Financial inclusion is emerging as new paradigm of economic growth. In India 68.84% (census 2011) population lives in rural area and rural finance is a matter of credit concern in the economy. Madhya Pradesh has reported the best productivity growth in terms of Agriculture over past few years, and has improved its infrastructure. This kind of change in one sector-agriculture-is initiating growth in the entire economy of the state. Agriculture in Madhya Pradesh (MP) grew at 9.7 percent per annum during the decade (2008-18). The last five years have been spectacular when agricultural growth rate stood at 18% percent per annum. The study intends to examine the influence of access to credit on agricultural productivity in Madhya Pradesh, based on the secondary data compiled from several sources it has been revealed that the formal credit to agriculture in real terms has increased in 2008-2018. The findings of the study show the evidence of long run relationship between production and agricultural credits provided to small and marginal farmers. The results revealed that total credit to agriculture has a positive and significant impact on the level of agriculture production in the region. One of the major findings was related to inadequacy of credit to small and marginal farmers. Therefore, more innovative models are required to be formulated using Econometric Financial Models for making the credit availability and accessibility more convenient. Thus, it can be concluded that formal agriculture credit is required for the inclusive growth of the economy of the state.

The historical rainfall data for the period of 37 years (1981-2017) of Junagadh district in Gujarat were analyzed weekly rainfall data by using Markov chain model and initial and conditional probabilities were estimated for 10 mm and 20 mm rainfall amount. The initial probability of getting 10 mm rainfall during 24th to 38th SMW is more than 50% except 25th and 26th SMW. Conditional probabilities of wet week preceded by another wet week of getting 10 mm rainfall during 23rd to 40th SMW were 40% and more. Initial probabilities of getting 20 mm rainfall during 24th to 34th SMW are more than 40% except 26th SMW. Conditional probability of wet preceded by another wet week of getting 20 mm rainfall during 24th to 39th SMW are more than 50% except 25th, 34th, and 35th SMW. Consecutive dry and wet week revealed that chances of occurrence of 10 mm and 20 mm, 2 consecutive dry and wet weeks are 10.26-38.46% ,12.82-48.72% and 17.95% to 66.67%, 12.82-53.85% from 23 to 38 SMW. 3 consecutive dry and wet weeks are 1.28-17.09%, 5.92-36.01% and 7.69-49.46% and 4.72-39.89% from 23 to 37 SMW. Onset and withdrawal of monsoon in most of the year is observed in 23 SMW and 47 SMW respectively.

African oil palm has the highest productivity amongst cultivated oil seeds crops. The Asian oil palm industry has developed at a great rate, and now leads the world. Indonesia became the global leader in palm oil. Nearly 90% of the world’s oil palm seed production is based on Deli Dura, which originated from the four Bogor palms. African oil palm trees can reach up to 30 meters in height. There is no source of high yielding and short stature mother palms in India. Productivity and harvesting are the two major gaps in oil palm production in India. After eight years of palm age it is very difficult to harvest bunches manually by climbing palm due to its tall in stature. The present identified Palm No 33 has a highest yield (181.70 kg), a greater number of bunches (20.50) and less height increment (18 cm) in comparison to other progenies by taking moving average (Yield: 98.13 kg, No. of bunches: 13.38, Height increment: 32.48 cm) of the same cross. The mesocarp content of this accession also more (72.20%) when compared with the standard Dura’s. Another palm selected (Palm N0: 47) has a highest yield (221.30 kg) and medium height increment (33.00cm) in comparison to other progenies by taking moving average (Yield: 103.77 kg, Height increment: 31.81 cm) of the same cross. The utilization of high-yielding genetic base as a planting material has been proven to be the most efficient and sustainable means of increasing the yield output of existing oil palm genetic base. This genetic stock recorded highest yield and short stature compared with other progenies. However, it can be used as a mother parent for the development of high yielding and dwarf oil palm hybrids.

Seed production programme on green gram was implemented by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Madurai during 2017-18 at Vilathikulam block of Thoothukudi district and Usilampatti, Kallikudi and T. Kallupatti blocks of Madurai district in Tamil Nadu. A preliminary survey of the farms and farmers was carried out with interview schedule during the production season by a multidisciplinary team of researchers by conducting group discussions, meetings and trainings with the participating farmers. The improved green variety, CO 8 was preferred for high yield, increased germination capacity which imparts uniform plant population and least pest and disease incidence, synchronous maturity which paves way for mechanical harvest thereby reducing the labour charge and cost of cultivation. The farmers realised increased gross return of 19% and net return to a tune of 33% as compared to that of own practice. The increased yield resulted in increased benefit cost ratio of 12%. The production quantity increased with increase in respondents year by year and the increase was to maximum during 2017-18.

South peninsular India experiences a large portion of the annual rainfall during the North East Monsoon (NEM) season from October to December. An analytical study was carried out to identify the onset and withdrawal of NEM rainfall for Western Agro Climatic Zone (ACZ) of Tamil Nadu at block level. Block level daily rainfall data from 1981-2010 has been obtained from Agro Climatic Research Centre and Aphrodite’s gridded set data was utilized for missing places. To determine the onset and withdrawal of NEM, the procedure given by India Meteorological Department (1943) was adopted. In this method, the date of onset and withdrawal of monsoon rainfall were arrived on the basis of mean of five days total rainfall. Initial probability analysis was taken up to find out the onset and withdrawal date of NEM at 50 percent probability level. The normal onset date for Coimbatore and Erode ranged from 3rd October to 18th October, while for Tiruppur date ranged from 3rd October to 22nd October. Cessation date for Coimbatore ranged from 6th December to 3rd January, for Erode 17th December to 1st January and for Thiruppur 6th December to 27th December and duration of the monsoon period rained from 54 to 85 days for all places.

The objective of this study was to determine the physical properties of different grades of Jamun fruit. so that the knowledge gained will be used in design and development of equipment’s for cleaning, grading, harvesting, processing, transportation, separating, and packing. objectives of this study are to present basic principles of physical properties of 3 grades of Jamun fruit in order to facilitate the design of some machines for its processing. The Jamun fruits were procured from the local market Akola. The weight, axial dimension and etc. of the fruit were measured. Jamun fruits were graded according to the length (major diameter) of the fruits. The physical properties of graded fruits were determined. The wet basis moisture content of Jamun fruits was found to be 72.18 %. Results showed that the average values of small size fruit (<20 mm) weight, length, width, thickness, arithmetic mean diameter, geometric mean diameter, square mean diameter, equivalent diameter, volume, aspect ratio, sphericity, surface area, projected area were 3.70 g, 17.70 mm, 16.44 mm, 16.03 mm, 16.72 mm, 16.70 mm, 16.71 mm, 16.71 mm, 2.48 cm3, 93.05 %, 0.94, 8.81 cm2, 2.30 cm2 respectively, for medium size of the Jamun fruits (20-25 mm) the average values were found to be 6.51 g, 22.93 mm, 19.71 mm, 19.39 mm, 20.68 mm, 20.59 mm, 20.63 mm, 20.63 mm, 4.62 cm3, 86.27%, 0.90, 13.36 cm2, 3.55 cm2 respectively, and for the large size fruits (>25 mm) the values were 7.39 g, 26.28 mm, 19.88 mm, 19.11mm, 21.76 mm, 21.49 mm, 21.62 mm, 21.62 mm, 5.27 cm3, 75.73 %, 0.82, 14.57 cm2, 4.10 cm2. The average pulp content, seed content and pulp to seed ratio for small size of the Jamun fruit 60.7%, 39.80 % and 1.61, for medium size of the Jamun fruit the average values were 63.8 %, 34.5 % 1.97 and for the large size of the Jamun fruit the values were 67.8 %, 29.7 % and 2.35. The result showed that the Jamun fruit pulp content and pulp to seed ratio were increase by increasing weight of the fruit and seed content decreases. This study showed considerable variation in some physical properties of Jamun fruit. The values of L, a and b for 50 Jamun fruits were found to be 13 to 23, 0.06 to 3.92 and -0.36 to 2.40 respectively. The average hardness for small, medium and large size Jamun fruit 3.33, 1.65 and 2.28 N respectively.

This demonstrates the extent of inflation in drilling wells as well as in water pumping devices. Apparently, there are indications that the real investment per acre inch of water, Real investment per acre of Gross irrigated area and Real investment per functioning well are all falling over time in GWTI farmers. This study apparently is a pointer towards the role of channel water linkage in promoting ground water recharge. The farms served by System Percolation Tank (GWTI) and Canal percolation (GWCI) have registered the lowest investment for irrigation wells as compared with farms under the command of Non-System Tank (GWSI). This indicates the supremacy of the performance of GWTI and GWCI in heralding agricultural development as irrigation tanks are multipurpose entities.

The present study was designed to the study systematically the contribution of farm and non-farm activities towards rural income and employment in Arunachal Pradesh, India. Two blocks viz. Pasighat and Mebo were selected purposively from East Siang district comprising a total respondent of 100. Both primary and secondary data were collected from various sources during the year 2017-18. Based on primary activities (occupation) 58% respondents were classified as non-farm households against 42% as farm households. Among the farm households, Agriculture + Horticulture + Livestock (60.28%) and Non-agro based business (21.58%) are the important source of income generation as farm and nonfarm activity respectively and Agriculture + Horticulture + Livestock (45.68%) as farm activity and Service + Non-agro based business + Labour (18.27%) as non-farm activity respectively, are the important source of income generation for a large majority of non-farm households. In non-farm households, the contribution of income from non-farm activities was very much high in comparison to the contribution of income from the farm sector. It also revealed that non-farm sector generates more employment opportunities than farm sector. T-statistics also indicated that income from non-farm sector gives more contribution to the rural households. Based on comparable differences between farm and non-farm respondents on income generation and employment opportunities, it can be concluded that non- farm sector has been contributing tremendous income generation and employment opportunities to the rural people in East Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh.

Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is an important crop grown in north eastern region of India. It is extensively grown in the Brahmaputra Valley of Assam and is a source of sustainable income and employment. This paper evaluates the productivity and profitability in potato cultivation based on household level data collected from 400 potato growers. The multi-stage random sampling technique was adopted and the data were collected through personal interview method by using structured questionnaires. The descriptive statistics and the regression analysis were employed to analyse the data. The mean productivity of potato among the farmers was 305 quintals per hectare and gross profit ratio of was 44 percent. The semi-medium size of holding was found to be the most productive and gross profit ratio was the highest in large holding. The regression results showed that profitability was positively affected by yield rate and age of the farmers and negatively affected by labor cost. The potato cultivation was found to be profitable and a source of sustainable income for farmers. However, there are certain problems like inadequate cold storage facility, inadequate of HYV seeds, lack of credit facility, high cost of inputs, price fluctuations etc. which need to be addressed to encourage potato cultivation in the State.

Mungbean cultivar PDM-139 (Samrat) was tested under different weed management practices. Among the grasses Fimbristylis miliacea (L.) was the predominant weeds followed by Cyperus iria (L.), Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop and Cyperus rotundus (L.). The predominant dicot weed was Euphorbia hirta (L.) Followed by Phyllanthus niruri. The lowest weed population per m2 was recorded under treatment T3 at 50 DAS while minimum weed population was recorded under T2 and T3. Dry weight of weed recorded significantly higher (6.26 g and 9.70 g) under control plot (T1). Weed control efficiency was maximum of 60.25 % in T3 at 15-20 DAS. Plant height, dry matter weight and number of root nodules per plant did not varied significantly due to treatment. There was significant effect of different treatment on Pods/plant and seeds/pods while it was non-significant with respect to test weight. The highest biological yield was observed 3746 Kg under T5 at 15-20 DAS. While highest seed yield and Stover yield was recorded with T8 followed by T6.

A field trail was conducted during kharif, 2017-18 and 2018-19 with split plot design in clay soils of Regional Agricultural Research Station, Lam, Guntur-34. The experiment consisting of six treatments and each treatment replicated thrice. The main plots treatments consisting of two dates of sowings viz., mid-July & mid-August and sub-plot treatments consisting of cropping systems viz., cotton sole crop, pigeonpea sole crop and cotton + pigeonpea in 1:1 ratio. Heat Use Efficiency (HUE), Heliothermal use efficiency (HTUE), Radiation Use Efficiency (RUE) and Rain Water Use Efficiency (RWUE) were calculated to know the impact of these indices on crop yield under rainfed conditions. The pooled mean of the experimental results revealed that HUE, RWUE were significantly influenced by sowing dates, and crops, between the sowing dates, mid-August sown recorded highest HUE of 0.612 Kg ha-1°C-1 and RWUE of 8.731 kg ha-1mm-1. Among the crops Cotton+pigeonpea in 1:1 ratio also significantly influenced by HUE, HTUE, RUE and RWUE and the findings revealed that Cotton+pigeonpea in 1:1 ratio recorded maximum yield (cotton equivalent yield=1894.0 kg ha-1) and also highest HUE (0.666 Kg ha-1°C-1), HTUE (0.125 Kg ha-1°C-1 22. hr-1), RUE (0.601mJm-1) and RWUE (7.594kg ha-1mm-1) during the cropping seasons.

The study was conducted in least vulnerable districts (LVD) and highly vulnerable districts (HVD) of Karnataka based on composite vulnerability index. The results reveal that in case of LVD, the real investment increased from Rs 73233 in 1991 to Rs 309990 in 2016 with a growth rate of around 7 percent per annum. While real investment on borewell in HVD was Rs 128267 in 1987 and augmented to Rs 559594 in 2017 at the rate of 7.5 percent per annum. In LVD, real investment showed negative correlation with relative humidity (-0.03). On the contrary, real investment on borewell has positive association with wind speed (0.52), maximum temperature (0.25), minimum temperature (0.38) and average temperature (0.38). Further there is no association between real investment and the amount of rainfall received in LVD. In case of HVD, real investment showed negative correlation with precipitation (-0.12) and relative humidity (-0.10), in contrast to that, real investment on borewells has positive relationship with wind speed (0.27), maximum temperature (0.19), minimum temperature (0.26) and average temperature (0.25).

The strong trends in climate change and the increasing scale of potential climate change impacts the urgency to implement alternative cropping systems and adopting conservative agriculture is the need of the era. As the food grain production increased with time, the numbers of elements are becoming deficient in soils. Moreover, use of agricultural and forest ecosystem are responsible for disturbing the ecological balance and carbon cycle. The greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4 and N2O) being comparatively active can influence the global climate. Cropping system is an important component of farming system. It represents yearly sequence and spatial arrangement of crops and fallows in an area. In the present study an overview of predominant and efficient alternative cropping systems in different agro climatic zones of India are studied.

The impact of climate change is projected to have its effects both on global and regional basis. The most adversely affected weather parameters due to the changing climate are global temperature and rainfall pattern. The temperature shows an increasing trend whereas the rainfall shows an anomalous trend all over the world. The change in rainfall trend has direct and adverse effects on land and water resources, agricultural practices and thus on total ecosystem. India is also facing the problems developed due to climate change. In the present study, the anomalous behaviour of rainfall due to climate change in the context of Indian subcontinent has been established using 1° x 1° gridded daily rainfall data of India Meteorological Department (IMD) from January 1951 to December 2004. Both, temporal and spatial variation of rainfall have been analysed utilizing statistical tests and presented using ArcGIS 9.1.

Correlation and path analysis was carried out using 123 mutants of soybean for 10 component characters including seed yield pods per plant, pod weight per plant, number of branches per plant,100 seed weight and oil content had positive and significant correlation with seed yield both at genotypic and phenotypic levels. Path analysis showed positive and high direct effect of number of pods per plant and pod weight per plant and indirect effect of other component characters through these characters towards seed yield per plant. Hence, these traits should be given more emphasis while selecting mutants for yield improvement in soybean.

To have sustainable livelihood security and improved standards of living, the farm families need to generate additional income from sugarcane cultivation. So that, present study was conducted to estimate the cost and return of sugarcane cultivation in the Deoria district in the agricultural year 2015-16. The study was based on primary data as well as secondary data and multi-stage random sampling method was used to select 100 farmers. The CACP (Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices) cost concepts were used to estimate cost and return of sugarcane cultivation. The cost of cultivation of sugarcane was more at the field of large farmers followed by medium farmers and small farmers. The cost of cultivation of sugarcane per hectare in the small, medium and large farmers categories were Rs. 53998.40, Rs. 54442.39 and Rs. 57649.61 respectively.

The occurrence of female sterile plants is a very rare phenomenon in oil palm. The sterility in dura is may be due to crossing over and recombination of genes. The female sterile palm is a promising genetic tool for use as the male parent in hybrid palms production. The problem of gene flow is particularly important to the genetic improvement of perennial crop like oil palm. By using female sterile lines there is a possibility to create sterile hybrid plants to control gene flow. The ovule of female sterile plants is aborted but the phenotype of most of the plant is otherwise normal. The inflorescence and flowers of sterile plants are normal and had high pollen fertility. Wild traits are the reservoir of many useful genes/ alleles which can be used to survive climate extremes. Wild traits have very high level of resistance/tolerance to various stresses. To cope with this situation, there is a need to breed new crop cultivars with a broad genetic base capable of withstanding frequent climatic fluctuations and wider adaptability due to adapted gene complex.