A survey was conducted over 240 pig farmers’ purposively selected from four states, viz., Jharkhand,
Bihar, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal and one district was selected from each state, based on the population
of pig farmers with the assistance of Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) in these states. Research paper
highlights the innovativeness and three types of innovation-decisions viz., optional, collective and authority
decisions. Results reveal that majority of respondents (86.70%) had high innovativeness. A large number
of the respondents (42.90%) had taken individual decision to adopt ‘T&D’ pig innovation followed by
(37.50%) authoritative decision and 21.2 per cent of the respondents took decision in consultation with
the scientists of Agricultural University and Krishi Vigyan Kendra for adoption of ‘T&D’ pig innovation.

South Andaman district is a group of 10 inhabited islands spread over an area of 310.6 thousand ha as a part of Andaman and Nicobar group of islands in Bay of Bengal. Shifting cultivation on slopes, land degradation, high intensity rainfall, poor crop harvest,low cropping intensity, non availability of labour, high price of agricultural produce imported from mainland and limited employment opportunities resulted into acute poverty in this region. The study revealed that major cultivated crops(vegetable: 1317 ha, paddy: 216.1 ha, maize: 55 ha,ginger: 51.5 ha, sweet potato: 46 ha, tapioca: 26.5 ha, turmeric: 19.5 ha, green gram: 7.2 ha, black gram: 6.5 ha)were not at all economic due to lower net returns and lower benefit-cost ratios (BCR). It was found that the higher net returns were obtained from ginger cultivation (Rs 4,23,900) followed by tapioca (Rs 3,68,160), sweet potato (Rs 2,42,760), vegetables (Rs 2,07,760), turmeric (Rs 1,15,450), mustard (Rs 19,125), maize (Rs 11,430) and arhar (Rs 10,375). Benefit cost ratio (BCR) was found to be highest in case of tapioca (3.06) followed by sweet potato (2.68), vegetables (2.17), ginger (2.00), arhar (1.53), mustard (1.46), green gram (1.38), turmeric (1.30) and black gram (1.23). In order to avail maximum returns, crops having higher net returns and BCRs need to be allocated more area. Therefore, limited area should be put under paddy, maize, green gram and black gram to meet the minimum food requirement of the district and surplus area to be used for growing crops like ginger, tapioca, sweet potato, vegetable having higher BCRs and net returns to make the agriculture profitable and sustainable.

The study was conducted to analyze the physicochemical parameters, nutrient variables, plankton and fish diversity in three snow-fed tributaries rivers viz., Dirang chu, Sangti and Tenga of Kameng drainage in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh in the Eastern Himalayas during 2016-17. The key physicochemical parameters in the three rivers viz., temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen were found in the range of 11.42±0.04 to 14.25±0.06°C; 7.32±0.02 to 7.9±0.03; 8.06±0.05 to 8.31±0.05 ppm, respectively. Nutrient variables i.e., ammonium, nitrite, phosphate, alkalinity, hardness were observed in the range of ?0.01 mg/l; 8.33±0.58 to 11.0±1.0 ?g/l; 0.11±0.005 to 0.38±0.03 mg/l; 25.33±2.31 to 17.33±2.31 mg/l; 26.66±1.15 to 15.33±1.15 mg/l, respectively. The rivers being snow fed remained clear and transparent (0.39±0.02 NTU) during the study period. The abundance of plankton species was comprised of Stigeoclonium (50%), Pinnularia (20%), Navicula (15%) at river Dirang chu, whereas Stigeoclonium (30%), Fragilaria (30%) and Lyngbya (10%) dominated at river Sangti, followed by Pinnularia (40%), Acanthidium (20%) and Synedra (10%) at river Tenga. Three species of snow trout (Schizothoracids) remained abundant and formed the major catch with an average length of 24.16 ± 6.17 cm and average weight of 161.2 ± 102.22 g in cast nets and noose and line method. The abundance of diverse plankton groups along with a favorable range of most of the essential hydrological characteristics indicated a good health of the water body and an environment conducive for thriving of snow trout and endowing  nutritional security in turn for the mountain dwellers in a remote and fragile Himalayan region of India.

The paper focuses on block-wise assessment of crop water demand for irrigated agricultural areas in South-West Punjab with aim to develop a GIS based system for supporting infrastructural for water resources management. The average seasonal evapotranspiration (ET) demand of the region was estimated to be 725 mm for kharif and 537 mm for rabi season for 2007 to 2013. Blocks namely Lambi (890mm) and Bhagta Bhai Ka (701mm) had the maximum crop water demand whereas blocks Mahal Kalan (482mm) and Phul (323mm) had the least crop water demand. The ET maps derived in the study are useful in determining high water demand areas and can be helpful for planners to adjust the cropping pattern as per the micro level water availability in South-west Punjab.

Agricultural extension functionaries in India have an important role in dissemination of agricultural technologies to enhance the productivity of the farming community but to implement e-extension initiatives into effectual function, an extension officer must be e- ready to adopt new initiatives for quicker dissemination. A congenial eco – system for e-extension is need to be created for effective implementation of ICT enabled extension. The study investigated the preparedness of the extension professionals and extension organizations to implement ICT enabled extension services for farming community. In this study, e-readiness is defined in terms of awareness, knowledge, accessibility, perception and extent of utilization of ICT tools by extension personnel in agricultural extension system. The present study was conducted in five southern states of India to measure e-readiness of the public sector agricultural extension functionaries towards use of ICTs. A total number of 500 officers of agriculture and allied
departments from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Odisha were selected randomly for the study. The data was collected from development officers using structured Interview schedules, questionnaires and check lists. The findings of the study showed that more than 60 per cent of officers perceived moderately favourable attitude towards usage of ICT tools for dissemination of farm information.

A survey was carried out to assess the health and dietary status of rural women of Shaheed Bhagat Singh District. The data pertaining to background information, food habits and morbidity status were collected through an interview schedule. The results revealed that there was quite lower intake of green leafy vegetables (3.9%), fruits (14.8%), roots, tubers and other vegetables (31.9%), pulses (62.5%), cereals (71.9%) and milk products (72.3%) as compared to Suggested Dietary Guidelines (SDI) by the Indian Council of Medical Research. While the intake of fats and oils (112.9%) was found more than the SDI probably due to wrong feeding habits. The study also revealed that fever, cold, tiredness, headache and loss of appetite was frequently occurring health problems among the respondents, probably due to less intake of food items as suggested. Thus, it can be said that to improve the heath status of the respondents right feeding practices need to be taught through nutritional counseling, trainings, seminars and campaign etc.

Green gram (Vigna radiata) is commonly known as Moong an important pulse crop in India and more than 70 per cent of world’s green gram production comes from India. In Samastipur, farmers sow the moong after harvesting of Toria as well as wheat crop during summer season. The present study was conducted during summer seasons of the year 2016 and 2017 in three villages of Samastipur district to assess the suitable variety of green gram. Twenty farmers’ field were randomly selected and sown three high yielding improved varieties of green gram namely TMB 37, SML 668 and HUM 16 with five replications with one check variety already grown by the farmers. The data like average number of branches, pods/plant, grain/pod, disease incidence (%) and grain yield (q/ha) were recorded during investigation. Among all
the varieties assessed, variety TMB37 proved to be the best with highest number of pods/plant (38.4) and minimum incidence of yellow mosaic disease of 6.2 per cent resulting in the highest yield of 16.65 q/ha followed by SML668 with disease incidence of 7.3 per cent , 34.8 pods/plant and yield of 14.95q/ ha. Hence, it was inferred that TMB37 variety of green gram proved better followed by SML668.

The performance of timely and late sown 13 wheat (bread and durum) varieties was assessed during rabi 2015-16 under irrigated and rainfed conditions in a low fertile loamy sand soil. Grain yield of timely sown bread wheat varieties varied between 4.89-5.74 t/ha, compared with 4.35-4.53 t/ha for late sown varieties. Grain yield of timely sown bread wheat varieties under rainfed conditions varied between 3.74 and 4.05 t/ha. In contrast, grain yield of timely sown durum wheat under irrigated conditions varied between 2.76-3.96 t/ha. Data revealed that an average grain yield of timely sown bread wheat varieties under irrigated conditions was 35.7% higher as compared to wheat varieties sown as rainfed. Timely sown bread wheat varieties sown under irrigated conditions yielded ~57 per cent higher grain yield, compared with durum wheat varieties. The production efficiency (PE) of timely sown bread wheat varieties under irrigated conditions was 4.5kg/ha/d (~15%) higher than sown as rainfed. It was higher by 12.9 kg kg/ ha/d (61.7%) for timely sown bread wheat varieties, compared with durum wheat varieties under irrigated conditions. The PE was 5.2kg/ha/d (15.4%) lower for late sown bread wheat varieties, compared with timely sown varieties. Yield gap estimated over yield potential varied between 0.04-0.31 t/ha for bread wheat varieties sown under irrigated condition, compared to between 0.32-1.34 t/ha under rainfed condition. However, a yield gap estimated over yield potential for late sown bread wheat varieties under irrigated conditions varied between 0.35-0.36 t/ha, about 56 per cent higher than for timely sown wheat varieties.

The present study was conducted in dang district of Gujarat state with 120 respondents, 10 from each village were purposively selected from Waghai, Ahwa and Subir taluka by random sampling techniques. Sixty beneficiaries and 60 non-beneficiaries were selected for the study. The respondents were personally interviewed with a well-structured and pre-tested interview schedule. From the study, it was observed that majority of beneficiary’s farmers (70.0 %) and more than half of non beneficiary farmers (57.0%) had favourable attitude toward KVK activities. The significant ‘t’ value (3.032) suggested that beneficiary farmer group had more favourable attitude toward various activities of KVK than non beneficiary farmer group. According to practice wise, the productivity of crops was increased by the advice of scientists working at KVK was on the top most statement according to relative importance in the scale for both beneficiary and non beneficiary farmers. It was inferred that the various activities had influenced in developing the favourable disposition towards KVK among beneficiary farmers.

The farming systems represent integration of farm enterprises such as cropping systems, animal husbandry, fisheries, forestry, horticulture, etc. for optimal utilization of resources by the farmers. Farming systems of households in Solan, Shimla and Kangra districts of Himachal Pradesh were analyzed based on the primary data collected through a sample of 92 farmers by using two-stage stratified random sampling technique during the year 2016-17. About 63.03 per cent of the total farmers were found to be marginal, 23.91 per cent small farmers and 13.04 per cent other farmers. A total of nine farming systems including some nonfarm componentswere identified. The average income of marginal farmers was highest in Agri+Wages type of system whereas average income of small and other farmers was highest from Horti+ Shop type of system. Across the categories, other farmers earned more than marginal and small farmers from the same patch of land. This gap was because of non-availability of credit to marginal and small farmers.

This paper was an attempt to analyze the economics of maize (Zea mays L.) production and marketing in Punjab state of India. Two districts namely Hoshiarpur and SBS Nagar were selected for the collection of primary data from a sample of 100 maize growers. Multistage random sampling technique was employed to select sample representing different farm size categories to examine comparative economics of maize and its major competing crop (paddy) has been worked out. The data were collected using structured interview schedule. The results revealed that there was a major shift of maize area to rice. The assured market for paddy ensures better returns from paddy cultivation under present price policy. The results revealed that none of farmers sold their produce to the government agencies as the
public procurement agencies do not procure maize which depressed the maize prices as compared to its MSP. The farmers have to sell their produce with high moisture content due to lack of drying facilities. Some high capacity dryers are there which are not beneficial to farmers having less farm produce. There is a need of low capacity dryers and set up of maize processing industries to enable farmers to fetch remunerative prices of maize produce. So, strengthening research to develop high yielding varieties and improvement in market infrastructure are prerequisites to make this crop more profitable.

As many as 63 countries of the world grows Mango but India is on the top of all being the world`s largest producer. India rank first having the highest share of 44 per cent to world production of mango. The present study was conducted on correlates of entrepreneurial behaviour of mango growers of Valsad district of Gujarat state. Mango growers from 10 villages who were cultivating mango for last five years selected randomly. Results showed that majority of the growers were in medium to high level category of entrepreneurial behaviour. Out of 19 independent variables viz., education, area under mango cultivation, annual income, social participation, awareness regarding value addition, mango yield index, employment generation, extension participation, mass media exposure, extent of adoption, management orientation, innovativeness, progressiveness and knowledge of mango growers had significant relationship with entrepreneurial behaviour of mango growers, whereas age, land holding, irrigation facility, family size and cropping intensity had no association with entrepreneurial behaviour.

The project was initiated to design a prototype of tender coconut trimming, piercing and draining system and test its performance efficiency. The trimming of tender coconut for water is extremely hazardous and requires skilled labor. The machine helps in easy, safe and hygienic cutting when compared to inherent method which is difficult to wield, messy and need skill. The machine frame consists of three sections. The first one has a sharp cutting knife which cuts of the top most portion of tender coconut. The second one has a piercing system that makes the hole at the tip of the coconut. The third compartment is similar to the second one but has a sharp rod with holes on it, which helps in easy draining of water from the shell. Optimal settings include the, shoulder knife height of 70-75 cm from base and the optimal cutting of 45 degree. The total time for the combined cutting and piercing operation is identified to be 16 second on an average and for cutting and draining water was 28 sec. The above machine designed can easily reach farmers and local vendors.

The present study was conducted in Mansa district of south western Punjab. Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Mansa conducted five training programmes on garment construction during the year 2011 to 2016. In these training programmes, total 108 farm women and rural girls participated from different villages of Mansa District. Out of these 108 trainees, about 61 per cent trainees started stitching articles at household level on demand basis. These 66 trainees were interviewed during the year 2017-18 to study the socio-economic profile and to identify motivational factors influencing adoption of garment construction activity. The survey also focused on the level of income generation among trainees through garment construction. The study revealed that majority of the women was in the age group of 20-40 yr of age. Majority of the trainee(5s 4.5%) was from backward or schedule caste category. The desire to augment family income and family tradition were two motivational factors behind adoption of the garment construction activity. It was found out that about are 42.4 per cent ladies stitched on an average sixteen suits in a month and were earning Rs 150/- per suit as stitching charges. The expenditure incurred on the purchase of raw material was for stitching suit was minimal i.e. Rs. 14/- per suit only. Average net returns from garment construction activity ranged from Rs. 2176/-to Rs. 2816/-month. The study concluded that training programmes on garment construction are helping the rural women in augmenting their family income and thus helping them to meet their basic daily needs.

An attempt has been made to study the economic analysis of mustard production by members of farmer producer organization in Swai Madhopur district of Rajasthan State, India. The study was conducted in Chauth Mata Agro Producer Company Limited, Chauth ka Barwada blocks in Swai Madhopur district. Eighty farmers were selected randomly from ten villages from these blocks to collect the required information on the cost of cultivation and other aspects for the present study. The primary data were collected from the mustard producers through personal interview method with the help of wellprepared schedule and questionnaire for the production and post-harvest year for Rabi mustard 2017-18. The analysis of cost of cultivation was done as per Cost concept given by CACP. The average cost of cultivation of mustard of member and non-member of Farmer Producer Organization (FPO) were worked out as Rs. 43,900 /ha and Rs. 45,195/ha, respectively. Input-output ratios of member and non-member farmers of FPO were worked out as 1: 1.29 and 1:1.20, respectively. Out of average cost of cultivation, the operational cost was Rs. 29,320/ha and Rs. 30,595/ha, respectively and fixed cost was Rs. 14,580/ ha and Rs. 14,600/ha, respectively of the total cost. The study suggested that urgent attention must be paid towards enhancing the productivity of mustard crop by providing improved and high yielding varieties, technology, irrigation, price support, policy and effective extension through formation of FPOs.

The present study was conducted to measure the Economic contribution of Agricultural Extension Services provided by Karnataka Watershed Development Project to the beneficiaries of Bijapur district during the year 2014-15. An ex-post facto research design, specifically before and after method was adopted to know the changes in the important indicators such as annual income, crop yields, employment generation and materials status among beneficiaries due to Karnataka Watershed Development (KAWAD) Project and also developed a scale on economic contribution of AESs to capture the contribution of each services to the economic status of the beneficiaries. Hence, 90 beneficiary farmers and 90 non-beneficiary farmers were selected, thus 180 respondents constitute the sample for the research study. A structured interview schedule was used to collect data. The findings of the study revealed that majority (42.22 %) of the beneficiary belonged to medium and high (37.78 %) category with respect to overall access to the services of KAWAD project. Over a half (55.56 %) of the beneficiary farmers had better accessed to the credit services followed by training services (54.45 %) and advisory services (51.11 %), about 67.78 and 46.67 per cent of them had best accessed to input services and land based & crop management services, respectively. About 40.0 per cent of them poorly accessed to the market services. Overall contribution of AESs towards economic status of beneficiary farmers was found to be 24.37 per cent, among major contribution from credit services (5.06%), land based and crop management services (4.45%) and least contribution was from advisory services (3.09 %). Cent per cent of them adopted the services like land leveling, land shaping and bunding followed by construction of check dams and bunds (86.66 %), new tanks and farm ponds (83.33 %), contour bunding (76.66 %) etc,. The KAWAD project has significantly contributed towards socio-political, economical and overall development of KAWAD beneficiaries.

The present study was conducted in three agro-climatic zones of Punjab state viz., sub mountainous zone, central plain zone and south western zone for assessing the profitability of various green fodder crops and other competing crops. It was observed from the study consisting of a total sample size of 120 farmers growing green fodder and other competing crops that the profitability from crop rotation based on green fodder crops was little higher than the predominant paddy-wheat rotation. Among the important kharif fodder crops, bajra fodder was the most profitable with overall profit of ` 49,111/ha compared to paddy with profit of ` 64,925/ha. The profit from berseem was observed to be ` 78,918/ha which is the main fodder crop in rabi season. The main competing crop in this season was wheat with profit of ` 57,584/ha. Therefore, there is need to create awareness among the farmers to shift some area from paddy- wheat rotation to enhance green fodder production.

Investigation was carried out in Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, during kharif 2014 and 2015 to evaluate the effect of detopping and mepiquat chloride (MC) application on economics and seed quality of soybean (Glycine max L.) cv. SL 744. The experiment was laid-out in randomized complete block design having eight treatments as T1-control, T2- detopping (removal of 4-5 cm apical portion of main stem) at 50-55 days after sowing (DAS), T3-MC @ 200 ppm at 50-55 DAS, T4-MC 200 ppm at 50-55 and 65-70 DAS, T5- MC 250 ppm at 50-55 DAS, T6-MC @ 250 ppm at 50-55 and 65-70 DAS, T7-MC @ 300 ppm at 50-55 DAS and T8-MC @ 300 ppm at 50-55 and 65-70 DAS, with four replications. An increase in seed nitrogen and protein content with increase in level of MC was recorded but it could not reach the level of significance. A non-significant effect of detopping and MC application on stover nitrogen and seed oil content was also recorded. A non-significant effect of growth regulation treatments on seed quality parameters viz., germination percentage, seedling length and dry weight, vigour index I & II and speed of germination index was recorded which indicates non-inhibitory effect of MC on seed quality of soybean. Detopping and application of MC @ 250 ppm at two growth stages resulted in highest gross and net returns and benefit to cost ratio (B:C) in comparison to control indicating economical viability of detopping and MC application.

Twenty four local goats were used to study rumen fermentation characteristics as affected by feeding concentrate mixture supplemented with bypass fat and bypass protein. Local goats were divided into four equal groups. Group T0 was fed with concentrate mixture + green and dry roughage, Group T1 was fed with concentrate mixture + green + dry roughage supplemented with bypass protein @ 2.5 per cent of dry matter intake, Group T2 was fed with concentrate mixture + green + dry roughage supplemented with bypass fat @ 2.5 per cent of dry matter intake, Group T3 was fed with concentrate mixture + green + dry roughage supplemented with bypass protein and bypass fat in combination each @ 2.5 per cent of dry matter intake. It was found that NH3-N concentration differ significantly amongst the treatment groups whereas other ruminal attribute like pH, TVFA, Total Nitrogen, TCA-precipitated-N and NPN were not affected significantly. It was concluded that feeding concentrate mixture supplemented with bypass fat and bypass protein @ 2.5 per cent of dry matter intake separately and in combination had no adverse effect on the rumen fermentation pattern of local goats.

The study was conducted to assess the effect of drip irrigation scheduling on growth and fruit quality of tomato and to determine the benefit-cost (B-C) ratio of tomato under different treatments. Five treatments viz., T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 using drip irrigation method without using fertilizer and chemicals were tested to improve irrigation scheduling in tomato. The experimental setup consisted of screen filter, main, sub mains, laterals, drippers and other accessories required for drip irrigation and fitted in the experimental plot of 0.006 ha land. Total production of 2851.08 q/ ha tomato was obtained under various treatments and maximum production of 644.83 q/ ha was under treatment T3 (3 hr water applied in time interval of three day) whereas minimum achieved under treatment T5 (control) as 508.25 q/ha out of three treatments such as T1 (1 hr water applied in one day time interval), T2 (2 hr water applied in two day time interval) and T4 (4 hr water applied in four day interval). Highest fruit weight also recorded in T3 treatment as 10.40 kg/ plant and lowest 5.20 kg/ plant was obtained under T5 treatment. Highest water use efficiency (WUE) and benefit-cost ratio (BCR) were achieved under T3 as 3.15 q/ha-cm and 8.10, respectively. From the present study, it was concluded that modern irrigation system (drip) should be used as a benchmark for planning and management of available water resource by reducing water losses in large extent.

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of post teat dip treatment in dairy cattle for the prevention of clinical and sub-clinical mastitis. A total of 150 crossbred cows were selected randomly of different age groups, lactation stage, and herd size. The effect of a combination of povidone iodine and glycerin in the ratio of 3:1 and a commercially available product filmadine (vansun) were evaluated. Both the above mentioned treatments were found to be equally effective against prevention of clinical and subclinical mastitis as compared to non-treated group of animals. It can be concluded that the post teat dip treatment improved quality and composition of milk along with reduction in chances of clinical and subclinical mastitis.

The present study was undertaken to study the existing attitude and career goal setting pattern, effect of socio-personal factors of the homemakers on the attitude and career goal setting pattern and explore the constraints in goal setting and attainment of farm families. Results revealed that overall goal setting pattern of farm families was quite erroneous (overall SMART percent score of 11.39) with attitude goal setting per cent score of 5.86 and career 16.89. A positive non significant relationship between the age (0.10), education (0.07), family type (0.10), family size (0.12) and family income (0.09) of the respondents and their goal setting pattern was found. Major constraint faced by the respondents while setting the goals was lack of training to set goals (94.66 %), ambiguous goals, frustration due to successive failure in goal achievement and hopelessness due to persistent struggle with uncertainties (82.66 %).

The present study was carried out on the socio-economic and demographic profiles of the 30 anganwadi workers in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand. Nutritional education regarding four selected topics was imparted through on/off campus trainings. Pre-test and post-test data were recorded through knowledge test schedule and retention of knowledge after 15 d of imparting the training. It was revealed that 50 per cent of anganwadi workers were under the age group of 36-45 yr and majority (96.6 %) were married. Though, 43.3 percent of the respondents were graduates, 73.3 per cent had an experience of 5-10 y whereas, 6.6 per cent have less than five yr experience. The score of post-test I (gain in knowledge) and post-test II (retention in knowledge) were greater than pre- test scores which indicated that nutritional education intervention was helpful in gaining knowledge in the selected subjects. Hence, in future, need based training programme should be planned and executed for anganwadi workers in order to update them and able to use good health and nutrition related practices for better care of rural childern.

In the present study 200 different samples viz., raw milk,, boiled milk, pasteurized milk and skimmed milk were collected from local market of Durg, Rajnandgaon and Khiragad areas of Chattishgarh. All these milk samples were analysed for microbial count and antibiotic sensitivity test. Four types of bacteria were identified in 200 milk samples of three cities. The bacteria identified were Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Bacillus and E. Coli. Highest mean count was detected in raw milk followed by pasteurized milk. In antibiotic sensitivity test, inhibition zone of Chloramphenicol and Ofloxacin was maximum against Streptococcus (26mm) and Staphylococcus sp.(30mm). The results indicated that analysed milk could contribute a potential risk for public health in the cases that if it was consumed or used in the production of dairy products without being pasteurized or being subjected to a sufficient heat process.

A field experiment was conducted during spring season at farmers’ field to study the suitability of five different potato varieties viz., Kufri Jyoti, Kufri Kanchan, Kufri Giriraj, Kufri Girdhari and Kufri Pukhraj. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with three replications. The experimental site is located at 1500 m above mean sea level at approximately 27035’84? latitude and 92024’09? longitude, and falls under temperate sub-alpine to sub tropical climate with minimum temperature and maximum temperature ranged from 7.72ºC to 18.82ºC and 22.28ºC to 27.88ºC respectively, with annual mean rainfall of 1578 mm during the investigation period. The soil of the experimental site was red sandy hilly soil with 217.5, 365.7 and 134.4 kg NPK per hectare, respectively. No significant effects were observed in germination percentage and plant height at 60 d after planting among the varieties. However, significant variations were observed in plant height at 30 d after planting, number of stems and leaves per plant, number and total yield of tubers among the different varieties.

The study was conducted in Varanasi district with a view to assess the soil available sulphur status at different block level. Geographically the district Varanasi is situated at 25018’ of Northern latitude, 830 03’ of Eastern longitude and at an altitude of 128.83 m above the mean sea level in the Indo-Gangatic plain of eastern Uttar Pradesh. Soil samples were collected covering three blocks from 30 villages based on based on the variability of land at a depth of 0-20 cm. surface soil samples (one from each village) were collected. A Geographical Positioning System device was used to identify the location of the sampling points.Collected Soil samples were analyzed for pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter, sulphur cation exchange capacity, calcium carbonatestexture classes, Particle density, bulk density.The available sulphur content in soils of some selected blocks of Varanasi district varied from 19.26 to 98.38 kg/ha with a mean value of 57.64 kg/ha. The lowest value of (19.26kg/ha) as well as the highest value of (98.38kg/ha) available sulphur was recorded in soils of study area.

Adoption index of climate resilient technologies was studied in Mardanpur and Gari villages where NICRA project was on operation by KVK, Chatra. It was observed that majority of the climate resilient technology demonstrating farmers of both village were under the medium adopter categories followed by high and low. A correlation analysis showed that six independent variables i.e., family size, farm size, herd size, family income, access of natural resources and access to market., were found to influence extent of adoption significantly. Regression analysis between independent variables and extent of adoption inferred that access to natural resource and innovativeness were found to be significant (P<0.01). The rest of the variable were found to be non significant. Result advised that agencies concerned with transfer of technologies should give more emphasis on demonstrations, exhibitions, field days, crop days, kisan mela, exposure visit, field schools etc. on climate resilient technologies and ensure more participation and interaction of farmers. Similarly, more number of training programmes on climate resilient technologies need to be organized.

The present on farm trial was conducted to assess the effect of supplementary feeding of locally made concentrate mixture on growth performance of kids under field condition. Eighteen healthy nondescript local male kids having body weight 4.73±0.12 kg ( aged 3-4 m) were selected and randomly distributed into three equal groups viz. T1 (Control i.e. farmer’s practice- only grazing), T2- Grazing plus supplementary feeding of locally made concentrate mixture, T3- Grazing plus supplementary feeding of locally made concentrate mixture + two times deworming. The control (T1) group was maintained solely on grazing for 5-6 hr on local grazing land, kids of T2 and T3 groups were fed locally made concentrate mixture @ 3% of body weight along with grazing for 150 d. An additional deworming of kids (T3) was done two times at 60 d interval. The results showed that the average daily gain (g/day) of goats were significantly (P<0.05) higher in T2 ( 56.26 ) and T3 (59.80 ) groups as compared to T1(34.40) (Control), whereas there was no significant (P>0.05) difference between T2 and T3 groups. Similarly, the dressing percent and meat yield of T2 (48% and 6.35 kg) and T3(48% and 6.56 kg) group was higher than T1(45% and 4.44 kg).Therefore, it was concluded that feeding of locally made concentrate mixture along with grazing improved growth performance in growing male kids.

The families with many variations, ranging from couples with or without children to single parent families and multigenerational families confront management problems of different nature. The single parent situation represents one of the most significant changes affecting the family system. The issue of the single parent family in the Indian context is complicated one, requiring investigation on various dimensions of the problems. So, the present study was undertaken to examine the problems faced by single parents (females) of Ludhiana and its effects on their behaviour. The study was conducted on purposively selected 120 females who were running their household alone themselves. A well structured questionnaire was administered to the respondents for collecting data. The results of the study revealed that 28.4 per cent of the respondents had weak health status and majority of the respondents (88.4%) suffered from stress and strain. In case of 33.4 per cent of respondents, at the time of illness, care was taken by their sons. About 81.7 per cent of the respondents reported lack of interest in social activities and 96.7 per cent of the respondents suffered from loneliness.

Black gram (Vigna mungo L.) is one of the most important pulse crop cultivated in Erode district of TamilNadu. However, the productivity of black gram in the district is low. Attempts were made to improve the productivity and to increase the area under black gram by adopting high yielding variety along with improved practices. A total of 60 Cluster Frontline Demonstrations (CFLDs) at farmers field were carried out on black gram to demonstrate the production potential and economic benefits of Improved Practices comprising of high yielding variety namely Vamban 6 (VBN 6) in Erode District during Rabi during 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2015-16. The farmers obtained 7.7q/ ha yield which was 7.08 per cent higher over the farmer practice. The average extension gap, technology gap and technology index were 0.49 q/ha, 1.04q/ha, and 12.26 per cent, respectively. The improved practices gave highest benefit cost ratio 2.2 and 43.34 per cent farmers satisfied with highest client satisfaction index score.

The present study was conducted to ascertain the knowledge gain and adoption level of ten specific technologies demonstrated through various interventions during earlier years by the KVK. Barmer, chohtan, Baytoo, Balotra, and Gudamalani blocks of Barmer District were taken for study and 20 beneficiary farmers were randomly selected from each block. The data were collected through personal interview with well-designed questionnaire. The data revealed that the gain in knowledge was more than 50 per cent for technologies viz., time and method of pruning of Ber (72 %), use of micronutrient (68%), plant protection techniques and time of planting (65%), method of manure and fertilizer application (58%), drip irrigation (54%) and recommended dose of fertilizer (51%). Similarly, time and method of pruning, plant protection techniques and recommended dose of fertilizer recorded the highest extent of adoption as 63, 56 and 19 per cent, respectively. This could be due to the easiness and effectiveness of technologies at field level application and yield enhancement. Though the acquisition of knowledge for the technologies like value addition (58%), use of micronutrient (68%) and drip irrigation (62 %) was high, the number of farmers adopting these technologies were very low i.e., 31, 25 and 13 per cent, respectively.

The study was conducted at farmers’ fields in 5 villages viz., Balara, Bedkallan, Boyal, Kushalpura and Balara of Pali district to demonstrate production potential and economic benefit of improved production technologies comprising sowing method, nutrient management and chemical weed control and adoption of complete package of practices for green gram. After sowing, application of weedicide Pendimethalin @ 1.0 kg/ha in 500 l of water used for effective control of the weeds during kharif season under rainfed condition. The findings of the study revealed that improved technology recorded a mean yield of 982 kg/ha which was 35.5 per cent higher than obtained under farmers’ practice (755 kg/ha). Higher mean net income of Rs. 46030/ha with a Benefit: Cost ratio of 4.3 was obtained with improved technologies in comparison to farmers’ practices (Rs. 38775/ha). Further, it was found that the adoption of improved technologies significantly increased the yield as well as yield attributing traits of green gram crop and also the net returns to the farmers. Hence, there is a need to disseminate the improved technologies among the farmers with effective extension methods like training and demonstrations. The farmers’ should be encouraged to adopt the recommended package of practices for realizing higher returns.

Agriculture is a backbone of Indian economy and about 70 per cent population is dependent upon agricultural sector and farm women contributes about 55-65 per cent in performing various agricultural operations and other activities. These farm women are doing arduous field operations along with household chores and mostly using traditional hand tools and gadgets. These tools are not only the source of drudgery but also a major cause of low efficiency in farm women and reduce the farm outputs. Hence, the emphasis was given to reduce the drudgery among farm women by introducing the women friendly farm equipments, which are specially designed for them. These farm equipments help in reducing drudgery, increasing efficiency of farm women and saving time. The equipments like improved sickle, weeder, maize sheller and hand drawn trolley were tested by Krishi Vigyan Kendra , Ujjain in a cluster of villages. It was found that all the women friendly equipments were able to reducing drudgery from 35-67 per cent and also saved the time near about 3-4 hr / day. The perceived exertion was reduced by 1 to 2 on five point scale.

Nagaland is the part of Indo Myanmar bio-diversity hotspot, Twenty five recognized global biodiversity hotspot provides a unique profusion of habitats and diverse biota. Nagaland Long Hair Goat (NLHG) is an example of this unique biodiversity. This goat is distributed in a few pockets Zunheboto, Tuensang and Kiphire districts of Nagaland and has very distinctive features. As per crude estimate total population of this goat is about 1200, which is declining rapidly. The present data were collected from two the different villages i.e., Xuivhi and Aghunato of Zunheboto District of Nagaland. Phenotypic Data was collected from 60 adult goats (30 males and 30 females) of approximately 12 to 24 months of age. The animals are medium sized and their coat colour is either white or jet black in general, but animals with patches of black on white are also not uncommon. The average measurements of the body weight (kg), body length (cm), height at wither (cm), and hair length (cm) have been found to be 37.52±0.96, 112.54±1.91, 105.78±1.89 and 27.84±0.46 and 30.77±0.54, 90.63±0.83, 76.96±0.74, 14.59±0.49, respectively male and female. The numbers of offspring per kidding and milk production (g/day) have been found to be 1.67±0.11 and 343.33±18.37, respectively. The males are bigger in size, heavier in weight and bear long course hair compared to female. These goats are basically reared for meat and their hairs are at times used for making head gears and other cultural items.

The present study was conducted to assess different constraints faced by Veterinary Livestock Development Assistants (VLDAs) of Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Haryana while providing livestock services to the farmers of the state. Thirty two independent constraints were taken for the study, which were later classified under nine set of constraints. Asymptotic significance obtained from the Friedman test was 0.0 (p<0.01) with chi-square value of 168.689 and 8 degrees of freedom. Significance value showed, Monte Carlo value was significant at 99 per cent degree of confidence interval and hence, it could be interpreted that there was significant difference among the nine set of constraints. The most severe set of constraints perceived by the respondents was financial followed by situational , technological, motivational, administration and human resource development constraints, policies, system and regulation constraints, social constraints and infrastructural constraints. The study concluded that adequate financial powers should be delegated to VLDAs to deal with the contingent situation at the villages, regular recruitment of VLDAs to fill vacant position, fair provision of awards, incentives, promotion and other emoluments as compared to veterinarians and other officers.

Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) have three tier systems with governmental powers. To fulfil the housing needs of rural people, government launched Indira Awaas Yojana scheme in which house and land are provided to the below poverty line landless people in order to improve the quality of life. PRIs play a vital role in implementation and monitoring of IAY scheme so it was felt necessary to assess the knowledge of PRI members about the scheme and their performance. A descriptive research design was used in four districts with two blocks in each district and three villages from each block were selected randomly. A sample of 184 elected PRI members was selected which consisted of 40 Zilla Parishad, 48 Panchayat Samiti and 96 Gram Panchayat members. The data were collected by using self-structured interview schedule and was analyzed by using frequency, percentage and mean score. It was found that less than 36 per cent of PRI members knew about different aspects of the scheme. Nearly one third of PRI members were knowledgeable about the role of PRI members in implementation and monitoring of IAY scheme. Majority of the PRI members who were knowledgeable about their expected roles were always performing their roles. The percentage of Panchayat Samiti members was higher than Zilla Parishad and Gram Panchayat in performing their respective roles.

Mango (Mangifera indica L.), is infected by different fungal pathogens, among them anthracnose is the most serious fungal disease and is caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.) Penz. and Sacc. It produces cell wall degrading enzymes viz., polygalacturonase and pectin methyl esterase. The activity of these cell wall degrading enzyme was assayed. The virulent isolates of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides produced more pectinolytic enzymes and their activity increased with the increase in age of the culture.

A screen house experiment was carried out to study the direct effect of chromium(Cr) application in the presence and absence of amendments in berseem crop grown on sewage and tube well water irrigated soils with three replications under factorial completely randomized block design. The results indicated that berseem dry matter yield (DMY) decreased significantly due to direct effect of Cr application but the presence of amendments increased the dry matter yield up to 80 mg/Kg of applied Cr. No harvestable yield was obtained at higher levels of chromium application. The chromium content and chromium uptake also increased significantly with increase in levels of applied chromium. The application of amendments decreased the chromium content and uptake. The toxic effect of Cr on crop could be mitigated more effectively with FYM application than lime and reduce risk of health hazards for human beings and animals.

A field experiment was conducted during Kharif season of 2015 and 2016 at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Rohtas district of Bihar with cv. Agri found Dark Red to study the effect of different combinations of N, P and K application on growth, yield and quality characters of Kharif onion. In this experiment, different levels of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium significantly affected the growth, yield and quality of onion significantly. The application of N, P2O5 and K2O significantly increased total onion yield with the combination of 120 kg, 80 kg and 60 kg/ha, respectively and it was found most appropriate combination of nutrients with respect to growth and yield of the Kharif season onion.

An experiment was conducted to study the comparative efficacy of Lactobacillus sporogenes and gut acidifier on the performance of broiler for 0-6 wk. One hundred and fifty day old broiler chicks were randomly divided into three equal groups viz., T1, T2 and T3 having 50 chicks each. The group T1 was control receiving standard broiler diet, group T2 received standard broiler diet supplemented with probiotic (Lactobacillus sporogenes) at the rate of 0.1% and 0.05% in starter mash and finisher mash, respectively, and similarly group T3 received standard broiler diet with acidifier at the rate of 0.1% and 0.05% in starter mash and finisher mash, respectively. Further each group was subdivided into five replicates of 10 birds each. The average weekly live weights at the end of six weeks were 1700, 1805 and 1809g for groups T1 T2 and T3, respectively. Total feed consumption at the end of six weeks for groups T1, T2 and T3 were 3228g, 3270g and 3249g, respectively.

Rice-fish farming has been a heritage practice for the Apatanis in the Ziro valley of Arunachal Pradesh sustaining upon natural resources viz., land, water, rice varieties, fish species and indigenous knowledge. This paper reviewed the traditional expertise in the management of inimitable rice-fish farming of the valley and analyses the principles underlying the success of this system in fragile eastern Himalayan region of India. A survey conducted to collect data from randomly selected farmers of 7 villages of Ziro. The ricefish farming system as part of integrated ecosystem holds distinctive for its wet rice terraces with intrinsic fish trenches, dyke raised finger millets and finely apt bamboo plantations and pinewood thicket at the periphery to avoid soil erosion and conservation of forest together with intricately linked irrigation channels. Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) was the most preferred fish in the system cultivated with 16 indigenous landraces of rice varieties. The system assures improved rice and fish productivity than rice mono-crop, yielding 3-5 tons of rice and 200-500 kg fish/ha/yr. Furthermore, conserving this indigenous agro-culture has been meaningful to exploit rice-fish farming as eco-tourism resources for the mountainous farmers.

A survey was conducted in different blocks of Sri Muktsar Sahib District of Punjab, to assess the area under recommended varieties, to generate information of fertilizer use and yield of wheat. A total of 198 farmers were interviewed personally. It was found that between 90 to 96 per cent of total wheat area was under recommended varieties, while 10 per cent under un-recommended varieties. The maximum area 62-82 per cent was under HD 2967, with average productivity 5.2 t/ha followed by 4.0-17.6 per cent area under HD 3086 variety. Among un-recommended wheat varieties, Barbet was the most popular variety in the district. It was observed that area under un-recommended varieties decreased by 20 per cent during the year 2015- 16 compared to 2013-14. It was further revealed 18 per cent of the farmers were applying fertilizer-N at recommended rate, while 82 per cent were applying at higher rate. On the other hand, only 2 per cent of the farmers were applying fertilizer-P higher than recommended by the Punjab Agricultural University. About 93 per cent of the farmers did not applied potash to wheat, because of high available K content in the soils. Similarly, 90 per cent of the farmers did not apply zinc (Zn) to wheat, because famers are applying Zn to rice grown in rice-wheat cropping system. In areas where, wheat was sown on light textured soils under rice-wheat cropping system, about 50 per cent of the farmers were applying manganese (Mn) to wheat.

An experiment was conducted to find out the best suitable varieties of Broccoli, Red Cabbage, Capsicum and French Bean for the district South 24 Parganas in the Instructional Farm of Sasya Shyamala Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University, Arapanch and different blocks of the district during rabi season from 2014 to 2016. The experiment was carried out in randomized block design (RBD) with different varieties taken as different treatments replicated seven times. Genotypes taken under observation were Fiesta, Princess, Sultan, Centauro, Priya and Packmen for Brocolli whereas the varieties considered for Red Cabbage were Ruby Mart, Red Queen, Primero and Red Cabbage. Four varieties of Capsicum viz. Chinese Giant, Green Gold, California Wonder and Sindhoori were tested. The study was
also carried out with four varieties of French bean (Contender, Pusa Himlata, Pusa Parvati and Falguni). Among all the varieties of Broccoli, California Wonder was found superior which gave highest yield in combination with best head formation. In case of Red cabbage, variety Red Queen showed the overall best performances. California Wonder of Capsicum and Falguni variety of French bean were found to be the best suitable varieties as compared to others. So, these varieties were found to be best for sustainable livelihood promotion with high productivity under wide range of environmental condition for this zone.

The purpose of this study was to identify and rank the SWOT issues of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), a district level farm science centre established by Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, Government of India. The study was conducted in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh to identify the SWOT issues of RASS- Acharya Ranga Krishi Vigyan Kendra. The perceptions of 180 beneficiaries of the KVK were utilized to identify, rank and describe SWOT issues of KVK using two surveys and the Likert method of summated ratings. In the first survey, critical SWOT issues were listed by the respondents and in the second survey, the SWOT issues were ranked by extension specialists working in the country on a Likert scale from 1 (not important), 2 (somewhat important) and 3 (very important). The
assessment of agricultural technologies and their dissemination in the area is the major strength of KVK followed by capacity building of different stakeholders involved in agriculture through various extension efforts, application of ICT tools for faster dissemination of technologies etc. Remote location of KVK, poor soil and water conditions etc were the weaknesses of the KVK. The opportunities for the KVK were scope to promote food processing as the district is horticultural important, establishment of good marketing facilities due to adjacency of the district to two metropolitan cities Chennai and Bangalore etc. Poor investment ability with the farmers to adopt some new technologies, exploitation of farmers by middlemen in marketing and credit facilities etc are the major threats hindering the effective functioning of KVK.

Rural women in Assam play a very significant role in agriculture and allied operations. They are actively participating in all range of agricultural activities including pre and post-harvesting. They are in urgent need of understanding and acquiring new knowledge and skills, so they could contribute more effectively to production process. The present study was conducted to identify the knowledge of rural women of Assam about scientifically validated existing rice production technologies. A multi-stage purposive cum stratified random sampling design was followed covering 400 respondents. Three training programmes and one exposure visit were organized covering different aspects of rice production technology and post harvest processing in which the knowledge of the respondents was found low. The impact of the intervention programme was assessed by comparing the knowledge score before the intervention and after the intervention. The knowledge test was applied at different times with an interval of 30 d.

The predominant kharif rice varieties like Ranjit, Bahadur, local biroin (sticky rice) of Cachar district of Assam possess long maturity duration, which is undesirable when farmers have their mind for next season crops like potato, french bean etc. in the same piece of land. To overcome this problem, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Cachar conducted an On Farm Trial (OFT) using medium duration rice variety TTB 404 for evaluation of its performance to fit in cropping sequence against local check Joria during 2014-15 and 2015- 16. Three trials were conducted in three different locations of Cachar district during sali seasons. Critical inputs like seed of the said variety and recommended fertilizer were distributed to the farmers. Parameters like days to maturity, plant height, numbers of effective tillers per plant, yield (q/ha) and B: C ratio were recorded. The result revealed that the variety took about 140 d to mature, which is well fit for increasing cropping intensity in the district. Plant height was approximately 116 cm as compared to 121 cm of Joria, number of effective tillers per plant was higher (9 no), number of grains per panicle was also found higher than the local variety and thus higher yield was achieved (45.67 q/ha) as compared to control (35.58 q/ha).

The keeping quality and longevity of fruits and vegetables requires high cost storage as well as high energy consuming technology. Our farmers cannot afford such technology due to the substantial financial involvement which makes the technique impracticable in rural areas. Massive quantity of fruits and vegetables are lost every year due to the lack of proper infrastructure for processing and post-harvest management. The zero energy cool chamber (ZECC) system of storage was introduced at Churachandpur district for storage of vegetable and fruits in order to reduce the problems of post-harvest losses at farmers’ level. ZECC is a cost-effective, eco friendly and less energy requiring technology for storage and also improves the quality and productivity of vegetables and fruits by reducing field heat, increasing shelf life and checking post-harvest losses respectively. In the study it was found that shelf life of vegetable and fruit crops like cabbage, broccoli tomato, pineapple, passion fruit and banana could be enhanced through ZECC and that physiological loss in weight (PLW) in ZECC was also comparatively less as compared to the room condition. Hence, there is a great scope for popularization of ZECC for preventing losses during post harvest of fruits and vegetables in Churachandpur district of Manipur.

Carrot (Daucus carota L.) is one of the important root vegetable crops. Many farmers of S.A.S. Nagar (Mohali) district of Punjab grow carrot crop during Rabi season and fetch good price.Hence, the present study was carried out to evaluate three varieties of carrot in farmer’s field for root yield and its component traits at eight farmers’ field during Rabi 2016-17.It was revealed that traditional variety available with the farmer T1(Farmer’s practice) gave root yield of 371.25 q/ha yield whereas T2(Punjab Black Beauty) gave 425 q/ha and T3(Punjab Carrot Red) gave 500 q/ha. The data of the trial revealed that T3 gave maximum yield of carrot 500(q/ha) along with the maximum B: C ratio (3.75:1).

Biochar is a solid product of thermal decomposition of organic matter at a temperature below 900 °C under conditions of oxygen deficit, produced for environmental or agricultural application. The selection of low cost biochar production technology will help to the resource poor farmers for application of such a wonderful soil amendments in their own field. In present study, an attempt has been made to develop an eco-friendly low cost biochar production technology which is very easy, economical and cost effective. Both the drum method (portable kiln) and pit method were very suitable for preparation of biochar and thus these two methods can be recommended to the farming community. The recovery of biochar was more in drum method as compared to pit method.

The study was conducted to understand the economic feasibility of the vermicompost production using Edururilles euginia. The study was adopted both open and cage method of vermicompost production. About 550 kg of agricultural wastes and fresh cow dung was spread on the cage with dimensions of 5 m length and 2 m width with a cage depth of 30 cm. The water was sprinkled twice a day for keeping the moisture levels optimum. The study was carried about for 4 months and produced 600 kg of vermicompost manure and 4 kg of earthworms. The study revealed that total production cost was about Rs.3150/- with variable costs of Rs.2350/- and fixed costs of Rs.800/-. The gross return obtained was Rs.4400/- and thus, net profit came out to be Rs.1250/-.

The cluster frontline demonstrations on canola type variety of gobhi sarson (Brassica napus) GSC 7 were conducted on 30 ha area by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, S.A.S. Nagar (Mohali) in three blocks of district namely Kharar, Majri and Dera Bassi during rabi season of 2017-18. The results revealed that timely sown demonstration plots where proper thinning and gap filling practices were followed, recorded higher average yield (20.86 q/ha) over control plots (17 q/ha). Benefit cost ratio for demonstration and control plots was 3.05 and 2.42, respectively. Timely sown gobhi sarson variety not only improves the crop yield but also lowers its cost of production.

Arka Microbial Consortia (AMC) is an unique microbial technology released from ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru for plant nutrition and health management in horticultural crops. It is a consortium of 3 unique bacterial strains viz. Bacillus, Pseudomonas and Azotobacter. This technology was introduced by ICAR-KVK, Gonikoppal in Kodagu district of Karnataka for addressing the problems faced by black pepper farmers of the district who were facing various problems like yellowing of leaves, spike dropping and death of vines due to a variety of factors like lack of nutrient uptake, nematodes, and Phytophthora infection. Farmers were applying different agro-chemicals to soils, thereby creating environmental hazards and increasing the cost of cultivation and still the vines were declining. The Microbial consortium technology was taken up as an on-farm trial and compared with 4 other treatments. It was found that drenching of pepper vines with AMC (@ 20g/l) three times in a year performed significantly better in terms of reduction in leaf yellowing, collar infection incidence, and wilting of vines. The pepper dry yield recorded with AMC application was 4.64q/ ha which was higher than the other practices. The benefit cost ratio of 3.56 was higher than other practices. The technology gained popularity with the farmers and it is being followed by more than 2000 farmers of the district covering an area of 8000 ha. ICAR-KVK, Gonikoppal is annually producing 10-12 t of the AMC.

The experiment was conducted in 120 piglets (T&D crossbred) in Garhwa district. The treatments included T1-farmer’s practices to control piglets anaemia, T2-feeding of 100 g spinach leaves (Spinacia oleracea L.) daily for 3 m and T3- finger millet flour (Eleusine coracana L.) 100g daily for 3 m. Each treatment was given to 2 pigs each of 20 farmers and the data were recorded on mortality rate (%), morbidity rate (%), body weight gain (kg) and Hb level (g/100 ml of blood) of treated animals after four months. The results revealed that minimum mortality (2.5%) and morbidity rate (4%), maximum body weight gain (15.5kg) and Hemoglobin level 11g/100ml of blood were recorded in individuals treated with finger millet (T3) which were significantly higher than those treated with spinach leaves (10.5%, 22% and 11.8 kg and 9g/100ml of blood, respectively). The poor management for piglet anemia practiced by farmers exhibited highest mortality (38%), morbidity (46%), lowest gain in body weight (9kg) and Hb level 6g/ 100ml of blood. As such, feeding of finger millet 100 g daily was found quite beneficial followed by feeding of spinach leaves 100 g daily.

Apple blotch caused by Marssonina coronaria is widespread in North Western Himalayas and is well known for causing economic losses to the apple growers since it was first reported from Himachal Pradesh in 1994 (Sharma, 1999). The disease is becoming a major bottleneck in successful cultivation of apple in the state. In the study, apothecia with asci and ascospores (sexual fruiting structures) produced on overwintered diseased leaves of apple were recorded, which are sources of the inoculum. The fungus primarily infects apple leaves, and conidia formed in acervuli causes infection of the leaves and fruits during the growing season. The presence of apothecia with asci and ascospores is the perfect state of the causal fungus of blotch, Marssonina coronaria, is first time being reported from India. The study will lead to an understanding about overwintering stage, variability in population and infection process of the fungus

The cluster frontline demonstration (CFLDs) on black gram was conducted by Krishi Vigyan Kendra , Nagapattinam in four villages namely Nangudi, Neduvasal, Kuttramporuthanirrupu and Aarpakkam during the rabi season of 2015-2016. The results revealed that improved seed of VBN 6+ seed treatment (trichoderma viridi 5 g/kg + Rhizobium spp 25g/kg+ PSB 25g/kg) + plant protection (pheronomone trap, yellow sticky trap + insecticide) recorded average highest yield 5.25 q/ha followed by 4.65 q/ha in control plot. Benefit cost ratio for demonstration and control was 3.42 and 3.26 respectively. It can be concluded that the black gram production could be enhanced by encouraging the farmers through adoption of recommended technologies which were followed in the Cluster Front Line Demonstrations.