Shifting cultivation (jhuming) is a predominant form of agriculture practice in the state, mainly cultivated by the indigenous tribes of Tripura. The impacts on the life and livelihood of the people and the harmful effects on the environment led the state government to rethink its policy toward jhumia’s development. Since the 1950s, the state government has taken various rehabilitation schemes to wean away the jhumias from practising jhum cultivation; such schemes were colony housing, plain land agriculture, animal husbandry, plantation and horticultural crops. The study finds that various government agencies work in corporations to rehabilitate the households, such that the horti-croppers’ livelihood opportunities and the possessions of household assets have improved positively. Besides, marketing problems were relatively minor to the growers. Also, they have adopted precise strategies to counter various threats experienced during plantation development and after that. From the business turnover, cultivating horticulture crops could be considered viable. The schemes provided were also rated excellent, indicating a positive change in jhumias economic development.
Weather forecasts are very crucial for day-to-day agricultural management in the recent era of enhanced climatic variability. The study verified the weather forecast (medium-range) for rainfall and total cloud cover (TCC) issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) over the northeastern hill (NEH) region of India. The daily forecast was compared to the observed weather parameters in four districts corresponding to four hill states (Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram). The analysis was done for qualitative as well as quantitative verification of rainfall forecast with various skill score calculations using five years of daily datasets to provide a robust and consistent result. The results clearly indicate that qualitative rainfall forecasts were very good over the NEH region during all the seasons. The skill scores indicated the maximum accuracy during winter followed by post-monsoon, pre-monsoon, and monsoon months. The quantitative rainfall forecast evaluation revealed that the accuracy was very good during winter and post-monsoon with acceptable accuracy during pre-monsoon, but it was poor during the monsoon season. The TCC forecasts had average accuracy (51–63%) throughout the year over all the places of the NEH region. Overall, the IMD weather forecast was found to be of useful accuracy from the qualitative point of view but improvement in quantitative accuracy especially during high rainfall seasons like monsoon and pre-monsoon months needs to be done for higher impact and thereby adoption by the farmers of the NEH region.
The present study documented the flock structure, management practices and morphological and performance traits of Syiar Markasa chickens, maintained by 105 households across Eastern West Khasi Hills, West Khasi Hills, and Ri-Bhoi districts of Meghalaya. Syiar Markasa is an indigenous chicken breed, more densely found in Eastern West Khasi Hills, reared under backyard systems mainly for meat and also as a cash reserve during hardship. These birds are small, compact, with long legs. Morphological traits such as plumage colour and pattern, skin, earlobe, and eye colour were recorded. The predominant plumage colour in Syiar Markasa chickens was Golden Reddish Brown (40.323%), followed by Golden Blackish Brown (37.096%). In females, Golden Reddish Brown (53.225%) and Black (19.354%) were most common. Males mostly exhibited solid plumage patterns (83.871%), while females showed solid (54.838%) and striped/penciled (19.354%) patterns. Yellow was the dominant skin colour (75.00%), with white accounting for 25.00%. Shank colour was mainly yellow (69.355%), followed by white (11.290%), grey (8.065%), and black (0.806%). Earlobes were predominantly red (95.161%), with a few showing white (3.226%) or red-white admixture (1.613%). Adult cocks averaged 1.960±0.052 kg in body weight, and hens 1.656±0.028 kg. Hens laid around 35–40 eggs per year and were broody. Eggs were medium-sized, weighing 41.848±1.084 g, with creamy to brown shells. Egg quality indices: Albumin Index, Yolk Index and Haugh Units were 17.376±0.334, 20.397±0.435, and 93.527±0.895 respectively. Over generations, Syiar Markasa chickens have adapted well to local conditions, marking them as a distinct, meat-type indigenous poultry population of Meghalaya
In Nagaland, 90% of the state’s land is mountainous, and 70% of the population is engaged in agriculture. In 2022-23, 28.42% of the total reported area was used for crop cultivation, and 52% of the total land area was covered by forest. The majority of the landholding in Nagaland belongs to medium (4-10 ha), i.e., 37.7%, and the average landholding is more than 10 ha. Schemes like SMAM and RKVY were initiated in the state to promote farm mechanization in areas with limited farm power in agricultural fields and to meet the needs of small and marginal farmers. The level of farm mechanization remains poor at present, but there is great potential for growth with the help of the government and funding agencies by providing subsidies to the farmers. Also, the hilly topography of the region makes it impossible to operate heavy machines. Therefore, to mitigate the problem, prior importance has to be given to strengthening the research and development to develop small, lightweight, and portable implements and machinery. Providing frequent training and establishing more CHCs would contribute immensely to improving the level of farm mechanization in the state.
This investigation was done to determine the effect of biopriming on African marigold (Tagetes erecta) cv. Pusa Narangi Gainda. Biopriming is a process of invigoration seeds with a solution containing beneficial micro-organisms. Randomized block design with seven treatments was used and replicated thrice, in which biopriming agents, namely phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB), Trichoderma harzianum, microbial consortia, Psuedomonas fluorescens, jeevamrutha, and indigenous effective micro-organisms (IEM) were used, and water was used as a control to study their influence on seed germination, seedling growth and development parameters. Parameters like germination percentage (83.67%), speed of germination (19.89), mortality (5.33%), and germination rate (18.74) were observed to be maximum with the seeds primed with Trichoderma harzianum, which was on par with microbial consortia and the observations from PSB were on par with Pseudomonas fluorescens. These parameters were observed to be lowest in control, followed by IEM and Jeevamrutha. Parameters for seedling, such as shoot length (12.97 cm), root length (14.33 cm), seedling length (27.30 cm), seedling vigour index (2283.27), seedling dry weight (6.96 g), were also maximum in the seeds primed with T. harzianum, followed by consortia. In contrast, control showed minimum seedling growth and development.
Bacillus thuringiensis is a very important soil bacterium that plays an immense role in managing insect pests in the agriculture field. These bacteria, as they reside in different habitats, have to be isolated in order to use them as a successful biological control agent. There are different methods of its isolation. Here, in our studies, we have compared two important methods of isolation of Bt from soil samples, viz., the sodium acetate method and the enrichment method. From the results, it’s evident that the sodium acetate method has yielded the maximum number of Bt-like isolates as well as the maximum number of Bt colonies as compared to the enrichment method. The method has yielded 733 Bt-like isolates from which 26 Bt strains were confirmed. Whereas, the enrichment method contributed only 301 Bt-like colonies and of which there were only eight confirmed Bt strains. The statistical analysis using a paired t-test has also given evidence that the two methods are significantly different in isolating Bt strains. Hence, the sodium acetate methods can be confidently recommended for the isolation of Bt from soil samples.
Under limited availability of water, maximization of water productivity can be possibly achieved with deficit irrigation regimes. A field trial was taken with potatoes as the test crop during the winter season of 2022-23 to study the variation of soil moisture under different irrigation scenarios and crop performance under mid hills of Meghalaya. The experiment was conducted in split plot design with four different levels of irrigation regimes, viz., 45% (M1), 60% (M2), 75% (M3) and 90% (M4) as main plot treatment and three potato varieties, viz., Kufri Jyoti (V1), Kufri Megha (V2) and Kufri Giriraj (V3) under sub plot treatment and replicated thrice. The maximum variation recorded was 18.46, 21.73, 24.73 and 27%, under M1, M2, M3, and M4, respectively. Similarly, the total range of water used varied between 575.3 to 124.8 mm. The highest value of water productivity (75.34 kg ha-1 mm-1) was recorded under M4 irrigation regime. Similarly highest water productivity was recorded for V1 (54.50 kg ha-1 mm-1), over V2 and V3, but was statistically at par with V2 (50.83 kg ha-1 mm-1).
About 250 seed samples were collected from the farmers of hill districts of Manipur to assess the quality status of farmers’ saved rice seeds. Farmers generally store their saved seeds in kotlus, gunny bags, bamboo mats, mud-pastured stored structures, and even in tins and drums without any seed treatment These samples were subject to physical purity analysis, germination test, and moisture content. Only 46.8% of seed samples had 80% seed germination. Out of 250 seed samples, 96 seed samples could meet the permissible seed moisture level. In the pure seed test, only 6 samples could meet the pure seed range of 98%. In the overall seed quality assessment in hill districts, only one sample out of 250 samples could meet the Indian Seed Standard for certification with regard to different quality components. Thus, the quality of farmers’ saved rice seed in Hill Districts of Manipur was very much substandard.
Kiwi is one of the focus horticultural crops of Nagaland. The fruit is commercially grown in districts like Phek, Kohima and Zunheboto. The varieties grown are Hayward, Allison and Bruno. Phek district covered the largest area of cultivation with 109.00 ha in the year 2020-2021 in Nagaland. Yet, with so much potential and future prospects, the farmers faced challenges and issues in their farming. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of ranking different problems faced by the farmers in Phek district, Nagaland, with a total of 120 respondents. Information regarding their problems is procured from the farmers through a structured interview schedule. To find out the most important problems faced by the respondents, Garrett’s ranking techniques were used, which convert the order of problems into numerical scores. The study concluded that ‘lack of irrigation facilities’ was the main problem faced by the respondent with the highest Garret score of 8385 and an average score of 69.87%, followed by lack of storage facility (62.87%), lack of tools, equipment, machinery, etc (57.99% ), Inadequate farm credit (55.10%), pest and disease problem (50.30%), shortage of labour (49.42%), marketing problem (44.95%), high cost of investment (39.06%) and lack of adequate transportation facilities (30.32%).
An experiment was conducted through pot culture from soils collected across the upland and lowlands of Kolasib district, Mizoram, to study French bean cv. Zorin bean response to different doses of phosphorus (P) application to determine the P critical limit. The critical limit of a nutrient and a suitable extractant is necessary for site-specific nutrient management. The collected soils across the region were acidic with a mean pH value of 4.64 ± 0.11, SOC content 8.13 ± 0.93 g kg-1 and soil texture ranging from loam to sandy clay loam. Phosphorus (P) was applied @ 0, 50 and 100 kg ha-1, while nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) were applied @ 50:50 kg ha-1. Available P in soils and concentration in the plants increase significantly with an increased in the level of P application. Dry matter yield and plant uptake were also found to increase with P application @ 50 kg P ha-1. Bray’s percent yield (BPY, r=0.79**) and Bray’s percent uptake (BPU, r=0.72**) showed the highest significant positive correlation with Melich-1 extractant. The P critical limit in soil was 15 mg kg-1 for Olsen, 8 mg kg-1 for Bray‒1, and 10 mg kg-1 for Mehlich-1, respectively. The P critical limit in the French bean (Zorin bean) plant was observed to be 0.16%.
Changes in the timing and distribution of rainfall such as large rainfall events and unpredictable or delayed precipitation can seriously reduce agricultural output. These changes in rainfall patterns can lead to flooding or long-term water scarcity destroying livelihoods and property. Communities may therefore become more vulnerable, hence it is crucial to apply adaption strategies supporting local resilience and sustainable development. Using a high-resolution daily gridded dataset from the India meteorological department, the susceptibility of the study area to climate change was fully investigated spanning the years 1901–2021. The study area includes four districts viz. East, West, North, and South Sikkim. At a 5% significance level, pre-monsoon rainfall had showed significant increase in all districts except East Sikkim whereas monsoon rainfall sharply decreased. Throughout the study, the rainfall time series trend shift points were also found using the SQMK test. Maps showing the regional geographical variations in rainfall trend changes also produced by employing the interpolation technique known as inverse distance weighted (IDW). This research provides an in-depth understanding of the primary rainfall distribution patterns in relation to climate change, which will assist the state’s resource planners in making informed decisions, developing mitigation strategies, and implementing water management practices for sustainable agriculture.
Foxtail millet is a major millet crop cultivated in the foothills of Nagaland for both fodder and grain production. Hybrid development in foxtail millet is extremely challenging due to its minute flowers and highly self-pollinating nature. Therefore, identifying high-yielding pure lines for both specific and general adaptation is a priority in foxtail millet breeding programs. The present study evaluated 30 foxtail millet genotypes under different sowing dates in the foothills of Nagaland. Pooled analysis revealed significant effects of genotype, environment, and genotype-by-environment interactions on fodder yield. GGE biplot analysis showed that the first two principal components accounted for 75.14 and 12.96% of the total variation, respectively. Discriminativeness and representativeness analyses in GGE biplots identified early kharif as the most representative environment, while late kharif demonstrated the highest discriminative ability. The “Which Won Where” biplot indicated that Genotype G1 was stable across environments, a finding further confirmed by the mean vs. stability biplot.
Agriculture serves as the backbone of the majority rural populace of Sikkim, the country’s pioneer state to practice organic farming. Maize stands as an important crop for the population of the hilly state. Besides providing food security for the rural population, it is also used as feed and fodder for animals. In recent years, the state has seen a rise in the demand for Maize with its expanding population and the expansion of the animal feed and poultry sector. This study attempts to understand the growth and instability in the area, production and yield of maize crops by using secondary data collected from the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. Information on the area, production and yield of maize production in Sikkim was collected for the years 2001- 02 to 2020-21. The overall area under maize recorded negative growth in the entire study period. The production and yield of maize registered low growth rates in the periods considered in the study. Instability analysis in the study shows that the magnitude of instability of area, production and yield of maize has declined in Period II. Instability for area and production in the overall period has remained lower than that of Period I but higher than the magnitude of instability in Period II. In the case of yield, instability in the overall period is the highest.
The purpose of this study was to see the effectiveness of certain insecticides and three popular okra cultivars against sucking pests of okra. The experiment was carried out at the Experimental Farm, Dept. of Horticulture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, Assam during the Kharif, 2020 and the spring-summer, 2021. It was found that the lowest aphid (2.66 and 2.00 nos./3 leaves) and whitefly (0.66 and 0.33 nos./3 leaves) population was observed in treatment V1T1 (chlorantraniliprole 18.5%SC @25 gm a.i./ha + Arka Anamika) at 5 DAT in both the seasons respectively. Similarly, the treatment V3T3 (lambda-cyhalothrin 5%EC @ 15 gm a.i./ha + S-51) recorded the highest aphid and whitefly populations during both kharif (9.33 aphids and 4.00 whiteflies/3 leaves respectively) and the spring-summer (7.33 aphids and 3.00 whiteflies/3 leaves respectively). Whereas, the jassid population showed a decreasing trend up to 10 DAT in both seasons. The treatment V1T1 showed the highest and V3T3 showed the lowest reduction in the jassid population during kharif (1.00 and 6.00/3 leaves respectively) and spring-summer (0.66 and 4.00 /3 leaves respectively). Hence, the insecticide chlorantraniliprole 18.5% SC proved to be the most effective insecticide for the management of sucking pests.
Phenological stages of vegetative growth of mango varieties viz., Dashehari, Kesar and Amrapali were observed using the extended BBCH scale for mango proposed by Hernandez Delgado et al. (2010). The dates of occurrence of the principal stages of bud development (stage 1), leaf development (stage 2) and shoot development (stage 3), and the time required for transition from one phenophase to the next were recorded. Vegetative growth was observed in four flushes of bud (011–019, 021–029, 031–039 and 041–049), leaf (110–119, 120–129, 130–139 and 140–149) and shoot (311-319, 321-329, 331-339 and 341-349) development in the three varieties. Variety Amrapali completed bud development (011-019) in 16-35 days while Dashehari required 23-37 days and Kesar required 20 to 36 days for completion of bud development. Leaf development (110-119) was completed in 9 to 19 days in Amrapali, 12 to 24 days in Dashehari and 8-23 days in Kesar. Shoot development (311-319) in Amrapali required 15 to 51 days, 20 to 39 days in Dashehari and 20 to 46 days in Kesar. The time required for the transition from the beginning of leaf bud swelling (011) to end of leaf bud swelling (013) was the maximum (12–25 days in Amrapali, 17–25 days in Dashehari and16–25 days in Kesar) compared to a transition period of other phenophases. The total time required for completion of vegetative flush, starting from leaf bud swelling (011) to completion of shoot development (319) was 40 to 105 days in variety Amrapali, 55 to 100 days in Dashehari and 48 to 105 days in Kesar. The data on time required for the transition of one phenophase to the next can help in advance planning and effective implementation of various plant protection measures, growth regulator treatments and manure or fertilizer treatments for a variety in a particular agro-climatic condition, which are crucial for its vegetative growth and vigour which ultimately influences the flowering and fruiting of a variety.
The small tea growers of Nagaland produce both orthodox tea and CTC tea. Nagaland tea is known for its unique taste and aroma. Over the years tea cultivation has gained a particularly healthy popularity among farmers of Tuli block, Mokokchung. The research was conducted in the year 2023 to understand the trend of tea production over the last 10 years from 2013 to 2023. A structured interview schedule was employed to collect primary data from a total of 120 tea cultivators from 4 villages (Merangkong, Anaki, Kangtsung Yimsen and Wamaken). A study found that the majority of the respondents were middle-aged and male. The majority acquired education till secondary level, married, medium-sized land holding with a medium level of income from tea. Most of the respondents had training exposure and active social participation. With regards to tea production trends, the study concluded a non-significant linear trend of production under tea over the study period and the area under tea was expected to increase in the coming years. The highest production over the past 10 years was in the year 2014 with 12571.07 kg/ha and the lowest was in the years 2020 and 2021 with 5412.50 kg/ha.
The present study analyzes the implications of changes in land use and cropping patterns on food security in Himachal Pradesh. An attempt has also been made to illustrate the major driving force affecting the land use and cropping pattern in the state by using field survey data. The results indicate that the state’s net sown area and the total cropped area have decreased from 551.45 to 538.4 hectares and 956.76 to 940.59 hectares from 1990-91 to 2015-16, respectively. Further, the study also found that the area under food crops has declined over time, and crop diversification has taken place at the cost of coarse cereals. Empirical evidence reveals that the distribution of subsidized food items under the public distribution system is one of the primary reasons for changes in land use and cropping patterns. The study concludes that the change in land use and cropping patterns poses a severe threat to food security. Therefore, the study’s findings will aid government stakeholders in recognizing the challenges of changing land use and cropping patterns on food and nutritional security in the state.
The Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of Eastern India are raising the widespread cereal residue burning rendering low soil productivity thereby threatening a sustainable environment. In-situ cereal residue management is a promising approach. In the present experiment conducted in Eastern India i.e., Pusa, Bihar under the rice-wheat cropping system (RWCS), the treatment T5 under the in-situ incorporation of cereal residue (CR), and green manure (GM) along with cereal residue decomposer (CRD) showed the significantly highest soil health indicators such as AWC, WAS, WHC, DHA, FDA, ALP, active C, SOC, available Ca, available Mg, available Fe, and available Cu followed by the treatment T4 under CR and GM and the lowest was reported by the control treatment T8 among all the treatments. Moreover, treatment T5 also showed the highest Soil Health Index (SHI) followed by treatments T4 and T3. As per Pearson’s coefficient correlation between soil health indicators and SHI, the soil health indicator i.e., FDA had the highest and strongest positive correlation with SHI and the lowest with WAS, however, BD, pH, and free CaCO3 were strongly and negatively correlated with SHI. Based on the above experimental findings, the in-situ cereal residue management under RWCS along with GM and CRD would be dual-benefits such as reducing cereal residue burnings and enhancing soil health for achieving a sustainable environment in the IGP of Eastern India.
The handicraft sector plays an important role in the Indian economy, offering substantial employment and contributing significantly to exports. Manipur’s Kouna (water reeds) crafts have a distinct position due to their aesthetic value. It is becoming popular both in the national and international markets and is in great demand. Realizing its value and market demand, different actors have started facilitating the artisans for capacity development and value addition and linking them to potential markets, which have formed an ecosystem conducive to entrepreneurship development. To support the local artisans and to analyze the existing situation of this ecosystem, the study was taken up within the Thoubal and Imphal East districts of Manipur. For analyzing the internal and external factors, SWOT analysis and TOWS /analysis were used. A total of 90 randomly sampled artisans formed the respondents of the study. The highest-scoring strength factor was “more profitable than rice cultivation,” and the highest-scoring weakness was “unavailability of modern technology to improve craft quality and efficiency.” In opportunities, “environment consciousness of people looking for eco-friendly alternatives to plastic” ranked the highest, while amongst threats, “unorganized value chain with many players” ranked the highest. The existing situation showed a balance between the internal and external factors, as well as positive and negative factors suggesting that the situation is good enough for the artisans if they and other stakeholders put the right intervention to turn it in their favor. Strategies derived from SWOT analysis were outlined in a TOWS matrix.
The field investigation was conducted out at Experimental Farm, Division of Vegetable Science and Floriculture, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu to study the effect of intercropping systems on production and economics of Broccoli based system. The treatments comprised of 15 treatments where, eight treatments taken as sole crop, namely, T1- Broccoli, T2- Knol-khol, T3- Beetroot, T4- Spinach beet, T5-Fenugreek, T6- Coriander, T7- Lettuce, T8- Swiss chard and seven treatments taken as intercrop, namely, T9- Broccoli + Knol-khol, T10- Broccoli + Beetroot, T11- Broccoli + Spinach beet, T12- Broccoli + Fenugreek, T13- Broccoli + Coriander, T14- Broccoli + Lettuce, T15- Broccoli + Swiss chard. The experiment was allocated in Randomized Block Design (RBD) compromising of three replications comprising of fifteen treatments. Broccoli out performed in terms of maximum yield (172.53 q/ha) when grown as as sole crop. Under intercropping system, broccoli + swiss chard combination recorded maximum LER (1.42) while, broccoli + coriander combination recorded maximum value for BEY (164.02 q/ha). Among the cropping systems, broccoli + swiss chard recorded highest values of gross return (Rs. 698091.2), net return (Rs. 588524.4) and B:C ratio (6.37). It concluded that broccoli intercropping with swiss chard is more productive and remunerative than sole broccoli.
