A field experiment was conducted with view to find out of the influence of four irrigation regimes and three mulches on soil properties, microbial and earthworm population in anole (cv. NA-10) orchard. The most important physical property i.e., bulk density (1.45) and chemical properties pH (8.18), ESP (24.29), ECe (3.01) were significantly reduced in paddy straw mulching and increased the hydraulic conductivity (0.28), available nitrogen (237.90) kg/ha, organic carbon (0.35), C:N ratio (25.22), fungal (136.94), bacterial (8.72) and earthworm (22.57) population drip irrigation at I1 (IW/CPE=1.0) regime significantly improved the hydraulic conductivity (0.22), available nitrogen (225.09) and number of bacteria(8.13) and earthworm (22.43). Application of water at I1 (IW/CPE=1.0) significantly decreased the soil pH (7.98), ESP (24.98), ECe (3.15). The fungal colonies were recorded maximum (210.27) in I3 (IW/CPE=0.6) irrigation treatment. Significantly highest available nitrogen was recorded in I1 irrigation regime coupled with paddy straw (M2) mulch. Interactive effect of I3 M2 and I2 M2 treatment combination proved beneficial improving the soil fungal and bacterial population.

An investigation was carried out to study the performance of 28 hybrids of pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata Duch. ex Poir.) through diallel mating design excluding reciprocals. Observations were recorded on the traits, viz., number of primary branches per vine, node number at which first female flower appears, days to initiation of first female flower, number of fruits per vine, days to first fruit harvest, fruit weight, fruit size, 100 seed weight, flesh thickness, vine length and fruit yield per vine. Among the 28 hybrids of pumpkin studied, the cross ‘Kashi Harit x Punjab Samrat’ excelled in yield per vine followed by the crosse ‘Narendra Upcar x Suvarna’. Thus, first generation hybrids can be well-utilized for exploiting hybrid vigour to achieve improved quality.

The molecular variability of twelve isolates of Pyricularia grisea Sacc. causing blast of rice was studied by using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. The twelve isolates were divided into two major clusters A and B based on their Similarity Degree (SD) value higher than 0.25. The cluster A is divided into A1 and A2. The sub group A2 comprised PKM 3 and sub group A1 divided into A3 and A4 comprised NLR 6 and PKM 5 isolates. The cluster B was further divided into groups B1 and B2. The cluster B2 comprised PKM 2 isolate, the B1 group was further divided into sub groups B3 and B4. The sub group B4 comprised PKM 6 and sub group B3 was divided into B 5 and B6. The B5 included PKM 1 and PKM 4 and NLR 1, NLR 5, NLR 2, NLR 3 and NLR 4 were grouped in B6.

Mamit district of Mizoram is rich in genetic diversity of horticultural crops. But this region is lacking in vegetable production. So, an attempt was made to study the ground reality to improve the vegetable production. Vegetables in the district are grown mainly in home gardens to meet the household requirement partially. A bulk share of vegetable comes from neighboring states and at the same time the communication of the district is not easy. So, one can easily feel the heat of vegetable prices in the market as compared to the other states. Importantly this less vegetable production can be attributed to the non-availability of appropriate technology, inputs and institutional support at farmers’ field. Apart from this water scarcity is another bottleneck for their agricultural development. But the farmer can foresee that the district has got enough potentiality for becoming self dependent in vegetable production based on some good reasons.

India holds the second position in vegetable production in the world after China. North Gujarat contributed 30.10 per cent area under vegetables and 42.43 per cent of production of vegetables in the year 2015-16. In Gujarat, Banaskantha, Mehsana and Sabarkantha districts contributed about 23.55 per cent area under vegetables and 29.85 per cent of production of vegetables in the year 2015-16. Therefore, these three districts were selected purposively for the study. Palanpur taluka from Banaskantha, Kadi taluka from Mehsana and Idar taluka from Sabarkantha districts were randomly chosen and three villages from Palanpur taluka, three villages from Kadi taluka and three villages from Idar taluka were chosen in proportionate to their share in area. Considering the different categories of farmers, 12 farmers were selected from each village adopting multi-stage random sampling technique. A total of 108 farmers, 20 wholesalers and 40 retailers were selected for this study. The average total cost of cultivation per hectare of tomato farms was Rs. 78668 and the average yield of tomato per hectare was 330.20 quintals. The gross income and net income on sampled farms were Rs. 211295 and Rs. 132627, respectively. On an average, cost of cultivation per hectare for brinjal farms was Rs. 64469. In case of brinjal, yield, gross income and net income per hectare were 223.44 quintals, Rs. 111995 and Rs. 47526, respectively. The average cost of cultivation per hectare for cabbage farms was Rs. 71737. The average yield of cabbage per hectare was 248.88 quintals. The gross income and net income on sampled farm was Rs. 119817 and Rs. 48080, respectively. On an average cost of cultivation per hectare for cauliflower farms was Rs. 71170. In case of cauliflower, yield, gross income and net income per hectare were 222.22 quintals, Rs. 146781 and Rs. 75610, respectively. The total marketable surplus was observed highest in case of cauliflower (99.70 %), followed by cabbage (99.68 %), brinjal (99.34 %) and tomato (99.30 %).

The field experiment was conducted during 2003-04 to 2014-15 at Centre for Research on Integrated Farming Systems, S.D. Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar (Gujarat) to study the “Organic nutrient management packages of green manuring-potato-groundnut sequence”. Application of 50 % recommended NPK+ 50% N from FYM+ inorganic sources of micronutrients as per soil test produced the significantly highest potato equivalent yield (47338 kg/ha) of potato as well as recorded the maximum net return (` 1,01,551), BCR (1.75), system productivity (130), system profitability (278) and agro energy K cal (38100), available N (246 kg/ha) and K (330 kg/ha).

The experiment was conducted at the Soil Science Research Farm of SHUATS – State University, Allahabad, U.P. The design of experiment used was 3x2x2factorial randomized block design having three factors viz. three levels of N (60, 90 and 120 kg N ha-1), two levels of FYM (0 and 10 t ha-1 FYM) and two Azotobactor levels (0 and 200 g per 10 kg seeds). Application of nitrogen @ 120 kg ha-1 gave the maximum cob length (18.00 cm), number of grains cob-1 (346.70), test weight (211.79 g) and grain yield (43.03 q ha-1) all these attributes were significantly higher over N1 (90 kg N ha-1) and N0 (60 kg N ha-1). Application of FYM @10 t ha-1 recorded the highest cob length (15.81 cm), number of grains cob-1 (326.40), test weight (205.57 g) and grain yield (36.34 q ha-1) which was significantly higher over no FYM application. Azotobactor @ 200 g per 10 kg seeds recorded cob length (15.38 cm), number of grains cob-1 (323.45), test weight (204.12 g) and grain yield (35.45 q ha-1) these were statistically superior over no seed treatment with Azotobactor. Combined treatment application (T11 = N2+F1+A1) of nitrogen 120 kg ha-1, 10 t FYM ha-1 and 200 g Azotobactor ha-1 was recorded significantly higher cob length (19.11 cm), number of grains cob-1 (362.87), test weight (25.20 g) and grain yield (45.58 q ha-1) these were statistically superior over rest of the treatment combinations.

On the basis of experimental findings, the Front Line Demonstration (FLD) were conducted by selecting 2.0 ha land of 4 farmers from one villages in each of seven Krishi Vigyan Kendra of Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bihar during summer season, 2017. The field trials were carried out with three treatments in randomised block design (RBD) in (0.5 ha land of each farmer). The result of Front Line Demonstration showed that the lowest infestation of insect pests viz, aphid, Rhopalosiphum nymphaeae L. (0.13/ 20 leaves), case worms, Elophila crisonalis W. (0.47/ leaves) & E. depunctalis W. (0.38/leaves) and Rib borer, Chironomous spp. (0.67/ leaves) and highest yield (26.09 q/ha), avoidable loss (20.16%), B.C. ratio (5.26:1) were found in plot having Seed treatment with imidacloprid 70 WS (@5 g/kg seed), Root dip treatment with imidacloprid 70 WS@ 5 g/ lt. water and three foliar spray of NSKE @ 5% and followed by slightly higher infestation of aphid, Rhopalosiphum nymphaeae L. (0.17/ 20 leaves), case worms, Elophila crisonalis W. (0.50/ leaves) & E. depunctalis W. (0.42/leaves) and Rib borer, Chironomous spp. (0.76/ leaves) and yield (25.67 q/ha) in FLD plot having treatment with thiomethoxam 25 WG (@5g/kg seed, Root dip treatment with thiomethoxam 25 WG @ 5 g/ lt. water and three foliar spray of NSKE @ 5%., both were non- significant to each other and significantly superior over farmers practice ( no insecticidal treatment) in effectively controlling the insect pests and gave highest yield. Both the management practices were found equally better than farmers’ practices. It may be concluded that seed treatment with imidacloprid70WS or thiomethoxam 25 WG @5 gm/kg seed and root dip treatment @ 5 gm/Lt of water for half an hour along with three foliar spray of NSKE @5 % effectively managed the insect pests in Makhana crop.

The traditional method of tick control is mainly by use of synthetic acaricides. However, ticks are developing resistance to most of the available synthetic acaricides on repeated usage. In this regard, plant extracts have been attempted in this study in control of ticks. In this study the in vitro efficacy of Carica papaya seeds and Ricinus communis leaves extract in control of different species of ticks was evaluated by larval packet test (LPT) and adult immersion test (AIT). Carica papaya seed extract at 100mg/ml gave good results by inducing 100% mortality of either larvae or adult ticks whereas Ricinus communis leaves extract induced 60 to 75% mortality of larvae or adult ticks at 100mg/ml. In LPT, ticks exposed to Carica papaya extract showed less LC50 values indicative of good acaricidal activity whereas the ticks on exposure to Ricinus communis showed less acaricidal activity with high LC50 values.

Conventional method of rice cultivation consumes large volumes of irrigation water. The introduction of direct dry seeding of rice, in upland environment is found to reduce water consumption to some extent. In this paper, a novel method of irrigation for rice through drip method and fertilizer application through drip system, fertigation, are tried on rice crop and found that the results are quite positive. The experiments are conducted in the Research farm of Jain Irrigation, in Tamilnadu in 2010 and 2011. Six rice varieties, known for adaptation to aerobic growing conditions were tested. Rice grew well under drip and fertigation. Rice yields under drip irrigation ranged from 4.5 to 8.2 t/ha among the varieties; indicating an increase in yield of 17-22% over those from conventional flood irrigation treatment. The water saved in drip method was around 50-61%. Highlighting that drip method of irrigation results in high water use efficiency, we could record water productivity of rice from 0.365 kg/m3 to 0.714 kg/m3 among the varieties tested. These water productivity figures are way above those obtained in flood method of irrigation, 0.097 to 0.224 kg/m3.

A field experiment was conducted at College Agronomy Farm, B. A. College of Agriculture, Anand Agricultural University, Anand, Gujarat to find out the Effect of date of sowing and crop geometry on growth, yield attributes, and yield and quality of amaranthus during Rabi season of the year 2015-16. The experiment consist of twelve treatment combinations comprised of three date of sowing (7th November, 17th November, 27th November) and four crop geometry (30 cm x 15 cm, 30 cm x 30 cm, 45cm x 15 cm and 45 cm x 30 cm). Significantly the highest D1 (7th November) recorded significantly the highest number of panicles (5.95), panicles weight plant-1 (159.34 g), grain yield plant-1 (23.97 g), test weight (0.91 g) and highest lodging percent (19.61%), grain yield (2657 kg ha-1) of amaranthus were recorded by 7th November over 17th November, 27th November. Panicle length (74.76 cm), spikelets length (13.77 cm), least number of days required to 50 % flowering (40.56 days), maturity (103.46 days) and stover yield (6119 kg ha-1). Among crop geometry S3 (45 cm x 15 cm) recorded significantly higher Panicle length (73.90 cm), spikelets length (13.78 cm), number of panicles plant-1 (5.26), panicles weight plant-1 (153.39 g). In case less number of days required for maturity (103.95), grain and stover yields were observed due to different spacings. Spacing S3 (45 cm x 15 cm) recorded significantly higher grain yield (2520 kg ha-1) and stover yield (5762 kg ha-1). The higher net realization of ₹90736 ha-1 and higher B.C.R. value of 5.88 were recorded in date of sowing D1 (7th November). Among crop geometry S3 (45 cm x 15 cm) resulted in higher net realization ₹ 85059 ha-1 with B.C.R. of 5.57.

A study of 112 days on 18 weaned Patanwadi and Merino× Patanwadi healthy lambs of about 180 days of age were randomly distributed into three dietary treatments on body weight basis viz. T1: Total mixed ration (TMR-I) -Conventional group (65% concentrate and 35% urea treated wheat straw), T2 : TMR-II (Azolla-10%, P J Pods -25 %, Corn steep liquor -7 %, G N Cake-10 %, molasses- 10%, mineral mixture- 3% and urea treated wheat straw- 35 %) and T3:TMR-III (Azolla-20%, P J Pods -14 %, Corn steep liquor -15 %, molasses- 10%, vegetable oil- 3%, mineral mixture- 3% and urea treated wheat straw- 35 %). The TMRs were iso-nitrogenous. The daily gains in body weight were significant (P<0.05) amongst treatments and were in descending order of TMR I, II and III. The result indicated that the incorporation of Azolla 10% and more in the weaner ration significantly (P<0.05) reduced the growth rate. An increase in body length (cm) followed the same trend. An improvement in heart girth was similar in all treatments while gain in height at wither (cm) was found to be highest (P<0.05) in TMR-I (7.83±0.83) followed by TMR-II (5.72±0.43) and the lowest (P<0.05) height at wither (cm) in TMR-III (5.08±0.46). Nutrient intakes were to satisfy the requirement, whereas, digestibility (%) of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP) and ether extract (EE) were declined significantly (P<0.05) in lambs fed non conventional feed stuff containing total mixed rations except crude fibre (CF) digestibility which was statistically similar. Moreover, the lambs of all treatments showed positive nitrogen balance

The lesion nematodes Pratylenchus spp. is described as one to the major limiting factor in crop production especially in chickpea. The approach of nematode management with bio-control agents will provide an environmental sustainable and suitable for plant and animal health. Fifteen soil inhibiting fungi were isolated from the Pratylenchus prone soils of different localities and isolated fungi were identified and attempts were made to find out their antagonistic behavior against Pratylenchus thornei. Out of 15 fungi, P. pinophilum, T. harzianum, T. viride, Crisosparium sp. (T), Crisosporium sp. (R), F. moniliforme, Cladosporium sp. and A. alternata were exhibited positive correlation against the existing population of P. thornei and their antagonistic behaviour was tested against P. thornei. Reduction in population of P. thornei was 90 percent in the presence of T. viride. However, T. harzianum, Crisosporium sp. (T) and (R), Cladosporium sp. were also drastically declined the nematode population. Nematode population was drastically declined in the presence of T. viride within 72 hours and further reached minimum after 168 hours, similar trend was shown by other test antagonistic fungi.

A total of 42 representative goat fetuses from 10th week of gestation to full term (CR length 12.0 cm to 41.2 cm) were utilized for the present investigation. Incisor blocks and hemisections of head were radiographed in dorso- ventral and latero-medial projection, respectively. The sequential progression of development of deciduous incisors was found as Di1, Di2, Di3, Di4. The beginning of crown formation was detected at 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th week for Di1, Di2, Di3 and Di4 in goat fetuses, respectively. The complete crown formation and beginning of root formation was detected at 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st week for Di1, Di2, Di3 and Di4, respectively. At full term, roots of all deciduous incisor teeth were at various levels of development but none had completely formed. The present investigation revealed bilateral symmetry in deciduous incisor teeth development in goat fetuses. There was no any radiographic indication for development of upper deciduous incisors as well as permanent incisor teeth in upper and lower jaw. The scientific baseline data generated from the present study on various radiographic developmental stages of deciduous incisor teeth could be utilized as guideline to estimate age in goat fetuses from 12 weeks to full term.

A field experiment on “Effect of integrated weed management on growth, yield and quality of soybean (Glycine max L Merrill)” was undertaken during kharif, 2013-14 at Post Graduate Institute Instructional Farm, Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri, Dist. Ahmednagar (Maharashtra). The various growth contributing characters viz., plant height, plant spread, number of leaves, leaf area, number of root nodules and dry matter production were significantly higher with treatment weed free i.e., one hoeing at 15 DAS and 2 HW at 25 and 45 DAS, which was at par with PE application of pendimethalin 38.7 per cent cs @ 677.25 g a.i. ha-1fb 1 HW at 30 DAS, PE application of metribuzin @ 525 g a.i. ha-1fb 1 HW at 30 DAS and metribuzin @ 525 g a.i. ha-1fb imazethapyr + propaquizafop-ethyl @ (80+60) g a.i. ha-1 The yield contributing characters like number of pods plant-1,number of seed plant-1,weight of,pod weight plant-1, weight of seeds plant-1 were recorded significantly higher with treatment weed free i.e., one hoeing at 15 DAS and 2 HW at 25 and 45 DAS, which was at par with PE application of pendimethalin 38.7 per cent cs @ 677.25 g a.i. ha-1 fb 1 HW at 30 DAS, PE application of metribuzin @ 525 g a.i. ha-1 fb 1 HW at 30 DAS, and metribuzin @ 525 g a.i. ha-1fb (imazethapyr + propaquizafop-ethyl) @ (80+60) g a.i. ha-1 and same pattern also observed in seed and stover yield. All the weed control treatments controlled weeds effectively as compared to unweeded check. Among the weed management treatments One hoeing at 15 days after sowing followed by hand weeding at 25 and 45 days after sowing, metribuzin @ 525 g a.i. ha-1 combined with one hand weeding at 30 days and metribuzin @ 525 g a.i. ha-1fb imazethapyr + propaquizafop-ethyl @ (80+60) g a.i. ha-1 after sowing recorded significantly higher values of weed control efficiency, herbicide efficiency index and minimum values of weed index indicating better bio-efficacy of treatments.

An experiment was conducted to examine the thirty treatments with five levels of organic nutrients viz., control (Recommended dose of N as urea), farmyard manure, vermicompost, poultry manure and neem cake along with six levels of bio-fertilizers viz., seed treatment with PSB (200 ml/ha), seed treatment with KMB (200 ml/ha), seed treatment with Azospirillum (200 ml/ha), soil treatment with PSB (500 ml/acre), soil treatment with KMB (500 ml/acre) and soil treatment with Azospirillum (500 ml/acre) were tested in a Randomized Block Design (with factorial concept) with three replications during the rabi season of the year 2013 and 2014. The results revealed that, the significantly maximum weight of pod (6.10 g, 6.29 g and 6.19 g), highest yield of pods per plot (1.98 kg, 2.22 kg and 2.10 kg) and yield of pods per hectare (101.35 q, 113.70 q and 107.52 q) was recorded with treatment F5 (Recommended dose of N as neem cake) and treatment T1 [Seed treatment with PSB (200ml/ha)] was found significantly highest number of pods harvested per plant (6.34, 6.16 and 6.25), weight of pod (6.22 g, 6.26 g and 6.24 g), yield of pods per plot (1.93 kg, 2.19 kg and 2.06 kg) and yield of pods per hectare (98.73 q, 112.28 q and 105.50 q) during the year 2013, 2014 and in pooled analysis, respectively. The significantly highest number of pods harvested per plant (5.89) was observed with treatment F5 (Recommended dose of N as neem cake) in pooled. The significantly maximum nitrogen content (4.20 % and 4.15 %) and protein content (26.28 % and 25.96 %) was recorded with treatment F5 (Recommended dose of N as neem cake) and treatment T1 [Seed treatment with PSB (200ml/ha)] was found significantly maximum nitrogen content (4.29 % and 4.13 %) and protein content (26.86 % and 25.88 %) during the year 2013 and 2014.

Manner and from human activities there are huge possibilities of the change in heavy metal ratio in soil and plants during a time period. This study was conducted to evaluate the selectivity sequence and to estimate the competitive adsorption of several heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd and Ni) on six different soils of India in mono metal and multi metal solutions. The results denoted that the sorption isotherms of all these heavy metals on all the studied soils were characterized by Langmuir equation. Results indicated that all the soils have a maximum sorption capacity and binding strength for Pb. Metal solid/liquid distribution coefficients (Kd), which represent the adsorption affinity of the metallic cations in solution for the solid phase were also calculated, the Kd values denote that the sequence of preference was Pb > Cu > Cd > Zn > Ni which may be correlated with the metal hydrolysis constant. The value of metal Kd was lower in multi metal solution than mono metal solution. The order of preference was supported by Langmuir Qmax values and relative sorption capacity values. The adsorption of heavy metals was significantly positively correlated with soil organic matter and soil CEC while negatively correlated with soil pH. The values of Langmuir constants, Kd and relative sorption capacity also suggest that the adsorption was in the order of soil 3 > soil 5 > soil 2 > soil 4 > soil 1> soil 6.

Present study was carried out across different Agro-climatic zones of Karnataka to assess the extent of agricultural diversification in the state. the study spans over a period of 20 years from 1992 to 2012 was divided into two phases (1992 to 2002 and 2002 to 2012) to assess the impact of agricultural policy on Karnataka agriculture as a whole and cropping pattern in particular, Studies indicated complete decadal shift in cropping pattern in North Eastern Transition Zone (0.1514 & 0.1274), North Eastern Dry Zone (0.1588 & 0.1464), Central Dry Zone (0.1666 & 0.1593), Southern Dry Zone (0.1748 & 0.1770), Southern Transition Zone (0.1754 & 0.1649) and Northern Transition Zone (0.1542 & 0.1254). Whereas the extent of diversification was more during first decade in the above mentioned zones, Hilly Zone and Coastal Zone (0.6733 & 0.6973) indicated crop specialization. Eastern Dry Zone (0.3758 & 0.3680) revealed moderate diversification in cropping pattern for both the decades.

Impact of integrated nutrient management was assessed on crop yields and soil properties under pea-okra system. Thirteen treatments combinations of lime, NPK doses and vermicompost were imposed in pea-okra cropping system from rabi 2008-09 to kharif 2011. The recommended doses in 100 % N, P and K were 50:11:42 and 75:21:42 for pea and okra, respectively. The results revealed that addition of 125% NPK with 10 t vermicompost ha-1 recorded highest pod/fruit yield of pea and okra during all the years as compared to rest of the treatments. Amongst the rate of vermicompost application, 10 t ha-1 proved better over 5 t ha-1 at 75, 100 and 125% levels of NPK. Lime application with graded doses of fertilizers viz. 75, 100 and 125% NPK also increased the yield of both the crops over 75, 100 and 125% NPK alone as well as control. There was buildup of organic carbon, available N, P, K and exchangeable Ca and Mg due to lime or vermicompost application @ 5 and 10 t ha-1 along with 75, 100 and 125% NPK over 75, 100 and 125% NPK alone. A decrease in the DTPA extractable Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu was recorded in 75, 100 and 125% NPK with lime over 75, 100 and 125% NPK alone. However, application of vermicompost @ 5 and 10 t ha-1 at their respective levels of NPK increased the different DTPA extractable micronutrient content and pH of the soil.

The study examined the level of technology adoption in dryland crops of Andhra Pradesh namely groundnut, bengal gram, cotton, redgram, jowar, castor and tobacco. An adoption index was constructed to quantify the adoption of selected technologies. The results revealed that across crops drought tolerant high yielding variety was adopted between 71.0 percent and 84.31 percent; with the exception of castor and tobacco, sowing with machinery was adopted between 61.76 percent and 84.38 percent indicating higher rate of adoption. With the exception of curing for tobacco, the technologies like gypsum application and earthing-up in groundnut, nipping, thinning and gap filling in cotton and topping and de-suckering in tobacco were adopted between 14.5 percent and 37.14 percent. The percentage of farmers adopting dryland technologies was high in Prakasam district followed by Kurnool and Ananthapur districts. The overall dryland technology adoption ranged between 35.95 and 46.04 percent among the crops and across the districts.

The present study was conducted to optimize the incorporation level of fish flesh for preparation of chicken cutlets and to evaluate the storage stability of developed product at refrigeration temperature. The product yield of the chicken cutlets incorporated with 20 and 30% fish flesh was significantly higher than that of control and chicken cutlets incorporated with 10% fish flesh. Mean sensory score of chicken cutlets at different levels of fish flesh did not differ significantly with control. So, the optimum incorporation level of fish flesh was found to be 30% for the preparation of chicken cutlets. Chicken cutlets could be stored safely in LDPE pouches for 6 days at refrigeration temperature (4±1°C).

The present study was aimed to estimate the concentration of Glucose (md/dl) using Accu-Check Active Glucose meter, Zinc (µg/ml of serum) and Copper (µg/ml of serum) using atomic absorption spectroscopy method at 213.9 nm and 324.8 nm respectively and estimating the Bacterial colony count by taking the wound washings in rabbits after creation of 72 excisional full thickness skin wound and post treatment with the 5% ethanolic and 5% aqueous extract ointment group (6 rabbits each) and comparing the results with the control group (6 rabbits). The lowest concentration of Glucose and Bacterial count and highest concentration of trace elements i.e., Zinc and Copper was seen in 5% ethanolic extract ointment treated group. The wounds of 5% Ethanolic extract ointment of Salix treated groups evinced complete healing (100% contraction) which was followed closely by 5% aqueous extract ointment of Salix acmophylla and distantly by normal saline treated group on day 21 post-wounding, where mean wound contraction /size of 100%. 99.98% and 96.24% respectively was recorded.

A roving survey was conducted for the occurrence and percent disease severity of rice leaf blast caused by Pyriculariagrisea Sacc. in Prakasam and Sri Potti Sreeramulu Nellore (SPSR) districts of Andhra Pradesh during Kharif 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 and Rabi 2010-2011 and 2011-2012. In Prakasam district32.2% mean disease severity was recorded during Kharif 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 and 34.9% mean percent disease severity (PDS) was recorded during Rabi 2010-2011 and 2011-2012. Highest mean PDS (34.1%) was recorded in Chimakurthy mandal and least mean PDS (27.1%) was recorded in Kandukuru mandal. During Rabi 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, Darsi mandal recorded highest mean disease severity (41.1%) and least mean PDS (35.8%) was recorded in Kandukuru mandal. During Kharif 2010-2011 and Kharif 2011-2012 in SPSR Nellore district recorded 34.0% of mean disease severity. Among the different mandals surveyed, Kavali mandal had highest PDS (34.2%) and Podalakuru mandal recorded least mean PDS (27.4%). During Rabi 2010-2011 and Rabi 2011-2012 in SPSR Nellore district, Kavali mandal had highest mean disease severity and Podalakuru mandal recorded least disease severity. The transplanting and tillering stages were highly susceptible for blast when mean values were compared for their progression from one stage to the other.

The present study was contemplated to develop and standardize the scale to measure the perception of extension personnel towards ATMA. Likert and Edwards method were employed in development of scale. Based on review of literature and discussion with the experts, 46 statements were enlisted. These were mailed to 110 judges in the agricultural extension. Fifty-five judges were responded and from the data gathered, “Relevancy Percentage” and “Mean Relevancy Score” were worked out. The final scale comprising of 21 statements was standardized for administration. The scale developed was administered to 30 respondents in non-sample area for measuring perception. The results revealed that the reliability co-efficient and validity of the scale is found to be 0.8459 and 0.9197 respectively, which is higher than the standard value (0.70). It indicates the developed scale is found to be reliable and valid. Further, the results revealed that 46.66 percent of extension personnel had average perception towards ATMA followed by 30.00 and 23.34 percent had better and poor perception towards ATMA, respectively. The variables like age, education, innovative process, perception of work load and mass media participation were showed positive relationship with perception level at 5 percent level of probability, whereas experience in implementing ATMA and participation were showed significant relationship at 1 percent level of probability with perception of extension personnel towards ATMA.

The study was conducted during September-December, 2017 in the north-eastern state of Tripura (India) to examine the functioning of fishermen's cooperative societies in the light of perception of the members themselves. Primary data was collected from 123 number of cooperative members spread over eight societies across West Tripura and Gomati districts. It was revealed that in terms of length of membership, apart from 9.76% of the respondents who had >20 yrs. of association with their respective societies, 73.17% more were having 6-20 yrs. of such attachment. Though 73.17% of the members were found to be in the category of below poverty line and a very high proportion of 97.56% of them were representing Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe community, which called for shielding such populace by fishermen’s cooperatives as handy institutional device, according to the perception of 83.55% respondents they could accrue very little benefits from their societies. In terms of extent of participation of members in various functional activities of their societies also, very high extent of non-participation was detected to pose challenge to the basic tenets of cooperative societies that repose faith on self-help and mutual-help to derive some common benefits. Among the perceived functional weaknesses, ‘unsatisfactory economic performance’ appeared to be the prime one, followed in descending order by ‘inadequate water area before hand for fish culture activity', ‘lack of financial support from the government’, ‘lack of transparency in fund management’, ‘lack of proper pond embankment’, ‘casual approach towards timely disbursement of dividend/share of profit’ etc.

To replace hazardous agrochemicals, biological solution is provided by nature in the form of microorganisms having capacity to suppress the growth of plant pathogens and to promote the plant growth. Buckeye rot of tomato caused by Phytophthora nicotianae var. parasitica is a serious threat to the crop production and has taken a heavy toll of the crop in India which affects mostly the fruits during both spring and winter season crops. In the present investigation, six biological control agents were screened for the efficacy against mycelial growth of P. nicotianae var. parasitica. Out of the six fungal and bacterial biocontrol agents tested, Trichoderma virens resulted in maximum mycelial growth inhibition (77.67%) of the test pathogen followed by T. hamatum (69.40 %), T. harzianum (68.52 %) and T. viride (67.43 %). Pseudomonas fluorescens was least effective with 53.67 percent mycelial growth inhibition.

A field experiment was conducted in the year 2010 and 2011 at SKUAST- K, Shalimar campus in complete randomized block design with three replications and sixteen treatments to study the effect of organic manures and inorganic nitrogen on growth and yield of kale var. acephala. Maximum improvement in plant height, plant spread, number of leaves and leaf weight per plant, weight of whole plant and leaf yield per hectare was recorded when 45 t FYM ha-1 along with 135 kg N ha-1 gave significantly higher growth and yield attributes but was at par with F30N90.

The analysis of growth is usually used in economic studies to find out the trend of a variable over a period and used for making policy decisions. The growth in the area, production and productivity of Pulses in Haryana state was estimated using the compound growth function. The necessary secondary data were collected for a period of 15 years from 2000-2001 to 2014-15. Growth rates showed a significant growth in area, production, and productivity of Mungbean and Urdbean while chickpea and pigeon pea showed negative growth in both area and production. CAGR calculated from 1971-2015 showed a deceleration trend (-7.38%) whereas a negligible growth in area under pulses in the state has recorded (0.02 % pa) for the study period from 2000-2001 to 2014-15.

The ZnO Nanocomposites film used in study was characterized by 40nm ZnO nanoparticle embedded in 60 µm thickness poly film with tensile strength of 3.35±0.50 kg longitudinally and 1.67±0.27 kg transversely average breaking load which was provided by CIRCOT, Mumbai. Quality parameters like total soluble solid, acidity, browning index, color value, ascorbic acid content, limonin, carotenoids, sugars and microbial load of nanocomposites and LDPE film packed Nagpur mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) juice stored in refrigerated condition were evaluated at monthly interval. Microbial load recorded as 6 log CFU/ml till 90 days of storage, which was considered as below threshold population in the nano packaging, contain ZnO as nano material. The juice orange color (a/b ratio) was found to be slightly better in ZnO nano packaging (0.33) as compared to LDPE packaging (0.22) after 30 days storage. The juice acidity dwindles from 0.59-0.73% and 0.81% in ZnO nano packaging and LDPE packaging respectively after 30 days storage. Further, least degradation of ascorbic acid (26.95mg/100ml) was observed in ZnO nano packaging. None of juice packaging showed browning upto 90 days storage. Increased trend in limonin and carotene content of juice was observed after 30 days of storage which decreased later in both type of packaging. However, juice reducing sugar in nano ZnO composed packaging maintained their value beyond 30 days in refrigerated storage. Total sugar and non-reducing sugar showed decreasing and afterwards decreasing trend both in nanopackaging and LDPE packaging.

The impact of projected climate during 2030-2090 on the duration and yield of wheat in Southern part of Rajasthan has been analyzed using DSSAT model v 4.5. Data from field experiments conducted at Udaipur, with wheat variety Raj-4037 grown during rabi season of 2008-09 to 2010-11, was used for calibration and validation of model. The crop sown on 5th November showed projected decline in grain yield from 9.3 % in the year 2030 to 35.4 % in 2090. Delayed sowing (5th December and 20th December) showed lower decline in the projected grain yield and duration for physiological maturity. Advance sowing resulted higher decline in grain yield and days to attain physiological maturity of wheat. Incremental unit of maximum and minimum temperatures (0.5 to 3.0oC) during the entire growth period showed that days required for maturity as well as grain yield under each sowing environment decreased as compared to normal durations and grain yield.

Now a day’s saving is an integral part of our life because saving provides the financial protection to the individuals, at the time of emergency. It is necessary to have saving plan because it will help in meeting financial goals like secure future, children education, meeting the demands of the family etc. Saving behaviour is influenced by several factors as Income, Education, Wealth, Employment Status, Stages in life cycle, Dependency ratio, Fiscal policy, Pension, Insurance and Banking infrastructure. Majority of the high school teachers (87.5%) and college teachers (80%) saved their money in banks. The saving of the high school teachers and college teachers have been observed that under category of up to 10% salary saving 35% high school teachers were followed as compared to college teachers it comes under 11-20% were 45% and majority of teachers (75%) were saved a part of their money every month. Regarding mode of expenditure, most of the high school teachers (60%) and college teachers (30%) were spent always by cash. As per the regular flow of expenses on education and household expenditure (95%) respectively whereas regarding spending pattern of the respondents was highest (85%) and (70%) on regular monthly expenses. As per record keeping habit of income and expenditure of the high school respondents (62.5%) and college respondents (55%) were not in this habit.

Leaf water potential (LWP) represents a good indicator of the water status of plants, and continuous monitoring of it can be useful in research and field applications such as scheduling irrigation. Assessment of Leaf water potential, a physiological trait indication of drought tolerance among 20 genotypes of Pigeonpea chosen from core collection was done. Drought was induced by withholding irrigation at 30 days after sowing and following which alternate days LWP was monitored. LWP of stressed plants decreased rapidly compared to control plants. After 33 days of drought period a reduction of 71 % in LWP was recorded compared to control. At the end of stress period maximum LWP was recorded by ICP-8863 (-12.79 bars). Whereas control was at -4.10 bars. Upon re-watering, the genotypes CORG-9701, GRG-206, Gullyal white, ICP-8863, ICP-87119, ICP-96058, TS-3 and UPAS-120 had shown the recovery while rest died.

A field experiment entitled “Effect of phosphorus and sulphur level on Nitrogen uptake by mustard crop at successive stages of crop growth (Brassica juncea coss.)” variety Varuna, was conducted at the research plot of Kulbhaskar Ashram Post graduate farm Allahabad (U.P.) during the Rabi Season 2008-09 and 2009-10 India. The experiment was laid out in a Factorial Randomized Block Design having four levels of phosphorus (0, 25, 50 and 75 kgha-1) and sulphur (0,20, 40 and 60) kg ha-1) each with three replications. The phosphorus and sulphur were applied through DAP and gypsum, respectively. Indian mustard variety Varuna was sown on 11th October, 2008 with the seed rate of 5.0 kg ha-1. The Nitrogen uptake by crop at 30 and 60 DAS increased with increasing levels of P and S upto 75 kg phosphorus and 60 kg S ha-1. Phosphorus application increased N uptake by seed, respectively.

Phenotypic stability studies in sesame for oil content and agronomical traits over three different dates using 79 genotypes (60 hybrids and 19 parents) indicated that pooled analysis of variance significant and influence of sowing dates on all the characters. The linear component of environment accounted more than the G x E (linear) component. Stability parameters mean sum of squares (MSS) due to genotype x environment (linear) was significantly higher than the MSS due to pooled deviation for seed yield per plant only. Hence prediction across the environments was possible for the seed yield per plant only. Partitioning of variance due to environment and g x e interaction, i.e., e + (g x e) into environment linear, linear component of g x e and non linear component of g x e revealed that large part of g x e interaction was due to non linear component. Pooled deviation was significant for all the characters, indicating the greater role of unpredictable components in the G x E interaction. In the present study parents RT-54, RT-103 and Uma found stable for seed yield per plant with above average grain yield. RT-103 and Uma showed average adoptability while RT-54 performed superior under optimum sowing time. In addition to yield RT-103 also exhibited average adaptability and stability for important seed yield components i.e., days to maturity, plant height, seeds per capsule and oil content.

Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) plays a significant role in augmenting the economic and nutritional status of varied population across the globe. The turkey farming and its production is gaining momentum as a new agricultural avenue for the commercial production of meat in India. The present study reports the normal physiological values of haematological indices and biochemical profile of the adult female turkey under Agro-climatic conditions of Mizoram. The observed biochemical parameters were Glucose-355.50±43.38 mg/dl, Total cholesterol-130.75±22.02 mg/dl, Triglyceride-62.50±32.22 mg/dl, HDL-cholesterol-87.50±9.88 mg/dl, Total protein-5.25±0.79 gm/dl, Albumin-1.88±0.29 gm/dl, Globulin-3.38±0.51 gm/dl, A:G-0.56±0.02 gm/dl, Uric acid-7.73±2.93 mg/dl, BUN-3.40±0.49 mg/dl, Creatinine- 0.40±0.08 mg/dl, Direct bilirubin-0.10±0.00 mg/dl and Total bilirubin-0.20±0.00 mg/dl.

The present investigation was conducted during 2015-2016 under ongoing All India Coordinated Research Project on LTFE with soybean-safflower cropping sequence in Vertisol (Typic Haplusters) that commenced from 2006-2007 at Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth, Parbhani. The present investigation was conducted to study the continuous effect of long-term organic manure and fertilizers on soil organic carbon pools under soybean-safflower cropping system. Treatment includes 50% NPK, 100% NPK, 150% NPK, 100% NPK + hand weeding, 100% + ZnSO4 at 25 kg ha-1, 100% NP, 100% N, 100% NPK + FYM at 5 Mg ha-1, only FYM, absolute control, fallow. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with twelve treatments and four replications. Continuous application of organic manure alone or in combination with inorganic fertilizer significantly influenced the soil organic carbon, water soluble carbon, labile carbon, total organic carbon, dehydrogenase activity, carbon management index. The active fraction of soil organic carbon significantly higher in plot receiving 100% NPK + FYM at 5 Mg ha-1. Significantly increase in soil organic carbon (6.89 g kg-1), water soluble carbon (26.93 mg kg-1), and labile carbon (325.50 mg kg-1) with the application of 100% NPK + FYM at 5 Mg ha-1. Integrated use of nutrient sources was significantly increases dehydrogenases activity (50.21 µg g-1 soil 24 hr-1), total carbon content (18.76 g kg-1) in treatment receiving 100% NPK + FYM at 5 Mg ha-1 and in treatment receiving 150% NPK and only FYM 10 Mg ha-1. As compared to no-fertilizer and no-manure application (control), the carbon management index (CMI) was 2.24 fold higher when organic and inorganic fertilizer applied 100% NPK + FYM at 5 Mg ha-1 improvement in the plant stand and increase in organic inputs increase in CMI would serve as better indicator for soil health. Integrated use of FYM with chemical fertilizers or FYM alone exerted significant effect on soil organic carbon pools in soil.

India is the largest producer of fennel which is cultivated in 0.76 lakh hectare with a production of 1.2935 lakh tonnes and productivity of 17.02 q/ha. with the 4.26% share in area and 8.75% share in production of seed spices during 2015-16 [1]. This study was conducted on fennel crop during the rabi season of year 2017-118 under the scheme Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH). Out of total 39 Demonstrations 29 demonstrations using improved variety RF-205 with full package of practices recommended for the district were conducted in one village and 10 demonstrations using variety RF-125 in another village of Bayana tehsil of Bharatpur district of Eastern Rajasthan. The need-based plant protection chemicals were used to control the insect-pests. The study indicated that under diversified agro-climatic conditions, both varieties of fennel have given encouraging results over farmers practice at both locations and have potential to perform well in flood prone eastern plain zone 3B of Rajasthan with timely management practices and mitigate the extension gap. Simultaneously, efforts need to be made to reduce the technology gap described in this paper. In economic terms, an additional cost mainly for inputs was increased slightly in frontline demonstrations over local check (farmers practices). However, it was recovered by increasing gross and net return substantially and resulted in more benefits cost ratio than the local check. The use of improved production technologies with timely systematic management would increase productivity of fennel. This will substantially increase the income as well as the livelihood of the farming community who are mainly associated with this crop.

The pulse beetle, Callosobruchus chinensis L. (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) is a one of the major pests infesting stored pulses and is distributed worldwide. Experiments were conducted to study the assess the relative damage/preference of varietal preference of C. chinensis L. to six different varieties of chickpea seeds i.e., JG-16, JG-63, JG-5, JGG-1, JGK-2 and JGK-3. In each replication, 100 healthy seeds of each variety of gram was kept separately in small plastic dishes, which was kept equidistant from one another in the peripheral part of the big circular glass trough. The results indicated that among all 6 varieties of gram differed significantly for ovipositional preference by C. chinensis. The number of eggs laid per 100 seeds of gram varied from 1.00 to 82.00. The JG-16 (1.00), JG-5 (1.33) and JG-63 (1.33) recorded significantly lowest number of eggs, were on par with each other and were significantly superior over all other varieties indicating that these varieties were least preferred by the pulse beetle for oviposition. On the other hand, more number of eggs was laid on JGK-2 (82.00) which was significantly different from other varieties JGK-3 (79.67) and JGG-1 (75.33) indicating that these varieties were mostly preferred for oviposition.

Series of experiments or group of experiments plays an important role in agriculture. A fertilizer, pest or disease management package is also recommended after evaluating the effect of the treatments in the field for a number of years and seasons. This study is an attempt to understand the nutrient release pattern under long term permanent fertilizer application system by analysis of group of experiments. Out of the 29 years grain yield data, those years with more than ten outliers were discard and remaining 21 years’ data used for further study. As the error variances of the 21 years grain yield data were found to be homogeneous, carry out the pooled analysis. The significance of the treatment × year interaction in pooled analysis indicate that the treatment effects shows variation over the year. Treatment T6(50% RDN (Recommended Dose of Nutrients) of NPK through fertilizers + 50% through FYM during kharif and 100% RDN of NPK through fertilizers during rabi) obtained the highest yield over the years.

In order to study the effect of different nitrogen levels and plant growth regulators on yield and yield components of barley, a split plot experiment with three replications was carried out during Rabi 2015-16 and 2016-17 at CCS HAU, Hisar, Haryana. The treatments comprised of three levels of nitrogen (100% RDN, 125% RDN and 150% RDN) and application of PGRs in alone and in combination i.e., chlormequat-chloride (CCC) @1.25 L ha-1 at GS30-31, ethephon (cerone) @ 0.5 L ha-1 at GS32-49 and CCC @1.25 L ha-1 at GS30-31 + cerone @ 0.5 L ha-1 at GS32-49. On mean basis, among nitrogen levels highest grain and straw yield of 46.13 q/ha and 79.66 q/ha was recorded under 100% RDN, respectively, which was at par with 125% RDN, but significantly superior over 150% RDN. Yield attributes viz. grains per earhead (46.27) and test weight (42.71g) were also maximum under 100% RDN. Maximum harvest index of 36.67 and benefit:cost ratio of 2.27 were recorded under 100% RDN treatment. Moreover, among PGRs, application of cycocel (chloremquat chloride) + cerone (ethephon) gave the highest grain and straw yield of 47.52 q/ha and 81.43 q/ha, respectively, but it was at par with the grain yield of alone application of cycocel (45.54 q/ha). Maximum effective tillers/m2 (386.11) were recorded under cycocel + cerone treatment followed by cycocel treatment. Grains per earhead (46.37) and test weight (42.88) were also found maximum under cycocel + cerone, although, it was at par with alone application of cycocel. Maximum harvest index (36.85%) was reported under cycocel + cerone. Maximum net returns were recorded under cycocel + cerone treatment with B:C ratio of 2.22.

Accurate rainfall prediction is of great interest for water management in rainfed areas. The occurrence of rainfall as a physical process are uncertain, non-linier and highly complex. The present study investigates the ability of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) models for rainfall forecasting of Junagadh region of Gujarat, India. Based on the past observations i.e., vapour pressure, mean temperature, wind velocity and rainfall. ANN model (4-6-4-1) is the best for prediction of rainfall among all the models. ANN models showed better performance than the ANFIS models in rainfall forecasting. The sensitivity analysis revealed that vapour pressure is the most sensitive parameter in rainfall prediction.

The collar rot caused by fungal pathogen Sclerotium rolfsii (Sacc) is one of the serious diseases causing huge loss to tomato throughout the world. The pathogen being soil-borne, polyphagous in nature and longer persistence in soil, due to which its control with chemicals alone seems to be ineffective and uneconomical. Soil organic amendments are known to improve soil aeration, structure, drainage, moisture holding capacity, nutrient availability and microbial ecology. Hence, field experiments were conducted at agricultural farm of Palli-Siksha Bhavana, Visva-Bharati, Sriniketan, during the winter season of 2014-16 on Tomato with a view to manage the disease in a sustainable manner by using eco-friendly approaches with less hazards and safer chemicals. The soil was enriched through various organic materials i.e., Poultry manure, Goat Manure, Farm Yard Manure (FYM), Vermicompost, Spent Mushroom Substrate, Neem cake, Sesamum cake, Mustard cake and Groundnut cake and their effects were evaluated against collar rot disease of tomato. Application of neem cake in soil reduced 72.70 % and 69.05 % disease incidence followed by Sesamum cake 66.83 % and 65.09 % and lowest decrease in disease incidence was observed with Goat Manure treated plot with 27.61 % and 29.37 % in two year of experiments. In case of yield, neem cake also showed its supremacy and gave maximum increase in yield over control 14.13 % and 14.99% followed by sesamum cake (13.27 % and 14.46 %) and lowest increase in goat manure 7.94 % and 8.80 %. The maximum plant height (89.47 cm and 88.47cm) at 80 days after transplanting and number of primary branches per plant (6.77 and 6.80) was found Vermi-compost treated plot whereas minimum plant height (80.57 cm and 81.90 cm) and number of primary branches (5.20 and 5.37) was recorded in ground nut treated plots during 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Sixteen genotypes of clusterbean were grown during summer season 2016 in RBD design with three replications at experimental field of Plant breeding and Genetics, College of Agriculture, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya Gwalior. Eight morphological traits i.e., date of maturity, no. of pods/cluster, no. of pods/plant, pod Length (cm), no. of seeds/pod, plant height (cm), canopy temperature (°C), seed Index (100 seed weight(g) were taken for this study. Range, mean, standard deviation & coefficient of variation were subject to this analysis. Study revealed that the significant variation was present among the studied accessions. Coefficient of variation were recorded for specific traits i.e., total no. of pods per plant (61%) followed by total no. of pod per clusters (47.8), no. of seeds per pod (21%) and plant height (35.6%). it is indicated that the sufficient variation was present among the specified traits. Four accessions i.e., RGC-1055 (33.8) followed by RGC-1033 & RGC-197 (36.3) and GST-15-202 (37.2) were observed with reliable canopy temperature under west agro climatic zone in comparison to other studied accessions. Morphological traits were also observed significant variation except date of maturity. Selection can be done based on some traits like no. of pods per plant, total no. of pod per clusters, no. of seeds per pod and plant height. Canopy temperature data is indicated that some accession was also performed well & showed good resistance potential against heat. These accessions can also be emphasized for further study.

Potato is a good source of energy as it is rich in carbohydrate and therefore it is the fourth most important food crop after rice, wheat and maize. India is the second largest producer of potato in the world. It is one of the most popular cash crops in India. It is produced 41.55 million tons from 1.97 million hectares with average productivity of 211 q/ha. Uttar Pradesh is largest potato producing state in India and it accounts for 34% of total production. Potato is very important Rabi crop of Ghazipur district. But due to lack of awareness about high yielding varieties of potato and unbalanced dose of fertilizer, its productivity is far below the average productivity of the state. Keeping in view for enhancing the potato productivity in Ghazipur district, KVK Ghazipur has conducted 26 demonstrations during 2014-2017 in four different villages of Karanda and Saidpur. During conduction of demonstration high yielding varieties of potato i.e., Kufri Chipsona-3 and Kufri Arun with recommended dose of fertilizer were used. The highest yield was recorded 337.00 q/ha in 2013-14 and it was 38.2% increase in yield over farmers practice. And the lowest yield was recorded 261 q/ha in 2015-16 and it was 28% increase in yield over farmers practice. The average yield increased over farmers practice was 32.63% and yield varied from 27.63 to 38.20 percent. The economics and cost benefit ratio of both control and demo plot was calculated accordingly. The average net return of demonstration was recorded Rs. 254158/- in comparison to Rs. 143758/- in farmers practice. Benefit cost ratio was 2.29 under demonstration and 1.78 found in farmers practice. Front Line Demonstration has vital role in enhancing productivity on the principles of 'Seeing is believing'.

The study was conducted in the hill district of Karbi Anglong in Assam to evaluate the growth and reproductive performances of Assam Hill (AH) goat and their crossbred (CB; Beetal x Assam Hill goat). The cross breeding was done through Artificial Insemination (AI) with frozen semen with conception rate of 88 per cent. The mean growth performances of CB goats in terms of body weight at birth, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months age were 2.12±0.07, 6.36±0.03, 14.28±0.25, 18.32±0.10 and 22.07±0.13 Kg respectively which was found highly significantly (p< 0.01) heavier than that of AH goat. The mean reproductive performance of CB goat viz., age at kidding, kidding interval and gestation period were 428.88±4.47, 224.64±2.08 and 149.88 days respectively which were highly significantly (p<0.01) superior to AH goat in reproductive performances except age at sexual maturity. The results revealed that the CB (Beetal x AH) goat performed better in comparison to AH goat and hence, AI can be adopted for crossbreeding at farmers for better income generation.

An experiment entitled, studies on integrated nitrogen management on growth, yield and quality of garlic (Allium sativum L.) cv. ‘Agrifound White’ was carried out with total thirteen treatments and three replications. Among the various treatments 100 percent nitrogen through vermicompost (T11) was significantly superior over other treatments except 100% N through poultry manure with respect to growth, yield and quality parameters. Maximum neck thickness (11.72 mm and 13.90 mm) was noted at 90 and 125 days after planting respectively, number of leaves (7.64, 8.13 and 8.72) was recorded at 45, 90 and 125 days after planting respectively, maximum length (30.78 mm) and width of clove (8.12 mm), bulb diameter (4.54 cm), average weight of bulb (34.84 g), number of cloves per bulb (25.79), and yield per plot ( 4.37 kg) and per hectare (83.08 q), also quality parameter viz., TSS ( 41.93 ˚brix ) and crude protein content (7.81 %) were recorded maximum in treatment T11.

The study was carried out the evaluating the performance of improved cultivars with scientific package and practices under direct seeded rice (DSR) on production as well as productivity and profitability of aerobicrice. Frontline demonstrations were conducted during 2016-17 and 2017-18 efforts has been made for resource conservation in rice by introducing direct seeded rice (DSR) and short duration rice varieties viz. MTU-1010, Indira Barani Dhan-1, IGKV R-1 and IGKV R-2 in Raigarh and Pussore blocks of the district and record feedback information of farmer’s. The results revealed that average grain yield of rice varieties under frontline Demonstrations were IGKV R-1 (46.33 qha-1), IGKV R-2 (45.14 qha-1), MTU-1010 (44.53 qha-1) and Indira Barani Dhan-1(42.71 qha-1) as compare to 34.50, 33.85, 34.60 and 32.35 qha-1 recorded in farmer’s practice, average yield increase of 34.29, 33.35, 28.70 and 32.02 per cent, respectively. The average extension gap 10.85 qha-1 and average technology gap 4.07 qha-1 was recorded. The technology index for four varieties ranges between 5.09 to 10.94 per cent with an average 8.27 percent only which gives a clear indication that technology is highly viable for this region. Additional return of 11145.00 and 14614.00 Rsha-1, respectively. It was observed that the average additional return 15283.00 Rsha-1 and average benefit cost ratio (B:C) of recommended practice (FLD) 2.70 as compared to 2.16 in farmer’s practice during consecutive years of study blocks. Direct seeded rice (DSR) alternative establishment method to sustain productivity of rice as well as natural resources. It offers certain advantages viz., less labour, less water requirement, less drudgery, early crop maturity, low production cost, proper placement of seed and fertilizer, increase fertilizer use efficiency, improve soil health for crops and less methane emission, in different cropping systems. Direct seeded rice can be obtained by adopting various package and practices viz., selection of suitable cultivars, timely sowing, optimum seed rate, proper water and weed management and plant protection measures. Therefore, the results clearly indicate that the use of improved varieties and package and practices with scientific intervention under frontline demonstration programme contribute to increase the productivity and profitability of rice in Chhattisgarh state.

The field experiment was conducted at Main Vegetable Research Station, Anand Agricultural University, Anand to study the “Effect of nitrogen and potash levels on growth and green pod yield of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench) during kharif season under middle Gujarat conditions” during the year 2015. The soil of experimental field was loamy sand in texture having good drainage and 7.7 pH at 0-15 cm soil depth. The experiment was laid out in RBD with factorial concept in three replications. The treatment comprised of four nitrogen levels (75, 100, 125 and 150 kg N ha-1) and five levels of potash (25, 50, 75, 25 as basal + 25 at 45 DAS and 37.5 as basal + 37.5 at 45 DAS kg K2O ha-1). Growth attributes like Number of branches plant-1 and days to initiation flowering and yield attributes viz., number of pods plant-1, length of pod, girth of pod and weight of pods plant-1 of okra were significantly affected by nitrogen levels. The number of pods plant-1, length of pod, girth of pod and weight of pods plant-1 were significantly higher under the application of 150 kg N ha-1 as compared to rest of the treatments and however, number of pods plant-1, length of pod, girth of pod weight of pods plant-1 were at par with application of 125 kg N ha-1. Application of 150 kg N ha-1 to okra recorded significantly higher green pod yield.

The Rice (Oryza sativa) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) both are important cereal crops. Data were collected under N.A.I.P. sub-project (component –III) in Patehra block of Mirzapur district in Vindhyan region. Total 36 farmers were selected for demonstration of improved crop production technique from 3 villages. Under improved crop production technique, short duration varieties of rice and wheat were distributed to the farmers. Rice was transplanted in 2nd week of July and harvested in 1th week of November whereas wheat was sown in the 3rd week of November and harvested in 2nd week of April. Under demonstration of improve method average yield of rice and wheat were obtained 3.68 tones /hectare and 3.50 tones /hectare, respectively. Rice grain yield and wheat grain yield under improve method were found 17.99 percent and 17.80 percent higher than the traditional method yield. Rice straw and wheat straw yield were obtained 12.69 percent and 21.31 higher than the traditional production.

The study was conducted in purposively selected five districts of Eastern Dry Zone of Karnataka. One taluk from each district, one Grama Panchayath from each taluk and two villages from each Grama Panchayath were selected based on the maximum number of beneficiaries covered under Integrated Farming System (IFS) project. Further, from each village, 12 respondents were selected by using simple random technique thus making a total sample of 120. The data were collected by using structured interview schedule. The farmers perception about IFS was recorded on three-point continuum viz. ‘Agree’ ‘Uncertain’ and ‘Disagree’ with a score of 3,2 and 1 respectively. Further, analysed the data by using appropriate statistical tests. The results revealed that majority of respondents (46.67 %) belonged to high category of perception about IFS. With respect to the different statements such as IFS provides enough scope to employ family members round the year and IFS provides great opportunity to produce diversified products were recorded maximum mean scores (each 3.00) with the respondents. But, the statements namely IFS increase competition for resources among different enterprises and IFS helps to protect environment through recycling of animal waste were recorded least means scores (1.67 and 2.25) with the respondents. The characteristics such as educational status, occupational status, land holding, extension participation, economic orientation and scientific orientation exhibited positive and significant relationship with farmers perception about IFS. Hence, the concerned development departments should organize the demonstrations, trainings, field days, exposure visits etc., to educate the farmers about all the benefits of IFS. The positive and significantly related characteristics need to be considered while selecting the farmers for the extension educational programmes to enhance their perception level and promote the IFS as socially acceptable, economically viable and eco-friendly among farmers.