The appearance of new invasive agriculture pest of fall armyworm in Chhattisgarh has made it clear that the pest will cause destruction globally. At this point, the port of entry of the fall armyworm into the State is not yet determined. As this pest is reported to have remarkable dispersal capacity, high reproductive capacity, absence of diapause and wide host range, it is likely to spread to the entire State. Hence, there is urgency for nationwide co-ordinated efforts to contain the pest. The present study may help the growers to through a light on the above said issues.
Epizootic Ulcerative Syndrome (EUS) caused by Aphanomyces invadans is one of the most destructive pathogens of freshwater fishes. The disease is a major problem is culture-based capture fisheries practiced mainly by small-scale farmers with limited resources. The losses due to the disease have significant impact on the livelihood particularly food and nutritional security. To date, there is no effective treatment for this disease. Therefore, there is a need to develop treatment measures which can be easily affordable for the farmers. ICAR-NBFGR under the All India Network Project on Fish Health has developed formulation which has been found to be quite effective in treatment of this disease.
Small and marginal farmers require continuous income for their livelihood security. Labour intensive bulb crop and high value seed spices are grown by farmers in the Farmer FIRST Programme (FFP) villages of Jodhpur District in Rajasthan. Poor and illiterate farmers are still unaware about the improved agro-techniques available to raise production and quality of their crop. To improve income and appraise the new agro-techniques of seed spices and bulb crops, 75 demonstrations were carried out during 2018-19 and 2019-20 on coriander and garlic. The results revealed that these demonstrations were proven effective in spreading the beneficial effect of potash, IPM and improved varieties of bulb and seed spice crop.
Oestrus synchronization and Artificial insemination can be a useful tool in reproductive management of a sheep flock for the accelerated lamb production, and to meet high demand of meat during festivals. Sponge method has an added advantage over the prostaglandin method for field applicability where former can be used to synchronize both cyclic and anoestrus ewes irrespective of stage of reproductive cycle. However, for successful programme it is necessary to ensure proper levels of nutrition, body condition, health and record keeping. Improvements in facilities and management may be necessary before implementing an oestrus synchronization program on a large scale. Therefore, attention to detail is the key to have a successful oestrus synchronization and AI program.
Dairying is a sub-sector in agriculture and a prominent subsidiary enterprise which gives income, gainful employment, food, nutritional and livelihood security to the millions of farm families. Dairy farming forms an essential part of Haryana’s rural economy. The present study was conducted in the Farmer FIRST Progromme area in 5 villages of Karnal district namely Kamalpur Roran, Garhi Gujran, Nagala Roran, Churni and Samoura. Under dairy based interventions, 7 interventions were selected and 184 respondents were selected in proportion to the intervention. The economic impact assessment of the interventions was undertaken and the benefit-cost ratio obtained are as follows: Balanced feeding (1.86), Bypass fat supplementation (2.99), Mineral mixture supplementation (5.37), Theileriosis vaccination (74.88), Theileriosis treatment (10.19), Mastitis diagnosis (41.20) and treatment of mastitis (85.75).
Fingerling stocking and culture-based fisheries (CBF) is one of the major fisheries enhancement strategies practiced in reservoirs. In the recent years, the reservoir productivity in the country has improved through adoption of culture based fisheries coupled with financial assistance from National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), Govt. of India and technical guidance from ICAR-CIFRI. The present study deals with the assessment of impact of fingerlings stocking on the major carp production in selected reservoirs in three different states. Successful adoption of CBF in 83 small reservoirs of Odisha led to the increase of fish yield to 204-323 kg/ha/yr. Similarly in Chhattisgarh the fish yield increased significantly from 48-160 kg/ha/year after scientific stocking of fingerlings in 34 reservoirs. The fish yield increased from 1.1 kg/ha/yr in 2004-05 to 43.46 kg/ ha/yr in 2017-18 due to adoption of fish stock enhancement strategy in large reservoir of Madhya Pradesh. Stocking and management of fingerlings in these reservoirs resulted in increased availability of fish, enhanced food security, livelihood opportunities and increased farmer’s income.
The Farmer FIRST Programme as a concept of ICAR is developed as farmers in a centric role for research problem identification, prioritization and conduct of experiments and its management in farmers’ conditions. The focus is on farmer’s Farm, Innovations, Resources, Science and Technology (FIRST). Farmers tend to face problems related to production and natural resource management but they might not have found the solutions to overcome them. In such situations, Farmer FIRST Programme is an opportunity for the researchers, extension professionals and farmers to work together and find appropriate ways through assessing different solutions.
For enhancing income of reclaimed or marginal sodic lands irrigated with alkali water, vegetable based partial crop diversification module was synthesized at farmer’s field under Farmer FIRST Programme. Out of total 4.5 acres land area, only one acre was converted into vegetable and fodder based diversified cropping systems depending on the farmer’s resource base and family size/ labour availability. Two crop sequences including short duration vegetables in cereal (rice–garden pea–onion) and fodder (sorghum–cauliflower–okra) based cropping systems enhanced productivity and profitability margins with an additional income of ` 1,11,903 and incremental benefit cost ratio of 3.74 for each rupees incurred towards the cultivation of vegetable crops compared to traditional rice-wheat system.
Rice-wheat-pulse is an important cropping system of eastern Madhya Pradesh. Farmers arefollowing traditional methods of sowing characterized by intensive tillage and higher crop seedrate. Previous crop residue burning is also prevalent which causes environmental pollution. UnderFarmer FIRST Programme, two villages have been undertaken from Panagar block of Jabalpurdistrict. An attempt has been made to demonstrate the benefits of zero-tillage sowing by happyseeder machine and residue mulching. The results at farmer’s field were encouraging and showedimproved B:C ratio of 70% in wheat, 58.6% in summer greengram, 50.1% in blackgram byintervention of zero-tillage, improved seed, herbicide application, and over farmer’s practice. Thenon-burning of the crop residues reduced the emission of 976.07 mg of CO2 , 25.55 mg of CO,2.85 mg of CH4 , 0.55 Mg of N2O and 0.40 mg of SO2 to the atmosphere.
In order to attain sustainable foodcum- livelihood-cum environmental security in India, we may require an array of alternatives to chemicalintensive agriculture. It has been conclusively proved in tuber crops that organic management is an alternative viable option for sustainable and safe food production with less soil degradation and environmental pollution. Generation of sufficient biomass, addition of crop residues, green manuring, farm waste recycling, fortification of manures through proper composting, adoption of crop rotations involving legumes, establishment of biogas plants and development of agroforestry for an alternate source of fuels are some of the strategies that will help to promote organic farming of tuber crops. Organic farming practices are suitable for small and marginal farmers especially for their livelihood security and to free them from the debt trap. Sustained efforts from research institutes developmental organizations, progressive farmers, input dealers, processors and other stakeholders are warranted for better adoption of organic farming in tuber crops in the long run.
Gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium) can be raised in all type of soils and environment for cultivation and suitable for sole crop, intercrop, alley cropping or any other cropping system particularly in rainfed ecosystem. Hence, farmers should be encouraged to raise the Gliricidia on boarder of farm ponds, farm bunds, and borders of agricultural fields. Addition of Gliricidia as green leaf manure or mulch in crop production systems along with chemical fertilizers enhanced the crop yield along and soil health through improving soil physical, chemical and biological properties of soil.
The potential of women to promote secondary agriculture is now well-established. Since their involvement in dairying is significant and strong, they can be motivated to enter into entrepreneurial ventures by adequate facilitation through gender sensitization, training, demonstration, access to credit and market and involvement of local development organisations. ICAR-NDRI, Karnal under a DST project ably promoted ten women self-help groups in three districts of Haryana. These groups generated an additional income ranging between ` 5,000 and 20000 per month, leading to better livelihoods for the poor rural households.
Parthenium is regarded as worstweeds currently identified and aworldwide weed that causes serioushuman/animal health problems, aswell as agricultural damage andsignificant threat to biodiversity.Plant, on other hand, has someadvantage. Composted partheniumhas a higher nutritional value thanFYM. As a result, compostingParthenium appears to be an effectiveway of using enormous agriculturalweeds.
Vegetable farming is a lucrative agribusiness. It is one of the measures to ensure food security andtackle malnutrition in the world. For vegetable farming to be profitable, it requires a feasiblebusiness plan that is only achievable when you can estimate the cost of each unit of input and itsreturn. Some vegetables by nature, produce vines which enable them to climb, therefore, to getmaximum returns and quality products from them, there is a need to stake and trellisthem. Installing a trellis is never easier and sometimes requires much more labour therebyincreases the cost of cultivation. Because of this, it must be used efficiently for a long term bygrowing vines in the same plot.
Keeping farm animals and pets and working with them is absolutely safe provided personal hygiene and farm hygine should be maintained. Animals do not spread SARS-CoV-2 to human. Products from animal origin should be properly cooked as well as maintenance of food hygiene is highly recommended prior to consumption.
Maize is the third most important crop in India after rice and wheat. Demand for maize feed and food is projected to increase and India would need 45 million tonnes by 2022. But the average productivity is very low 3.05 tonnes/ha. The use of drip irrigation in irrigated maize cultivation is a contemporary yield enhancing and water-saving strategy. While, the productivity gains per ha due to drip irrigation of maize varied from 27 to 84.6%, water saved by drip varied from 30.6 to 33.5% among different farmers when compared to furrow method of irrigation. Besides these advantages, the farmers could reduce the production costs per ha to the tune of 15.1 to 18%. Discounted cash flow analysis employed suggests that drip investment in maize is economically viable even without subsidy. These incentives are the key to scaling adoption of yield enhancing and resource conserving drip irrigation technology in irrigated maize to meet future food demand. The present policies like PMKSY (Pradhan Mantri Krsihi Sinchayee Yojana) at country level and some state level policies like TSMIP, APMIP, GGRC and RDIP implemented in maize growing states with the aim of extending irrigation cover in tune with “Har Khet ko Pani” and enhancing farmer’s income i.e., “Per Drop More Revenue” may encourage farmers in large scale adoption of drip irrigation in maize with continued support of research and extension agencies.
In India, crop failures are common, unpredictable and difficult to deal due to the sheer scale.Food and nutritional security is a question that needs to be addressed in the context ofenvironmental pollution, water scarcity and climate change, and a viable solution is crucial.Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)/drone can assure a sustainable solution to agriculturethrough its application in soil fertility assessment and mapping; monitoring of plant health,stress identification and mapping, crop insurance, irrigation and drainage planning, resourcemapping, natural hazards damage assessment, and plant protection spray. The nextrevolution in agricultural will be driven by data, which will help to increase agriculturalproduction with minimum harm to the environment and increase profits of farmers. Overall,UAV/drone technology has enormous opportunities to apply it in the field of agriculture withfew challenges which need to be addressed before its actual application in the large field scale.
Happy seeder technology in jute is bringing huge satisfaction to Hosenara Bibi, Bijay Roy, Ramen Barman, Bhabatosh Patwary and many more demonstration farmers in terai region of West Bengal in terms of good yields and higher profits along with significant positive effects on environmental impacts. Even under this covid 19 pandemic, the demonstration plots were visited by many nearby and distant jute farmers. The cost of cultivation has been substantially reduced in this technology which attracted many more farmers and we hope in subsequent years, this technology would reach many jute farmers of the region with active support from the Government.
Agriculture in arid western Rajasthan is very challenging due to low, erratic rainfall and limitedirrigation facilities. Under the prevailing climatic conditions, farmers are practising subsistencefarming with low farm income and profitability. As a consequence, distress land sale, diversion ofland for mining, urban migration, etc. are the common phenomenon observed in rural areas.Present article was formulated to document the successful technological interventions in terms ofvarietal intervention, inter cropping, crop diversification, nutrient management and productionof critical farm inputs coupled with capacity building and awareness generation practiced amongthe farming community in arid region to make farming more profitable and reduce livelihoodrisk. Most of the technological interventions were conducted through participatory mode in selectedlocale under ICAR - Farmer FIRST programme. The successful performances of narratedtechnologies at farmers’ field revealed that the technological interventions coupled with technicalbackstopping could definitely enhance the income of farmers and ensure livelihood security in aridregion in general and Jodhpur in particular.
The continued spread of ASFV in many Countries demonstrates a potential for further spread in other regions of the World. There are still many gaps in our knowledge of the biology of ASFV, its interaction with hosts, immune responses correlating with protection and how these can be activated. Vaccine development against ASF has been hampered by large gaps in knowledge concerning ASFV infection and immunity. Current studies indicate that ASFV isolates circulating in Eastern Europe and the Russian Federation are highly virulent and kill most of the infected domestic pigs and wild boars. There is a need for continued monitoring in the field, along with experimental infections, to identify ASFV isolates of altered virulence.
