The experiment was conducted during December, 2022–23 and 2023–2024 at four different locations to study varietal performance in the Indo-Burma plains of Manipur. Frontline demonstrations (FLD) of four high-yielding potato varieties, Kufri Chipsona-1, Kufri Pukhraj, Kufri Girdhari, and Kufri Kanchan, were conducted in farmers’ fields at four locations, i.e., Haorong Sabal, Kwasiphai, Mayang Langjing, and Phumlou, in the Imphal West district of Manipur. Across the demonstrations, Kufri Girdhari recorded the highest plant height, while Kufri Pukhraj produced the maximum number of stems per plant and the highest tuber weight per hill. Kufri Kanchan showed the highest performance in terms of tubers per hill, number of tubers per m2 and tuber weight per m2. It also recorded the highest total and marketable tuber yields. Kufri Chipsona-1 produced the highest number of small-sized tubers, whereas medium-sized tubers were most abundant in Kufri Pukhraj. Overall, Kufri Kanchan produced the highest total tuber yield, marketable tuber yield, and number of large-sized tubers. From the demonstrations, it was found that potato varieties Kufri Kanchan, Kufri Pukhraj and Kufri Girdhari performed well under the agro–climatic conditions of Imphal West district, Manipur. These varieties were recommended for large-scale production and horizontal area expansion to enhance productivity and improve farmers’ income and livelihood.
The present study was conducted during September, 2025 at the Fish Seed Production Centre and Instructional Fish Farm, College of Fisheries Science, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India, to evaluate the effects of different pre-transport conditioning densities on the physiological responses and transportation performance of Labeo rohita fingerlings. Fingerlings were conditioned for 24 h in a flow-through system at four stocking densities. Blood glucose, lactate, muscle glycogen, haemoglobin, haematocrit, water quality, gut evacuation time, and survival were assessed during conditioning and after manual simulated transportation for 12 and 24 h with 4 fingerlings l-1. Glucose and lactate levels declined progressively during conditioning, while glycogen increased, indicating metabolic recovery. Haemoglobin and haematocrit decreased during conditioning but increased after transportation, reflecting adaptive responses to transport stress. Water quality remained suitable during conditioning, although ammonia increased and dissolved oxygen declined following transportation. Gut evacuation time decreased significantly with increasing stocking density, from 23.0±0.71 h in T1 to 18.4±1.14 h in T4. Survival declined with increasing conditioning density and transport duration, with the lowest values observed in T4 (4 fingerlings l-1). Although T1 (1 fingerling l-1) recorded the highest survival, T3 provided comparable physiological stability, satisfactory post-conditioning and post-transport survival, and efficient conditioning density. Therefore, conditioning Labeo rohita at 3 fingerlings l-1 for 19.80 h is recommended as the optimum strategy for improving transportation success and operational efficiency in commercial hatcheries.
This ex-post facto study was conducted from January to August, 2024 in Samastipur and Darbhanga districts of Bihar, India lies within the Middle Gangetic Plains (Agro-Climatic Zone IV) of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, the sole zone where the Climate Smart Agriculture programme had been operationalized. Reliable instruments for quantifying climate change awareness among Indian smallholder farmers remain scarce, limiting the monitoring of adaptation programmes. Hence, the study aimed to adapt, contextualize and validate a 35-item climate change awareness scale and to compare awareness between Climate Smart Village and non-programme farmers. The scale was adapted from an existing climate-awareness interview schedule; the response format was expanded to a five-point continuum, items were re-worded for smallholder farmers, and a fossil-fuels theme was added. Content validity (Lawshe’s ratio, 15 experts) reduced an initial pool of 42 items to 35. The schedule was administered to 200 randomly selected farmers, evenly split between Climate Smart and non-programme villages. Reliability was confirmed through Cronbach’s alpha (0.843), Spearman-Brown split-half (0.762) and Guttman split-half (0.748) coefficients, all significant at the 1% level and supported by analysis of variance with Cochran’s test. Climate Smart Village farmers recorded a significantly higher mean awareness score (93.63) than non-programme farmers (70.33), with lower variance. Among Climate Smart Village farmers, 59% fell in the medium awareness category and 30% in the high, whereas 47% of non-programme farmers remained low. The findings provide a replicable measurement tool and confirm the Climate Smart Village model as effective for building climate literacy.
The study was conducted during kharif for laboratory experiment from the month of May, 2022 to September, 2022 followed by rabi for field experiment from the month of October, 2022 to April, 2023 and repeated for second year 2023–24 at the District Seed Farm of BCKV, Kalyani, using completely randomized block design with three replications for each treatment, to create a straight forward and affordable seed invigoration treatment approach that would allow our farmers to enhance the vigor, viability, and field performance of pre-storage wheat seeds. The germinability, field performance, and productivity of high medium vigor wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. PBW 343) seeds enhanced by pre-storage dry and wet physiological seed invigoration treatments using crude plant materials, such as neem leaf powder, chemical treatment bleaching powder, red chilli powder, aspirin, and soaking-drying and moist-sand -conditioning- drying of seeds. Aspirin had the greatest vigor index (21976) and germination (67%) among all the treatments and produced less volatile aldehyde, a sign of lipid peroxidation, and less lipid peroxide. In terms of yield-attributing characters, aspirin, soaking-drying, and neem leaf powder treatments outperform over the control. Among the treatments, aspirin produced the best results in terms of wheat productivity, field performance, and storability.
A field experiment was conducted over two rabi seasons of year 2019–2021 (October, 2019–February, 2020 and October, 2020 to February, 2021) at instructional farm of Uttar Banga Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Pundibari West Bengal to study the intercropping effect on broccoli with onion and garlic to enhance the yield, quality and system profitability in the Eastern Himalayan Foothills Regions using a randomized block design with seven treatments, including sole and intercropping systems in varying proportions viz; T1-Sole broccoli. T2-Sole onion T3-Sole garlic T4-Broccoli+onion (1:1) T5- Broccoli+onion (1:2) T6-Broccoli+garlic (1:1) T7-Broccoli+garlic (1:2). During this field experimentation, key parameters assessed included growth, yield, quality, competitive functions, and economic returns. The pooled results during the experiment indicated that intercropping has significantly affected all the observed parameters viz; growth, yield, and quality parameters of broccoli. Among all the intercropping combinations, broccoli+onion (1:1) recorded the maximum growth parameters with a yield of 16.96 t ha-1. The highest LER (1.50) and RCC (16.18) were observed in broccoli+garlic (1:2) intercropping combination. However, production economics suggested broccoli+onion in 1:2 proportion recorded the maximum B:C ratio (3.99). The findings suggest that the strategic intercropping of broccoli onion and garlic offers a sustainable approach to improve productivity and profitability in low-input hill farming systems.
