An experiment was conducted to find the effect of five host plants viz., chickpea, castor, chillies, mulberry and parthenium, on the consumption, growth, digestibility and conversion efficiency of ingested and digested food of Spodoptera litura (Fab.) larva at the Department of Agricultural Entomology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore during 2012. Among the plants tested, food consumption and excretion was found high in castor. Average consumption index of S. litura grown in chickpea, mulberry, parthenium, chillies and castor were found to be 3.889, 3.343, 3.262, 2.825 and 3.079 respectively. Higher growth rate was found when larva was fed with chickpea (0.474) and the least being 0.450 in castor. Early instar larva fed with chickpea was found to have higher digestibility (90.811) and it was least in weed plant, parthenium (88.110). Late instar larva of S. litura fed with chick pea was found to convert 7.452% of ingested food into its body mass whereas it was only 5.087% when fed in castor. The efficiency of conversion of digested food of S. litura larva fed with chickpea was least at early instars (12.450) whereas it was the highest during the late instars (7.994). Chickpea with highest average consumption index, growth rate and digestibility was found to be the best host plant. Further, efficiency of conversion of ingested and digested food of late instar larva was also found high in chickpea.

A field experiment was conducted at Post Graduate Farm, Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri (M.S.) India to investigate comprehensive effect of mulch, irrigation regimes and irrigation intervals under subsurface drip on water productivity of sugarcane during the years 2014-15 and 2015-16. The results revealed that the total water requirement of suru and ratoon sugarcane under subsurface drip was varied from 590.3 to 980.6 mm. The water saving in subsurface drip (SSDI) was 13.6 to 62.9% in 80% ETc irrigation regime as compared to conventional method of irrigation. The water requirement in 2 days interval under SSDI was lower than 3 and 5 days irrigation regimes intervals. More water was saved in ratoon cane than plant cane. The agronomic and economic water productivities were increased with decreased irrigation regimes and increased irrigation intervals. It was also observed that additional area that can be brought under irrigation due to water saving in SSDI was varied from 0.14- 0.48 ha over surface drip (SDI) and 0.62- 0.77 ha over surface irrigation. The same water quantity of water was applied for mulch and no-mulch treatment. The maximum cane yield of 148.4 t ha-1 was observed in 80% irrigation regime of SSDI which was at par with SDI with 100% ETc water. Similarly, the mean yield in 60% ETc and 3 days irrigation regimes were remained at par with 80% ETc and 2 days irrigation intervals.

The A study on adoption and attitude of farmers on mechanization of Paddy was conducted in command areas of Karnataka state during 2014-15. The number of respondents selected for the study was 180. The data was collected by personal interview method. The results indicate that 38.33 per cent of respondents belonged to high adoption category, followed by 34.45 per cent and 27.22 per cent of respondents belonged to low and medium adoption categories of farm mechanization in paddy cultivation, respectively. Cent percent of the farmers opined that the “labour scarcity” and “reduced drudgery” motivated them to adopt machines in farm practices. A great majority of farmers (95.56%) opined that “minimized labour requirement”, which motivated them to adopt mechanization. 93.33 per cent opined that “in time completion of farm operations were possible” by using machines, as the motivational factor which influenced farmers to adopt machines. Whereas, 86.67 per cent opined that “availability of subsidy for purchase of machines”, “easy adoptability of machines” (40.00 %), “peer group influenced to adopt machines”(39.44 %), “precision in usage of inputs ”(36.67 %) as the motivational factor to adopt mechanization. The other motivational factors were “profit maximization through usage of machines” (25.56 %) and “affordable price of machines at local market” (17.78 %). With regard to attitude nearly equal number of farmers had most favourable (36.11 %) and least favourable (35.56 %) attitude towards farm mechanization in Paddy cultivation. While 28.33 per cent of the farmers had favourable attitude towards farm mechanization.

The study of groundwater behavior, in the Bellan canal command, was conducted using ground water table data of last 20 years. The study indicated that about 4.30 % area of canal command was having annual seasonal fluctuation of water table as less than 0.5m, 37.95 % area from 0.5 to 1.0 m, 12.17 % area from 1.0 to 1.5 m, 18.13 % area from 1.5 to 2.0 m and in remaining 27.45 % area it was more than 2m. On the basis of average annual seasonal water table fluctuation map, the declination of depth to water table was observed at Tangkalan in Koraon block during pre-monsoon and post- monsoon seasons during the year 1994, whereas for the year 2013, it showed the water table mound around Dasaunti and Shambhu Chak in Meja and Urwa blocks respectively. Fall of water table level was also observed at Koraon hydrograph station at Koraon block during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon season of the year. The overall trend of groundwater table in the canal command was having declining trend, while some of the hydrograph station it was neither rising nor falling except in Paranipur hydrograph station of Urwa block where the water table was found in rising trend in pre-monsoon period. Soil texture, increase in number of minor irrigation structures, existing cropping pattern, and increasing demand of groundwater for human and industrial consumption were found the main causes of over exploitation. The study signified that, there was an urgent need for recharge planning in the command so that the water table could be arrested at the desired level.

The present study was carried out with twenty five tomato germplasm during summer season of 2013 at Pantnagar Centre for Plant Genetic Resources (PCPGR), G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, (U.S. Nagar) Uttarakhand. The experiment was conducted in Randomized Block Design with three replications. Observations were recorded on ten quantitative and three qualitative traits. The results revealed significant variation among germplasm for all the characters. Among all the genotypes, DARL-62 showed the highest fruit yield per hectare (232.36q/ha). Higher phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation (PCV and GCV) were observed for average fruit weight, number of fruits per plant and percentage acidity. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance as per cent of mean were estimated for average fruit weight, number of fruits per plant, percentage acidity, pericarp thickness and number of locules per fruit. The yield per hectare displayed positive correlation with number of fruits per plant, pericarp thickness, number of locules per fruit, average fruit weight, ascorbic acid content and yield per plant. Path analysis indicated that positive direct effect on fruit yield per hectare was exerted by yield per plant, number of flowers per inflorescence, number of locules per fruit, ascorbic acid content, percentage acidity, fruit diameter, plant height and total soluble solids. The findings suggested that average fruit weight, number of fruits per plant, number of locules per fruit and percentage acidity should be considered as important characters for improvement of tomato through selection.