eChapters

Soil conservation in hilly areas

Soil erosion is a major problem on hills because of steep slopes. It has been estimated that about 6 million ha of land requires intensive conservation measures in Himalayan and sub-Himalayan regions of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. Anthropogenic activities like shifting cultivation, deforestation, over grazing accelerate soil erosion in hilly ecosystem.

9.1 Planning land use

Modern techniques such as mechanization, better crop varieties, and the scientific use of fertilizers can transform agriculture, but before they can be effective the use of the land has to be right. No techniques will make it possible to grow a good crop if the soil conditions are unsuitable for that crop, and no conservation works can prevent erosion when the basic cause is trying to grow crops on land which is really unsuitable for arable farming (plate 9.1). The object of land use planning is to determine the characteristics of land, its possibilities, and its problems, and try to match these to a form of land use which will be sustainable and economically productive.

9.7.1 Some planning principles

An often quoted definition is that ‘planning is the conscious process of selecting and developing the best course of action to accomplish an objective’. In the case of Land Use Planning the objective is the efficient intensive use of land resources.

It is difficult to imagine any field of human activity where some form of planning is not essential to achieve the objective. Consider going on holiday. Certainly it is possible to come home from work one evening, throw some clothes into a suitcase, go to the railway station or airport and buy a ticket to the first holiday resort which comes to mind. Some fortunate people may indeed enjoy so unplanned a holiday but for most of us it would be disappointing to find oneself in a mountain holiday resort without climbing boots, or on a sunny beach with only winter clothing in the suit case. No, one is more likely to achieve the objective of a happy holiday by a planned approach and this means going through a logical sequence of steps, i.e.

Land is merely an area of the earth’s surface comprising all physical, chemical and biological environments that influence the land use (FAO ,1976). Land refers not only to soil but also to climate, landforms, hydrology, geology, natural vegetation including fauna and flora. The land use simply means management of a land for specific uses to meet the human needs in all rural, urban and industrial context, whereas the land use plan refers to a coherent set of decisions about the ways to achieve the desired level preferably on economic background. Thus, the land use planning is the systematic evaluation and assessment of a land and associated attributes for the purpose of identifying the best land use options beneficial to landowners or users without degrading the land resources or environment. It includes not only the landowner or users, but also the policy or decision makers as well as economic experts for financial measures from planning stage or logistic planning to execution.

Land cover

Relates to the type of feature present on the surface of the earth e.g., Fields, trees, concrete high ways.

Land use

Relates to the human activity associated with a specific piece of land. The same land would have a land cover consisting of roofs, pavements, grass and trees. The land use in an area is really an intervention by the people over the existing natural eco-environment for satisfying their needs.

Land cover is distinct from land use despite the two terms often being used interchangeably. Land use is a description of how people utilize the land and socio-economic activity - urban and agricultural land uses are two of the most commonly recognised high-level classes of use. At any one point or place, there may be multiple and alternate land uses, the specification of which may have a political dimension.

Sustainable management of soil and water resources is essential for food, nutritional and environmental security of the country. The total and partial factor productivity of agricultures in India declined over years because of continued degradation of natural resources. The process leading to land degradation are generally triggered by excessive use of land and water resources to meet the growing demand of population for food, fibre and fodder. Various anthropogenic activities leading to accelerated land degradation through salinization, flooding, water logging, erosion of water and nutrients, drought reduced agricultural productivity and nutritional security in the country. These problems can be overcome by optimum utilization of land adopting suitable management practices. For effective land management practices, the soils should be interpreted in forms of their land capability, suitability for irrigation and crop growth. This will not only help the farming community and extension specialists, but also to the administrators and policy makers for using soils for sustainable agricultural production.

Abstract

The landslides of the hill ecosystems are either due to the natural morphotectonic and morphodynamics processes of the planet earth or due to the anthropogenic effects or due to the combinations of the both. In the Indian subcontinent, the landslides are reported from three major provinces viz: Himalayas, Westernghats and The Nilgiris. While the landslides of the Himalayas are demonstrated to be predominantly due to active tectonics, the landslides of the Westernghats are attributed to excessive weathering and rock fall. On the contrary the landslides of the Nilgiris have been thought to be due to extensive deforestation and the related increase in the pore pressure during rainy seasons. But the studies carried out in the recent years show that not only in the Nilgiris but also in other hill systems of Tamil Nadu, the landslides seem to be related to the recent earth movements. This is very significant in the context of fastly recurring seismicities in South India and hence this aspect warrants detailed studies for landslide mitigation.

Leaf analysis and its importance

Improved fertilizer management for crops is important in view of today’s need to reduce production costs, conserve natural resources, and minimize possible negative environmental impacts. These goals can be achieved through optimum management of the fertilizer applied. Understanding the crop nutrient requirements and using soil testing to predict fertilizer needs are keys to fertilizer management efficiency.

Plant tissue testing is another tool for use in achieving a high degree of precision in fertilizer management. Timely tissue testing can help diagnose suspected nutrient problems or can simply assist in learning more about fertilizer management efficiency. Leaf analysis (also called stem leaf analysis, tissue analysis or foliar analysis) is the most precise method of monitoring plant nutrient levels. While soil analysis reveals the levels of essential soil nutrients, leaf analysis shows the grower exactly what the plant has successfully absorbed. Leaf analysis is especially helpful in detecting nutrient deficiencies before they affect plant health and yield.

As we have seen how artificial Intelligence can be useful in agriculture but the nest question always come in mind is that from where and how we can start to learn and what are the model of learning an artificial Intelligence. As Artificial Intelligence is a huge part of Computer Science which means we need an language as medium to perform it and we always prefer Python for that which is very dynamic and easy to learn. In this chapter we will learn about python basics so that in further implementation of artificial Intelligence it will be helpful to us.

I. Introduction

Python is a remarkable language that can claim to be easy and strong. You will be amazed to see how simple it is not to focus on the language you are programming, but on solving the problem. Guido van Rossum was the creator of the Python language which is named after the BBC show “Monty Python’s flying Circus”.

Python is formally introduced as:

“Python is an easy to learn, powerful programming language. It has efficient high-level data structures and a simple but effective approach to object-oriented programming. Python’s elegant syntax and dynamic typing, together with its interpreted nature, make it an ideal language for scripting and rapid application development in many areas on most platforms.”

4.1. Introduction

Presently, in the world, there are 195 countries according to the United Nations, and the number would even go up to 247 if we consider the disputed territories like Isle of Man, Hong Kong, etc. (United Nations, 2016) (Kershner, 2020). But the majority of the countries are still struggling to provide basic life-supporting amenities like nutrition, shelter, and employment. Conjointly, termed as emerging and developing countries such as India, Vietnam, Venezuela, Utopia, etc. (Ahmed and Shimada, 2019). Most of the developing countries are situated mainly in the continent of Africa, Asia and South America. They have got independence for the European countries like England, France, Portugal and Spain in the mid and late 20th century. 

Soil-rejuvenation power of legumes in crop rotations has been known in several parts of the world since ages. It is mentioned in the Indian agriculture of the Chalcolithic period (ca 1000 BC) (Raychaudhuri and Mira, 1993), in Chinese agriculture in the Han dynasty (ca 2nd century) (Hsu, 1980) and in Roman agriculture (White, 1970). Legumes can be ?tted in cropping systems in India in a number of ways, such as, a crop in a cropping system, a catch crop in an intensive cropping system, an intercrop and as a green manure. A brief discussion on these follows.

A levee is an elongated embankment constructed along a river, stream, or floodplain boundary to prevent floodwater from entering protected land. Levees can safeguard settlements, agricultural fields, industries, roads, and public infrastructure, but they do not eliminate flooding and may transfer risk downstream or cause severe damage if overtopped or breached. Their design depends on expected flood level, freeboard, soil properties, seepage conditions, foundation stability, alignment, and available construction materials. This chapter explains levee functions, classifications, advantages, limitations, and structural components. It also addresses seepage control, slope protection, erosion, settlement, failure mechanisms, inspection, maintenance, and the importance of combining levees with forecasting and evacuation planning.

Introduction

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a field that mainly focuses on creating intelligent technologies that can easily perform tasks requiring human intelligence. One subfield is machine learning (ML), which enables machines to learn from data without being explicitly programmed. There are two main types of ML: supervised and unsupervised learning. Supervised learning trains machines on labeled data to predict output, while unsupervised learning trains machines on unlabeled data to find patterns. ML includes techniques such as regression, classification, clustering, and deep learning. ML has the potential to revolutionize many fields but also raises ethical, social, and legal issues. Developing trustworthy, responsible, and ethical ML systems is crucial. The MuCulloch and Pitts Model, proposed by Warren MuCulloch and Walter Pitts in 1943, is the first formal model of ML techniques. It is also known as the linear threshold gate (Fig. 1).

9.1 Introduction

Water is a precious commodity. Necessity of conservation of water supply is increasingly felt all over the world as the demand of it continues to increase when the sources of supply are increasingly scarce. The conveyance and proportional distribution of water is one of the most important part of any irrigation project. Water available in the stream, reservoirs or wells is carried to the field of use through canals. The economy of any irrigation project largely depends on how efficiently the water is being transported and distributed in respect to water losses and cost.

Water losses in irrigation channels are mainly due to evaporation from the water surface and seepage from the bed and side of the channels. Seepage losses some time become the single important factor which causes unavailability of water particularly in downstream of the channel in canal irrigation system and excess pumping of water in tube wells and river lift irrigation system.

16.1 Introduction

Littoral drift is a geological process by which sediments such as sand or other materials, move along a beach shore.Long Shore Drift is the movement of eroded material, in a zig zag way, along the coast. The process arises when waves approach the shore obliquely. That is to say, at an angle other than 90°. The effect of this is determined by factors such as the direction and fetch of the present wind and, in the long term, of the prevailing wind.

Waves striking the shore at an angle as opposed to straight on will cause the wave swash to move up the beach at an angle. The swash moves the sediment particles up the beach at this angle, while the backwash brings them, solely under the influence of gravity, directly down the beach. Some geologists consider a beach to be merely a shoreline feature of deposited material, but William Bascom (1980) has argued that a beach is the entire system of sand set in motion by waves to a depth of ten meters or more off ocean coasts. Submerged, longshore bars are therefore also part of the beach, and thus beaches can be viewed as either:

3.1 Introduction

Different types of farm ponds with their characteristics features are discussed in this Chapter. It is observed that farm ponds can be constructed at different sites starting from the plain areas with relatively flat slopes to valley terrain having steep slopes. The choice of a particular type of pond largely depends on the kind of water supply available and on the existing topography of the site selected. In general for valleys with bottom width less than 100 m, barrage ponds may work well whereas valleys with bottom width more than 100 m, diversion ponds find suitable.

3.2 Collection of Basic Information

Basic information on different data relating to the soil, climate, plant, topography, groundwater table, catchment characteristics, and livestock populations are to be collected for the area where pond has to be constructed. Estimation of water supply from different sources and water demand form the pond for various purposes are to be done and a pond water balance study needs to be done before designing a pond in a particular place.

7.1 Introduction

The entire amount of water that is diverted at the canal head regulator does not reach at the field for use of irrigation. Major amount of it is lost on way during its movement in the canal systems. During the passage of water from main canal to outlet at the head of the water course, water may be lost either by evaporation from the surface or by seepage through the peripheries of the channel. These losses are sometimes very high, and may go up to 50 % of the total water diverted into the main canal. Evaporation losses are low and may go to a maximum of about 7 percent of total losses. The major loss of water in the conveyance system is the seepage loss. Seepage loss depends on the channel geometry and evaporation loss is proportional to the area of free surface. In determining the designed channel capacity, a provision of these water losses must be made. The provision for the water lost in the watercourses and in the field however, already made in the outlet discharge factor, and hence no extra provision is made on that account. However, excluding the above two losses, there is operational loss which when added to the evaporation and seepage losses, the total losses goes up the maximum 50 percent level. The operational loss includes spillage, over-toping, leakage through rodent holes, dead storage, initial infiltration and evapotranspiration from the vegetation along the watercourse. Evaporation and seepage losses of the canals are discussed below.

11.1 Introduction

The entire amount of water that is diverted at the canal head regulator does not reach at the field for use of irrigation. Major amount of it is lost on way during its movement in the canal systems. During the passage of water from main canal to outlet at the head of the water course, water may be lost either by evaporation from the surface or by seepage through the peripheries of the channel. These losses are sometimes very high, and may go up to 50 % of the total water diverted into the main canal. Evaporation losses are low and may go to a maximum of about 7 percent.of total losses. The major loss of water in the conveyance system is the seepage loss. Seepage loss depends on the channel geometry and evaporation loss is proportional to the area of free surface. In determining the designed channel capacity, a provision of these water losses must be made. The provision for the water lost in the watercourses and in the field however, already made in the outlet discharge factor, and hence no extra provision is made on that account. However, excluding the above two losses, there is operational loss which when added to the evaporation and seepage losses, the total losses goes up the maximum 50 percent level. The operational loss includes spillage, over-toping, leakage through rodent holes, dead storage, initial infiltration and evapotranspiration from the vegetation along the watercourse. Evaporation and seepage losses of the canals are discussed below.

9.1 Introduction

The water harvested in the farm pond is a very valuable commodity. Every care should be taken so that not a single drop is wasted. The two major forms of losses in farm pond are (i) evaporation losses and (ii) seepage losses. Evaporative water loss (E_loss) and losses due to seepage are the two vital natural outflow components of unlined farm ponds. Studies conducted byGuerra et al. (1990) and Pal et al. (1994) indicated that the seepage loss from unlined ponds amounts to 45-67 per cent whereas the E_loss constitutes 30 per cent of the total out flow from the system. Water losses by evaporation and seepage were 5.3 and 9 mm day^-1, respectively amounting to 70% of total storage in the ponds (Syamsiah et al.1994).

Estimate of evaporation across the country indicates that it is as high as 2000 mm in the semi-arid tropics. Annual average value of the evaporation loss varies from 1400 to 1800 mm across major parts of the country: the value being highest in west Rajasthan, parts of Saurasthtra and Tamilnadu and lowest in coastal Mysore, Bihar plateau and east M.P. Reliable statistics reveal that about 70 M ha m of water evaporates from the water bodies and land surfaces out of the total annual precipitation of about 400 M ha m received by the country. The total evaporation losses from the water surfaces are about 5 M ha m from the total storage of 15 M ha m in the reservoirs including ponds, lakes spread all over the country (Belgaumi et al.,1997). In this section, the methods to estimate the losses like seepage and evaporation and various techniques to control them are discussed.

Drip system has great promise for efficient utilization of available irrigation water. In our country and elsewhere in the world the scientists are unanimously agreed to adopt drip irrigation method for higher application efficiency and thereby better use of scarce irrigation water. Saksena (1993) reported water losses of only 1-2% in drip irrigation in comparison to 6-9% in sprinkler and 30-35% in surface irrigation method. However, very small area compared to other methods of irrigation so far is irrigated by drip system in our country. Up to 2000 the total area under drip irrigation was 2,59,600 ha in India (Alam & Kumar, 2000). Initial high investment for drip network and pumping system, of course, are discouraging to the most of our farmers. Sharma & Abrol (1993) mentioned that in spite of the very encouraging results and attractive subsidies offered by the Govt. of India, the adoption of the drip irrigation system has not picked up to the expected level. Along with the other reasons they pointed out the high initial cost of the system and lack of research effort on developing cost-effective design suited to local condition are responsible for non-practice of drip irrigation at a considerable scale.

Some research works has been conducted to find out low cost method of drip irrigation. Biswas (1998) developed a manually operated drip irrigation system made of bamboo mains, laterals and sub-laterals. The system and its performance are described below.

Drip Network

The main and laterals of the drip network were made of hollow bamboo pieces each of 3m lengths with 7.5cm and 4.0cm diameter respectively. The sub lateral or the emitters were the bamboo twigs of 0.25cm inside diameter and 1.05-1.10m length to suit the spacing between the plant rows. The mains and laterals were made for the required length in the field by jointing together the sections one after another (Fig. 7.1). The ends of two sections, which contact each other, were made such that one section easily gets inside the other for about 10-15cm.

Farmers’ data collection can be a valuable input for the development of agrometeorological advisories because it provides a unique perspective on the local weather and climate conditions that affect their crops and farming practices. Farmers have a deep understanding of the local environment and are often able to observe subtle changes in weather patterns and soil conditions that may not be captured by traditional meteorological instruments. By collecting data on weather patterns, soil moisture, crop growth, and other factors, farmers can provide valuable insights into the complex relationships between weather, climate, and agriculture. This data can be used to improve the accuracy and relevance of agrometeorological advisories, which are critical for helping farmers make informed decisions about planting, irrigation, pest management, and other aspects of crop management. By incorporating farmers’ data into the development of these advisories, researchers and policymakers can create more effective and targeted recommendations that take into account the specific needs and conditions of local farming communities. Furthermore, the collection of farmers’ data can also help to identify gaps in existing meteorological data and provide insights into the impacts of climate change on local agriculture. This information can be used to inform the development of more effective climate adaptation strategies and to support the creation of more resilient and sustainable agricultural systems.
In addition, the involvement of farmers in data collection can also help to build trust and promote the adoption of agrometeorological advisories. By working closely with farmers and incorporating their knowledge and expertise into the development of these advisories, researchers and policymakers can create more effective and sustainable solutions that meet the needs of local farming communities. Overall, the collection of farmers’ data can provide a valuable input for the development of agrometeorological advisories, helping to create more effective, targeted, and sustainable solutions that support the needs of local farming.
5.1 Low Cost Instrumentation
The use of low-cost instrumentation in agriculture is essential for enabling farmers to collect accurate and reliable data on various parameters that affect crop growth, soil health, and farm management. In many developing countries, smallholder farmers lack access to expensive and sophisticated equipment, making it difficult for them to make informed decisions about their farming practices

In this chapter of machine learning algorithms we will cover the basic algorithms of machine learning with their implementation using dataset and discuss their pro’s and cons of algorithms for better understanding and how to use them in any project or with any dataset to get an correct result which can useful for research or study.

Key Component

We defined a data set composed of audio, images and binary labels that provided an understanding of how we could train a model from snippets to classifications. This sort of problem is one of many kinds of machine learning problems when we try and predict a specified unknown label given known inputs, provided that a dataset of examples for which labels are known is called supervised learning. Let’s discus what are the major key components we have to get there