already advanced in most parts of Bihar and Jharkhand.

Bihar and Jharkhand
All the three zones of Bihar and most part of Jharkhand have received some rain in the 2 {+n} {+d} and 3 {+r} {+d} weeks of June which has helped recharging of soil moisture.
But one or two spells of heavy rainfall is required for full paddy transplanting work to start across these States.
Although area sown in paddy and other crops is less than the normal, delay up to 1 {+s} {+t} week of July may not impact them adversely. Any further delay may entail contingency measures.

Haryana and Punjab
These two States have quite similar agricultural operations. A majority of these operations are under assured irrigation.
The delay in monsoon may not impact much except that they would have to bear extra cost on irrigation.

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