Dr. Ajay

Ajay Kumar Upadhayay

Senior Scientist (Soil Science)

Ph.D. in Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry 1995 Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi .

M.Sc. (Ag) in SSAC 1989 and B.Sc (Ag) 1987 Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi;

During my Ph.D, I worked on the effect of N-K-Zn interaction in wheat-moong-maize cropping system. Further, in the field of integrated nutrient management of palms (Coconut & Arecanut), it was found that 50 % substitution of inorganics by composted coir pith gave highest economic returns with beneficial effect on soil and plant health. Experience in on farm waste composting of coconut gave best results with chemical treatment. Potassium and sulphur adsorption studies in different coconut growing soils. Geospatial variability of available nutrient pool in different cropping systems. Mobility of the P and K in soil has been worked out in fertigation experiment. Integrated nutrient management in coconut based cropping / farming system involving on farm waste recycling and chemical inputs.

In grapes, improving water use efficiency through the use of mulch and antitranspirant like Antistress have led to saving of 20-25 % irrigation water in grafted vines. Work on rootstock like Dogridge and B-2/56 revealed > 25 % saving in irrigation water compared to own rooted vines. Subsurface irrigation in grafted vines could save 20-25 % irrigation water.

Studies on fertigation showed that 40 % of recommended fertilizer level is sufficient for higher yield and quality of vines. In fertigation studies on mature vines the phosphorus application could further be reduced by 50% compared to earlier studies on young vines.

Studies on nutrient uptake pattern revealed that nutrient uptake was affected by rootstock. The 110R rootstock was superior to Dogridge in restricting Na uptake grapevines. Own rooted vines accumulated more potassium compared to vines grafted on Dogridge, 110R and Salt Creek rootstocks during the initial vine growth stage (bud differentiation and flowering stage). However, as the season progressed grafted vines accumulated more potassium compared to own rooted vines. Grafted vines produced significantly higher yield and pruned biomass compared to own rooted vines.

Diagnosis of nutrient imbalance in raisin producing vineyards affected bunch stem necrosis revealed that ratio of Ca and Mg rather than their absolute contents were associated with the necrosis.

Studies on black leaf symptoms in vineyards receiving saline irrigation revealed excess accumulation of Na and very low K content. The fruitfulness was reduced significantly in the vines affected during the foundation pruning. The results indicated that Dogridge could not restrict sodium accumulation. Shiny spot symptom was associated with potassium deficiency. The symptomatic vines were highly susceptible to powdery mildew incidence. Vein reddening and necrosis leading to reduced fruitfulness was associated with low potassium content. In symptomatic vines reduced content of other nutrients were also present. Cluster necrosis caused by Downy mildew during pre bloom stage was more in potassium deficient vines.

Infrastructure Establishment: Established National Referral Laboratory in the centre for monitoring pesticide residues in grapes for export to European Union. The project involved design and layout of the laboratory, coordination with the construction agencies, procurement of equipments and their installation and all the other arrangements for making the laboratory functional

a. Assessment and modeling of soil and crop growth parameters using remote sensing and GIS techniques. Conducted by Division of Agril. Physics, IARI, New Delhi in July 1997 for 21 days.

b. Production System Approach for Sustainable Agriculture Development Conducted by NAARM, Hyderabad, from 7 – 11 Dec. 1998 for 5 days.

c. Web programming & Internet technologies. Conducted by IASRI, New Delhi from 25 Oct. to 6 Nov. 1999 for two weeks.

d. Attended Refresher Course on ‘Recent Advances in Agricultural Research Project Management’ – 21 days programme 10^th to 30^th Sept. 2001 at NAARM, Hyderabad. Participated as a Trainee. The course programme was divided into three modules viz. Agriculture Research Environment, Operations Management and Human Resources Management. Acquired skills on Agriculture Research Project Management.

a. Attended Workshop on ‘Support for Agroforestry Model User’s Group’ in Malang, Indonesia – 30 June – 5^th July 2001. The workshop was jointly organized by International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (South East Asia programme), Indonesia; Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, UK; Imperial College, UK and Brawijaya University, Indonesia.

b. Attended the training programme on Pesticide residue analysis at TNO Food and Nutrition Research laboratory, Zeist, Netherlands. The training was held from 26^th January to 30^th January, 2004.

c. Attended the training programme on Pesticide residue analysis at RIKILT Institute of Food Safety, University of Wageningen, The Netherlands form 17-21^st January, 2011.

a. Presented paper entitled ‘Multi-residue screening of 100 pesticides in grapes by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry’ was presented in the session of ‘Analysis of Contaminants’ as a poster on 18^th September 2006 and participated in 120^th AOAC International Meeting and Exposition at Minneapolis, USA from 17– 22 September 2006: The Conference was organized by AOAC International and funded by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Ministry of Commerce, New Delhi under National Referral Laboratory Scheme.

b. Sabbatical Leave (as Hon. Post Doctoral Fellow) from 26^th Nov. 2007 to 25^th Nov. 2008: The objective of the programme was to study the effect of Advanced fertigation system in comparison to conventional fertigation on nutrient accumulation and leakage from the system in citrus garden. The results showed that drainage was 18.5% and 23 kg NO₃-N ha^-1 was leached for the period between 30^th of August 2007 to the 20^th of June 2008. This equated to 16% of the nitrogen applied lost as NO₃-N leaching. The results showed that the nitrate concentration in the 1.5 m SoluSAMPLER was regularly over the 10 mg/L NO₃-N ha^-1 threshold. This method of assessing deep drainage and nitrate leaching has been shown to be a viable option for assessing the environmental impacts of Advanced fertigation, due to nitrate leaching and will help in optimizing fertilizer use in citrus production.

c. Part of the Indian delegation to the Netherlands under the framework of Govt. to Govt. project of the Dutch Govt. from 10-15 July, 2011. This interaction was planned with the objective of strengthening good agricultural practices, tracking and tracing system with accompanying sampling for the residue analysis and exchange of best practices in the field of residue analysis.

National Research Centre for Grapes, P.B. No. 3, Manjri Farm Post, Solapur Road, Pune - 412 307, Maharashtra, India.