Analysis of Yield and Technological Gaps of Potato Production in Bihar

The existence of large yield and technological gaps in different crops is a major problem faced by Indian agriculture. Potato being the most important vegetable of the country, also faces similar problem where actual yields are far below the potential yield. This study was attempted to analyze the yield and technological gap in potato production in Bihar. Data was collected from 90 farmers of Vaishali and Saran districts of Bihar using a structured interview schedule. The results revealed that the overall yield gap of 43.4 per cent existed in potato production in sampled area, which was largely due to the wide scale adoption of a local red skinned potato variety, Bhura aloo. The yield gap was maximum for marginal farmers (48.57%) followed by small farmers. Intensity of adoption was highest for this local variety i.e. Bhura aloo (33.01%) followed by Kufri Sindhuri (27.7%), Kufri Pukhraj (12.64%), Kufri Jyoti (6.83%) and Lal Gulab (5.53%). Large technological gap was observed with respect to the use of recommended dose of NPK fertilizers and pesticides by the farmers. Overall gap in input use per unit area was highest in case of potassium fertilizer (35.4%) followed by nitrogenous fertilizers (27.6%). This yield and technological gaps can be bridged by motivating and supporting farmers to adopt high yielding improved varieties and provision of effective extension services to enable farmers to use recommended level of fertilizers and pesticides

Dairy Intensification and Grassland Access for Livestock: A Comparative Study of India and Bangladesh

Dairying is the next-best alternative for rural livelihood after crop in South Asia, where more than fifty percent of population depends on it. The milk production is concentrated in the rain-fed and irrigated crop-livestock systems of India, which contributes more than 90 percent of milk production in South Asia. Despite this vast expansion of milk production in India–dairying is characterized by a predominance of small-scale dairy producers who cultivates or have no land and reliance only on indigenous breeds of cattle and buffaloes, where grazing plays an important role for feed. However, dependency on indigenous cattle and grazing changes based on farming and market intensification, and also agro-ecology. This paper would like study the level of access to grassland for livestock feed in different market intensification level

An Economic Analysis of Marketing of Potato from Shimla Hills of Himachal Pradesh

Potato is an important cash crop of Himachal Pradesh. Although, potato production in the state is very less, it fetches higher price than potato from plain areas due to its off seasonality. The study of potato marketing in hilly region is necessary to find out the share of profit made by farmers and other intermediaries in the marketing channel. Therefore, current study was attempted to find out marketing cost, margins, price spread and marketing efficiency of potato produced in Shimla hills. The interview schedule was used to collect primary data from 40 potato growers from Shimla and wholesalers as well as retailers from Chandigarh market. The collected data were analyzed by using suitable tools of statistics and economic measures. The findings indicated that majority of potato was sold to wholesalers at Chandigarh market through commission agent. The marketed surplus of potato was nearly 80 per cent of total produce and 15 per cent was retained by farmers for seed purpose. The average cost of marketing of 1 quintal of potato was found to be one fourth of consumer price. More than half of total marketing cost was borne by the farmer. The producers share in consumer rupees was found to be 66 per cent. The marketing efficiency was estimated to be 1.95 by Acharya and Agrawal method. Higher transportation cost and shortage of labour for post-harvest operation were major constraints. In order to reduce marketing cost borne by farmers, cooperative marketing should be initiated in Shimla hills. Farmers need to be grouped as Farmer Producer Society (FPOs) to increase their share in consumer rupees

Smallholder Dairy Farmers’ Access to Modern Milk Marketing Chains in India

The smallholder dairy farmers’ access to modern milk marketing chain has been assessed in India by collecting data at the farm level in two states, viz. Bihar and Punjab. These states are among the largest milk producing states of the country but depict stark variations in terms of milk productivity and per capita milk availability. Another significant feature is the emergences of modern milk marketing chains in both the states. The study has shown that in spite of the growing presence of modern milk supply chains, the traditional milk supply chain is still dominant in the Indian milk market. Its presence is even more pronounced in less-developed states like Bihar. However, the traditional milk supply chain is being replaced, albeit slowly, with the commercialization of dairying. The structure of the milk marketing in Punjab has depicted this conclusion. The study has concluded that the modern milk supply chain seems to have an inclusive structure and the resource-poor dairy farmers are not excluded from the modern milk supply chain. The study has argued that the traceability and food safety issues will further strengthen the modern milk supply chain. The scalability of the modern milk supply chain will depend on the development of milk collection and transportation facilities and incentive pricing for a quality produce.Milk marketing chain, Smallholders, Dairy farmers, Modern milk marketing chain, Bihar, Punjab, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q12, Q13,

Rural Employment Diversification in India: Trends, Determinants and Implications on Poverty

This paper has studied rural employment diversification in India and across major states using NSSO data at household level for the period 1983 and 2009-10. Factors affecting rural employment diversification towards non-farm sector have also been studied. Analysis has shown that the non-farm sector has consistently grown over time and employed nearly one-third of the rural workforce in 2009-10, as compared to merely one-fifth in 1983 at all-India level. The similar trend is seen across major states as well, though the pace and pattern varied widely. In providing employment to rural workforce, increasing dominance of crop production, followed by animal husbandry was observed across major states during 2009-10. The share of fishery and forestry was negligible in providing employment to the rural workforce. The study has revealed that the increasing rural non-farm employment has positive and significant effect on reducing rural poverty at all-India level. A positive link between income and employment has also been observed in diversifying towards horticultural activities. A well designed area-specific programme should be evolved to help improve skill of rural workforce, which in turn would benefit in getting employment in the non-farm sector.Rural employment, Employment diversification, Crop sector, Agricultural and Food Policy, J21, J23, O15, O18,

The general solutions of a functional equation related to information theory

The general solutions of a functional equation, containing two unknown functions, and related to a functional equation characterizing the Shannon entropy and the entropy of degree alpha, are obtaine

On a Functional Equation Related to Information Theory

The general solutions of a functional equation, without imposing anyregularity condition on the mappings appearing in it, have beenobtained. One solution of this functional equation is useful frominformation-theoretic point of view

Zinc alleviates cadmium induced heavy metal stress by stimulating antioxidative defense in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] crop

The interaction between cadmium- a toxic metal and zinc- an essential micronutrient was investigated in influencing the activity of various antioxidant enzymes and related metabolites in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]. Higher levels of cadmium (Cd) stimulate the activity of potential enzymes like ascorbate peroxidase (APX), superoxide dismutase (SOD) accompanied by the buildup of non-enzymatic metabolites, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), malondialdehyde (MDA) and proline due to rise in oxidative stress of plants.  Also, the reduced activity of catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR) and ascorbic acid (AsA) content was based upon Cd treatment levels. Application of zinc (Zn) combination enhances the activity of enzymes like APX, GR, CAT and SOD in Cd treatments, also confirmed with the depleted levels of H2O2. Zn alone treatment had no significant effect on the activity of such enzymes indicating the toxicity owing to Cd treatments only. The accumulation behavior of other non-enzymatic metabolites like MDA, proline and ascorbic acid also get reversed with metal combination treatment. Moreover, the efficacy of Zn was more when applied in higher concentrations with low Cd. Thus, Zn plays a key role in plants to counter heavy metal stress by elevating antioxidative defense with higher activity of enzymes and reduced levels of non-enzymatic metabolites, and efficacy of Zn in combination is dose dependent

On a sum form functional equation

The general solutions of a sum form functional equation containing two unknown mappings, without imposing any regularity condition on them, have been obtained.Publisher's Versio

Livestock Sector in North-Eastern Region of India: An Appraisal of Performance

Although agriculture is the prime source of livelihood for a majority of rural population in the North-Eastern region (NER) of India, dependence on livestock as an alternative source of income is significant. Responding to the burgeoning demand for livestock products in a sustainable manner is a big challenge. The widening gap between the demand and supply of livestock products can be met through bringing out changes in the production structure or opening up the international trade. In this context, an analysis of performance and factors influencing development of the livestock sector in NER has been carried out. The growth of livestock sector has been found slower in the NER than at the national level. However, a significant proportion of landless labourers, small and marginal farmers have access to livestock resources and acceleration in the growth of livestock in NER offers significant opportunities for household income augmentation and employment generation. Several factors identified to influence households’ decision to rear livestock include availability of labour, occupation, caste, farm-size, availability of irrigation, and access to information sources. The study has shown that the NE states should take technical, institutional and policy initiatives for the improvement of breeds, feed availability, disease control and food safety of livestock.Livestock Production/Industries,