Among the several insects attacking stored grains, Sitophilus oryzae L. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) has got economic importance and it is the most destructive insect pest of the stored raw cereal grains in the world. Sitophilus oryzae causes substantial losses to stored grain. As S. oryzae has been reported to develop resistance to synthetic insecticides, in many areas of the World locally available plants and plant materials have been widely used to protect stored product against damage by insect attack. Plants contain active secondary substances with insecticidal activity i.e., repellent, antifeedant, or regulatory of insect growth used against these pests and being very safe and presenting low toxicity in mammals, does not affect the grain quality; hence can be easily used against managing this stored grain insect pest

The current study entitled was carried out at PG Department of Sericulture, University of Jammu. The present study was conducted on Silkworm Bivoltine Hybrid FC1 × FC2, comprising of four treatments viz. single feeding (24 hrs. gap), 2 feedings (12 hrs. gap), 3 feedings (8 hrs. gap) and 4 feedings (6 hrs. gap). Various commercial characters were studied. The data was statistically examined, and Manos' Evaluation Index (E.I.) approach was used to evaluate the data cumulatively. The study revealed that, 4 feedings per day was statistically at par with 3 feedings in terms of various parameters. At egg stage, fecundity, hatching and brushing percentage showed statistically significant results. The average E.I. for fecundity, hatching percentage and brushing percentage observed in 4 feeding frequency treatment was highest followed by 3 feeding frequency treatment. Denier recorded significantly higher value for 4 and 2 times feeding frequency followed by 3 times and least for single times feeding frequency. The Cumulative Evaluation Index (E.I.) values for the complete commercial parameters have also been calculated. Maximum value has been seen in the treatment four followed by treatment three and treatment two and the least Cumulative Evaluation Index (E.I.) has been observed in the treatment one. From this experiment it can safely be concluded that four and three feedings are obligatory for obtaining successful cocoon crop at field level

Psoroptes infestation is one of the most common ectoparasitic infestation affecting small ruminants especially goats. Five goats were presented with the history of itching, hair loss, crust formation, thickening of skin over the body mainly at ear, neck, facial region for a brief period of three months (September to November, 2020) to Veterinary Clinical Complex, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, India. Clinical examination revealed encrustation, severe localized alopecia and thickened dermis associated with pruritus. Skin scraping examination documented Psoroptes spp mites over the lesion and treated with inj. Ivermectin @ 600 µg/kg subcutaneously (weekly once) and topical application of sol. Deltamethrin @ 2 ml/lit of water (once weekly) for 5 weeks along with supportive care. All the affected animals manifested noticeable improvement from 3rd week and complete recession noticed on 5th week of therapy

The present study was to observe the production traits of Namakkal quail and Namakkal gold quail in Tenkasi district. A total of 1000 (each 500) day old Namakkal quail and Namakkal gold quail chicks were procured and distributed to quail farmers. The mean values (up to 6 weeks) of Day-old weight, Body weight, Weight gain, Feed intake, Feed conversion ratio and Egg weight of Namakkal quail and Namakkal gold quail were 7.39 ± 0.11 g, 258.73 ± 1.64 g, 223.03 ± 1.31 g, 36.6 ± 0.14 g, 3.46 ± 0.07 g, 12.6 ± 0.10 and 8.31 ± 0.12 g, 262.71 ± 1.64 g, 228.04 ± 1.72 g, 35.6 ± 0.18 g, 3.51 ± 0.08 g, 13.2 ± 0.12 g at sixth week of Age. The study reveals that production at farm level of Namakkal gold quails can serve as an alternate source for other quail varieties reared at Tenkasi district of Tamil Nadu

A pot experiment was executed at Instructional Farm of College of Agriculture (CAU-I), Kyrdemkulai, Meghalaya with objective to study the response of different rice varieties to inorganic fertilization in acidic soil with high rainfall. Five rice varieties viz., IURON-514, Bhalum-5, Arize Tej Gold, Bhalum-1 and DRR-46 were grown each with two liming treatment (no lime and lime application @ 2.5 t/ha). Result showed that, IURON-514 and Arise Tej Gold recoding highest values for all growth and yield attributes studied. The growth of rice remained sub-optimal with inorganic fertilization owing to nutrient stress during reproductive growth stage. Liming (@ 2.5 t/ha) showed significant and positive effect on studied parameters of all rice varieties. Our study reported highest growth of Arize Tej Gold and IURON-514 with application of 2.5 t/ha lime as well as need to study the effect of chemical fertilizer in combination of organic source of crop nutrition in acidic soil with high rainfall

Indian liberalization era started in 1970’s but only in the late 1980’s drastic changes were noticed. During 1991, the Government of India introduced series of economic reforms to liberalize, privatize and globalize the Indian economy. The present study is an attempt to analyze the Trends in Terms of Trade (TOT) for Indian agricultural exports. Secondary data were collected from the various published sources like FAOSTAT, WTO, etc. The data were grouped into Pre reform (1980-81 to 1990-91) and Post reform (1991-92 to 2019-20) period. In order to analyze the data, we employed Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) to identify growth over a period. The results revealed that with respect to Quantity Terms of Trade (QTOT) for agriculture sector, the CAGR was found negative (i.e., -3.08 %) in Pre reform period and positive (i.e., 2.75 %) in Post reform period, Likewise, with respect to Value Terms of Trade (VTOT), the CAGR was found positive in both the periods i.e., 0.02 per cent in Pre reform period and 1.03 per cent in Post reform period. The TOT with respect to Quantity and Value for agricultural sector showed improvement in Post reform period compared to Pre reform period. Therefore, it is suggested that India needs to emphasis more on supply side, diversification, improvement of quality and infrastructure for the highly perishable agricultural products with timely delivery and logistics

The comparative study was conducted to evaluate the performance of low pressure drip irrigation system and manual hose irrigation in cowpea. Irrigation time optimized at 30minutes provided 500 ml of water per plant. Based on the growth stage, crop water requirement of vegetables was estimated to be 1 to 2.2 litre/day. To meet this crop water requirement, irrigation was done at 4 times intervals i.e., morning twice and evening twice in such a manner 2.2 litre water was irrigated per plant. Thus, drip irrigation conserved 70% water compared to manual hose irrigation. It was found that drip irrigation gave 33% higher yield than the yield obtained with the manual drip irrigation system. Overcoming severe drought, 1.18q/ha-cm water use efficiency was recorded in DIS. Low pressure DIS increased irrigation efficiency up to 95% than that of conventional method of irrigation

Lingasugur taluk, Raichur district, Karnataka, India was carried out at 1:8000 scale for characterization and classification of soils, and to derive sustainable land use plan based on the limitations observed in land capability and crop suitability. Soil mapping units were delineated using cadastral map overlaid on IRS-P6 LISS IV merged Cartosat-1 satellite imagery. Land morphological observations and soil survey was carried out and identified five soil series further divided into five soil-phases. The soils were developed on very gently to gently slope. The soil profiles were moderately deep (50-75 cm) to deep (100-150 cm), moderately well drained, slight to moderately calcareous, brown (7.5YR 5/3) to dark gray (10YR 3/1) in color, with sub angular blocky structures and strongly alkaline in reaction (8.02-8.72). Soil texture was sandy clay to clay. The silt has significantly moderate positive association (p<0.05) with clay. Sand has significantly moderate negative association with clay (p<0.05) and significantly strong negative association with silt (p<0.01). Soil available nitrogen (85 to 250.75 kg ha-1) was low and it has significantly strong positive correlation with SOC (p<0.01). The available phosphorus was low to medium in range (20.62 to 53.80 kg ha-1) and because of low mobility of available P, it was negatively correlated with Zn (p<0.01). ESP has significantly strong positive association with Na (p<0.01), and it was significantly strong negative association with clay (p<0.01). Land capability sub classes in the study area were IIIes with limitations of soil erosion, texture, soil drainage, soil fertility and topography. The land was highly suitable (S1) for sorghum, bengalgram, custard apple and amla and moderately suitable (S2) for cotton, redgram, bajra and guava with limitations of rooting and topography. Further, soil-phase unit wise crop plan with suitable interventions for field and horticulture crops were developed

The present study was conducted to compare the effect of different floor space allowances on feed, nutrient and water intake of adult Surti goat under intensive housing system during winter season. Forty-five adult dry non pregnant (25-30kg) farm born Surti goats were divided randomly on the basis of body weight into three treatment groups i.e., T1:1.5m2/head, T2:1.25m2/head and T3:1m2/head floor space allowances. Each treatments group comprised of three replication and each having 4(T1), 5(T2) and 6(T3) animals per group. The experimental animals were maintained on ICAR feeding standard (2013) and Total Mixed Ration (TMR) was offered to the animals. The measured quantity of wholesome clean water was offered twice daily. The goats reared on T1 (775.10±12.77 and 2.25±0.05) consumed significantly (P<0.05) more DM (g/d and % body weight) as compared to animals reared on T2 (496.56±9.98 & 1.44±0.05) and T3 (473.79±14.15 & 1.35±0.07), respectively. However, DMI (g/KgW0.75) consumption was significantly (P<0.05) higher in T1 (55.17±1.39) followed by T2 (37.06±1.35) and T3 (32.42+1.28) groups. Intake of DCP (g/d, % body weight and g/Kg W0.75) was significantly higher in T1 (60.23±1.05, 0.17± 0.04 and 4.28±0.12) followed by T2 (40.34±0.82, 0.11±0.04 and 2.98±0.12) and T3 (35.22±1.06, 0.10±0.04 and 2.40±0.08) groups, respectively. The goats reared on T1 (465.53±7.90 and 1.32±0.03) consumed significantly (P<0.05) more TDN (g/d and % body weight) as compared to animals reared on T2 (295.66±6.18 and 0.88±0.02) and T3 (274.59+8.31 and 0.80±0.03), respectively

The experiment investigated the influence of feeding formaldehyde treated guar meal and prill fat supplementation on water intake and water requirement of growing Surti buffalo calves. 16 Surti breed buffalo calves were equally distributed into four dietary treatment groups. Further, each group comprised four calves. All group of calves were offered basal diet as per ICAR, (2013) nutrient requirements for buffalo calves. T1- group served as control group, offered basal diet, T2 group offered basal diet along with 30% replacement of protein of concentrate mixture with formaldehyde treated guar meal, T3 group offered basal diet + 100 g of prill fat and T4 group offered basal diet along with 30% replacement of protein of concentrate mixture with formaldehyde treated guar meal+ 100 g prill fat in combination. Overall mean water intake per day (Liter/day/head) of buffalo calves were not affected by the dietary inclusions. The water intake with respect to body weight and feed and nutrient intake was significantly influenced with the dietary treatments. Overall, 30% replacement of protein in concentrate mixture with formaldehyde treated guar meal with or without prill fat reduced the water intake per kg body weight, per kg metabolic body weight and per kg body weight gain in growing Surti buffalo calves

Farmer Producer Company (FPC) is an instrument to eliminate certain problems of small and marginal farmers viz., low bargaining capacity, higher cost of cultivation, marketing risk etc. The success of a producer company depends on the performance of the member producer farmers registered under the company and there may be several factors which influence the performance of FPC farmers. The outcome of the multiple linear regression analysis revealed some potential factors which were found significant in influencing the performance of FPC farmers viz., the level of education of the respondents, family labour employed, hired labour, size of the family, adoption of the recommended production process, and farm training attended during past years. The coefficient of determination (R2) or goodness of fit for the constructed multiple linear regression model was found to be 0.8873 and the adjusted R2 was 0.8709

Artificial intelligence technologies are the future of agriculture. There is an ocean of opportunities in Artificial intelligence technology in the field of agriculture, from soil testing to crop monitoring. Some of the ongoing projects are doing so well that, some of them can even claim an augment of 30 to 35% in overall yield. Artificial intelligence technologies can be one of the major factors determining the scope of agriculture in the upcoming future. The use of Artificial intelligence is likely to bring about a revolutionary change in the field of agriculture. Machine learning is the current technology which is advantageous for the farmers as it helps them to mitigate the losses by providing methods of effective farming with the use of little manpower to produce high quality yield

Mango fruit fly and anthracnose are major destructive threat in mango cultivation and caused 67 per cent pre and post-harvest loss. The indiscriminate pesticide spray has reduced the pulp quality, texture, flavor and accumulate the residual effect. A field trial with eco-friendly management options were carried out to control the mango anthracnose and fruit fly. The promising biocontrol agent Pseudomonas fluorescens (Pf1) was sprayed immediately after flowering @ 5ml/ lit for five times at 21 days interval and Fixing of fruit fly trap 12/ha for one ha in each demonstration. The quality analysis test viz., the TSS was measured with the help of a hand refractometer. The fruits harvested from ecofriendly measures adopted field recorded the TSS of 19 to 22°brix against the insecticide sprayed plot 15 to 17 °brix. In addition to that organoleptic test analysis of the pulp was conducted and it shows the evident by rate of scoring for taste 4.42 and aroma with flavor 3.96. Whereas in case of Novaluran@3ml/lit was sprayed by farmers has recorded the organoleptic test was 3.22 and aroma with flavor was 1.96. The surprising finding noted in this study that the eco-friendly adopted plots were invited more honey bee population when compared to farmers i.e., insecticide sprayed plot. The results concluded that the eco-friendly adopted plant protection for mango enhances the fruit quality, aroma and taste

A feeding trial was conducted to ascertained the effect of dietary inclusion of formaldehyde treated guar meal (FTGM) and rumen protected fat (RPF) on plane of nutrition and concentrate: roughage intake in growing Surti buffalo calves for the 280 days. The calves were fed basal diet including concentrate and roughage as per ICAR (2013) nutrient recommendation. 16 Surti growing buffalo calves were assigned in to 4 dietary treatments (T), T1 (control) which supplied basal diet without any supplement, T2 supplied 30% crude protein (on dry matter basis) in concentrate mixture included with FTGM in basal diet, T3 supplied basal diet along with 100 g RPF and T4 supplied 30% crude protein (on dry matter basis) in concentrate mixture included with FTGM in basal diet + 100 g RPF. The mean dry matter intake (DMI) from concentrate (C) was lower (P?0.05) in T2 and T4 group whereas DMI from roughage (R) was higher (P?0.05) over T1 and T3 group. Maximum reduction in the DMI and crude protein intake (CPI) were recorded in T2 and T4 groups than the recommendation. Results indicated the inclusion of FTGM with or without RPF reduced the concentrate usage without any adverse effect on growth of Surti buffalo calves

The experiment was conducted to study the effect of chemical amendments of litter on the performance index and economic parameters of commercial broiler chicken. A total of 144 straight-run day-old commercial broiler chicks were distributed randomly into six treatment groups, each group consist of four replications, each of 6 chicks. The experiment was conducted in two different seasons. Experiment-I was conducted in the winter and experiment-II in the monsoon for six weeks of duration. The treatments included: T1- rice husk litter material (control group); T2- amendment with alum @ 90 g/sq.ft.; T3- with boric acid (H3BO3) @ 24 g/sq.ft.; T4- with sodium bisulphate (NaHSO4) @ 25 g/ sq.ft.; T5- amendment with commercially available probiotic product @ 1 g/ sq.ft; and T6- amendment with commercially available Yucca schidigera liquid solution @ 1.0 ml/ sq.ft. The litter amendment (T2 to T6) was done on the 1st, 15th, and 29th days of the experiment period. The pooled mean production efficiency factor was 295.17 ± 18.41, 345.92 ± 8.48, 333.59 ± 2.89, 326.62 ± 11.72, 299.64 ± 7.37, and 335.35 ± 8.47 in T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, and T6, respectively. The difference was found significantly (P<0.05) higher in T2 in the winter season followed by T4, T6, T3, T5, and T1 and T6, T3, T4, T5, and T1 in the pooled analysis. However, the difference was found non-significance among different treatment groups in the monsoon season. The Interaction between year (Y×T) and treatment was found non-significant for the mean production efficiency factor. The highest benefit-cost ratio was observed in T2 followed by T3, T6, T4, T1, and T5 in both seasons. Broiler birds reared on rice husk litter material amended with alum @ 90 g/sq.ft had significantly (p<0.05) higher performance index and benefit-cost ratio than the control and other treatment groups

Farmers Producers Organization that provide support to small farmers with end-to-end services covering almost all aspects of cultivation from inputs, technical services to processing and marketing. In general, it is felt that studies on Farmer Producer Organizations their attitude toward the farmers and the help provided by FPO to the farmers. Hence, the present study was undertaken with the objective to study the impact of GGA in Cumbum block of Theni district with a sample size of 60 farmers registered in GGA. The respondents were selected based on purposive random sampling method. The data were collected from each respondent through pre-tested interview schedule. The results of the study revealed that the personal impact like increasing consultations among the fellow farmers and for increasing the opportunities for developing activities, improve decision making capacity 75.00%,70.00% and 70.00% member respectively has agreed. the impact on production and marketing of produce exploration from middle man is very much checked, association facilitate group production and marketing and it’s also access to technical & marketing information theses are agreed by 86.60%,86.60% and 83.30% members of the association respectively

Biofortified Mustard variety Pusa Double Zero Mustad-31 was disseminated through Front Line Demonstrations at farmer’s field in Bijnor district. The demonstrations conducted during last three years (2018-19to 2021-22), were considered for the study. The adoption of Biofortified Mustard variety Pusa Double Zero Mustad-31 was significantly increased in farmers due to higher productivity, which ultimately resulted in more net return against existing farming technology

Mastitis occurs worldwide among dairy animals, and it has been described to have an extreme economic impact, despite the control strategies. This study aimed to investigate Streptococcus spp. Virulence gene found in clinical and subclinical mastitis milk samples from cows and buffaloes. The study was carried out on 285 milk samples collected from various area near to Banaskantha, Gujarat. Out of 285 milk samples (18 from subclinical and 95 from clinical cases) screened for Streptococcus spp. 17 isolates were obtained giving an overall incidence of 5.96 per cent. The incidence of Streptococcus spp. from subclinical mastitis was 2.63 per cent (5/190) and from clinical mastitis was 12.63 per cent (12/95). Species wise incidence was 8.10 per cent (6/74) in buffaloes and 5.21 per cent (11/211) in cows. All these 17 isolates were further confirmed as Streptococcus spp. using genus specific PCR All the 17 isolates were further confirmed using species-based PCR as Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus dysgalactiae and Streptococcus uberis specific primers based Abstract gene amplification. In species specific PCR, Streptococcus agalactiae (n=4) (23.52%) produced 405 bp size amplicon, Streptococcus dysgalactiae (n= 6) (35.29%) produced 281 bp size amplicon whereas Streptococcus uberis (n=7) (41.17%) yielded 94 bp size amplicon. All the 17 isolates were further investigated for presence of virulence gene and out of 17 isolates of Streptococcus spp. 6 (35.29%) isolates were found positive for ScpB gene in which amplicon size of 255 bp while detected were other virulence gene bca, Rib, cylE found negative

Farm mechanization needs energy, suitable tools and implements along with operators for carrying out different agricultural operations. Agricultural workers constitute one of the important sources of farm power in India as well as in Himachal. Accidents are very common in various agricultural operations due to ignorance, lack of training, lack of knowledge about the operation and improper design of tools and implements. So, the present study was carried out to collect the information on agricultural accidents, severity of injuries and causes for accidents. Data on farm power sources and agricultural machines available in the panchayats revealed that bullock rearing has decreased on account of their high cost of maintenance and limited requirements round the year and tillage is mainly done by power tillers on custom hiring for its convenience and easy portability. Majority of the studied victims (28.97%) were in the age group of more than 60 years followed by 23.87 percentage in age group of 41-50 years. The reported incidents with respect to accidents/injuries from machines total 78 cases out of which 29.49 per cent injuries were from power tiller and 24.30 per cent from sickle/saw/spade and 19.23 per cent from thresher respectively. Rest of the accidents/ injuries were from other sources. Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) of accidents highlighted that 42.06 per cent cases were serious but not life threatening, 28.97% were of moderate scale and 15.48% injuries were life threatening with probability of survival. 8.33% cases were critical with survival probability

The present study was undertaken to isolate, detect the virulence factors, antimicrobial susceptibility and antimicrobial resistance genes in of Escherichia coli from cases of bovine mastitic milk samples and faecal samples from diarrhoeic cows and buffaloes. Total 173 samples comprising milk samples from cases of bovine mastitis (n=128) and faecal samples (n=45) from diarrhoeic cows and buffaloes were subjected for isolation of E. coli. Out of these samples, 53 E. coli isolates were recovered with overall prevalence of 30.64 per cent which includes 29.69 per cent (38/128) from milk samples and 33.33 per cent (15/45) from faecal samples. All the 53 isolates revealed characteristic features of E. coli, which were Gram negative bacilli, produced pink lactose fermenting colonies on Mac Conkey agar and characteristic greenish metallic sheen on eosin methylene blue agar. Biochemical characterization of all the isolates revealed characteristic IMViC pattern viz., indole and M.R positive and V.P and citrate negative. For Genotypic confirmation, all the 53 presumptive isolates of E. coli were subjected to PCR using species-specific 16S rRNA gene (ECO-1) amplification. All the 53 isolates successfully amplified 585 bp amplicon from the genomic DNA which confirmed them as a E. coli. Out of all the 53 E. coli isolates screened, 13 (24.52%) isolates were found positive for ehly gene, in which amplicon size of 432 bp was detected and none of the isolates was found to possess genes for intimin protein. All the 53 E. coli isolates were subjected to antibiotic susceptibility test using 18 different antibiotics. The result revealed different susceptibility patterns. Out of 53 isolates of E. coli, 42 (79.72%) isolates showed sensitivity to Chloramphenicol, 35 (66.36%) to Colistin, 31 (58.15%) to Cefepime, 30 (56.36%) to Amoxyclav, 29 (54.72%) to each Ceftazidime-clavulanic acid, Gentamicin, Carbapenem and Ampicillin/sulbactam, 28 (52.83%) to each Enrofloxacin and Aztreonam, 24 (45.28%) to Cefotaxime-clavulanic acid, 23 (43.40%) to Ceftriaxone-Sulbactam, 19 (35.85%) to Doxycycline, 17 (32.08%) to Ceftriaxone, 15 (28.30%) to Cefotaxime, 14 (27.79%) to Streptomycin, 11 (20.75%) to Ceftazidime and 7 (13.79%) to Vancomycin

White spot syndrome caused by white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) is one of the most threatening diseases of shrimp culture industry. Globally, research is being carried out aiming at a better understanding on biology and pathology of WSSV and sub-sequential proper treatment and prevention. An efficient isolation and purification of viral particles is essential for these studies. This study reports a yield purification of viable and virulent WSSV virions from infected Peneaus monodon. The obtained yield was 8.64×1010 WSSV virions per 5 g infected tissue. Additionally, the yield dynamics of the complete process was studied for understanding of copy number variations. The present methodology and the yield-dynamics study of the process will lead to more improvements to WSSV purification in terms of simplicity and efficiency in the future. Moreover, the study will help in identification of the structural proteins of WSSV and shrimp bioassays to reveal the mechanisms of WSSV–host interaction

The experiment was planned to assess the effect of feeding higher energy-protein and higher protein total mixed ration on growth, intake, and digestibility of nutrients as well as feed utilization efficiency in crossbred heifers. Twenty-one healthy crossbred heifers (75% Holstein Friesian x 25%Kankrej) of similar age and body weight were selected and grouped into three (T1, T2, T3) having seven in each group. The crossbred heifers were fed total mixed ration-TMR to meet the requirements of 100 % each of ME and CP of ICAR (2013) (T1; control), T2- 125% each of ME and CP of control and T3 100% ME and 125% CP of control for 140 days. Intake of dry matter, crude protein and metabolic energy were found significantly higher (p<0.01) in heifers fed a high T2 TMR compared to the T1 and T3 TMR when expressed daily, per cent basis and on a metabolic BW basis. The daily gain in body weight of crossbred heifers was higher (P<0.05) in the T2 group than T3 and T1 group. The digestibility of CP and CF of TMR was significantly increased (p<0.05) in the T3 group compared to T1 and T2 group. The reduced digestibility of OM, NFE, NDF and ADF of T2 TMR (six per cent fat; p<0.05) was observed compared to T1 TMR. The nutritive value of high energy-crude protein TMR was slightly lower than the control TMR owing to lower digestibility of OM, NFE, NDF and ADF. The feed cost per kg gain was lower in the T2 (-31.31 ?) and T3 (-39.25 ?) group compared to the control group (T1). The feeding of high-energy crude protein TMR economically feasible option to improve the growth rate of crossbred heifers

The present study was aimed to investigate the pathology of Marek’s disease in chickens by correlating various clinico-pathological changes. A 15-week layer flock showed various clinical signs like inactivity, anorexia, weakness, paralysis and blindness. Necropsy examination of suspected dead birds revealed variable sized multiple greyish to yellow tumour like nodular lesions on visceral organs such as liver, spleen, kidney, ovaries etc. Unilateral or bilateral enlargement of nerves particularly sciatic nerve in few birds. Histopathological examination showed infiltration of numerous pleomorphic proliferating lymphoblast in tumorous lesions of various organs. The present flock showed the total mortality rate of 59.02% which is gradually increased from 15 to 26 weeks and then decrease after 26 weeks to 38 weeks of age. Based on clinical signs along with gross and histopathological studies of tumorous lesions the incidence has been diagnosed as Marek’s disease. In filed condition clinical signs and gross examination of carcass at necropsy can be considered as a reliable and inexpensive aid for routine diagnosis of Marek’s disease in chickens. Mortality may be high in unvaccinated flock

The present investigation was carried out to study the effect of feeding total mixed ration (TMR) on the growth performance of growing crossbred kids. Sixteen crossbred (Beetal x Assam Local) weaned kids at 4 months of age was divided into two groups with average equal body weight and number of male and female kids were also kept equal in each group. The control group (C) was provided with concentrate ration (19.62% CP & 73.55% TDN) and chopped roughages (mixture of Para grass-Brachiaria mutica and Napier grass-Pennisetum purpureum) separately and the treatment group (T) was provided with total mixed ration (TMR) prepared with 1/3rd concentrate ration and 2/3rd roughages on dry matter (DM) basis. The animals were fed ad libitum twice daily and standard management and housing was provided in both the groups. The average body weight of kids at 7th months of age was 12.15±0.46 and 13.79±0.18 kg in C and T groups, respectively. There was highly (p<0.01) significant effect of feeding TMR on body weight. The daily body weight gain from 4th -7th month of age also differed significantly (p<0.01) between C (0.060±0.021 kg) and T (0.077±0.044 kg) groups. The average height at withers (45.10±2.53 vs 50.10±0.64 cm) and body length (44.48±2.07 vs. 48.69±0.66 cm) differed significantly (p<0.05) between C and T groups, respectively at 7th month of age. There was highly significant (p<0.01) effect of treatment on the average chest girth (46.40±2.11cm vs. 50.54±0.39 cm) at 7th month. There was highly significant (p<0.01) effect of TMR feeding on the average daily feed intake during the 4th -7th month of age (0.40±0.020 kg vs. 0.44±0.05 kg) and significant (p<0.05) on feed conversion ratio (FCR) between C (6.93±1.42) and T (5.95±0.96). The digestibility coefficient of dry matter (DM) and other organic matters except ether extract (EE) was significantly (p<0.01) more in TMR than the control group. The average cost of feeding per kg body weight gain was ? 92.79 and ? 77.96 in C and T groups, respectively. The present investigation revealed that feeding of TMR significantly increased body weight and body weight gain in crossbred kids with reduced cost of feeding per kg body weight gain. Therefore, fattening of kids can be done more effectively through TMR feeding practice instead of separate feeding in crossbred goat

A field experiment was conducted at ‘C’ Block Farm (22°57' N, 88°20' E and 9.75 m above mean sea level), Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani, Nadia, West Bengal, India to find out the optimum planting time and suitable spacing for scented Gobindabhog rice during kharif season of 2010 and 2011. The density of weed varied significantly among four planting date (10 July, 25 July, 10 August and 25 August) and three planting density (viz. 20 cm × 10 cm, 15 cm × 15 cm and 20 cm × 15 cm) at 3 WAT, 6 WAT (mid) and 9 WAT (mid-late) stage of crop growth for both the years of study. Common grasses which infested the experimental rice field at Kalyani Nadia were: (i) Leersia hexandra, (ii) Echinochloa formosensis (iii) Echinochloa crusgalli (iv) Echinochloa colona (v) Paspalum distichum etc. while common sedges infested the experimental plot of Gobindabhog rice included : (i) Fimbristylis dichotoma (ii) Cyperus rotundus (iii) Cyperus difformis etc. and major broad leaf weeds are: (i) Luduigia parviflora,(ii) Ammania baccifera,(iii) Oldenlandia corymbos (iv) Alternanthera philoxeroides (v) Marsilea quadrifolia,(vi) Lindernia ciliata, (vii) Eclipta alba, etc. Mean values of grasses m-2 was 13.70, 12.68 and 13.73; sedges 14.00, 11.58 and 11.58 and broad leaf as 14.70, 12.65 and 14.29 recorded at 3, 6 and 9 WAT, respectively for pooled values of investigation

Assessment of the irrigation potential based on soil and water resources can only be done by simultaneously assessing the irrigation water requirements, which in turn depend on the cropping pattern and climate. The model CROPWAT 8.0 was used to calculate the effective rainfall which is an important parameter for calculating crop irrigation requirement. LINGO 11 software was used for optimization of available water resources with crop water demands. The current scenarios of irrigation vs cultivated areas based on available water resources, shows highest net benefits i.e., Rs. 22363 crores for the year 2017 followed by Rs. 20610 crores for the year 2014 due to higher available surface and groundwater resources compared to other years 2004, 2009, 2011. For future scenarios, the net benefits for the minimum cultivation area for highest crop water demand crops like. paddy and sunflower reduced by 75, 50 and 25 per cent were observed to be Rs. 23841 crores, 23249 and 22856 crores respectively. The available water from surface and groundwater resources is insufficient, thus crops can be chosen to put the entire region under cultivation based on available water. It was proved that these procedures aid policymakers and water resource planners in future planning and water conservation in order to optimize the utilization of available water