Understanding and validating the traditional rainfall classification and forecasting system with its implication to agriculture in Kalimpong Hill of West Bengal

425-433The farmers in Kalimpong and Darjeeling hills mainly depend on agriculture for their livelihood and live in difficult geographic terrain. They devised their own weather and rainfall classification system based on local indicators. The present study was conducted in Kalimpong hill over a period of four years from 2015-2019 to understand the traditional wisdom of weather prediction and its implication in hill agriculture. Numerous surveys were conducted at villages namely, Ichey Gaon, Bong Basti, Algarah, Sangsey Basti, Lava, Loley, Kafer, Tindhurey and Gorubathan. The people classified the rainfall as Sawney Jhari, Bhadurey Jhari, Sohrasaradey jhari, Bonsho jhari, Titey jhari, Sisney Jhari, Naurathey Jhari, Chuia jhari, Faprey jhari, Bhangera jhari, Makurey jhari, Kartikey jhari, Maghe jhari, Ashwina based on time of rainfall. The farmers predicted this rainfall based on phenology of local plants, movement of animals or birds etc. It was found that the knowledge of this traditional rainfall helped them to take different farming decisions especially in scheduling irrigation for major crops. The traditional knowledge has been reviewed with 50 years climatic data and it was found that in most cases it conformed with their traditional belief

Labour Migration in Indo-Gangetic Plains: Determinants and Impacts on Socio-economic Welfare

In India, male out-migration from rural to urban areas has increased in recent years, especially in the Indo-Gangetic regions of the country. This indicates that most of the developed regions of India are utilizing labour force of backward areas. The paper has investigated on labour out-migration from the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to find its determinants and its impacts on farm economy. The analysis of determinants shown that the number of members in a family and their educational status have a positive impact on migration. As a result of male out-migration, the women left behind in the villages assume a major role in various farm activities resulting in the so-called ‘feminization of agriculture’. It has also empowered the female members of the migrant households in terms of enhancing their decision-making role in various activities. The study has observed some policy implications in terms of formation of self-help groups or labour societies to help out-migrants, organization of training programmes for capacity building of women, more thrust on education a girl-child and development of infrastructure in the rural areas

Socio-economic assessment of major livelihood adaptations in Coral ecosystem

This paper outlines the importance of community based initiatives in managing the waste generated in the rural as well as urban areas of India. The study was carried out in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala to analyze how the lifestyle of people residing in a small village changed because of farming using the compost prepared from biodegradable waste generated in Kovalam rural tourism area. Fifty beneficiary farmers of the initiative were selected as respondents of the study. Results showed motivation and support of a non-government organization working in the locality as the major factor behind the waste management move. They created awareness about the need of composting to keep their surroundings clean and localization of chemical free food to stay healthy. It was observed that farmers adopted bio-pesticides and biodynamic preparations along with compost in their small home garden. The low cost farming not only provided chemical free food for the family and society but also improved the net income of the farmers' families. The effort taken by the promoting agency to popularize composting along with farming among the members of the society in the right time to a group of appropriate beneficiaries made the difference here

Trend and Growth Rate Estimation of Principal Crops in Karnataka State in India

The study undertaken to analyse the growth rate performance of area, production, productivity of selected crops in Karnataka from year 1997 to 2019. At state level, it was found that, the productivity of cereals showed positive growth with 1.22 percent. The area under maize increased by 5.30 percent by displacing Jowar, Bajra, minor millets. The rice and maize became stable crops in cultivation due its assured support prices and procurement from government. The production of pulses increased by 4.17 percent. The area under oil seeds showed negative trend with -5.87 percent which may be due to its high cost of production and unremunerative prices where as the commercial crops has recorded positive growth rates of production (2.69 percent) and productivity (2.43 percent) despite of its 0.24 percent area growth. The farmers prioritised sugarcane, cotton because of less labour requirements, good market prices. The Technology mission on oilseeds and Pulses in post 1990’s could be reason for increased production and productivity of pulses

Molecular cloning and characterization of drought stress responsive abscisic acid-stress-ripening (Asr 1) gene from wild jujube, Ziziphus nummularia (Burm.f.) Wight & Arn

Drought is a calamitous abiotic stress hampering agricultural productivity all over the world and its severity is likely to increase further. Abscisic acid-stress-ripening proteins (ASR), are a group of small hydrophilic proteins which are induced by abscisic acid, stress and ripening in many plants. In the present study, ZnAsr1 gene was fully characterized for the first time from Ziziphus nummularia, which is one of the most low water forbearing plant. Full length ZnAsr1 gene was characterised and in silico analysis of ZnASR1 protein was done for predicting its phylogeny and physiochemical properties. To validate transcriptional pattern of ZnAsr1 in response to drought stress, expression profiling in polyethylene glycol (PEG) induced Z. nummularia seedlings was studied by RT-qPCR analysis and heterologous expression of the recombinant ZnAsr1 in Escherichia coli. The nucleotide sequence analysis revealed that the complete open reading frame of ZnAsr1 is 819 bp long encoding a protein of 273 amino acid residues, consisting of a histidine rich N terminus with an abscisic acid/water deficit stress domain and a nuclear targeting signal at the C terminus. In expression studies, ZnAsr1 gene was found to be highly upregulated under drought stress and recombinant clones of E. coli cells expressing ZnASR1 protein showed better survival in PEG containing media. ZnAsr1 was proven to enhance drought stress tolerance in the recombinant E.coli cells expressing ZnASR1. The cloned ZnAsr1 after proper validation in a plant system, can be used to develop drought tolerant transgenic crops

Farmers' Awareness and Risk Perception about Climate Change in Coastal Ecosystem of West Bengal

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Not AvailableEntrepreneurship plays an important role in the economic growth and development of nation. An entrepreneur is a critical factor in economic development. Several case studies have been conducted from successful agri-entrepreneurs across the country for the study to identify the factors Contributing to the SuCCass। of entrepreneurship. This particular case deals about a farmer named Chakradhar Pradhan hailing from Odisha. He quit his studies after 7"standard owing to financial difficulties and family responsibilities. Since then he was into agriculture. He wanted। to do for lemon cultivation rather than traditional crops. A non-profit organisation Trees for Life' helped him in getting best quality lemon trees. Once 34 of his lemon trees died without any visible Symptoms of any pests and diseases. The problem could not be identified even bv experts, He heard the cutting sound of pests। bv keeping the stethoscope on the outer region of plants. The root borer Dest was located and controlled by using Curative measures, Since then he uses stethoscope for identifvind pests in the trees. He has also used telescope for identifying pests at the top of trees. He is very innovative farmer. He has popularized lemon cultivation in Odisha He has also successfullv employed a technique of cutting the bark of ime plant for advancement of flowering date in lemon, His innovativeness has। been recognized bv various organizations. The case highlights the attributes of an entrepreneur and the role of various organizations in nurturing, sustaining and motivating his entrepreneurial abilities. Efforts are needed to document and analyze the innovative practices of farmers' for scalability through joint experimentations by farmers and scientists. Extraction of entrepreneurial attributes could be added into Cookbook of extension interventions.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableThe study was conducted to assess vulnerability level of farmers toward climate change in arid ecosystems of India. A sample of hundred farmers from Jodhpur and Jaisalmer representing arid ecosystem were selected. Total twenty-nine socio-economic and psychological variables were studied and data were collected through personal interview and focused group discussion. The statistical techniques like principal component analysis and regression analysis were used to analyze the data. The findings revealed a high level of vulnerability as thirtyone per cent respondents belonged to highly vulnerable group. The findings of multiple linear regression analysis revealed that socio-economic variables like land holding, education, income, awareness level, communication pattern and psychological variables like achievement motivation, adaptive behavior, stress and pessimism were important predictors of vulnerability.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableThe impact of climate change has already been witnessed in different part of India and farming sector has faced the impact of this change more than other sectors. The farming communities of the Himalayan ecosystem seemed to be more vulnerable due to its difficult terrain and geography coupled with its high sensitivity to climate change. Therefore, the present study was conceptualized to assess the vulnerability level of farmers toward climate change in the Himalayan ecosystem of India. The state Himachal Pradesh was selected purposively keeping the impact of climate change in mind. Two districts namely Shimla and Kullu were selected purposively and a sample of one hundred farmers was randomly selected from these two vulnerable districts. Total twenty nine socio-economic and psychological variables were identified to determine the vulnerability level of farmers. Data were collected through personal interview and focused group discussion with structured schedule. Data were analyzed using statistical techniques like principal component analysis, regression analysis, mean, standard deviation etc. The results of the study revealed that vulnerability level was quite high in Himachal Pradesh (Index score 0.82). Majority of the respondents belonged to moderately vulnerable group (44%) followed by 38 per cent respondents in highly vulnerable group. The findings revealed that socio-economic variables like land holding, education, income, awareness level about climate change, communication pattern and psychological variables like achievement motivation, adaptive behavior, stress and pessimism were important predictors of vulnerability. It was inferred from the finding that the different socio-economic factors and personality characteristics of farmers must be considered for better implementation of any adaptation strategy.Not Availabl

Understanding and validating the traditional rainfall classification and forecasting system with its implication to agriculture in Kalimpong Hill of West Bengal

The farmers in Kalimpong and Darjeeling hills mainly depend on agriculture for their livelihood and lived in difficult geographic terrain. They devised their own weather and rainfall classification system based on local indicators. The present study was conducted in Kalimpong hill over a period of four years from 2015-2019 to understand the traditional wisdom of weather prediction and its implication in hill agriculture. Numerous surveys was conducted at following villages-Ichey Gaon, Bong basti, Algarah, Sangsey Basti, Lava, Loley, Kafer, Tindhurey and Gorubathan. The people classified the rainfall as Sawney Jhari, Bhadurey Jhari, Sohrasaradey jhari, Bonsho jhari, Titey jhari, Sisney Jhari, Naurathey Jhari, Chuia jhari, Faprey jhari, Bagera jhari, Makurey jhari, Kartikey jhari, Maghe jhari, Ashwina based on time of rainfall. The farmers predicted this rainfall based on phenology of local plant, movement of animal or birds etc. It was found that the knowledge of this traditional rainfall helped them to take different farming decision especially in irrigation scheduling for major crops. The traditional knowledge has been reviewed with 50 years climatic data and it was found that in most cases it was in consonance with their traditional belief