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Current IssueEditorial BoardOnline First ArticlesArchive
Current IssueEditorial BoardOnline First ArticlesArchive

volume 33 issue 3 (september 2013) : 230-233,   Doi: 10.5958/j.0976-0547.33.3.015

IMPACT OF MODERN AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES ON POPULATION DENSITY OF INDIAN PEAFOWL (Pavo cristatus) IN HARYANA, INDIA

S
Sarita Rana*
D
Divya Jain
1Department of Zoology and Botany, Sanatan Dharma College, Ambala Cantt.- 134 003, India
Cite article:- Rana* Sarita, Jain Divya (2025). IMPACT OF MODERN AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES ON POPULATION DENSITY OF INDIAN PEAFOWL (Pavo cristatus) IN HARYANA, INDIA. Agricultural Science Digest. 33(3): 230-233. doi: 10.5958/j.0976-0547.33.3.015.

ABSTRACT

Impact of changing cropping pattern, increased pesticide usage and mechanized farming on the population density of Indian peafowl was studied in Ambala, Kurukshetra, Karnal and Yamuna Nagar districts of Haryana. The study area selected is dominated by agricultural lands under the cultivation of rice, wheat and sugarcane.   Density of Indian peafowl was quite low in wheat and paddy fields but was high in orchards.  Peafowl in orchards was found in microhabitat Cyonodon whereas in sugarcane it preferred Cenchrus. Pesticides used in orchards had less effect on the population density while those used in wheat and paddy decreased the population density immensely. In mango orchards where harvesting was done manually both eggs and fledglings were found while in wheat fields where combine harvesters were used occurrence of eggs and fledglings was nil. Maximum covey size of Indian peafowl was observed in orchards whereas, no coveys were found in paddy or wheat. Habitat loss due to rapid urbanization, decreasing number of orchards as well as use of pesticides and mechanized farming pose serious threat to peafowl in the study area.

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