Field experiment was carried out during Kharif, 2011, 2012 and 2013 in the South Eastern Ghat Zone at the research farm of Regional Research and Technology Transfer Sub Station (OUAT), Jeypore, Odisha, India to evaluate the performance of 17 rice hybrids in randomized block design with three replications. It was revealed from the results that genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) and phenotypic coefficient variation (PCV) were high for number of spikelets per plant followed by number of tillers per hill , grain yield (q/ha) and plot yield which reflects the least effect of environmental factors on expression of these traits. High heritability along with high genetic advance was registered for number of spikelets per plant followed by grain yield (q/ha), plot yield and number of tillers per hill suggesting predominance of additive gene action in expression of these traits. Grain yield exhibited significant positive correlations with days to initial flowering, days to 50% flowering, plant height, panicle length and number of spikelets per panicle at both genotypic and phenotypic levels. This indicates the relative utility of all these traits for selection with respect to grain yield. Path coefficient analysis revealed that number of spikelets per panicle had highest positive direct effect on grain yield, followed by no of tillers per hill and days to initial flowering This may indicate that the direct selection for number of spikelets per panicle and days to initial flowering would likely be effective in increasing grain yield

A study on fish consumption practices in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh State was undertaken by conducting a survey among the randomly selected three hundred fish consuming households. Information regarding fish consumption expenditure, per capita fish consumption, fish consumption frequency, preferences with reasons for the consumption of particular marine fish varieties, place and forms of fish consumption, fish usage practices were collected, analyzed and presented.

An experiment was conducted during kharif 2016 at Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar, to study the “yield and quality of kharif groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) as influenced by organic and inorganic sources of nutrients”. The results revealed that maximum plant height (45.15cm), more number of branches (9.25), effective pegs (12.90) and filled pods (20.50) per plant with less number of unfilled pods per plant(7.03), maximum 100 kernel weight (48.65 g)and seed yield per plant (14.37 g) with higher pod(3106kg/ha) and haulm (4916 kg/ha) yield of groundnut were achieved with application of 75% RDF + 5t FYM/ha + 8 kg ZnSO4/ha + 15kg FeSO4/ha. Harvest index was not affected significantly due to different organic and inorganic sources of nutrient treatments. Protein content and shelling per cent was significantly improved due to an application of 75% RDF + 5 t FYM/ha + 8 kg ZnSO4/ha + 15 kg FeSO4/ha.

Biofortification is an approach for enhancement of the micronutrient content of staple crops. This possible because only due to the lots of genetic variation exist within the genome of staple food crops like rice. Greater than 2 billion persons of the humanity are micronutrient- iron as well as zinc deficient. Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the major source of food for more than half of the world’s population. As a model cereal crop, the complete genome sequences of rice has become fundamental tool for study gene functions and correlate it with the practical applications in plants. At present, rice researchers devote much effort to generating mineral rich rice genotypes to combact the micronutrient malnutrition. Molecular analysis, genetic transformation and molecular breeding combine with mineral content examination for presented rice germplasm. In the present study we report the F1 identification of rice plant after crossing the high yielding genotypes with micronutrient (iron and Zinc) rich genotypes using microsatellite markers both by agarose as well as polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.

Exploration of genetic diversity has been considered as the most important approach to diversify the food basket for attaining nutritional security and developing improved progenies. So, the widespread genotypes from different locations of West Bengal, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh, were evaluated during three consecutive years (2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17) to explore growth, floral and yield potential under eastern Himalayan region in randomized block design. The pooled result revealed wide range of variation for the characters studied viz. vine length (2.95-7.96 m), internodal length (14.96-24.10 cm), number of primary branches per plant (3.21-6.97), petiole length (17.23-25.81 cm), number of leaves per plant (20.73-41.20, 87.49-170.74 and 130.01-326.47 at 30, 60 and 90 DAT), leaf area (81.79-147.05 cm2, 161.81-309.82 cm2 and 155.43-286.55 cm2 at 30, 60 and 90 DAT, respectively), leaf area index (0.16-0.44, 0.77-1.77 and 1.41-2.86 at 30, 60 and 90 DAT, respectively), node for first male flower (3.73-6.09), days to first male flower (45.47-72.06), node for first female flower (11.27-26.02), days to first female flower (44.78-77.13) and total yield (7.78-38.05 t/ha). Among thirty genotypes of pumpkin, the genotype PCP-2, collected from Pundibari region of West Bengal was promising in terms of short vine growth and earliness whereas the genotype PCB-22 collected from Baidyabati, West Bengal had high yielding capacity than rest of the genotypes.

The amount of K released from potassium alumino silicate in a broth by the KSB isolates at 7, 15, 21 days after incubation (DAI) were increased with increase in incubation time and was maximum at 20 DAI (6.5 to 73.4 (μg/ml). Among the isolates KSB - 2 released maximum amount of K from potassium alumino silicate (73.4 (μg/ml). The KSB-2 significantly produced higher bacterial count (47.0 x 10 8 cfu ml-1). The amount of polysaccharide production was observed on glucose minimal agar medium and visually scored. Compared to all, KSB-2 isolate was best performer (+++) followed by KSB-4 was a moderate producer. The amount of Zn available in broth at 4th, 8th and 16th day of incubation in ZnO and Zinc phosphate supplemented growth medium increased with increase in incubation time and was maximum at 16 DAI which was 3.98 to 36.62 μg/ml for ZnO wih pH change of 7.12 to 3.96 and 3.20 to 32.25 μg/ml for Zinc phosphate with pH change 7.0 to 4.9. The zinc solubilizing bacterium ZnSB-2 (36.62 μg/ml) showed the maximum value of available zinc in broth at 4th, 8th and 16th day of incubation in ZnO supplemented growth medium. The zinc solubilizing bacterium ZnSB-8 (32.25 μg/ml) showed the maximum value of available zinc in broth at 4th, 8th and 16th day of incubation in Zinc phosphate supplemented growth medium. The ZnSB - 5 significantly produced higher bacterial counts (2.55 x 10 8 cfu ml-1). The amount of Zn available in broth for ZnSF at 4th, 8th and 16th day of incubation in ZnO supplemented growth medium increased with increase in incubation time and was maximum at 16 DAI which was 6.32 to 20.28 μg/ml for ZnO with pH change of 6.60 to 4.30. The zinc solubilizing fungi ZnSF-1 (20.28 μg/ml) showed the maximum value of available zinc in broth at 4th, 8th and 16th day of incubation in ZnO supplemented growth medium. ZnSF-1 significantly produced higher count (123 x 10 6 cfu ml -1) followed by ZnSF-2 (119.0 x 10 6 cfu ml-1). The bacterial isolate KSB-2 solubilized more potassium, ZnSB-8 solubilized more zinc phosphate and ZnSF-1 solubilized more zinc oxide in broth assay. and ZnSB-2 in broth assay. The solubilization of insoluble source in liquid culture broth increased with increase in incubation time. The isolates produced exopolysaccharide and organic acids for solubilization.

The composite flour was taken in the ratio of Finger millet: Foxtail millet: Peral Millet: Barnyard millet: 40:30:20:10 respectively. The sprouted soy percentage was varied (5%, 10%, 15% and 20%) in composite millet flour to prepare optimally soy fortified composite minor millet flour based snack foods. The puffed product from composite millet flour based sprouted soy fortified RTE food was developed by preparing strip type cold extrudate and puffing it using microwave techniques. The incorporation of sprouted soybean upto 20 % db in composite millet flour was useful for preparation of RTE snack foods.

Women in India have shown their potentialities in every field including politics, literature and education since Independence. However, the status of women in rural India is daunting and pathetic. The women in villages of India lead a tough and disconcerted life. They are the victims of a whole plethora of violence committed against them such as domestic violence, rape, molestation, forced marriage and dowry death. The Central as well as States Governments in India has attempted a number of programs leading to income generation. The poverty alleviation programs target the people living below poverty line or just above poverty line through self help group units. But lack of initiatives by the concerned authorities of the self help group movement and the state government in encouraging the poor to work in groups for a common cause of reducing poverty is the basic problem identified in the state. Another critical factor is the limited availability of traditional economic activities to leverage the skill with more efficient methods and affordable credit. The present draft is basically divided into two parts. The first part covers the theoretical aspect which reviews existing documents on women and SHGs and the second part discusses the empirical findings like the socio-economic back ground of the women, their performance and also highlights people’s perception towards these women. The study conducted in two blocks in the Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand and all our samples are women SHGs member. As a result the group has earned a good amount of profit and now they have a valuable amount in their account. This success has also increased their confidence and enthusiasm for initiating more activities in the group to make it sustainable in the future also.

A study was conducted in Balangir and Bargarh districts of Odisha during wet season on the popular rice varieties Swarna and Lalat during 2014 and 2015 to evaluate the diversity of different fauna visiting the panicle from flowering to maturing. Organisms were collected using sweep net method and visual observation. Overall, 126 species were observed that belonged to 110 genera, 40 families of insects, 8 families of spiders and 3 families of birds under 11 orders. Lepidopterans constituted the highest number species (21%) followed by the hymenopterans (18%), hemipterans (17%). Spiders represented only 10% of the species. Hemipterans were collected in highest number (223).

Agriculture plays an important role in development of our country’s economy. Agriculture is the mainstay of our rural economy. Agriculture supports 50 percent of population. It's contribution in GDP (gross domestic product) is 13.7%. Food grain production in India is 272.00 million ton in 2016-17 which is second in the world. As today India supports 17.9 per cent of population on 4.2 per cent of world’s water resource and 2-3 per cent of global land. India’s 64% lands are dependent on monsoon. This was made possible by the transfer of latest technology to the farmers’s field in agriculture and allied areas. In India such transfer of technology programmes of Indian Council of Agricultural Research is implemented by Krishi Vigyan Kendra at the district level. Krishi Vigyan Kendra provides farm advisories using ICT and other media means on varied subjects of interest of farming community. Krishi Vigyan Kendra started various ICT based initiative for transfer of technology. Recently three major ICT initiatives namely mKisan Portal, web portal Krishi Vigyan Kendra Knowledge Network Portal and KVK mobile app started by ICAR. These are assisting farming community to connect with Krishi Vigyan Kendra for transfer of technology. Present study describes how these initiatives are helping farmers to learn and explore the latest technology in the field of agriculture and allied subjects.

The effect of acephate (pesticide) on the meiosis of Allium cepa L. was assayed for detecting the mutagenic behavior of this chemical. Onion flowers were treated with 0.750 g /lt (general recommendation for farmers use) water and 0.375 g/ lt (50% of general recommendation) with acephate at 24 hrs and 48 hrs duration and distilled water as control. Specific types of chromosomal aberrations have been induced by acephate. The result showed that acephate induced meiotic chromosomal aberrations like chromosome stickiness and clumping, c-meiosis, multipolarity, bridges, laggards, asynchrony, absence of cytokinesis, micronuclei, triads and diads were found more at 0.750 g/lt and 0.375 g/lt of water concentrations with different time of exposure. Frequently, the chromosomal aberrations are found identical in specific phases of meiosis in Allium cepa L. anther cells. It may be stated that the chromosomal aberrations due to the application of acephate pesticide in Allium cepa L. may be used as important test battery to detect the genetic damage.

An investigation was carried out to estimate combining ability and heterosis in newly developed inbred lines of maize (Zea mays L.) at the College of Agriculture, V. C. Farm, Mandya during 2014. Combining ability analysis using line × tester design was conducted in inbred lines by crossing 43 lines with four testers. The variance ratio (ratio of GCA to SCA) revealed that the expressions of traits under this study were predominantly controlled by non-additive gene action. The lines viz., MAI1-48-1, MAI1-41-3, MAI2-9-1-2 and tester CM202 were identified as best general combiners for yield and yield related characters. Among crosses, MAI1-17-11×MAI105, MAI1-20-1×CM500 and MAI1-8-3×MAI105 exhibited highest significant sca effects and high heterosis over checks for grain yield. These hybrids need to be further evaluated across locations and over seasons to select best hybrids for commercial exploitation.

A total of ten buffaloes between 5-9 years in various lactations were selected for the study. Diagnosis was made on the basis of physical examination of udder, sample and milk pH. Cultural examination revealed the presence of Staphylococcus spp. and E. coli and antibiotic susceptibility test showed high sensitivity to Gentamicin, Enrofloxacin, Ceftriaxone, Cefoperazone and Levofloxacin. Treatment instituted with antibiotic based on antibiotic susceptibility test, anti-inflammatory, vitamin with antioxidant properties and application of anti-inflammary as well as anti-microbial ointment was effective in management of clinical mastitis.

A self-propelled multipurpose power unit was developed in the laboratory of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, JNKVV, Jabalpur for small farmers. The prime mower is powered by 5hp diesel engine. V-belt drive is provided for transmission of power from the engine to the traction wheels. An adjustable accelerator wire is connected to the governor for adjusting the engine speed according to the requirement. The worm gear reduction unit is located at the axle having speed reduction ratio of 20:1. A telescopic type frame is provided to support the end of adjustable output shaft with the help of bearing. The handle is modified so as to vary the height from 1.0 to 1.3 m from the ground. The addition lug cage wheel is connected to transport wheel to increase the traction. The developed machine can be used for field preparation, sowing, intercultural operation, water pumping, grass cutting & harvesting and winnowing & threshing in small agricultural fields for winnowing, mower and pumping operations field capacity of the machine was 6q/hr, 0.08ha/hr and 12 l/sec respectively, efficiency of the machine was 90%, 91 % and 93% respectively and fuel consumption 0.6l/hr, 1.47l/hr and 0.8 l/hr respectively.

In Department Nano Science and Technology of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and Department of Food Science and Nutrition a laboratory analysis was carried out to assess the cooking quality and elemental composition of four red rice cultivars. The red rice cultivars of Chandikar, Norungan, TKM 9 and TPS 1 grain samples were collected in Agricultural College and Research Institute Madurai and analyzed for its cooking quality and elemental composition. All the four-rice variety are short grains and medium slender in L/B ratio. Among the four varieties the two TNAU improved varieties had recorded the maximum hulling and milling percentage than the land races. The TNAU improved varieties recorded lower grain volume and bulk density than land races. Among the varieties, TPS 1 get cooked rapidly. Higher grain elongation and volume expansion ratio was observed with Chandikar variety. Higher carbohydrates, protein, fibre, fat, iron and zinc per cent of land races was noticed compared to improved red rice varieties. All the four varieties were with elements of C, N, O, K, M and Mo. Cultivar Norungan was had a special element namely Gd and in TPS 1 with Sm.

The yield of pumpkin under demonstration was recorded 343.6 q. /ha. The yield enhancement due to technological intervention was to the tune of 7.86 % over control. The technology gap, technology index and extension gap were 106.4 kg, 23.63 per cent and 27 quintal per hectare, respectively. The Gross return, cost of cultivation and net return of Pumpkin FLDs were Rs. 140523/-, Rs. 21532/- and Rs. 1, 18,901/-, respectively.

The objective of the study was to improve the in vitro maturation of oocytes by culturing preantral follicles (PFs) (250–400µm) of goat for 10 days in various concentrations of leptin and in combination with thyroxin (T4), FSH, epidermal growth factor (EGF). Preantral follicles were isolated and cultured for 10 days in different concentrations of leptin (10 ng/ml, 50 ng/ml and 100 ng/ml). The proportion of PFs exhibiting growth, increase in diameter, antrum formation and meiotic resumption were highest when the culture medium was supplemented with leptin (10 ng/ml) individually. Based on the best concentration from the above results and previous findings, the preantral follicles were cultured in various combinations/sequences of thyroxin (T4), FSH, epidermal growth factor (EGF) and leptin. It is concluded that inclusion of leptin along thyroxin (T4), FSH, epidermal growth factor (EGF) resulted in no significant difference between the treatments and there was no improvement on meiotic maturation by addition of leptin to growth factors and hormones when compared to their individual supplementation in culture medium.

The present study focuses on identifying information needs of the agrarian community and other related enterprises so that the need could be catered through ICT via Kisan Mobile Sandesh programme run by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Rewa. Data revealed that information on availability of seeds, insect pest management and low cost inputs are the major requirements although the need varied vastly, information on product planning was the least needed information reported by respondents. Majority of beneficiary reported Rs 1000-2500/- increase in Income due to availability of useful and clear information on right time from authentic source.

The present research “Storage study of fig leather” was carried out during 2015–2016 at Post Harvest Technology Centre, Department of Horticulture, Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri. The storage behaviour of fig leather packed in different packaging materials (glass bottles and standy pouches) and stored at two different storage conditions (ambient temperature and cold storage) was studied. The data revealed that there was increase in TSS, total sugars, reducing sugars and titratable acidity, whereas the calcium and iron decreased during 180 days of storage. The sensory score viz., colour, flavour, taste and overall acceptability of fig leather during 180 days of storage were found to be decreased in all the treatment combinations. The microbial quality viz., yeast and mould count were found to be increased during 180 days of storage in fig leather but was found to be within acceptable level in all treatment combinations. The fig leather packed in glass bottles stored under cold storage (5 + 20C) for 180 days was found to be best in respect of chemical, sensory and microbial parameters. The cost of production and storage of 1 kg fig leather is Rs 145.40.

Ten genotypes of sweet potato tuber crops were evaluated against sweet potato weevil for sweet potato tubers preference in the College of Agriculture, IGKV, Raipur under laboratory conditions during Rabi season of 2014-15 and 2015-16. The orientation studies were conducted to evaluate the sweet potato genotypes tuber for orientation of weevil adults and more/less preferred genotypes by weevils. The results of these studies revealed that the IGSP-C-15 had least orientation and less preferred for orientation by sweet potato weevils with 3.82 weevils per tuber. It was followed by Indira Madhur and Indira Nandini with 4.88 and 5.46 weevils per tuber. On the other hand, maximum orientation of 12.94 weevils per tuber was recorded on genotype Kalmegh, which means the weevil adults were more attracted to genotype Kalmegh. The least oriented genotypes were good for farmers field as it will be less affected by weevils and more economical.

Evaluation of newer insecticides against plant hoppers in rice under field conditions at Agricultural Research Station, Kampasagar, Nalgonda, Telangana during Kharif 2015-16. The insecticides viz., Ethripole 40+Imidacloprid 40W.G @125 g/ha, Ethofenprox 10% EC @750 ml/ha, Buprofezin 25% S.C. @825 ml/ha, Pymetrozine 50 WG @250 g/ha, Acephate 75% S.P. @667 g/ha, Monocrotophos 36% S.L. @1390 ml/ha, Sulfoxaflor 24% S.C. @ 375 ml/ha and untreated control were evaluated against brown plant hopper. All the treatments were effective for management of brown plant hoppers than untreated control. Among these, Sulfoxaflor 24% S.C. @ 375 ml/ha was found minimum brown plant hopper population and with mean per cent reduction was higher at 1, 3, 7 and 10 days after spraying. The maximum grain yield was recorded on Sulfoxaflor 24% S.C. @ 375 ml/ha compared to other treatments.

Three years studies were conducted at Potato Research Station, SDAU, Deesa to study the effect of date of planting and genotypes on growth, yield and productivity of potato. Results revealed that planting of potato from 15th November registered marked improvement in biometric attributes like plant emergence, plant height and number of leaves/plant thus ultimately yielded significantly higher tuber yield and productivity (net return, BCR, net return per day, water use efficiency and crop productivity). Also, further delay in potato planting by 10 days i.e, 25th November resulted in statistically similar growth, tuber yield and productivity of potato. Among genotypes, Kufri Pukhraj and Kufri Badshah emerged out as better performing genotypes in relation to growth, yield and productivity for the region

The dairy and livestock sector play a very important role in national economy of India. The present study was taken up to ascertain the incidence of anestrus in dairy cattle and its management of Navsari/district Vansda taluka of the south Gujarat region. A total of 60 case reported of anestrus of cow and heifer and treated with Ivermectin @ 1 ml per 50 kg body weight subcutaneously and initial treatment with injection vitamin AD3E, 5 ml I/M, injection Tonophosphan 20% w/v per ml @ 5 ml I/M and then treated with clomiphene citrate bolus. Among them 49 cow/heifer responded to clomiphene citrate bolus and comes in heat at 5th day of treatment.

The focus of this paper is to determine the likely factors that contract farming system is the best system for sustainable agricultural development. A contract is an agreement made between two or more parties enforceable by law. Well-managed contract farming is considered as an effective approach to help solve many of the market linkage and access problems for small farmers. This paper examines briefly its growth and status including the performance of different models of contract farming based on empirical studies. Its concludes that by entering into the contractual arrangement, the income level of the farmer and employment level in the rural economy has increased despite certain problems faced by the farmers like delayed payment, delay in procurement and low supply of agricultural inputs to them.

Declining ground water resources have become a major problem to the farmers in Uttar Pradesh, India. Mismanagement of groundwater use for irrigation without adopting any water resource conservation techniques may cause a serious problem to the agriculture in the state. The present study was carried out at the farmer’s field to utilize the resource conservation techniques to check the upcoming threat of groundwater scarcity. Resource conservation practice of Plastic Mulch (PM) was used to conserve the soil moisture and other resource under low cost Furrow Irrigation System (FIS) on tomato crop. Two farmers from each of four villages were selected for the experiment. Three treatments were made at each farmer’s field liz., farmers practice with flood irrigation as a control (T1), raised bed with FIS (T2), raised bed with PM and FIS (T3). Area under each trail was 35x30 m2 and bed width of raised bed was 0.9 m and furrow to furrow distance and length was 1.15 m and 30 m, respectively. The parameters included Depth of water irrigated, Yield, Water Use Efficiency (WUE) and Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) in the study and statistically analyzed. Results revealed that total irrigation water saving, yield, WUE and BCR values were significantly high (P<0.05) in T3followed by T2and T1. Plastic mulching (T3) effected 27.44 and 59.52 per cent of water saving in T2 and T1, respectively and corresponding increase in yield was 26.27 and 47.59 per cent. Plastic mulching with furrow irrigation than pressurized irrigation may prove to be cost-effective measure for moisture conservation in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, which can effectively control the declining water table and farmers may get higher profit from crop production.

Weed in rice cultivation SOBARI (System of Organic Base on Aerobic Rice Intensification) is an important issue and necessary to receive special handling. The objective of this study was to find ways the most effective weed control and efficient in rice cultivation on SOBARI system. Experiments conducted in paddy fields SPLPP Faculty of Agriculture, University of Padjadjaran in Ciparay. The method used was experimental method with Simple Randomized Block Design (RBD) consisting of 6 treatments and repeated 4. Treatment trials are as follows: A = Without Weeding, B = weeding manually 2 times at 15and 30 DAP, C = weeding manually 3 times at15, 30 and 45 DAP, D = Herbicides Methyl metsulfuron+ 2,4-D, E = Herbicides Bispyribac-Sodium, F = Herbicides Penoxsulam Cyalofop-butyl. The results showed that the use of 2,4-D Methyl metsulfuron, Bispyribac-Sodium and Penoxsulam Cyalofop-butyl suppressed the growth of broadleaf weed, grasses, and sedges that had a similar effect with Weeding manually for 3 times. Weed control manually 3 times on paddy rice cultivation with planting system SOBARI give good influence on the growth and yield components and provide rice yield of 7,13 tons per ha.

The experiment was laid out in factorial Randomised Block Design with two cultivars viz., Alankar and Abhinav, three planting geometry patterns i.e. 120 cm x 40 cm (2.08 plants per m2), 60 cm x 60 cm (2.78 plants per m2) and 75 cm x 40 cm (3.33 plants per m2) and three levels of nutrition levels i.e. 120: 60: 60 NPK kg ha-1, 150: 75: 75 NPK kg ha-1 and 180: 90: 90 NPK kg ha-1, thus making a total of 18 treatment combinations to find out the suitable planting geometry, nutrition level and their interaction in processing cultivars of tomato. Lycopene content, carotene, acidity, sugars, TSS and a* values of tomato fruits were of superior level with medium planting geometry 60 cm × 60 cm. tomato plants applied with 180: 90: 90 NPK kg ha-1 recorded the highest quality fruits at 2nd (80 DAT), 5th (100 DAT) and 8th harvest (120 DAT). A gradual increase in quality of tomato fruits cv Alankar was observed in terms of quality parameters on 2 nd, 5th and 8th harvests whereas in Abhinav, an initial increase and then decrease in lycopene, carotene and a* value (Colour strength) were found with advance of harvesting.

This current scenario of dairying in India calls for intensive efforts directed towards enhancing the milk production, productivity and the acceptance of recommended dairy farming practices at the household level. Present study was conducted in two districts i.e., Junagadh and Gir Somnath of Saurashtra region to measure the Extent of adoption and Attitude of the farm women towards improved animal husbandry practices. Data were collected from 120 respondents using structured interview schedule which contains the different areas of improved animal husbandry practices. Majority of the respondents possess medium level of adoption (67.50 per cent) towards animal husbandry practices. Majority of farm women possess moderately favourable attitude (70.00per cent) towards improved animal husbandry practices.

A comparison was made for root growth and tillering behavior in rice among three establishment methods like aerobic, SRI and traditional. System of rice intensification (SRI) recorded 56.11 and 49.26 per cent higher grain and straw yield over aerobic system (4975 and 5948 kg ha-1), whereas it was 8.24 and 9.54 per cent over conventional system (7175 and 8105 kg ha-1). Establishment through SRI system increased the effective tiller by 179.78 and 32.38per cent (with aerobic and traditional system respectively)) at 30 days after sowing. Effective root morphological traits (higher length of 30.09 cm, volume of 47.05 cc and dry matter of 19.30 g plant-1) from SRI method achieved over other methods helped in enhanced nitrogen supply caused by intermittent saturation and rewetting of soil propelled the plant growth and biomass.

The study was conducted at Agricultural and Horticultural Research Station, Ullal, Mangalore, Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka during 2015 and 2016 on 15 years old cashew plantation of different varietal plot. The results revealed that early bearing type of cashew recorded significantly highest seed weight in Ullal-3 UT of 11.03 gm and highest apple weight recorded in UN-50 UT (101.60gm) followed by UN-50 T (98.40 gm). Significantly highest seed size was observed in UN-50 UT (12.45 gm) followed by UN 50 T (11.55 gm) and highest apple size was recorded in Ullal-3 UT (40.30 gm) where as lowest apple size was recorded in Ullal-4 T (24.30 gm). Highest no. of perfect flowers was recorded in Venurla-7 T (28.80). Significantly highest yield was recorded in Vengurla-7 T (14.42kg per tree) followed by Ullal-2 T (13.48 kg per tree). In late bearing type of cashew varieties significantly highest seed weight was recorded in Nairobi UT 10.66 gm followed by Nairobi T (10.27 gm). Significantly highest apple weight was recorded in Nairobi UT (120.20 gm) followed by Nairobi T (117.36 gm) and highest seed size was recorded in Ullal-1 UT (10.60 gm) followed by VRI-3 T (9.35 gm). Significantly highest apple size was recorded in Nairobi UT (43.50 gm) and highest no. of perfect flowers was recorded in NDR 2-1 T (28.60). Significantly highest yield was recorded in NDR 2-1 T (18.15kg per tree) followed by Ullal-1 T (17.23 kg per tree).

The present investigation was conducted to evaluate 50 rice landraces for their stability parameters with respect to grain yield and its component characters across three different saline environments. The pooled analysis of variance revealed that genotype x environment interactions were significant for three characters plant height, days to 50% flowering and grain yield (q/ha) implying differential response of genotypes under three environments for these characters. From the current study it was concluded that considering yield and its component characters, Nonabokra and Saraswati were found suitable for all environments. Jalamagna, Golok and Dinesh were suitable for better environment for the characters plant height and days to 50% flowering. Kaushalya, Dudheshwar, Nalini and Sashi were suitable for better environments for grain yield whereas Biraj, Kunti, Mandira, Ranjeet, Bhudeb, Purnendu, Lalat, NC 678, Dadsal, Mohan, Jarava, Lunishree, Gobindobhog, Sadamota, Khejurchari and Aduisen were identified as suitable for poor environments.

Bacterial stalk rot of maize caused by Crysenthemi pv. zeae is one of the most prevalent and serious disease in kharif maize growing area. Most of the commercially grown cultivars have shown a high level of disease incidence around the grain filling stage resulting in heavy yield loss. None of the disease management approaches is absolutely effective against it. Hence attention is required to integrate suitable approaches for development of an effective, economically feasible, and environmentally safe method to manage this disease. Keeping inview the above facts, the field experiments for integrated management of bacterial stalk rot in kharif maize were conducted during the years 2011-12 & 2012-2013.The results revealed that the treatment with RDF and application of vermicompost @ 5q/ha around the root zone at knee height stage and spray of streptocycline @ 0.01% at 10 days before tasseling stage proved most effective treatment for the management of bacterial stalk rot of kharif maize but found statistically at par with all the treatments except control, application of RDF and seed treatment with 0.01% streptocycline solution along with RDF and application of additional dose of murate of potash @ 40 kg/ha around the root zone at 10 days before tasseling stage. All the treatments were found significantly lower in terms of having percent disease incidence but higher in respect of percent disease management in comparison to control. These two treatments were found significantly superior over all the treatments in respect of maize yield. Seed treatment with 0.01% streptocycline solution along with RDF and additional dose of murate of potash @ 40 kg/ha at 10 days before tasseling stage stands at third rank in respect of obtaining maize yield but significantly at par with rest of the treatments except RDF & control.

An experiment was carried out in College of Horticulture, UHS campus, Bengaluru during 2016-17. Experiment was laid out in Complete Randomized Design (CRD) comprising of 19 treatments with 2 replications. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the physiological variability for drought tolerance and genetic diversity among nineteen advanced breeding lines by using SSR marker. Nineteen advanced breeding lines including the check variety Pusanavabahar were raised in pots containing soil, sand and fertilizers in the ratio 1:2:1 and screened for relative water content (RWC), which is the most appropriate estimate of plant water status in terms of physiological consequence of cellular water deficit 35 DAS under drought. Maximum per cent of RWC was recorded in PusaNavabahar (83.34%) followed by the line COHBCB 41 (85.12%). Molecular markers are being widely used in various areas of plant breeding as an important tool for evaluating genetic diversity and determining cultivars identity. A dendrogram constructed based on unweighed pair group method of arithmetic means (UPGMA) using data derived from 22 SSRs grouped the 19 cluster bean advanced breeding lines into two main clusters with 0.62 similarity. The ranges of dissimilarity among the cluster beans of advanced breeding lines were varied from 0.62 to 1.00.

Western Ghats of Karnataka is one of the richest biodiversity hotspot in India. In the present study, mushroom species in the Genus Termitomyces, collected from Shivamogha region of Western Ghats during monsoon season (June-September) with the help of Siddi and Adivasi tribal community. During collection, the field information was recorded and the samples were designated as Sample -1, Sample -2, Sample -3 and Sample -4. Further, these mushrooms were identified by internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region sequence homology using NCBI data base. The mushrooms identified based on sequence homology are Termitomyces micro carpus (Sample-1), Termitomyces Sp (Sample-2), Termitomyces Sp (Sample-3) and Termitomyces Sp (Sample-4). All are edible mushrooms belong to Genus Termitomyces.

The rainfall data of 37 year (1981-2017) of Sardarkrushinagar has been analyzed to find out fluctuations and presence of trend with historical time series. The results revealed that the annual rainfall significantly increased at the rate of 13.9 mm/year. The long term annual mean of rainfall was 704.1 ± 420.1mm with coefficient of variation of 59.7%. Decadal variability showed that the rainfall was found in decreasing trend during the decade of 1991-2000 while upward trend found during the decades of 1981-1990 and 2001-2010. The quantum of total rainfall in monsoon season was found to be increased significantly at the rate of 14.2mm/year. The contribution of winter, pre monsoon, monsoon and post monsoon rainfall to the annual mean was 0.5%, 1.2%, 94.6% and 3.7% respectively. Similarly, the quantum of monthly rainfall was found to be increased significantly in July at the rate of 10.4mm/year. July month contributes highest rainfall (43.2%) followed by August (30.9%) to the S-W monsoon rainfall. The contribution of June and September month was 9.0 and 16.7% respectively.

The study entitled “Utilization pattern of crop loan by farmers in Akola district” was conducted in Akola district in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state. For present study, 10 villages from the blocks of Akola and Murtizapur were selected purposively by using random sampling method. The Ex-post facto design of social research as used for the study. The data from 100 crop loan borrowers were collected. Majority (79.00%) of the respondents have high level of utilization pattern of crop loan. The finding of correlation analysis revealed that among selected variables for utilization pattern of crop loan namely such as education, extension contact, mass media exposure, risk orientation was found positively and significantly correlated at 0.01 per cent level of probability. The finding of multiple regression analysis revealed that among selected variables for utilization pattern of crop loan namely education, social participation had positive relationship at 0.01 and 0.05 levels of probability.

Frontline Demonstration was conducted to study the evaluating the performance of improved cultivar, seed treatment, sulphur application, diseases, insect and pest management on production as well as productivity of mustard. Frontline demonstrations were conducted during 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 with evaluation the performance of Chhattisgarh Sarson-1, variety of mustard in Raigarh, Pussore and Kharsia blocks of the district and record the feedback information of farmer’s. The results revealed that average yield of mustard under frontline Demonstrations were 11.50, 10.75 and 10.50 qha-1 as compare to 8.25, 7.90 and 7.85qha-1recorded in farmer’s practice, average yield increase of 39.39, 36.07 and 33.75 percent and additional return of 11180.00, 9895.00 and 9105.00 Rsha-1, respectively. 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 oilseeds in Chhattisgarh state.

The ethnomedicinal overviews and studies contributed a heap of information on different indigenous traditional systems. Such types of studies are essential for re-assessment of wild populations of medicinal plants at the regional, national and global level to further amplify their current therapeutic potential. The re-emergence of open enthusiasm of people in plant-based medicine combined with fast extension of pharmaceutical ventures resulted in expanded demand of medicinal plants. Blending of traditional knowledge with modern health care practices definitely provide effective health care services to people. Polygonatum verticillatum, an immensely valued medicinal herb finds tremendous use in traditional and folklore system of medicine for treatment of plethora of health problems. Hence, this communication deals with the documentation of indigenous knowledge regarding ethnopharmacological importance of P. verticillatum confided within tribal communities of rural and remote localities. It helps to reaffirm the faith in indigenous system of medicine and will surely help to restore it before modernization system. Documentation and protection of such precious traditional knowledge will definitely provide an impressive support to its subsequent clinical use in advanced medicine and bestow opportunity for its future applications.

Understanding efficiency of farmers in mobilizing their resources and factors influencing those efficiencies is important in developing countries as efficiency gain by farmers can contribute in economic gain. The present study has estimated the technical and scale efficiencies of Bt cotton seed-production farms in Karnataka, considering different production levels and has identified the determining factors of their technical efficiency. The study is based on the data collected from the major Bt cotton seed -producing regions of Karnataka, viz. Chikkaballapura from Non-conventional area (NCA) and Gadag from Conventional area of Karnataka. Data Envelopment analysis (DEA) and Multiple linear regression models have been used for estimating the technical efficiency and its determinants, respectively. The study has indicated that nearly 69 per cent of Bt cotton seed production farms in Karnataka including in farms at NCA and CA were inefficient as they were operating at level of below 90 per cent. Most of the farms in Karnataka (73.75%) have been have been performing with increasing returns to scale which shows potential to expand production and productivity. Multiple linear production function analysis, used to identify the factors influencing TE indicated that age (0.0144) and capital efficiency (0.5256) in NCA and capital efficiency (0.5704) in CA were found to influence TE significantly and positively.

The endemic plant pathogen of rice is causing lot of damage to the crops. It is necessary to identify plant pathogens. The aim and objective of present study is to find out information about different plant pathogens attacking the paddy crop. It is also necessary to find out causes, symptoms and eradications of diseases. Keeping this in view the survey of disease was carried out in fifteen rice fields of Bhandara district. Disease survey was carried out on rice fields in Bhandara District to evalvate different diseases on rice crop and to determine farmers behavior on rice cultivation and to increase awareness about diseases and promote effective and environmentally sound disease management. Disease pressure in rice crop from seedling stage to harvest caused by mainly fungi, bacteria and virus are the most important constraints for low production.

Integrated Crop Technology (ICT) based demonstrations were conducted on cucurbits with improved technologies against farmers practices on farmer’s fields during 2009-10 to 2011-12 in Hamirpur district of Bundelkhand zone of Uttar Pradesh. Full package of practices was followed. The demonstrations were conducted on bottle gourd (329), bitter gourd (254), sponge gourd (381) and cucumber (199). The results showed that improved techniques increased yield over farmers practices by the margins of 84.94 q ha-1 or 55.33 % in bottle gourd, 42.06 q ha-1 or 48.85 % in bitter gourd, 58.08 q ha-1 or 55.72 % in sponge gourd and 55.86 q ha-1 or 67.66 % in cucumber. Net profit o ₹ 73088 ha-1 in sponge gourd followed by ₹ 52092 ha-1 in bottle gourd and ₹ 45140 ha-1 in bitter gourd realized by farmers. Lowest of ₹ 25316 ha-1 net profit was increased in cucumber. There was wide technology gap, which need to bridge by promoting the scientific production and protection technologies of cucurbits crops in Hamirpur district of Uttar Pradesh.

The Research aims to know the weed diversity on tomato crop in Majalengka Regency, West Java Province. It was conducted in November 2016 as of 2017. It uses the descriptive research method through survey method. After the required sample-plot number is obtained, then carried out vegetation analysis (weed survey). Each of vegetation analysis is determined: weed species, weed density, weed frequency, weed dominance, Summed Dominance Ratio, community coefficient, weed coverage percentage and dry weed weight. The questionnaires are given to farmers to know the history of tomato and carrot, i.e. used plant varieties, used plant pattern, used fertilizer type, weed controlling technique and plant spacing. The result indicates that weed species contained in tomato crop in Majalengka Regency were 21 species. There are 14 broad- leaved weed species, 6 grass species and 1 nut grass, dominant weed species found in the tomato crop in Majalengka Regency are 8 species. 5 broad-leaved weed species are recorded, i.e., G. parviflora, D. villosa, O. trifolia, A. conyzoides and A. vulgaris, 2 grass species i.e., E. indica and C. dactylon, 1 nut grass species i.e., Cyperus rotundus.

Animal drawn improved implement package consist of improved bakhar, three row seed-cum-fertilizer drill and sweep cultivator were evaluated at farmers’ field in village-Bhuriyapura of Dewas district in Malwa Plateau of Madhya Pradesh. The seed bed preparation, seed sowing, interculture and spraying operations were considered to finalize the implements package for soybean crop cultivation. During the study, field performances of the improved implements were compared with conventional implements used by the farmers. In seedbed preparation, improved bakhar was found more effective than conventional bakhar. It saved 17.6% labour, 16.7% cost of operation and 18.5% time of operation over conventional bakhar. In seeding, the three row seed-cum-fertilizer drill has 13.5% increased field capacity and saved 10.5% labour over locally used Tifan. In case of interculture, use of two row sweep cultivator increased 13.7 % weeding efficiency and 0.04 ha/h field capacity in comparison to Dora which leads to saving of 49.8% of weeding cost as compared to Dora and 94.5% labours over manual weeding. In spraying operation, the operational cost knapsack sprayer was ₹ 285/ per ha.

Soil compaction is one of the main factors affecting forest productivity, hence research is necessary in order to identify species that are capable of breaking compacted layers. This study aimed to evaluate the initial aerial and root growth of Tabebuia caraiba in a soil sampleput through different levels of compaction. The experiment was carried out in a green house at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Brazil. A sample of yellow Latosol with sandy texture was collected from the Agricultural School of Jundiaí and set in columns by using three overlapping 10-cm diameter and 25-cm height PVC rings, and the amount of soil in the central ring was compacted. A randomized complete block design with six replicates was used and four levels of soil compaction (1.35, 1.45, 1.60, and 1.80 kg.dm-³) were tested. The following variables were evaluated: diameter, height, number of leaves, and dry mass of aerial and root system in each layer of the columns. The physical impediment in subsurface did not alter the aerial growth of the seedlings. Compaction changed root system growth more significantly at soil densities greater than 1.60 kg.dm-3.

Use of statistical models such as Ordinal Logistic Regression Model and Multiclass Discriminant Model for classification of genotypes or creation of genetic variability is undergoing an outpouring in interest among research workers. These models were fitted to data recorded on yield and yield attributing characters of 722 genotypes of little millet and the data has been collected from Project coordination cell, All India Coordinated Small Millets Improvement Project (AICSMIP), ICAR, Bengaluru. Classification ability measures such as Accuracy Rate, Kappa Statistics, Avgprecision, and Avgrecall were used for testing samples. Days to fifty percent flowering, Plant height, Number of basel tillers, Flag leaf length, Flag leaf width were considered to be important attributing characters for classification and Ordinal Logistic Regression Model (56.55%) was performed better than Multiclass Discriminant model (53.79%) for classification of genotypes for different classes of yield of little millets.

An experiment was laid out in factorial Randomised Block Design with two cultivars viz., Alankar and Abhinav, three planting geometry patterns i.e. 120 cm x 40 cm (2.08 plants per m2), 60 cm x 60 cm (2.78 plants per m2) and 75 cm x 40 cm (3.33 plants per m2) and three levels of nutrition levels i.e. 120: 60: 60 NPK kg/ha, 150: 75: 75 NPK kg/ha and 180: 90: 90 NPK kg/ha, thus making a total of 18 treatment combinations to find out the influence of plant geometry and nutrition in Processing cultivars of tomato under Chittoor district conditions of Andhra Pradesh. Abhinav cultivar showed superiority in mean fruit weight, no of fruits per plant, pulp weight, yield/plant and yield/ha.. Planting geometry of 60 cm x 60 cm recorded significantly the highest mean fruit weight, number of fruits per plant, pulp weight, and yiels /plant. Application of 180: 90: 90 NPK kg/ha through fertigation recorded the highest mean fruit weight as well as other yield parameters. Days from a thesis to harvesting were at the earliest in case of the cultivar Alankar, planted at 120 cm x 40 cm spacing with application of 120: 60: 60 NPK kg/ha.

India is second in vegetables production in world but farmers are not got regular and right price of their produce due to number of middle man intervention and lack of proper information regarding the current price. This study was conducted at Lamahi, Fakhirpur, Adampur, Banawaripur four village of Varanasi district and total 40 vegetable growing farmers particular Brinjal, Tomato. Cauliflower and Cabbage and 30 ultimate consumer were selected and personally interviewed with the help of interview schedule to know the daily price of vegetables from September to December 2012 Farmers along with that price of the same commodity were also compare with other district like Agra, Meerut, Lucknow, Bareilly, Faizabad, Gorakhpur respectively by Agmark Net online daily price and it was show that the maximum difference and price fluctuation were found in tomato as compare to other crops. This study can clear show that most of benefits were taken by middle man instead of the real producer.

Fruit farming is one of the most important sub-sectors of Agricultural economy of India. To meet the demand of fruits for teeming billions in the country it is necessary to encourage the cultivation of less expensive, high yielding and short duration varieties of common fruits. Guava is one of the common and important fruits in India. It is considered to be poor man’s apple. It is very rich and cheap source of vitamin C. Also, it is very much and equally popular among the rich and poor due to its moderate price, nourishing value and good taste. Allahabad and Allahabad districts of Uttar Pradesh have been very famous for producing best quality of Guava in the world may be due to favorable soil and weather conditions. The main aim of the study is to analyse the constraints faced by the farmers in production and marketing of Guava in Allahabad district of Uttar Pradesh. The exploratory factor analysis was applied to analyze the constraints in production, marketing and processing of Guava. The results revealed that insect-pests and diseases susceptibility is still a serious problem which discourages the farmers to remain in this business related to production and Lack of linkages between the farmers and the processing units as well as between the farmers and the research institutes is another problem and inefficient resource utilization, labour, financial application, modes of reducing the cost of production were the major marketing related constraints.

Environment Friendly Dairy Farming Practices (EFDFPs) is an approach which includes effective adaptive as well as mitigating practices to combat the impact of livestock on environment and vice versa. To disseminate the information regarding the subject matter a mobile application called “Eco-Dairy” was developed. This paper is devoted to explore the perception of the dairy farmers of Urban and Peri- Urban areas of Indian National Capital Region in relation to the android mobile application. To measure the perception level of respondents a list of items seeking responses on different aspects were prepared. These listed items were administered to the respondents. Each respondent was asked to mark on a three-point continuum: highly satisfied, satisfied and least satisfied with the statements, with a score of 3, 2 and 1 for the responses respectively. Based on the scores the perception level was calculated using weighted score and weighted mean score. It was found that the respondents were highly satisfied in the following aspects of app components: user-friendliness, relevance of the content, attractiveness of the photos/graphics and was ranked first among the each of the three categories listed respectively.

Ground water recharge is now becoming a matter of concern but in Indian agriculture it has always been considered. Haveli system of farming, practiced in black cotton soil area of central India is an age-old practice which gives a good recharge in monsoon and assured good yield in Rabi. In Haveli system rain water is held in bunded fields generally from II week of July to the end of October then this water is drained and crops are taken. In order to understand the complete phenomenon of this system this study was undertaken in a Haveli intensive area of Jabalpur district. Patan and Shahpura are two such blocks covering geographical area 60734 ha and 81548 ha respectively and the Haveli area of Patan and Shahpura block was estimated to be 31984 ha and 34533 ha respectively. Three villages, namely Shahsan and Dhaneta of Patan block and Ghunsor village of Shahpura block were selected randomly for the study having Haveli area of 6260 ha , 3940 ha and 14987 ha respectively. Basic information was collected through survey and then Haveli fields were demarcated and dimension of bunds, depth of water stored, moisture after drainage, crops taken and other agricultural practices were studied. A SMW- wise timetable of different activities conducted in this system is prepared. Haveli farmers were divided in four groups i.e., big, medium, small and marginal and relevant information were collected through questionnaire. it was observed that the medium and big of farmers have more adoption of Haveli cultivation. Thus, a complete study of Haveli cultivation was made and presented in this paper. It was concluded that this system is beneficial to farmers as compare to non haveli farmers as they require more field operation, more irrigation, more seed rate and also more fertilizer.

Bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L) is a high value solanaceous vegetable grown extensively in India. Germplasm collection and conservation is the major step in improvement of sweet pepper which can further be used in hybridization programme. The goal of increasing productivity in the quickest possible time can be achieved by utilizing heterosis breeding. Male sterility is one of the most important traits used in hybrid pepper breeding. Application of male sterility reduces hybrid production costs by excluding the need for manual emasculation of maternal line and elimination of impurities of the seed material originated from self-pollination. Great loss in yield is caused by soil borne diseases under continuous cropping system. Chemical control is expensive, not always effective and is harmful to the environment. Losses in production due to different environmental conditions can be minimized by grafting. Grafting allows rapid response to new pathogen races and in the short-term provides a less expensive and more flexible solution for controlling soil borne diseases rather than breeding new resistant cultivars in bell pepper. The future outlook of bell pepper is very bright and has a tremendous potential.

A field experiment was conducted at Udaipur during rainy (kharif) season of 2014, to study the “Performance of Maize (Zea mays L.) Hybrids at Different Fertility Levels under in Maize Grown Areas of Rajasthan” of the maize–genotypes ‘CMH 08-292’ recorded significantly highest dry-matter accumulation at various stages and yield attributes. Consequently, highest grain (5753.33 kg ha-1), stover (9001.11 kg ha-1) and biological yields (14754.44 kg ha-1) were recorded with CMH-08-292 followed by PHM-3. Among the fertility levels, SSNM recorded highest plant height (264.62 cm), dry matter accumulation (220.89 g plant-1) at harvest. Application of SSNM significantly increased yield components viz. number of cobs plant-1 (1.25), cob length (18.14 cm), grains weight cob-1 (93.08 g), 1000 grains weight (228.72 g) and shelling per cent (86.31%) consequently grain (5092 kg ha-1), Stover (7886.67 kg ha-1) and biological yield (12978.67 kg ha-1) over RDF and farmer’s practice.

The present study was carried in Chhattisgarh state to know the economics of fish production by fishery cooperatives Societies, SHGs and Fishermen groups. In this Study, it was concluded that the per hectare production cost was almost similar in fishery cooperative societies and SHGs (Rs 38883.31 and 39152.67, respectively) however, it was much more in case of fishermen groups (Rs 56125.48) indicating the better economics of the earlier. Productively, Fish was found 32.50 quintals, 42.22 quintals and 38.16 quintals of fish for fishery cooperative societies, SHGs and Fishery groups respectively. Net return per hectare of fish was found Rs 286127.70, Rs 467457.33 and Rs 401738.12 for fishery cooperative Societies, SHGs and Fishermen groups, respectively. Maximum gross and net returns were obtained by SHGs, which indicates that overall management is better in SHGs as compared to Fishery Cooperative Societies and Fishermen groups. As for as input-output ratio was concerned it was found 1:8.4, 1:12.9 and 1:8.2 for fishery cooperative Societies, SHGs and Fishermen groups, respectively.

Organic amendments tested against Sclerotium rolfsii under in vitro condition revealed that significantly fungal growth inhibition and sclerotial production were recorded in castor cake extract at 10, 20 and 30 per cent concentrations. Among all the organic amendments, castor cake recorded significantly highest, per cent inhibition of growth and sclerotial production of S. rolfsii in all the three the concentrations tested. The superiority of organic amendments for inhibiting the growth and sclerotial production of the pathogen might be due to release of some fungitoxic substances in the medium which suppressed the growth and sclerotial production of S. rolfsii.

The experiment was conducted with three CMS lines i.e., IR 68887 A, IR 79159 A and APMS 6 A which were crossed with eleven diverse male parents in line x tester fashion in order to estimate combining ability and gene action for grain yield and yield attributing traits in rice. The analysis of variances for combining ability revealed that significant mean sum of square for hybrids, females, female x male interaction for all the traits except effective tillers per plant. The results in respect to estimates of genetic variance revealed importance of additive genetic variance for panicle length. For other yield contributing characters like days to fifty percent flowering, plant height, grains per panicle, test weight, grain yield per plant, grain length, hulling%, milling% and head rice recovery % indicated importance of both additive and non-additive genetic variances with predominant role of non-additive gene effect was observed. Estimates of general combining ability effects among female parents, CMS line APMS 6 and among male parents, MILYANG 63, IR 09A 104, IR 77186-148-3-4-3, IR 04N 106, IR 07N 166 and IR 09N 534 were found to be good general combiners for grain yield per plant and at least for two to three important yield contributing characters. The estimates of specific combining ability revealed that among the crosses, cross combination namely IR 79159 A x IR 09A 104, IR-8887 A x IR 77186-148-3-4-3, IR 68887 A x POKKALI, APMS 6 A x IR 05N 412 and IR 68887 A x MILYANG 63 depicted significant and positive sca effect for seed yield and yield contributing traits. In general, the crosses depicted high sca effects for grain yield per plant and different component characters did not always involve parents possessing high gca effects, there by suggesting importance of both intra and inter-allelic interactions. Thus, these cross combinations could be utilized for further use in breeding programme for amelioration of grain yield and other desirable characters in rice.

The study in a diallel fashion involving twelve parents and their sixty-six cross combinations was conducted at Vegetable Research farm of CCS HAU, Hisar during January to May, 2004. Observations were recorded on twenty-three yield and quality traits. The study revealed significant genotype differences for all characters except juice: pulp ratio and seed: pulp ratio. Significant variances due to general combining ability, and specific combining ability were observed for most of the characters. These estimates suggested the importance of both additive and non-additive gene action for the control of the characters investigated. Over dominance was observed for all the traits except number of seeds, total carotenoides and lycopene content for which partial dominance and complete dominance was observed respectively. The preponderance of additive and non -additive gene actions for yield, its components and quality parameters greatly suggested for both selection and heterosis breeding for the improvement of tomato crop.

An evaluation trial was conducted in ivy gourd [Coccinia grandis L. Voigt.] genotypes collected from different parts of Assam and other North Eastern States (Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Nagaland) during the summer seasons of 2013 and 2014. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with three replications at the Experimental Farm, Department of Horticulture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat. Morphological characterization of 22 genotypes revealed significant variation among the genotypes. The mean performance of genotypes for quantitative traits revealed that the genotype IG-23 recorded maximum for fruit characters viz., fruit length (8.50 cm), fruit weight (33.62 g) and fruit yield per plant (8.66 kg). Whereas the genotype IG-22 exhibited the highest number of primary branches (7.35), fruit width (3.03 cm) and number of fruits per plant (391.83). Promising genotypes were IG-10, IG-18, IG-22 and IG-23.

The development of human potential is hindered by micronutrient deficiencies and the nation’s social and economic development gets impaired. The major organizations viz., World Health Organization (WHO) and Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) are working on malnutrition on high priority basis. CGIAR group focus on biofortification through its Harvest Plus Program. Micronutrient content of the staple crops of the poor population viz., rice, wheat, maize, beans, cassava and sweet potatoes have been improved through breeding and biotechnological approaches. Biofortification is breeding crops for improvement in nutritional value achieved through either agronomic practices or through genetic breeding, or through bioengineering. It focuses on developing nutritious plant foods, rather than having nutrients added at the time of food processed. This is an agricultural approach that can improve human nutrition on a global scale. Agronomic biofortification is considered a short-term and complementary strategy, but economic analyses suggest that genetic biofortification is the most effective strategy for increasing dietary iron and zinc intakes of vulnerable populations. Enrichment of cereal grains by breeding is a high-priority area of research, and an effective strategy among other approaches, e.g., fortification, supplementation and food diversification. This review discusses the potential strategies for developing iron and zinc biofortified crops and their importance in human nutrition.

The present investigation was carried out in Hardoi district of Uttar Pradesh. A total of sixty-five farmers were consulted in order to know their awareness regarding agricultural legislation (Insecticide act, Seed act, Fertilizer act, Agriculture marketing act, Protection of Plant varieties and farmers right act). The factors governing their awareness regarding agricultural legislation (like preferences of farmers for insecticide, seeds, fertilizer and their selling preference in regulated and government markets) were also kept in consideration.