The present study was conducted in Aravalli district of Gujarat state to find out the personal and socio-economic status of the commercial dairy farmers and the variable influencing economics of milk production. The four talukas namely Modasa, Malpur, Bayad, Dhansura were selected purposively for the study. Total 40 commercial farmers who had at least 30 Adult livestock Unit at the time of investigation were selected as respondents. Study revealed that majority of farmers belonged to medium personal and socio-economic status. Result of multiple regression analysis indicated that extension participation, milk production and economic motivation had positive and significant effect on economics of milk production.

The present study was conducted at Agricultural and Horticultural Research station, Ponnampet, Karnataka. Experiment was consist of 23 rice genotypes that were evaluated to study genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance for grain yield and four yield associated traits. The experiment was conducted using Randomized Complete Block Design with two replications during the 2016 kharif main cropping season. The analysis of variance revealed statistically significant differences (p<0.05) indicating the existence of genetic variability among the 23 genotypes for all the traits studied. Significant differences were observed for grain yield that ranged from 4093.00 to 7177.00 kg/ ha with overall mean value of 6323.00 kg/ha Higher PCV and GCV values were exhibited by yield kg/ha which suggests the possibility of improving this trait through selection. The highest heritability was recorded for days to fifty per cent flowering followed by yield kg/ha, panicles per meter square and plant height. High to medium heritability coupled with high GCV and high genetic advance as percentage of means were exhibited for plant height, panicles per square metre. High genetic advances as percent of means were recorded by yield kg per hectare, panicles per square metre, Plant height (cm) and days to fifty per cent flowering.

A Field experiments were conducted at Regional research station, Aruppukottai, Tamil Nadu during rabi season of 2016-17 with the test variety SVPR - 2. To study the effect of insitu water harvesting, stress management practices on physiological parameters of Relative Leaf Water Content (RLWC), Proline and Seed cotton yield of cotton under rainfed Vertisol. The experiments were laid out in split plot design replicated thrice. The main plot treatments consisted of different Insitu water harvesting measures viz., Broad bed and furrows, Ridges and furrows and Compartmental bunding. The subplot comprises with stress management practices viz., Soil application of pusa hydrogel @ 5 kg ha-1 , Soil application of pusa hydrogel @ 5 kg ha-1 + foliar spray of 1% KCl , Soil application of pusa hydrogel @ 5 kg ha-1 + foliar spray of 5% Kaolin, Soil application of pusa hydrogel @ 5 kg ha-1 + foliar spray of PPFM @ 500 ml ha-1, Soil application of pusa hydrogel @ 5 kg ha-1 + foliar spray of Salicylic acid 100 ppm and Control. The results of this study showed that Broad bed and furrow and soil application of pusa hydrogel @ 5 kg ha-1 + foliar spray of PPFM @ 500 ml ha-1 recorded higher RLWC, seed cotton yield and lower values of Proline content.

The district-wise average yield data of groundnut and daily rainfall data were used over a period of 47 years i.e., from 1970-2017. Aggregate rainfall approach and different models viz., Linear, Quadratic, Cubic, Quartic, Exponential, Wilmink, Parabolic Exponential, Wood’s Gamma, Inverse Quadratic, Mixed Log, Heat Capacity, Monomolecular were tried to fit the mathematical models on rainfall and groundnut productivity in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat. The appropriate mathematical model was selected on the basis of adjusted R2, significant regression co-efficient, co-efficient of determination (R2) and RMSE. Among the different linear and non-linear models fitted, the maximum adjusted R2 of 40 percent was observed in case of Quadratic model with the comparatively lower values of root mean square (324.0) in comparison to that of other fitted models. In general, it could be observed that, none of the fitted models could be recommended as perharvest forecast models, because of low to moderate predictability. This suggests that inclusion of certain other weather parameters like temperature, relative humidity, daily sunshine and wind speed in the models, may improve the predictability of the groundnut productivity.

Agricultural development policies and agriculture scientist in India have aimed to reducing hunger, food insecurity, malnourishment and poverty at a rapid rate. The population of India goes to 1.32 billion, accounts for 17 per cent of world’s population. Its size, in terms of consumers, is many-times larger than the average size of rest of the countries, except China. The state of food insecurity and hunger in India is of considerable significance for the global situation. In this present study, projected population and food grains production is investigated by using ARIMA model and making decision for forecast. Demand projection is also estimated by using almost ideal demand system (AIDS). The condition of demand-supply gaps is presented under this paper. It is found that total food grains production will be increased 281.12 Mt in the year 2020 as well as the population will be 1345 million. The demand-supply scenarios present an alarming situation at present especially for pulses. The demand-supply gap for pulses is going to more adverse condition which strongly affects our food and nutritional security. Demand of pluses in 2020 will be 22.92 Mt whereas the pulses supply in that year will be 19.68 Mt. So, it is confirmed that the demand-supply gap of pulses goes in negative. So better technology, improved mechanism makes minimizing the demand-supply gap of pulses in India.

Rapid in vitro propagation of pomegranate in Bhagava cultivar using organogenesis and embryogenesis is conducted.MS basal media along with BAP(1.5mg/L.) has given maximum success in shoot induction. Use of Silver nitrate(0.5mg/it.) along with Adenine sulphate (25mg/L) has shown rapid increase in shoot length while use of BAP (1.0mg/L) and kinetin(1.0mg/L) has given maximum number of multiple shoots. In another experiment, embryogenic callus was developed from explants on MS with BAP (0.8mg/L and 1.0mg/L) .The shoots were obtained from callus using BAP(1.0mg/L), Kinetin (2.0mg/L) and NAA(0.1mg/L). Plant growth was rapid in organogenesis while embryogenesis has responded with more number of multiple shoots and rapid plant growth. Both organogenesis and embryogenesis have resulted in satisfactory rooting and hardening percentage of 80-90%. These results indicate feasibility of using embryogenesis or organogenesis for rapid commercial in vitro propagation in pomegranate.

Fifteen crossbred calves were divided into 3 groups of 5 animals each on the basis of their similar body weight and age. Each group was allotted to three housing system viz. (T1 loose house; T2 loose house + bedding + curtains and T3 conventional barn) during winter. Average maximum temperature was significantly (P<0.05) higher in T1 (2°C) and minimum temperature was higher (P<0.05) in T3 (2°C) as compared to other two groups in micro-climate. Crossbred calves reared under closed barn (5.51) consumed more (P<0.05) DM (kg) than reared in modified (5.45) and loose house (5.22). Mean DMI/100 kg body weight was higher (P<0.05) in T3 calves as compared to other group calves. Average daily VWI and VWI/kg DM consumed were higher (P<0.05) in T3 group calves as compared to T1 and T2 group calves

Potato digging with improved diggers having high effective field capacities and higher digging efficiency was carried out, ensuring total losses within permissible limit. Light weight, single row animal drawn improved digger was developed and evaluated in terraces for harvesting tubers. The performance of the digger was also compared with power tiller mounted digger and traditional digging methods prevailing in the region. Light weight animal drawn potato digger was tested at average speed of 1.72 km/h at 120 mm depth of operation. Digging efficiency and field efficiency were 93% and 88% respectively. Effective field capacity and cost of operation were 0.030 ha/h and Rs 1250/ha. Labour requirement was 34 man-h/ha excluding 150 h for picking of potato after harvest which showed a saving of 38.25% in labour and 60.93% in cost of digging (including picking of potato) over traditional digging by kudal /spade in terraces. Physical damage to dug out tuber was about 1% as compared to 4.6% in power tiller mounted digger and 0.8% in manual digging. Effective field capacity of power tiller mounted potato digger of 300 mm size was 0.055 ha/h and its field efficiency and digging efficiency were 82% and 89.8% respectively. The cost of operation with improved digger was Rs 1250/ha as compared to Rs 3200/ha by manual method and Rs 1875/ha using power tiller mounted digger.

Pesticides are present everywhere in our daily life due to which they leave their residue in food chain causing deleterious effects on the health status of man and animals including poultry. Triazophos the pesticide of study is one of the most commonly used Organophosphate pesticide. Organophosphates compounds produce toxicity directly by inhibiting the acetylcholine esterase. In this study Twenty five white leg horn male chicken of one month old weighing about 150 to 200 gms were procured and kept at Instructional Poultry Farm Nagla, Pantnagar. The birds in poultry shed were reared in deep litter system and were kept under standard managemental conditions. They were randomly divided into five groups of 5 birds each. After one week of adaptation period, different doses of Triazophos and Cow urine distillate were administered orally through feed at 2.5, 5 ppm levels to groups G2, G3 and cow urine distillate through drinking water to groups G4,G5 respectively for 100 days daily. The birds of group “G1” served as control. After every 25 days blood was taken from each bird including day zero for study of different parameters. All the immunological parameters viz. lymphocyte stimulation test, delayed test of hypersensitivity, total immunoglobulins by Zinc sulfate turbidity method were done as per the standard method. The cell-mediated immune response of the birds were estimated using lymphocyte stimulation test and delayed type hypersensitivity. At day 50 Delayed test of hypersensitivity DTH & lymphocyte stimulation test LST were performed twice on 50 & 100 day while total immunoglobulins were estimated on 0, 25,50,75 and 100 days. Immunological parameters showed significant(P<0.01) decrease leading to Immunosupression in different doses of Triazophos treated birds in comparison to birds of control group while a significant increase(P<0.01) in all test values was observed in cow urine treated groups(G4, G5) as compared to non cow urine treated groups (G2 and G3).

Field experiment was conducted for three years under rainfed condition to evaluate the efficacy of five insecticides with different doses in mungbean against insect pests at Pulses Research station, Sardarkrushinagar. Amongst them,clothionidin 50% WDG@0.1 g/litre maintained its supremacy followed by clothionidin 0.05g/li, acetamiprid20 SP @ 0.3 g/lit and thiamethoxam 25% WG@ 0.3g/lit which were at par with each other in managing the insect pests of mungbean.

The seeds of soybean were stored in HDPE, gunny and cloth bags used for the storage study at 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180 and 210 days for evaluation of seed quality. The observations on different seed quality parameters were recorded at monthly interval. The soybean seed stored in HDPE bags exhibited highest seed germination, seedling length, seedling dry weight, vigour index-I and II than gunny and cloth bags at 210 days of storage period and also found less electrical conductivity in HDPE bags. The retention of better seed storability in HDPE bags was probably attributed to its impervious nature of pores. The seed stored in cloth bags found lower in all seed quality parameters during all the storage periods. There was a minimum reduction observed in all seed quality characters at 210 days of storage when seed stored in HDPE bags as compared to gunny and cloth bags.

The Cobb-Douglas production function was used to find out the functional relationship between input and output. Moreover, ratio of MVPs to factor price was used to find out the efficiency ratio or the resource use efficiency of long staple cotton in Gujarat. The necessary time series data were compiled from various official published sources for the period from 1980-81 to 2015-16. The results of Cobb-Douglas production function indicated that human labour, seeds and plant nutrition were found significant during the Overall Period. The summation of all the production co-efficient (0.57) was found to be statistically significant indicating a decreasing return to scale. It implies that adjustments are required in the use of resources for cotton production by farmers to increase the profitability of their long staple cotton crop. Further, the results showed the MVPs of human labour, bullock labour, seeds and plant protection chemicals were found to be underutilized during Overall Period so, the gross returns could be increased by using more of these resources while plant nutrition, irrigation and miscellaneous expenses were observed to be overutilized during Overall Period therefore, it is suggested the excess resources should be decreased to minimize loss.

The field experiment was conducted at experimental farm of Regional Research Sub-Station (Terai Zone), Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kharibari, Darjeeling, West Bengal during 2015-16 and 2016-17 to evaluate the response of turmeric to various levels of nitrogen (N) (0, 90, 120, 150 and 180 kg/ha) and potassium (K) (0, 100, 120 and 140 kg/ha). Both nitrogen and potassium, alone or in combination, had a significant effect on growth, yield and yield contributing characters and also quality characters of turmeric. However, the combined effect of N and K increased the growth, yield and other yield parameters up to N180K140 kg/ha and significantly differed over the control (N0K0). The maximum plant height (144.4 cm), number of leaves per plant (9.37), number of tillers per clump (3.65), leaf length (59.7 cm), leaf area (534.4 cm2), number of primary fingers per rhizome (9.25) were recorded with N180K140 treatment. Similarly, mother rhizome length (8.30 cm), primary finger length (8.42 cm), fresh weight of mother rhizome (39.25 g) and fresh weight of primary finger (38.92 g) were also significantly recorded maximum with N180K140 treatment. The highest fresh rhizome weight (432.7 g), fresh yield (25.3 t/ha) and curing percent (21.2%) were recorded with treatment combination of N180K140 treatment, while all the growth as well as yield parameters were found to be lowest with the absolute control (N0K0).

The field experiment was carried out at Regional Research and Technology Transfer Station (OUAT), Semiliguda of Koraput district under Eastern Ghat High Land zone of Odisha during kharif season of 2012 & 2013 to study the effect of topping operation on growth and yield of niger (Guizotia abyssinica). The results revealed that niger cv. Utkal Niger-150 recorded maximum seed yield of 541.4 kg/ha with respect to the varieties and the treatment having topping at capitulla initiation stage (35 DAS approx.) recorded maximum seed yield of 549.7 kg/ha which was at par with the seed yield recorded with no topping operation (543.9 kg/ha) and topping operation at 10 days before capitulla initiation stage (25 DAS approx.) with seed yield of 532.8 kg/ha. No topping recorded the highest net monetary return of Rs.5282/ha and benefit cost ratio of 1.6 followed by topping operation at 10 days before capitulla initiation stage (25 DAS approx.) with net monetary return of Rs.4451/ha and benefit cost ratio of 1.4.

The present prenatal histomorphological study on development of first deciduous incisor tooth was carried out at weekly interval from 6 to 11 weeks (CR 2.5 cm to 16.6 cm) in fetal goat (Capra hircus). The whole heads and the incisive portion of lower and upper jaw of fetuses were processed for paraffin embedding. Serial paraffin sections were stained by the Harri’s Haematoxylin and Eosin stain and the Masson’s Trichrome stain. By the 6th week of fetal age, dental lamina was first seen at future dental arch region. bud stage of first deciduous incisor tooth was seen at 7th week, early cap stage at 8th week, late cap stage at 9th week, bell stage at 10th week and advanced bell stage at 11th week goat fetuses. Among all three components of tooth germ, enamel organ and dental papilla were appeared at 7th week and dental sac at 9th week goat fetus. The enamel knot was observed as transitory structure at 8th week and disappeared at 9th week. The histodifferentiation of the odontoblasts and the ameloblasts begun by 10th week at incisal edge and extended progressively towards cervical loop. The successional dental lamina for first permanent incisor was observed at 10th week fetus. The dentinogenesis first begun at 11th week goat fetus. The histomorphological stages for development of Di1 were reported first of its kind in goat fetuses.

A field experiment was conducted on the sandy loam soils of CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana, India to study the effect of irrigation frequency and salinity levels of irrigation water on yield attributes of cabbage under drip irrigation. The experimental was laid out with two irrigation frequency treatments: daily (F1) and alternate day (F2) irrigation and five salinity levels of irrigation water (canal water ECiw = 0.5 (S1), saline water ECiw = 3.0 (S2), saline water ECiw = 6.0 (S3), saline water ECiw = 9.0 (S4) and saline water ECiw = 12.0 (S5)). In daily irrigation treatment, the relative value of plant height was 104.1, 88.4, 70.7 and 58.2% in F1S2, F1S3, F1S4 and F1S5 treatments, respectively, as compared to canal water irrigation (F1S1). In alternate day irrigation, the relative value of plant height was 105.9, 87.0, 69.4 and 53.1% in F2S2, F2S3, F2S4 and F2S5 treatments, respectively, as compared to the yield recorded in canal irrigation (F2S1). On comparing drip irrigation frequency treatments, 3.2, 2.9, 8.7, 16.1 and 50.2% higher crop yield in daily irrigation as compared to alternate day irrigation of respective treatments (canal water, ECiw 3, 6, 9, 12 dS/m) was observed. This indicates that increase in irrigation frequency can manage saline water in a better way. On comparing drip irrigation frequency treatments, 3.2, 2.9, 8.7, 16.0 and 50.4% higher water use efficiency in daily irrigation as compared to alternate day irrigation of respective treatments (canal water, 3, 6, 9, 12 dS/m) was observed.

The study was conducted to find out the training needs of farm women onimproved dairy farming practices in Karnal District of Haryana during the period from May, 2017 to April, 2018. 120 farm women engaging in dairy farming were randomly selected for the study and data have been collected through personal interview method. From The study indicated that respondents were interested to receive training on improved dairy farming practices for their betterment of lives and farming community as well. The results of the study will help the extension agencies to develop suitable training modules for the dairy farmers in improved dairy farming practices to improve their milk production and make the dairying a successful business.

The Hira region of Hatti schist belt a transect of associated red and black soils were selected and studied for their properties. Soils were moderately deep to deep, reddish brown (5YR 3/4) to dark black (10YR3/2), clay in texture. Smectite was overwhelmingly the dominant mineral with the traces of kaolinite and shows interstratification on ethylene glycol solvation. Quartz, plagioclase feldspar, olivines, siderites, amphiboles and ferrihydrides were found in all the pedons.

The Climate change affects directly or indirectly the agricultural activity including crops, soils, livestock and pests. Due to global warming it interacts with habitat loss and fragmentation, introduced and invasive species and population growths and many ecosystems are likely to undergo severe modification. CO2 enrichment increases rate of photosynthesis in most of the plant species by producing more sugars per unit of light absorbed. A number of strategies are followed up for conservation, multiplication, production, improvement and protection of valuable ornamental species and varieties

The study conducted to records on milk constituent’s traits of 100 Sahiwal cattle over a period of 13 years from 2004 to 2016, collected from Animal Genetics and Breeding division of ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana. The effect of various non-genetic factors on milk yield and milk constituent’s traits mixed model least square analysis was used for analysis of data. Overall least square mean for all lactation traits revealed the first lactation 305 days milk yield, first lactation total milk yield, first lactation 305 days fat yield, first lactation 305 days SNF yield, first lactation 305 days protein yield in Sahiwal cattle was found to be 2034.99 ± 111.14 kg, 2314.56 ± 155.89 kg, 95.28 ± 5.19 kg, 172.72 ± 9.80 kg and 45.19 ± 3.95 kg, respectively. In the present study non significant effect of season of calving, period of calving and age at first calving were found on first lactation 305 days milk yield in Sahiwal cattle. Period of calving and age at first calving had significant effect on FLTMY while, season of calving had non-significant effect on FLTMY in Sahiwal. In this study effect of period of calving was found to be significant on first lactation 305 days fat yield and season of calving and age at first calving had non-significant effect on first lactation 305 days fat yield. The period of calving, season of calving and age at first calving had non significant effect on FL305DSNFY. In this study period of calving had significant effect on FL305DPY

The present study was carried out in Tikamgarh district of Madhya Pradesh. The information was collected from 100 farmers from five blocks, two villages from each block in the district. It was observed that majority (73.33%) respondents resorted to use neem coated urea (NCU). About 70 % farmers awarded on the benefits of the NCU on yields of the crops. 42.67% farmers agreed that NCU will reduce the quantity of urea used. 85% farmers were agreed about to replace plain urea with that of NCU.

The study was conducted in the Post Graduate Laboratory of Vegetable Crops, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya employing Ten varieties of onion containing ninety seeds of each treatment in 3 replications of 30 each were taken for germination test following the between paper (BP) method (ISTA, 1985) under growth chamber. Ten normal seedlings were selected on the fourteenth days of germination test (i.e., final count day) and their root and shoot lengths were measured in centimetre. The mean seedling root and shoot length was calculated based on ten seedlings. Protein content was estimated from the seeds and the seedlings which grew appreciably within ten days in growth chamber after germination. Analysis of variance clearly suggested wide varietal difference for all the characters viz., protein content of dry seeds (%), protein content of 10 days seedlings % (fresh weight basis), protein content of the seedlings % (dry weight basis), seed germinability (%) and length of seedlings (cm). Mean of the different seed and seedling characters indicated recommended minimum seed germinability (above 60%) in all the variety excepting Nasik Red (56.8%). Very high seed germination is being recorded in two outstanding varieties for its very high seed production potential in this method and climatic condition of West Bengal viz., Agrifound Dark Red (93.4%) and Baswant 780 (97.0%) which indicated close correspondence between seed production ability and seed germinability. Seedling protein content on dry weight basis was lower than recorded in the seeds and it also varied widely from 6.60 % in Agrifound Dark Red to 11.05% in Baswant 780. However, seed germinability also was uncorrelated with both seed and seedling protein content.

Dryland agriculture is facing serious effects due to climate change. World countries spending money and working to mitigate climate change effects. Farmers who depend on environment especially Dryland farmers are facing strong impacts due to these effects. A descriptive study was chosen to understand perception of farmers of Dryland region towards climate change. 120 farmers were selected randomly and the selection of district and taluk was purposeful. Pre-structured and pre-tested interview schedule were used for data collection. The results revealed that farmers strongly perceive the climate change and its effects. They strongly agreed with the presence of climate change and perceiving that reasons for poor production and productivity also a climate change effect. And the respondents believing that through proper IFS, INM and SWC practices we can mitigate the effect of climate change and restore the lost resources. This study concluded with these understanding perceptions would help to better programme planning, policy making, etc. on climate change mitigation.

Black gram (Vigna mungo) is one of the most ancient and important legume crop of India and contributes 10 % of India’s total Pulse Production. The research was conducted during kharif 2017 in the Field experiment Centre at Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding involving 36 genotypes along with 2 checks to examine genetic variability, Heritability and Genetic advance in black gram. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with three replications. Analysis of variance showed that highly significant differences among 36 genotypes of black gram for 13 characters studied. The estimates of PCV values were higher than GCV for all the characters. High estimates of GCV were observed for pods per plant, Branches per plant, cluster per plant but, for Harvest Index, Seed yield per plant, Biological Yield showed higher differences between PCV and GCV which indicates that the influence of Environment is high when compared to the other characters. High Heritability coupled with high genetic advance were observed for the character Plant Height (cm), pods per plant, 100 seed weight, seed yield per plant and Biological Yield indicating under the control of additive genes effects, and the selection should be fruitful for this trait.

Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) contributes significantly to the economy of the nation. Turkey husbandry is gaining momentum as a new agricultural activity for the commercial production of meat in India. Blood biochemical profile such as glucose, calcium, total protein, AST, ALT, urea, chloride levels are of diagnostic value for various disease conditions and having particular reference to liver disorders, kidney diseases, diarrhea, dehydration etc. The observed plasma electrolyte and diagnostic enzyme profile were calcium-12.38±0.99 mg/dl, inorganic phosphorus-8.05±1.39 mg/dl, magnesium-3.28±0.17 mg/dl, sodium-136.50±35.98 mEq/l, potassium-3.10±0.64 mEq/l, chloride-100.50±30.64 mEq/l, ALT-1.00±0.00 U/l, AST-351.50±118.14 U/l, alkaline phosphatase-125.25±38.39 U/l.

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of GA3 on plant growth, flowering and its role in substituting the artificial light conditions in chrysanthemum cv. Thai Chen Queen. Three different concentrations (200 mg/L, 300 mg/L and 400 mg/L) of GA3 were sprayed at two different intervals (7th day and 14th day after transplanting) on plants grown in protected conditions during short days. Observations on vegetative and reproductive parameters were recorded during 30, 45 and 60 days after planting. Vegetative growth characteristics like plant height (45.1 cm), inter-nodal length (2.28 cm), and leaf number (28) were more superior in GA3 treated plants compared with control. Plant fresh and dry weights, leaf area index (LAI), net assimilation rate (NAR) and photosynthetic pigments; chlorophyll and carotenoid contents were increased with GA3 application. GA3 application also causes early bud induction in Chrysanthemum cv. Thai Chen Queen. Floral parameters like bud diameter, flower diameter, fresh weight and dry weight as well as increased vase-life of the flowers were observed in GA3 treated plants. GA3 application helps to substitute artificial light conditions which are required for the vegetative growth of the chrysanthemums and also helps to improve the flower quality under short day conditions.

Community analysis plays a vital role in assessing the population of plant parasitic nematodes in a region and helps in identifying the major areas of nematode attack. This investigation involves a study of community structure of phytonematodes in fallow soil in different zones of Tamil Nadu. A random survey was conducted in five zones of Tamil Nadu viz., East, west, north, south and centre for important plant parasitic nematodes having desiccation tolerance and their survival under host free condition. Collections of soil samples were done at the fallow areas and total numbers of samples were restricted to 10 per location at the depth of 15-20 cm depth. Extraction of nematodes was done by Cobb’s decanting and sieving method followed by modified Baermann’s funnel technique. Estimation of nematode population was done in a multichambered counting dish under stereo zoom microscope and the nematode genera were identified by comparing the characters. Four major nematode species viz., Helicotylenchus incisus, Hoplolaimus seinhorsti, Meloidogyne incognita and Rotylenchulus reniformis besides Tylenchorhynchus sp., Pratylenchus sp., Radopholus similis and Aphlenchus avenae were encountered in the survey. Helicotylenchus incisus was the predominant nematode species in all the zones with high frequency and density and could tolerate desiccation upto 12 months of host free condition. This is the first record of various species of phytonematodes associated with fallow regions of Tamil Nadu.

The study was carried out to determine the farmer’s adoption behavior on organic farming practices of coffee plantation. Coffee is one of the world’s most popular beverages. It is traditionally grown in the Western Ghats spread over Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The 80 farmers were taken from one block and eight purposively selected villages, to determine the organic farming practices of coffee plantation. The finding of the study revealed that the 50.00 percent of the respondents had medium level of adoption level followed by 11.25 percent and 38.75 percent of respondents had low and high level of adoption. The major constrains faced by the adopters are labour problem, lack of proper transport, post harvest problem followed by non availability of market, financial constrains and lack of knowledge about disease.

Strawberries are the most perishable fruit being very susceptible to mechanical injury, decay, water loss and physiological deterioration. In order to increase its shelf life, Chandler variety grown in Punjab was processed and evaluated for the retention of colour and phytochemicals by opting different methods of preservation. This study evaluated the stability of colour and phytochemicals in strawberry pulp when subjected to four factors, pulping method, chemical treatment, pasteurization and storage period. The fruits were pulped by hot and cold pulping methods and then the hot pulp was categorized into two lots (pasteurized and unpasteurized). Both the lots were preserved by using combinations of class I and class II preservatives. For the stability of anthocyanins and a* value, pasteurized pulp with combination of sugar and citric acid (52áµ’B+0.75%) were found to be the best method for two months. Combination of sugar, sodium benzoate and citric acid (52áµ’B +1000ppm+0.75%) shows superior retention of phytochemical constituents over 3 months of storage at ambient temperature. So, the above-mentioned methods can be used for preservation of strawberry pulp, which can further be processed into value added products.

In the challenging phase of agriculture where the disinterest of agrarian population in agricultural activities is well evident due to low investment rate and followed by very low rate of returns, various countries including India, shows a great growth and acceptability of foreign direct investment in agriculture and retail sector. Present paper is on the basis of view given by farmers and farmer organizations, policy makers, agricultural students and agricultural scientists about the pattern of information gathering and attitude towards the implementation of FDI in agriculture sector.

This paper examined the assessment of long run relationship between spot and futures prices of sugar in India. For the purpose of the paper to understand the long run relationship between spot and futures prices of sugar over the monthly comparison, for these studies used the Eview software. Entire study period has been divided into two halves i.e., 1995 to 2005 and 2005 to 2015. The present study initiates and analyzes the trends in area, production and yield, wholesale price indices of sugarcane crop by using simple descriptive statistics; linear growth rates (compound growth rates). The results of this study showed CGR, it was positive and higher in all variables during post-futures period. But wholesale price index showed that growth rate during post-futures period (2005-15) was higher as compared to pre futures period (1995-2005). Descriptive statistics showed that sugar futures and spot price not follow normal distribution. The result of ADF and Johnsan test implies that the stationarity test the presence of any long run relationship reveals co-integration of the spot market with futures market. The sugar indicates two co-integrating equations in its spot and futures market, implying that they have tight co-movements and if they move on their own because of non-stationarity they don’t go far from each other.

Fossil fuels are the major source for energy. The excess use of these fuels will lead to serious environmental issues like global warming and air pollution. Since the fossil fuels are getting depleted day by day, it is the high time to conssvert biomass wastes such as sawdust, coir pitch, rice husk etc., to useful biomass briquettes which will be the substitute for some of the fossil fuels. This paper focuses on the design and fabrication of briquetting machine which is portable and can be done at very low cost. The results indicated that the briquettes made from sawdust, dry leaves and very small amount of wheat flour (binding agent) are compact, dry and have greater calorific value when compared to the briquettes made from sawdust, dry leaves are not strongly bonded and possesses slightly lower calorific value.

The results on per cent leaf damage due to blue beetle revealed that 7 varieties viz., GAR-1, GR-102, IR-22, GAR-2, GR-103, GNR-2 and GR-104 are considered as resistant (R). However, varieties viz., Masuri, Gurjari and Jaya considered as susceptible (S) while the variety Jaya was considered as highly susceptible (HS).

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of seed invigoration treatments on seed quality of American cotton varieties (H-1098 (I), H-1117 and H-1236) picked at different intervals and stored under controlled storage at 20°C with six per cent moisture content in sealed plastic containers in the Department of Seed Science and Technology Section, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, India. The study aimed. Seed ageing leads to reduction in seed quality, during storage there is reduction in seed vigor potential, performance and stand establishment, poor emergence and high seedling mortality, thus leading to poor crop stand and reduced yield. Improvement in germination by seed priming may combat this problem as this physiological technique results in faster and synchronous seed germination. Study evaluated the effect of different seed priming treatments on per cent germination, seedling length, dry matter, vigor indices on American cotton varieties (H-1098 (I), H-1117 and H-1236) to determine and exploit their usefulness in improving cotton seed quality for better seedling establishment. Seeds of American cotton were primed for two hr. at 25°C with different chemicals (Control, KH2PO4, KNO3, PEG, GA3, Hydration- Dehydration) to enhance its quality and non-primed seeds were depicted as control. From the study it was observed that seeds primed with GA3 significantly enhances the seed germination per cent, seedling length, seedling dry weight, vigor indices.

Populus deltoidesis an important agroforestry tree species adopted by the farmers in North India. The economic returns are comparatively better than rice-wheat rotation under well managed conditions. The presented investigation was carried out in the Yamunanagar district of Haryana state. The data on tree height, diameter at breast height was recorded on 91 randomly selected trees having diameter at breast height (1.37 m from surface) ranging from 14.2 to 35.4 cm. The trees were felled and cut into logs of acceptable merchantable lengths. The trees were felled and cut into logs of acceptable merchantable lengths. The data on log length, log diameter on both ends and at mid-point, and log weight were recorded. The regression equations were developed to predict the fresh weight of timber on basis of diameter at breast height (DBH) and tree height, and DBH alone. Results were statistically analyzed and found that all equations had very good-fit. Using R2 as the indicator of best fit, the model proposed by Schumacher and Hall (R2 = 0.941) was found the very appropriate to predict fresh weight for poplar plantation in Haryana. Single-entry model (R2 = 0.902) was also recommended for predication of weight as it is not always easy to measure accurate height of the standing tree. These tables will be useful to the farmers, timber growers, wood contractors, state forest departments, research workers and the planners in their respective areas of concern for future plantation programmes.

Acacia nilotica, belonging to family Fabaceae, is one of the most important, versatile and multipurpose tree species. Sufficient quantity of quality pods was collected from ten phenotypically superior candidate plus trees (CPTs) from six provenances/geographical locations to test the performance of progeny of individual tree selected. Significant variation was observed in progenies for field emergence, shoot length, root length, fresh seedling weight, numbers of branches per seedling, root-shoot ratio and straightness, open a way to go ahead for further improvement in tree species through selection.

MGNREGA is the most popular scheme to provide employment to rural workers of India. In Haryana state present study was conducted in Mahendragarh district. From the selected district, two villages were selected randomly from all the blocks, totaling 10 villages. The sum of samples comprised of 100 respondents because of random selection of ten MGNREGS job card holders were selected from each village. The proportion of persons doing actual work to the total job cards issued was very low in almost all the selected blocks. Majority of job card holders did not get employment in almost all the years. In the year 2011-12, 63 percent of workers did not get work for even a single day. In the year 2006-07, the average employment per respondent was about 23 days which decreased to about 14 days in 2011-12. This is the indication of very low participation of workers in MGNREGA in the study area. The root cause of low participation is lack of information/awareness about MGNREGS and non availability of work in lean period. There is a need of further strengthening of the MGNREGS to generate sufficient employment for rural workers along with small and marginal farmers which helps to improve economic condition of rural households.

Agriculture has been, and continues to be, the backbone of national economy for many countries like India. The growth of various innovative technologies including improved varieties, agro-techniques and precision agriculture forms an important component of the strategies for improved production and productivity in crops and animals. The bioinformatics tools are playing important role in providing the information about the genes present in the genome of these species. These tools also have made it likely to predict the function of different genes and factors affecting these genes. Agricultural genomics leads to the global understanding of plant/animal and pathogen biology, and its application would be beneficial for agriculture approaches in the era of Next-Generation Sequencing for its influence in genomics, transcriptomic, and metagenomics efforts, describing their role in agriculture and allied sectors.

Coconut (Cocos nucifera), a nature‘s gift to mankind. Tumkur district is the largest producer of Coconut in Karnataka. Coconut farmers in the district are facing acute shortage of skilled laborer’s to climb coconut trees for harvesting nuts and for attending plant protection measures. In recent time, youth migration from rural to urban is common which has impacted on labour shortage in farming activities. Unemployment in youth is prevalent in the rural areas, as youth lack skills, work experience and poor financial resources. India consisting of more than 60 per cent youth and majority of them are living in rural areas. With this identified problem especially in the harvesting of nuts and plant protection measures in coconut palms, ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Tumakuru has organized thirteen Palm climbing and Plant protection skill-oriented training programme for the youth of district in collaboration with Coconut Development Board (CDB) and Karnataka State Rural Livelihood Promotion Scheme (KSRLPS), GOK. Remarkable results were obtained after the training programme, majority of the trainees were satisfied with the contents covered during the programme regarding improving the knowledge and skill. Appreciable per cent of the trainees opined that the trainings were organized in a systematic manner with suitable content and methodology. A substantial and an appreciable impact was observed that around 70% of the trainees have adopted palm climbing activity as a self- employment.

This paper assessed the performance of crop-based insurance scheme NAIS in north-eastern (NE) states of India. The secondary data for the study for 15 crop years since the inception of NAIS from the period 1999-00 to 20013-14 was collected from the Agricultural Insurance Company of India Limited (AIC). The performance indicators viz., area insured per farmer, percentage of farmers benefitted, ratio of claims paid over gross premium, claims paid per farmer and profit to companies were estimated. During the 1999-00 to 2013-14 only in five NE states viz., Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Sikkim and Tripura the scheme was implemented. In Mizoram, NAIS was implemented only in 2009-10 whereas; in states like Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh it was not implemented. The total area covered and the number of farmers insured was not noteworthy. It was found that there was significant increase in trend of coverage of farmers and area insured for the state like Assam, but for states like Meghalaya and Tripura, the increase was marginal and negative for Manipur and Sikkim. Parameters like claims paid and farmers benefitted have a significant effect on the area insured and farmer’s coverage over the years and play a vital role in increasing the area insured and farmer’s coverage, ultimately deciding to participate in crop insurance.

All of us know the role of different vegetables in human life. They have natural healing power. From the ancient times, India was far-advanced in health knowledge then other country of the worlds. From the time immemorial the medicinal importance of vegetables is known by the peoples. Numbers of books were written which describe the medicinal value of vegetables viz., Rig Veda one of them that describe the medicinal importance of vegetables. The main advantage of these vegetable medicines is accurate and have no side effects of after effect like antibiotics of modern medicines. Vegetables are used as a medicine and cooking purpose for centuries. Vegetables are a rich source of carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, amino acids and minerals like. Iron, Potassium and Magnesium etc., they are directly involved in the metabolism of human body. The Vegetable crop acts as medicines for many diseases like. Nyctalopia (night-blindness), Edema, anthelmintic, gonorrhea, peptic ulcer, haemoptysis, respiratory problems, haemorrhoids, leprosy, splenitis and heart disease etc. Vegetables indirectly act as an alternative source of medicinal drugs, which are easily available in natural habitat and also in wild forms. In the several dicates there has been incredibly increase in the use of vegetables-based health products in different countries especially in developed countries because of their advances techniques. Now days, use of plant-based health products are increasing in all countries, resulting in an exponential growth of vegetable products in the world. Hence, during upcoming time by analyzing these plants for available bioactive contents they may be introduced as future Vegetable medicine.

Rice is grown globally feeding billions and is affected by various stresses, one of which is nutrient deficiency including boron. About 33% of Indian soils are recorded to be deficient in Boron. Its deficiency in rice is also considered to be spreading in most rice growing soils. Boron maybe micro in amount but its indispensable role cannot be avoided. Its many functions are cell wall stability, flowering, pollination, sugar transport, carbohydrate metabolism. With its deficiency pollen tube and anthers fail to develop which leads to panicle sterility, a limiting factor for rice yield. To keep up with the population pace, rice yield has to be increased and so management of B should be addressed. Deficiency of B can be treated by boron application either as foliar or soil applied. However, range between deficient and toxic is very thin therefore care has to be taken in applying the exact quantity of B fertilizer. Several studies have reported the effect of boron application on rice attributes to increased number of productive tillers, grain weight, panicle, reduce in panicle sterility and thereby, increase in yield over control.

A field experiment was conducted during rabi season of 2016-17 on loamy sand soil at Agronomy Farm, B. A. College of Agriculture, Anand Agricultural University, Anand to study the “Influence of integrated phosphorus management and growth regulators on growth and yield of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.)”. The experiment comprises twelve treatments and replicated four times. Treatment T11 (40 kg P2O5 ha-1 + NAA @ 20 ppm) was found significantly higher in seed yield (2274 kg ha-1) than other treatments but was statistically at par with treatments T7 (2136 kg ha-1) and T10 (2207 kg ha-1). The minimum seed yield was recorded by treatment T1: PSB +VAM +Water spray (1761 kg ha-1). The highest net return of₹67, 918 ha-1 was secured in T11 (40 kg P2O5 ha-1 + NAA @ 20 ppm) with the maximum BCR of 3.65. Treatments T7 (20 kg P2O5 ha-1+ PSB+ VAM+ NAA @ 20 ppm) and T10 (40 kg P2O5 ha-1+ NAA @ 10 ppm) also recorded higher net return of ₹ 62, 093 ha-1 and ₹65, 363 ha-1 with BCR of 3.42 and 3.57, respectively. The lowest net return of ₹ 48, 220 ha-1 with BCR 2.99 was obtained under treatment T1 (PSB +VAM +Water spray). However, it was revealed that application of 40 kg P2O5 ha-1+ NAA @ 20 ppm or 20 kg P2O5 ha-1+ PSB + VAM+ NAA @ 20 ppm gave higher yield and net realization of fenugreek.

The ginning outturn is the most important trait to decide the lint yield. The lower ginning outturn is the reason for lower lint yield in the zone and need immediate attention. 3954 geographically and phenotypically diverse lines of G. hirsutum were screened during 2013-14 to 2015-16 for 3 years for ginning outturn, seed cotton yield and yield contributing traits. A wide range of variability for ginning outturn from 21.7 - 42.0 percent, yield/plant 50.4 -129.8g, number of monopodia 0-13, number of sympodia 0-23, number of bolls/plant 5-47, incidence of CLCuD 0-100 percent were observed in the germplasm. Among the 100 accessions with ginning outturn above 40 percent, the accessions IC 359065 (42), SA 1006 (42), IC 359429 (42), IC 359660 (42) and IC 359383 (42) were observed superior. Among these, the superior accession for yield/plant were IC 359383 (129.2g), IC 359429, for boll number IC 359383 (44), IC 357487 (31), IC 359660 (26), for boll weight SA 1006 (3.58g), IC 359706 (3.5g), IC 359660 (3.5g), for number of monopodia SA 1006 (9), IC 359383 (4), IC 357487 (3); for number of sympodia IC 359429 (15) IC359383 (14), IC 359227 (11) and for tolerance to CLCuD IC 357726, IC 358479, IC 357856 were observed . These can be used for crop improvement programs.

The field experiment was conducted on rabi onion cv. N-53 (Allium cepa L.) at Horticulture Instructional Farm, College of Horticulture & Research Station, Jagdalpur during the year 2015-2016 to study the effect of age of seedlings on growth, size of bulb and yield of onion cv. N-53 as intercrop in mango orchard under the climatic condition of Bastar plateau. Different age of seedling did not show significant effect on plant stand per plot. The plant height, leaf length per plant, number of leaves per plant, grade wise yield, weight of doubled per plot, total yield per plot, marketable yield per plot, were measured and significantly higher with transplanting of 40 days age of seedling i.e., treatment T4. The minimum days required for maturity (142.00) was recorded with transplanting of 40 days age of seedling.

It has been reported that water at the interface of a hydrophilic thin film forms an exclusion zone, which has a higher density than ordinary water. The structured water or fourth phase water has a molecular structure that is arranged in a liquid crystal. This structured water appears to have a simulative effect on plant growth. Structured water is being used in agriculture, dairy, poultry, medicine and construction industries with unbelievable benefits. There was both qualitative and quantitative yield improvement. Structured water did not contain energetic toxins, bring forward high oxygenation states, increases energy along with regulates and balances the soil minerals at the same time exhibits anti oxidant properties.

Potato is the fourth most important food crop in India after rice, wheat and maize. Potato is widely cultivated vegetable crops in Assam state

Plant diseases which are caused by Fungi, bacteria, viruses and nematodes can be controlled by various Biocontrol agents. Biocontrol of soil borne fungal diseases can be achieved by using fluorescent strains of Pseudomonas. Many species of Pseudomonas inhabiting the soil rhizosphere are competitive colonizers of the soil rhizosphere and possess the ability to suppress fungal pathogens. Fluorescent pseudomonads are mainly studied because of their widespread distribution in soil, their ability to colonize the rhizosphere of host plants and ability to produce a wide range of secondary metabolites inhibitory to a number of serious plant pathogens. Antibiotic production by Pseudomonas fluorescens is now recognized as an important feature in plant disease suppression. Introduction of biocontrol agents to agriculture requires appropriate and compatible plant growth promoting rhizobacteria PGPR for the goal of making agriculture more sustainable. Moreover, an understanding of how biocontrol bacteria regulate the expression of genes involved in the inhibition of pathogens is important for predicting the optimum environmental conditions of the bacteria to produce antagonistic compounds. In this review, we will provide an overview of Pseudomonas biocontrol agents, their mechanism of disease suppression and role of secondary metabolites in disease control. our main focus will be on 2,4- Diacetylphloroglucinol ( 2, 4-DAPG)..

A study was conducted during Kharif season at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Farm, Jamunabad, Lakhimpur-Kheri to evaluate the performance of different rice hybrids under tarai region of Uttar Pradesh. Findings indicated that among the 34 hybrids R03 has marked variation related to the no. of effective tillers per m2, no. of grains per panicle, test weight (1000 grains weight), grain yield (quintal per hectare) as compared to other hybrids. This hybrid itself shows less sensitiveness to bacterial leaf blight, sheath blight, blast and shoot borer. Bacterial leaf blight (%) and blast (%) were observed highest with R 18, however, shoot borer infestation (dead heart %) has been observed highest in R 17. Germination test of 34 hybrids showed that R08 had highest germination percentage (96%) while, lowest were observed with R 11 and R 13. Observation regarding grain type revealed that amongst 34 hybrids, 13 hybrids are coarse grain type, 11 hybrids are of medium grain type and 10 hybrids of fine grain type.

This study was undertaken to detect genetic polymorphisms in the non-coding regions of bovine insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) gene in six indigenous draught cattle breeds viz., Bargur, Hallikar, Kangayam, Ongole, Pulikulum and Umblachery of Southern India. A total of 312 blood samples (52 samples from each breed) were collected and genomic DNA was isolated. Four sets of primers were designed for the amplification of the expressed regions of the IGF-1 gene along with intronic sequences on either side. The presence of eight polymorphisms was detected in the intervening sequences. The variations seen in the intronic regions were at g. 316 C>A (transversion), g. 426 G>A (transition), g. 435 G>A (transition), g. 1747 A>T (transversion), g. 1884 C>A (transversion), g. 1940 C>T (transition), g. 4707 G>A (transition) and g. 4954 C>A (transversion). Deletion of ‘G’ at position g. 4940 and replacement of ‘C’ with ‘A’ at position g. 56413 was found in all the six indigenous breeds. Genotyping these variations in larger number will give significant information on their role among Indian draught cattle.