ABSTRACT Though application of chemical fertilizers has contributed significantly to the huge increase in the world food production, the adverse impacts of it are well known. To develop an organic farming system an experiment was conducted on paddy, in old alluvial soil zone, with vermicompost prepared from screened municipality solid waste and different doses of bio-fertilizer and chemical fertilizer which is productive, profitable, enhances soil health and conserves the natural resource. We compared crop yields, crop morphological and morpho-physiological characters along with economical analysis obtained from three consecutive years experiment (2017 to 2019) along with long-term soil sustainability. It has been observed that 25% NPK fertilizer can safely be supplemented by low cost and natural resource-based vermicompost at 2.5 t ha−1 to achieve long-term sustainability in paddy cultivation that is more productive and profitable.

Calcium hydroxyapatatite (CHAP) has been fabricated from waste material as an egg shell towards the applicability of glyphosate (GLY) removal from aqueous phase via biosorption method. However, regarding parameters, which have been obtained to influence adsorption capability to perform the optimization study by Box–Behnken design (BBD). The materials were characterized by BET surface, field-emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer (FESEM-EDX), Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR study), zero-point charge (ZPC), X-ray patterns (XRD), etc. The highest optimization was recorded as 99.9532% adsorption, regarding adsorption dose of 0.05 g, GLY concentration of 49.99 mg/L and pH of 4.22, respectively. The adsorption kinetics study was demonstrated with pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order and intraparticle diffusion modelling, as compared to maximum fitted with pseudo-second order. The study of equilibrium was employed through Langmuir, Freudlich, Dubinin–Radushkevitch (D–R), Tempkin isotherms, leads maximum with Freundlich (KF = 177.47 Lmg−1) and Temkin to derive the mechanism as usually engaged chemisorption. The thermodynamic parameters revealed that ΔHo (5E-13 kJ/mol) has positive showed with negative on ΔSo (− 0.0572 kJ/mol) to conform endothermic reaction facilitated with spontaneous response. The regeneration study was examined by three types of eluting agents, the NaOH: NaCl medium is the best recommended in stage of six cycles with 80% efficiency. This adsorbent utility could be beneficial to GLY adsorption in sustainable ways.

In this study, orthophosphoric acid-modified activated char was prepared from Eucalyptus camaldulensis bark (EBAC), and used for removing traces of [ N -(phosphonomethyl)glycine] (glyphosate) herbicide from aqueous solution. The adsorption capacity was characterized by zero-point-charge pH, surface analysis, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Batch mode experiments were conducted to observe the effects of selected variables, namely dose, contact time, pH, temperature, and initial concentration, on adsorption capacity. Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, and Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherm models were generated to describe the mechanisms involved in the multilayer adsorption process. The results show that high temperature enhanced the adsorption capacity of EBAC, with a temperature of 373 K yielding adsorption capacity ( q max ) and Freundlich parameter ( K F ) of 66.76 mg g −1 and 9.64 (mg g −1 ) (L mg −1 ) − n , respectively. The thermodynamics study revealed entropy and enthalpy of −5281.3 J mol −1 and −20.416 J mol −1 , respectively. Finally, glyphosate adsorption was optimized by the Box–Behnken model, and optimal conditions were recorded as initial concentration of 20.28 mg L −1 , pH 10.18, adsorbent dose of 199.92 mg/50 mL, temperature of 303.23 K, and contact time of 78.42 min, with removal efficiency of 98%. Therefore, it can be suggested that EBAC could be used as an efficient, low-cost adsorbent for removal of glyphosate from aqueous solutions.

Article history: Received– 20 June, 2018 Revised– 28 July, 2018 Accepted– 10 August, 2018 Available– 18 August, 2018 (online)

A field experiment had been carried out in the Crop Research and Seed Multiplication Farm of The University of Burdwan, West Bengal, India during the two consecutive winter seasons of 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 to study the effect of indigenous rhizospheric bacterial strains on growth, physiology and yield of mustard variety. Pseudomonas putida, Burkholderia cepacia, Burkholderia sp. and their mixture were used as seed inoculants for mustard cultivation. The experiment was laid down in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Results revealed that indigenous inoculation (with reduced dose of chemical fertilizer) significantly increased (p < 0.05) the yield of mustard as compared to uninoculated control (full recommended dose of NPK fertilizers). A combination treatment of biofertilizer and chemical fertilizer also increased plant height, plant biomass and other yield components compared to control. The comprehensive approach of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) in agriculturally important crops should be carried out to explore the hidden potential of PGPR and to promote the quality and yield of crop under field conditions.

The present study highlights the use of forest soil for glyphosate removal from aqueous solutions under different experimental conditions through batch mode and optimizing the process conditions. Maximum glyphosate adsorption (161.29 mg/g) occurred at pH 12. Experimental data of glyphosate biosorption onto forest soil fitted well to Langmuir isotherm model in comparison with the Freundlich and D–R model. Kinetic studies were carried out to get useful information on the rate of glyphosate adsorption onto the forest soil, which was found to follow pseudo-second-order model. Four important process parameters including glyphosate concentration (5–30 mg/L), pH (2–14), contact time (5–120 min) and dose (0.05–1.5) were optimized to obtain the best response of glyphosate removal using the statistical Box–Behnken design. Optimized values of initial glyphosate concentration, pH, contact time and dose were found as 25.74 mg/L, 12.0, 119.99 min and 0.05 g, respectively, with the 87.8% removal efficiency. The efficiency of the operating variables was also assessed by the percent contribution and Pareto analysis. Thermodynamics data suggest that glyphosate adsorption is spontaneous in nature. The results revealed that forest soil can be used as an effective and low-cost adsorbent to remove glyphosate from aqueous solutions.

Identification of tree species that can biologically monitor air pollution and can endure air pollution is very much important for a sustainable green belt development around any polluted place. To ascertain the species, ten tree species were selected on the basis of some previous study from the campus of the University of Burdwan and were studied in the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. The study has been designed to investigate biochemical and physiological activities of selected tree species as the campus is presently exposed to primary air pollutants and their impacts on plant community were observed through the changes in several physical and biochemical constituents of plant leaves. As the plant species continuously exchange different gaseous pollutants in and out of the foliar system and are very sensitive to gaseous pollutants, they serve as bioindicators. Due to air pollution, foliar surface undergoes different structural and functional changes. In the selected plant species, it was observed that the concentration of primary air pollutants, proline content, pH, relative water holding capacity, photosynthetic rate, and respiration rate were higher in the pre-monsoon than the post-monsoon season, whereas the total chlorophyll, ascorbic acid, sugar, and conductivity were higher in the post-monsoon season. From the entire study, it was observed that the concentration of sulfur oxide (SO x ), nitrogen oxide (NO x ), and suspended particulate matter (SPM) all are reduced in the post-monsoon season than the pre-monsoon season. In the pre-monsoon season, SO x , NO x , and SPM do not have any significant correlation with biochemical as well as physiological parameters. SPM shows a negative relationship with chlorophyll ‘a’ (r = −0.288), chlorophyll ‘b’ (r = −0.267), and total chlorophyll (r = −0.238). Similarly, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and the total chlorophyll show negative relations with SO x and NO x (p < 0.005) during the post-monsoon season. Proline shows a positive relationship with SO x in the pre-monsoon season whereas in the post-monsoon season proline content shows a positive relationship with both SO x and NO x . The present study facilitates to screen eight sensitive and two moderately tolerant tree species according to their air pollution tolerance index (APTI) values.

The aim of this research work is to develop a novel cost effective strategy for fluoride removal, applicable to rural areas of developing countries. Most of the adsorbent based technologies for fluoride removal work at acidic pH which is not a feasible condition for application in rural areas. This study investigates the feasibility of three low-cost adsorbents (calcium carbonate, activated alumina, and activated sugarcane ash) for the removal of fluoride ions by adsorption using a synthetic fluoride solution (3.0–30.0 ppm). The effects of various process parameters have been investigated by the following batch adsorption technique at 30 ± 1 °C. Fluoride ion adsorption increased with increasing adsorbent dose for all the adsorbents. Adsorption of fluoride increased with increasing contact time and reached equilibrium at 100 min. Adsorption data were fitted with the Langmuir isotherms. The maximum fluoride adsorptions occurred as 12.5 mg/g, 1.2 mg/g, 10.99 mg/g for calcium carbonate, activated alumina and activated sugarcane ash, respectively. Further, fluoride adsorption of all the studied adsorbents follows pseudo-second-order kinetics (R2 0.99). Intra-particle diffusion model revealed that activated carbon of sugarcane ash is more effective in adsorption of fluoride. Thermodynamic study showed spontaneous nature and feasibility of the adsorption process with negative enthalpy (∆H0) value also supported the exothermic nature. These results indicate that activated carbon of sugarcane ash can be used as an effective, low-cost adsorbent to remove fluoride compared to calcium carbonate and activated alumina.

Arsenic (As) contamination is an important environmental consequence in some part of India and other countries. In this study, we investigated that individual phytotoxicity of both As(III) and As(V) on Cicer arietinum. Total five different concentrations (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 mg/L) of both As(III) and As(V) have been considered for this study. Results indicate that percent germination significantly (p < 0.05) reduced with increasing concentration of both As(III) and As(V). However, As(III) showed pronounced effects than As(V). The variation of root and shoot length was equally affected by arsenite, where as arsenate showed higher negative impact on shoot length than root length up to the concentration 6 mg/L. However, arsenate concentration greater than 6 mg/L showed opposite trend of variation in root and shoot length. The pigment (Chlorophyll ‘a’, ‘b’ and total chlorophylls) and carotenoids level also gradually decrease with increasing concentration of both forms of arsenic.

To study the impact of reduced dose of chemical fertilizer and its combination with biofertilizer and vermicompost on morpho-physiological and biochemical traits of mustard (Brassica campestris cv. B9), field experiments were conducted during winter seasons of November to February 2011–2012 and 2012–2013 respectively in an old alluvial soil zone of Crop Research and Seed Multiplication Farm, Burdwan University, Burdwan, West Bengal, India. Mustard was cultivated using a full recommended dose of chemical fertilizer (N:P:K–100:50:50) and along with six different reduced doses of chemical fertilizer combined with biofertilizers and vermicompost. The performance of the crop was adjudged in terms of various parameters viz. leaf area index (LAI), leaf area duration (LAD), leaf area ratio (LAR), crop growth rate (CGR), net assimilation rate (NAR), photosynthetic rate (PR), harvest index (HI) and biochemical attributes such as total chlorophyll, sugar and proline content of physiologically active leaves of mustard. Differential significant (p < 0.05) treatment response was reflected for the studied traits during crop maturity. The data revealed that vermicompost application significantly stimulated most of the studied attributes. It was concluded that 25% reduced dose of chemical fertilizer and its combination with vermicompost (T4) was optimum for most of the parameters studied as compared to the control at both crop stages.

Herbal products are cheaper and effective than chemical based mosquito repellent, therefore an attempt has been made to prepare a 100 % herbal product based on traditional practices and rural wisdom. Present study was conducted for effective utilization of Basak (Adhatoda zeylanica Medik. syn. A. vasica Nees) as a mosquito repellent. Seven varieties of products were prepared from its leaves with different natural compositions. Study results revealed that maximum percentage of weight loss with V-7 variety followed by V-1 and lowest in variety V-6. Almost all varieties of bio-cake burned within 35 - 45 minutes except variety V-5, which took 60 minutes to complete burning. Variety V6 showed highest ash content (7.70 g) and lowest ash was recorded for V-5 (1.67 g) after complete burning. The emission of CO2, CO and O-3 was recorded as V-2>V-4>V-3>V-5 approximate to V-7>V-1>V-6; V-5>V-6>V-1>V-7>V-4>V-2>V-3 and V-5>V-3 approximate to V-4 approximate to V-7>V-2>V-1>V-6, respectively during burning of bio-cake. On the other hand knock down experiment demonstrated that almost all varieties of bio-cakes are effective as mosquito repellent. But only two varieties (V-6 and V-7) caused more than 50 % knock down. Finally the emission of gaseous product was compared with a synthetic mosquito coil.

Aluminum impregnated coconut fiber ash (AICFA) was used for removal of fluoride from synthetic fluoride solution. The AICFA showed high specific area and strong affinity toward fluoride. Synthesized AICFA was characterized by pHZPC, FTIR, SEM and XRD studies. Adsorption kinetics indicated that the adsorption equilibrium was reached within 60 min and the adsorption process followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model better. The Langmuir isotherm model could fit the experimental data well. Thermodynamic parameters such as Gibbs free energy (ΔG∘), enthalpy (ΔH∘) and entropy (ΔS∘) change of sorption were also evaluated which indicated that the adsorption process was spontaneous, feasible and exothermic in nature. Furthermore, the coexisting anions had significant effect on fluoride adsorption. Moreover, desorption study with AICFA showed that nearly 98% of fluoride could be leached out at pH 12. Further, the reusable properties of the material supported the possibility of its use commercially.

Soil enzyme activities provide a unique biochemical means for assessing soil function as an indicator of soil fertility, which can be altered by a profusion of fluoride in the soil and seasonal changes. Seven sites were chosen in the fluoride-affected area of Nasipur, Birbhum District, West Bengal, India, to compare seasonal changes in enzymes (urease, amylase, cellulase and invertase), fluoride content, physicochemical characteristics and the availability of microbes in the soil with a control. The activity of all the enzymes varied with season. Urease had greater activity in the summer, followed by winter; it showed marginal differences from the control area during the winter (p<0.002) and summer (p<0.110) but a significant (p<0.000) difference during the rainy season. Soil pH had a negative impact on urease activity during both winter and summer. Cellulase activity was accelerated by the organic matter and organic carbon content of the soil. Fluoride therefore had the greatest activity against urease activity during the rainy, summer and winter seasons. The microbial population of the soil also showed a negative impact of fluoride, which may in turn affect the soil enzymes and characteristics.

This study aims to check the tolerance potential of Solanum tuberosum to accumulate fluoride (F). For this work S. tuberosum were grown for 87 days under five different concentrations of F viz. control, 11.05(T1), 22.11(T2), 44.21(T3), 110.53(T4) and 221.05(T5) mg per Kg NaF. Study results revealed that maximum reduction of root biomass (82.5 %) at the fluoride dose 95 mg NaF/Kg soil. However, growth ratio and tolerance index showed opposite trend with concentration of F. On the other hand, F accumulation pattern was recorded highest in leaves and % of total F translocation from soil to plant linearly decreases with increasing added fluoride in soil. The F accumulation in leaves, root, shoot and potato tuber is 3.96 mg NaF per Kg, 3.02 mg NaF per Kg, 2.8 mg NaF per Kg and 1.56 mg NaF per kg, respectively. It was inferred from this study that potato (S. tuberosum) accumulates fluoride at tissues level.

Artificial Neural Network model and isotherm study were done to predict the removal efficiency of phenol. An inexpensive adsorbent was developed from orange peel ash (OPA) for effective uptake of phenol from aqueous solution. The influence of different experimental parameters (initial concentration, pH, adsorbents dose, contact time, stirring rate and temperature) on phenol uptake efficiency was evaluated. Phenol was adsorbed by the OPA up to maximum of 97.34 %. Adsorption of phenol on OPA correlated well with the Langmuir isotherm model, implying monolayer coverage of phenol onto the surface of the adsorbent. The maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 3.55 mg g−1 at 303 K. Pseudo-second-order kinetic model provided a better correlation for the experimental data. Moreover, the activation energy of the adsorption process (Ea) was found to be −18.001 kJ mol−1 indicating physorption nature of phenol onto OPA. A negative enthalpy (∆H°) value indicated that the adsorption process was exothermic. Again multi-layer Neural Network model was in very good agreement with the experimental results.

Heavy metals are major environmental pollutant when they present in high concentration in soil and have toxic effects on growth, nodulation and nitrogen fixation of legumes and development of plants. Mercury stress triggers disturbances in cellular structure, and metabolismn is poorly understood. The response of seedling growth and nodulation of Vigna radiata (L) Wilczek to different concentrations (0.1, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 ppm) of mercury (Hg) salt solutions were studied. Morphological parameters like root and shoot length, dry weight, nodule number, total leaf area and biochemical constituents (chlorophyll, malondialdehyde and leghaemoglobin) of bean plants were recorded at an interval of 30 days. The successive growth deformaties in seedlings and nodules were recorded at lower concentration (0.1 ppm), but marginal (0.5 ppm) and higher (1.0 ppm) level of Hg salt solution showed significant suppression. The maximum level of Hg concentration (1.5 ppm) shows high level of tolerance index without any nodule. The control treatment shows maximum level of leghaemoglobin (0.219 mM) and all other morpho-physiological and bio-chemical properties of roots and shoots excepting tolerance index (0.00) and chlorophyll ‘a’ (7.52 mg g−1 FW). Mercury accumulation pattern follows the sequences: leaf > nodule > root ≈ shoot at lower level of Hg (0.1 and 0.5 ppm). However, higher level of Hg (1.0 and 1.5 ppm) showed shoot > root > leaf > nodule. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) study of root also highlights the deleterious effect of Hg salt at higher concentration.

Microorganisms play a remarkable role in decomposition and mineralization of various azo dyes. Bacterial decolorization of azo dyes has gained importance in recent times as they are easy to cultivate and grow quickly. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the potentiality of bacterial strain isolated from Burdwan municipal waste dumping centre, automobile sludge and drain water to decolourise azo and non-azo dyes (Congo red, methyl orange and methylene blue). The study of biochemical test of isolated strain-1 and strain-3 showed positive results for gelatin hydrolysis, citrate utilization, methylene blue and catalase whereas negative results recorded for Indole and voges-proskaur test. On the other hand staining showed positive results for endospore, capsule and gram's staining. But negative results was obtained for acid fast. The study of biochemical test of isolated strain-2 showed positive result for only catalase and methylene blue. Whereas negative results was recorded for gelatin agar hydrolysis, citrate utilization, indole and voges-proskaur test. The dye accumulation study revealed that all the bacterial strain (1, 2 and 3) showed higher percentage of dye accumulation at 20 mg/l followed by 5mg/l and lowest at 10 mg/l for methyl orange. Almost similar results were recorded for Congo red. All the three strain showed good dye accumulation percentage at higher concentration (20 mg/l), but strain-2 and 3 showed higher accumulations at 5 mg/l and 10 mg/l, respectively. On the other hand strain-1 showed higher performance for dye accumulation at lower concentration (5 mg/l) followed by 20mg/l and 10mg/l for methylene blue after 24h of incubation. Genotoxicity study suggests that there is no abnormality during cell division of Allium Cepa with dyes after twenty four hours of inoculation with dye and isolated microbes.

Mosquito Bourne disease is a major threat to public health in urban areas. Synthetic insecticides often results adverse environmental effects. The present paper deals with the control of mosquito larvae using cigarette butts (CBs), an waste product. Cigatette butts are thrown everywhere, where it may cause severe problem as it contains several toxic materials. These toxic materials can cause harm to our environment. It is also reported in literature that in the water bodies where the cigarette butts are thrown mosquito larvae has developed resistance against them. So, the present paper deals with the control of mosquito larval control using cigarette butts. CB extract was prepared in laboratory and it was characterized by FTIR, UV-Vis, pH and conductance. FTIR spectra clearly indicate the presence of phenolic and primary amine containing functional groups. Larvicidal experiments were done in laboratory conditions. The results demonstrated that the mosquito mortality is absolutely concentration dependent. Perhaps this is the first report that aqueous extract of CBs can acts as mosquito larvicidal activity.

This paper presents a novel human-system collaborative robot-programming platform, where case-based reasoning (CBR) and explanation-based learning (EBL) are integrated together. CBR takes advantage of its unique CBR cycle to achieve the knowledge acquisition and reuse in the form of case, realizing efficient robot programming with the support of experienced human experts. EBL optimizes the rule structure in the knowledge base through learning in retrieving speedup rules in order to accelerate the case adaptation process. Feasibility of this proposal is verified via a number of experiments that allow the system to output both schemata for generalized robot programming tasks whose calculation rules are adaptive enough so that it can be applied to novel task inputs. Moreover, it is shown that our system is adaptive to the increase of the cases processed and be able to tackle with the learning utility problem.