Status of Farmer Producers Organizations (FPO) in Andhra Pradesh

A Variety of approaches have emerged over the years to address the problems of small and marginal farmers' agriculture. In order to improve the welfare and living standards of farmers, there is a need to create appropriate ecosystem in the state. Such institutional arrangement/membership-based institutions are found to be the backbone for primary sector. Both Central and State governments are stressing on promoting 'Farmers Producers Organizations (FPOs) as an important strategy for creating an ecosystem for enhancing farmers profit

Nature and magnitude of risk in the semi-arid tropics (SAT) of India - a case of Mahabubnagar District in Andhra Pradesh

Agriculture in the Semi-Arid Tropics (SAT) is almost universally characterized by low farmer investment in agricultural inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides and seeds. Even labor inputs and investments in land improvements and irrigation are usually low compared with other regions of the developing world. Many researchers have carried out research aimed at testing whether these low investment levels are partly or fully caused by the risky nature of agriculture in these areas or by the risky nature of farmers (Binswanger etal, 1979). Risk and risk aversion of farmers is not the only potential source of low investment or “underinvestment”; it could also result from generally low profitability (measured as expected returns) or from credit constraints. To establish that it is risk or risk aversion that lead to underinvestment, empirical knowledge on these questions is required. Risks are inescapable in any agriculture.

Changes in Agriculture and Village Economies

The Village Level Studies of ICRISAT are designed to collect farm level data to assist research in its task of generating new technologies suited to the needs and means of farmers living in the semi-arid tropics. They serve as a vehicle to study the changes in agriculture and village economies. This publication is a comprehensive study of 240 households from six villages, Aurepalle and Dokur in Andhra Pradesh and Kalman, Kanzara, Kinkheda and Shirapur villages in Maharashtra undertaken from 1975 to 1984 and later resumed in 2001-02 with a more representative sample of 446 households. It documents the changes that occurred in agriculture and household economies in these villages over a 26-year period between 1975-78 and 2001-04. The studies while giving a clear picture of farming systems in the rural areas, help in identifying the socioeconomic and institutional constraints faced by the farming community. The studies reveal the slow disappearance of joint families (dominant in 1975-78) and the emergence of nuclear families. They delve deep into the trends pertaining to average family size, literacy levels, household income, consumption standards, dependence on farming as a major occupation, reduced dependence on crop and livestock enterprises for sustenance, nonfarm sources of income, real wages of labor, etc. The studies reveal that households had less land to operate in 2001-04 than in 1975-78 and that cropping patterns have undergone drastic changes with cash crops overtaking food crops in all the VLS villages. Despite moderate increases in productivity, crop and livestock production have become non-remunerative due to steadily increasing production costs and stagnant product prices. The publication finally addresses the policy implications of drastically changed cropping patterns and nonviability of crop and livestock enterprises among other issues, and suggests measures to improve the state of rainfed agriculture in the semi-arid tropics

Assessment of water quality and the related instrumental techniques

To assess and monitor the quality of water/water bodies. required observations range from simple colour. odour. presence of suspended matter to complicated physical analysis of spectral image for surface mapping of natural water bodies for colour and temperature and chemical analysis for natural and man-made organics, inorganics and radio nuclides. The routine instruments to meet the above requirement comprise of pH meters for acidity and alkalinity measurements, nephelometers fur turbidity, conductivity meters for salt content, spectrophotometers for nutrients and major elements, atomic absorption spectrophotometers for metals including toxic ones. ion selective electrodes for oxygen and halides; gas chromatography for organic contaminants/traces. scintillation and Geiger-Mueller counters for radio nuclides measurements, Analytical methods pertaining to the water quality analysis and the instruments employed were briefed

Current Trends and Plausible Future outlooks of Food Legumes in Asia

Food legumes play an important and diverse role in the farming systems and in the diets of the poor people around the world and for achieving food and nutritional security in the developing countries. Given the importance of food legumes in the developing countries especially in Asia, the objective of this paper is to assess crop specific trends, distribution and developments in area, production and productivity of three important legumes crops like groundnut, chickpea and pigeonpea and also to provide the plausible futures of these crops under the changing future climate. In this study, a global partial equilibrium multi-commodity trade model was used to assess the future projection of supply, demand, prices and trade of the food legume producing and consuming countries around the world. The study revealed that production has not been able to meet demand due to the secondary treatment of pulses in Asian countries. The projected demand for groundnut, chickpea and pigeonpea in Asia will grow much faster than production as direct consequence of growing population in the region. By 2050 the production of chickpea is about 8% less than that of demand in Asia. Although yield increases compensate for much of the production forgone due to area contraction, it does not fully satisfy demand, leading to a deficit of chickpea production intensifying with time. The aggregate production and consumption of pigeonpea in Asia more than doubles in 2050 compared to the level in 2000 which was 3 mt. The projected demand for groundnut in Asia will increase from 7 mt in 2010 to 8.9 mt in 2050. To meet the increasing demand of food legumes in the region, there is need to improve the average yield and profitability of the legume crops by developing short duration, drought resistant, high yield varieties and ensuring competitive prices to increase the adoption of new technologies by farmers in the region

Revisiting adoption and adaptive capacity parameters for Impact Assessment

The development of improved, fertilizer-response high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice during the early 1960s and their widespread adoption by farmers, first in Asia and then in Latin America, marked the beginning of what is known as the ‘Green Revolution’. Much has been written about this technological breakthrough and its impacts – both positive and negative – in the years since its effects were first felt in farmers’ fields. Anecdotal evidence and specific case study examples are often cited in support of large positive effects as well as negative ones. The core of the debate centers on the nature and size of the impacts from improvements in the crop germplasms. By adopting improved varieties, many farmers lowered costs of production and generated higher rates of return from their land, labour and capital. This, in turn, had positive impacts on income and helped reduce poverty. An indirect spillover effect from modern variety adoption in other areas was also declining crop prices. In the areas not touched by the ‘Green Revolution’, costs of production did not fall, and this, in turn, had an adverse effect on farmers’ income in these regions. Thus, the key challenge now for the CGIAR and its NARS partners is to target Crop Genetic Improvement (CGI) research investments to farmers who have thus far been bypassed by the Green Revolution, primarily in those resource poor, marginal environments (SAT areas) where modern varieties have not yet been adopted

Production of Karanja Methyl Ester from Crude Karanja Oil Using Meretrix Lyrata Synthesised Active Cao Catalyst

Active calcium oxide catalyst was synthesised from Meretrix Lyrata (M.Lyrata) following calcination-hydration-dehydration technique. The catalytic feasibility of synthesised CaO was investigated in the production of Karanja methyl ester (KME) from crude Karanja oil (CKO). KME was synthesised through esterification using H2SO4 followed by transesterification utilising CaO in a two-step reaction process of CKO and methanol. The M.Lyrata shells were calcined at 900 ℃ and the catalyst samples were characterised using FTIR, SEM, PSA, and BET-BJH spectrographic techniques. A maximum fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) conversion of 97.3 % was obtained at optimum reaction conditions including methanol-to-oil ratio of 12:1, catalyst concentration of 2 wt.%, reaction temperature of 58 ℃ and reaction time of 2 hrs. In a comparative study with commercial CaO, M.Lyrata showed a higher catalytic activity. The catalyst reusability experiments ascertaining reusability of CaO up to four reuse cycles had shown good efficiency. The economic comparative study confirms that CaO derived from M.Lyrata can be used as an alternative and feasible catalyst for biodiesel production. The KME fuel properties complied to EN-14214 biodiesel fuel standards

Targeting and Diffusion of Groundnut improved cultivars in Tamil Nadu state of India

India is a major grower and producer of oilseeds as well as a major importer of vegetable oils, ranks fourth among the countries in oilseed economy, next to USA, China and Brazil spending USD 10 billion in 2012-13. Nearly 14 million farmers are involved in oilseed production, mostly in arid and semi-arid regions of the country, whose capacity to adopt modern technology are constrained by poor resource base. This is coupled with aberration in monsoon and market economy presents a formidable challenge to make oilseed production sustainable in the long run. In order to curtail the growing vegetable oil import bills and increase the production and productivity of oilseeds, the Technology Mission on Oilseeds (TMO) was initiated in 1986 with the following objectives; (i) self-reliance in edible oils (ii) reduce imports almost to zero (iii) raise oilseeds production to 18 million tonnes (mt) by 1989-90 and 26 mt of oilseeds and produce 8 mt of vegetable oil by 2000 AD. However, the TMO had unable to create a sustained growth in area under groundnut and the trend was reversed. Before the initiation of TMO (TE 1986-87), the area, production and productivity of groundnut was 7.08 million ha (m ha), 5.81 mt and 795 kg per ha of which, almost 85 per cent as rainfed crop. Implementation of TMO created marked improvement in the first decade and shifted the area, production and productivity to 7.80 ha, 7.84 mt and 993 kg per acre in TE 1995-96 which recorded an increase of 11, 35 and 21 per cent, respectively. Though the irrigated cropped area has increased to 19 per cent, the country production decreased to 6.33 mt from lesser area (5.33 m ha) by shifting its productivity to 1.3 t/ha in 2011-12..

How Farmers Struggle to Survive in the SAT ?

The Semi-Arid Tropics (SAT) account for 37% of the area and 37% of the population of India. They have a share of 46% of the gross cultivated area of the country but only 32% of the gross irrigated area. The mean normal rainfall in these regions is 965 mm as against the country’s average of 1212 mm. As per the National Sample Survey for 1999-2000, monthly per capita expenditure in the Indian SAT is the lowest (Rs 472) and their poverty head count (24.3%) the highest among the different agroclimatic regions of the country. Low and variable rainfall, moderate population density, inadequate irrigation cover an