ICDA 2023

Teleconnection between Ocean-Atmospheric Oscillations and Extreme Rainfall: A Case Study for Jaffna Peninsula during 2015 and 2020

Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Teleconnection between Ocean-Atmospheric Oscillations and Extreme Rainfall: A Case Study for Jaffna Peninsula during 2015 and 2020 Chathumal, K.P.; Chandrasekara, S.S.K. Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and El-Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) are identified as two ocean-atmospheric oscillations that impact over rainfall of Sri Lanka and cause extreme rainfall events. However, recent studies on teleconnection between ocean-atmospheric oscillations and rainfall over Sri Lanka are lacking. Despite that, this study aimed to identify the IOD and ENSO impacts of the extreme rainfall that caused flooding at the end of 2015 and 2020 in Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka. The daily rainfall (from 2000 to 2020) for the Jaffna Peninsula and monthly sea surface temperature (SST) data (1960 to 2020) over IOD and Nino regions were used for the study. The climatological mean was calculated for monthly rainfall and SSTs, and anomalies were derived. The warm and cold ENSO months were identified based on the SST anomalies at the threshold of ± 0.5 and for the Dipole Mode Index which derives IOD, the threshold levels were as ± 0.4. According to the results, the maximum above-average monthly rainfall was received during November 2015 and December 2020. Nevertheless, IOD was at the neutral phase for both the identified months. Interestingly, except for the Nino 3.4 region, all other regions were in the warm ENSO phase in November 2015. A cold ENSO phase was observed for all the Nino regions in December 2020. Furthermore, the presence of cyclone Burevi in the Bay of Bengal could alter the effect of ENSO during December 2020. Hence, further studies are suggested to understand the relationship between above-average rainfall in Jaffna with the cold ENSO phases, because previous studies identified warm ENSO phases facilitate the above-average rainfall over India.

Optimizing Turmeric (Curcuma domestica) Production through Digital Monitoring and Precision Agriculture: A Study on the Usage of Smart-climatic Agricore Platform

Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Optimizing Turmeric (Curcuma domestica) Production through Digital Monitoring and Precision Agriculture: A Study on the Usage of Smart-climatic Agricore Platform Ranasinghe, W.M.A.M.; Pilimathalawwa, A.M.C.T.; Rajendran, M.A.; Chamara, S. Turmeric is a crucial crop, and optimal water quantity and a temperate environment are vital for rhizome production and plant metabolism. This research study was conducted in Negombo region to investigate the potential of precision agriculture in optimizing turmeric (Curcuma longa) production. This study utilized the Smart-climatic SenzAgro Agricore platform to monitor various parameters including relative humidity, temperature, electron conductivity, and soil moisture in the deep root system, which is critical for managing water. SenzAgro platform builds for general precision agriculture specifications. However, to prove a high impact, SenzAgro mainly focuses on high-value crops. The research design involved a randomized complete block design with three replicates. The study area was divided into three blocks, each containing a treatment plot (1,011.71m²) and a control plot, where common agronomic practices were carried out manually. The local turmeric variety was selected for cultivation, and plant behavior was monitored from the vegetative stage to the harvesting stage between September and December 2022. The initial plant density was 0.59 plants per square meter, and the entire experimental setup was located in the same geographical region. During the study period, the Smart-climatic SenzAgro Agricore platform continuously recorded climatic and soil moisture data for the treatment plots, while manual readings were taken for the control plots. The data collected from the experiments were statistically analyzed using ‘python software’. The results revealed that the harvest obtained from the treated plots was 66.9%, significantly higher than the harvest obtained from the control plots. This research demonstrates the importance of precision agriculture methods in optimizing turmeric production. The SenzAgro Smart-climatic Agricore platform provides an effective solution for monitoring and managing critical parameters in turmeric cultivation. Moreover, the study proposes a cloud platform with a webbased interface and a simple sensor-based method for real-time and accurate climatic investigations. The new knowledge created in this study emphasizes the potential benefits of modernized digital monitoring and precision agriculture for optimizing crop production.

Pesticide Residue Deposits in Crop and Environmental Samples of Rice Field Sprayed using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Pesticide Residue Deposits in Crop and Environmental Samples of Rice Field Sprayed using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Suganthi, A.; Kumaraperumal, R.; Pazhanivelan, S.; Thangachamy, P.; Krishnamoorthy, S.V.; Shanthi, M. The application of pesticide using Unmandned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is gaining impetus across the world and there is a need for assessing its efficacy and spray drift assessment. The study aims to address the knowledge gap in pesticide residue deposit in rice crop ecosystem with UAV application in comparison with conventional spray system. Field experiments were conducted in rice crop to study the initial deposits of the insecticide Fipronils % SC @ 50 g ai/ha applied through UAV in rice crop and also the residues that drift-deposited in field soil and water. Spray was taken during morning hours with the wind speed < 2.5 km/hr. The flight height was 3m, flight velocity was 4m/s and swath width was 3 m. The paddy leaf samples, soil and water were processed and analysed for quantifying the residue deposit of the pesticide using Liquid chromatography coupled with tandem quadrupole Mass spectrometry system. The deposition of Fipronil applied through UAV spray system (with atomizer or jet nozzle) was compared with high volume (knapsack sprayer) and low volume (power sprayer) application. The results revealed that initial deposits of the applied pesticide vary with different spray systems. Residue deposit was higher in UAV spray system than that of high volume spraying. Also, in UAV spray system, application through atomizer nozzle resulted in more initial deposit than with jet nozzle. Efficacy wise UAV performed comparatively better than high and low volume sprayers. Residue deposit was more in top leaves, followed by middle and lower leaves of rice crop. Residues of Fipronil were below detectable limit (0.01 μg g-1) in soil while detectable residues were found in paddy field water samples (0.01 to 0.033 µg L-1). The results revealed the suitability of unmanned aerial vehicles in application of pesticides in rice under the tested conditions while cautioning the direct drop-down and drift effect in paddy field water.

Problems in Adoption of Scientific Agricultural Practices in Agroforestry Home Gardens with Special Reference to Weligama, Sri Lanka

Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Problems in Adoption of Scientific Agricultural Practices in Agroforestry Home Gardens with Special Reference to Weligama, Sri Lanka Abeysinghe, M.G.D.; Samaraweera, G.C.; De Zoysa, M. Agroforestry home gardens are efficient and sustainable land use stratergies. There are few evidences for detailed analysis of agroforestry homehardens in the literature. Therefore, the present study attempts to assess problems encountered in adopting the scientific practices in agroforestry home gardens with special reference to Weligama Divisional Secretariat (DS), Sri Lanka. Three (03) Grama Niladari (GN) divisions were selected from the DS based on the availability of highest number of agroforestry home gardens. The primary data were collected from randomly selected 30 households from each GN division (n = 90) by personal interviews through the use of a structured questionnaire.Their concern on problems in scientific agriculture practices was measured by 5 point Likert scale ranging from 1 to 5 where 1= Extremely easy,2= Easy, 3=Neutral, 4=Difficult and 5= Extremely difficult. Descriptive and Wilcoxon signed rank test analysis were used to analysis data.The results revealed that majority of households have difficulties in access to scientific knowledge (38.9%), ability to understand scientific knowledge and skills (33.3%), access to reach the government agricultural officers (42.2%) and sufficient facilities to improve scientific knowledge (45.6%).Households mentioned that they are easily (34.4%) acquire scientific knowledge and somewhat difficult (52.2%) to involve government home gardening projects like other requi rements. Further, access to scientific knowledge, ability to have knowledge and skills to understand scientific things, access to reach government agricultural officers, sufficient facilities to improve scientific knowledge, interest to acquire scientific knowledge and other requirement are significantly influenced the problems access score. This study emphasizes the need for well-planned extension programs to promote adoption of scientific agricultural practices in agroforestry homegadens.