Abstract: An attempt is made to study soil organic matter and to correlate it with soil salinity in a coastal Block of West Bengal, India. The humic components of organic matter was related with soil infiltration. The study covered three different landforms namely, depressed low land, deltaic land and mudflat covering three villages of Gosaba Block in coastal West Bengal.  The humic components of organic matter, namely, humic acid and fulvic acid, were also separated out. Steady state cumulative infiltration was highest (50-60 mm) in deltaic upland soil and lowest (8-10mm) in depressed soil.  Organic C content of all soils were high (<=1.5 %) and EC values were also low to high (2.5-14.3 dS /m). Saturated soil moisture was high in low land soil. The deltaic upland  soils contained higher fraction of fulvic acid (0.17-0.2%) which enhanced infiltration, whereas depressed soils contained greater fraction of insoluble humic acid (0.30-0.35% ) and exhibited less cumulative infiltration. The humic acid fulvic acid ratio decreased with soil depth. Both the percentage of clay content and percentage of clay plus silt were significantly positively correlated with the percentage of organic carbon (r2 = 0.75 and 0.72, respectively). With an increase in soil salinity, in general there was a decrease in organic matter content for all soils. The relation between sorptivity and clay, pH, EC, porosity and HA were highly significant (r= -0.91, -0.85,-0.86, -0.87 and -0.90, respectively) and negative.     

Abstract: Phytoseiid mites are known as the important predators of phytophage mites and small insects. These mites are found in various crops. A faunistic and dispersion survey of phytoseiid mites was carried out from 2010-2013 in more than 10 province orchards, selected from all the western regions of Iran. Different samples were taken from soil, trees, crops and weeds. After clearing the mites in lactophenol fluid, the slides were made and then identified, In this research 23 species from 7 genera of the family phytoseiidae were collected in the western of Iran.28% of recorded mites were found in Markazi province and the most mites recorded were collected in soil. The highest mite numbers were observed in the altitude range (1500-2000 m). Subfamily Typlodrominae were found at lower temperature than the subfamily Amblyseiinae. The phytoseiid mites were found in region with the mean temperature range (12-20°C) and the mean humidity range (34-50%).

Abstract: This research was conducted to study river sediment at Sarawak Kiri River before and after Bengoh Dam construction. The relationships of Bengoh Dam, Batu Kitang Submersible weir and Sarawak Kiri River sediment are thoroughly analysed and discussed. Future rainfall will increase 3% in 2050s, 5% in 2080s relative to 2000s. InfoWorks RS was employed to model Sarawak Kiri River using hydrological data from July 2015 to October 2015 for model calibration, while November and December 2015 for model validation. The study demonstrated that before Bengoh Dam construction, most of the eroded materials at upper catachment will settle at Bengoh and Git with annual total bed of 0.023m since the river flow is very slow.  Annual total bed deposition will increase to 0.026m and 0.028m as the rainfall increase to 3% and 5% respectively. After Bengoh Dam is constructed, most of sediment materials will be deposited inside the reservoir behind Bengoh Dam with annual total bed of 0.032m. Less sediment were found at Git and Batu Kitang. With the rainfall increment of 3% and 5%, annual total bed will yield to 0.033m and 0.034m respectively at Bengoh, and 0.015m and 0.016m respectively at Git. Generally, it can be concluded that the river morphology at Sarawak Kiri River had changed significantly with the construction of Bengoh Dam.     

Abstract: Some Aspects of Rainfall trends and their Implications on Soil and Crop Management practices in Makurdi were studied. The objective of the study was to evaluate the effects of some aspects of rainfall trends in Makurdi, enumerate the implications of these trends on soil and crop management practices and identify majors that will ameliorate negative implications of rainfall trends on soil and crop through management practices. Daily rainfall data for the period of 32 years (1980 – 2011) were collected from the Meteorological Department, Nigeria Tactical Air Command Headquarters, Makurdi. The data were aggregated to provide monthly and annual totals. In order to evaluate some aspects of rainfall trends, some definitions were considered. Results of the study showed that: Rainfall trends in Makurdi are characterized by seasonality and variability in rainy days and monthly rainy days. It was observed that rainfall intensities of more than 80mm per 30 minutes of rainfall are available between the months of April – October. The risk of soil erosion and degradation during the rainy seasons observed could be reduced through proper soil management practices to give soil the maximum physical resilience through a stable heterogeneous pore system by maintaining a close ground cover as much as possible. Makurdi experiences a hot tropical climate with distinct wet and dry seasons; therefore, timing of cropping seasons is necessary for proper soil and crop management and production.    

Jaipur being the capital of Rajasthan is the focus of the socio-economic and political life of the state. It is the 10th largest city and one of the fastest growing cities in India. It is the center of both traditional and modern industries and is a very popular tourist destination for cultural heritage and historic architecture. It witnessed fast growth both physical and demographic i.e. with 2011 population at 30.73 lakhs, the city is likely to attain a population of 64.95 lakhs by the year 2025 with 5.3per cent annual growth rate. Jaipur City forms part of the famous “Golden Triangle”, “Golden Quadrilateral” and “Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor”. Due to spatial disparity in growth, traffic movement is from periphery to the core city. The radial roads especially in the periphery are inadequate, with the absence of more circumferential roads connecting the radial roadway system.