Based on primary data collected from 105 farming households spread across three districts and nine villages of central Punjab, this study examines groundwater depletion and consequent shifts of the farmers from centrifugal to submersible pumps. It also documents adaptation strategies of farmers in response to groundwater depletion. Owing to groundwater depletion, borewell deepening started in the 1980s and was witnessed on almost all the farms by the mid-1990s.

Aluminium (Al), an environmentally abundant and immobile element, has been studied for its mobility in the Gomati River Basin, a part of the Ganga Alluvial Plain, northern India. The dissolved Al concentrations in the Gomati River water and the Lucknow groundwater range over three orders of magnitude, from 14 to 77,861 ppb. In the Gomati River water, Al is classified as a moderately mobile element. Nearly 19% of Lucknow groundwater samples and all the Gomati River water samples have Al values above the permissible limit (200 ppb) recommended by the World Health Organization.

Wheat dwarf India virus (WDIV) is the first mastrevirus reported to have subgenomic molecules called satellites. To establish association of the satellites with WDIV across a variety of ecoclimatic conditions, a countrywide survey was carried out.

The Cauvery delta encompasses legendary farmlands for at least over the last 2300 years BP that had supported the growth of the famous Chola and Pandya kingdoms. The chrono-stratigraphic study from six sediment cores taken from the Cauvery basin indicates Holocene evolution of the present delta in response to past sea-level changes.

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The Indian dream should not be about 'some Indians' doing well, but 'India' doing well. Making high technology work for the rich is easy. Can Indian scientists make high technology work for the poor? (Editorial)

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Disinfection by-products (DBPs) are formed during treatment of water for drinking purposes. Among these oxyhalide DBPs, viz. bromate, chlorate and chlorite are potentially harmful to humans. In the present study packaged drinking water samples of various commercial brands, available in Mumbai, were analysed for bromide, bromate, chlorite and chlorate ions using ion chromatography.

Groundwater (GW) vulnerability is foundation stone for evaluating the risk of GW contamination and developing management options to preserve the quality of GW. The concept of GW vulnerability is based on the assumption that the physical environment may provide some degree of protection for GW against human activities as well as natural contamination. The main objective of this study is to find out the GW vulnerable zones in Burhner watershed using DRASTIC model in a geographical information system environment.

Advance biochar production technique, hydrothermal carbonization (HTC, wet pyrolysis) offers an option to tap the benefits of biomass residues of food industry characterized by high moisture and low calorific value. HTC is more energy efficient due to its low temperature operationsand higher biochar recovery rates (up to 90%).

The sustenance of food and nutritional security are the major challenges of the 21st century. The domestic food production needs to increase per annum at the rate of 2% for cereals and 0.6% for oilseeds and pulses to meet the demand by 2030. The Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) and the black soil regions (BSR) are the two major food production zones of the country. Since irrigation potetential is limited and expansion of irrigated area is tardy, rainfed agriculture holds promise to satisfy future food needs.

Innovative methods are increasingly important to utilize existing soil information and in this context spatial soil information systems play an important role. Soil is an important component of land use planning as it acts both as a source and sink of energy for many functions of the land. In general, all living and non-living things on earth get their energy for functioning from the soil in the form of nutrients, water and air.