Farmers' Perception of Land Degradation: A Case Study

Top soil erosion is a serious problem threatening the sustainability of rain fed agriculture in the semi-arid tropics. Yet, farmers do not take strong measures to prevent soil loss. This study, covering farmers in a watershed in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra, attempts to assess farmers' perception of land degradation and examine their actions to alleviate its perceived effects

Labor-Market Participation in Semi-Arid Tropical Villages of India with Specific Reference to Gender. Working Paper Series No. 55

The issue of gender differentials in relation to farm productivity in subsistence farming has been of special interest from the standpoint of public policy in developing countries, as the difference is often viewed from the angle of human capital theory and measurement of discrimination. The role of rural women in agricultural development draws not only the attention of the academicians but also of the politicians, assuming that gender equality does matter for overall economic development and welfare measurement..

What does Village-level Evidence Suggest for Research and Development Priorities?

The latest round of ICRISAT’s village-level surveys in India’s Deccan Plateau present evidence on the significant changes in the village economies of the Semi- Arid Tropics (SAT). This calls for a policy that reduces the widening gap between more favored and less favored regions and capitalizes on the potential of SAT agriculture for India’s sustainable development. This policy brief highlights important issues and opportunities facing SAT agriculture, such as water scarcity, diversified sources of income, cropping pattern.............. changes, livestock enterprises, and integratio

ICPH 2671 -The World’S First Commercial Grain Legume Hybrid

Pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.] is an important food legume of semi-arid tropics. In spite of releasing several varieties, its productivity has remained unchanged. To overcome this bottleneck, a commercial hybrid breeding technology, the first of its kind in any grain legume was developed. To achieve this, as a first step a stable cytoplasmic – nuclear – male –sterility (CMS) system was bred, which in combination with natural out-crossing was used to develop the hybrid technology. A breakthrough was achieved in 2005, culminating more than three decades of research, by developing a stable CMS system using the cytoplasm of a wild relative (C. cajanifolius) of pigeonpea. This male-sterility was transferred to diverse lines through backcrossing. Simultaneously, an efficient hybrid seed production technology was also developed. So far over 700 experimental hybrids have been tested and promising hybrids exhibited 30- 100% yield advantage over control. The most promising hybrid is ICPH 2671. In multilocation testing this hybrid recorded 35.8% superiority over the ruling variety. This hybrid is also resistant to major pigeonpea diseases. ICPH 2671 performs well under moisture stress conditions and is suitable for intercropping. In 2008, this hybrid was launched for commercial cultivation in India. In the on-farm trials conducted in four provinces, mean yields of this hybrid varied from 250 to 2830 kg ha-1 with upto 160% advantage. The hybrid pigeonpea technology, the first of its kind in the world, has shown potential for a breakthrough in yield and soon the farmers will reap its benefits

Phytosome-conjugated carvacrol: A novel approach for improving growth performance, intestinal morphology and economics of production in Broiler Chicken

Essential oils are plant-derived aromatic volatile oils, and they contain bioactive compounds that have been shown to improve poultry nutrition. However, considering problems associated with the solubility and bioavailability of polyphenolic compounds, the study was planned to find out the effect of the novel feed-grade delivery system, phytosomes for conjugation of plant-derived polyphenolic compound carvacrol on the growth performance of broiler chickens. The experiment was conducted, on 240 broiler chicks for a period of 6 weeks. The chicks were divided into 4 groups having 4 replicates of 15 birds each. The birds in the control group (T0) offered a standard diet as per BIS (2007) specification. Group T1 received a standard diet supplemented with Bacitracin Methylene Disalicylate (BMD) antibiotic at standard dose and group T2 received a standard diet supplemented with carvacrol essential oil @100 mg/kg feed. Group T3 received a standard diet supplemented with phytosome-conjugated carvacrol essential oil (carvacrol @16.6%) @100 mg/kg feed. The performance of all the treatment groups was assessed with respect to the different performance parameters. The supplementation of phytosome-conjugated carvacrol essential oil (carvacrol @16.6%) @ 100 mg/kg feed was found beneficial in terms of growth performance, feed efficiency, and intestinal morphometry. In terms of economics of broiler production, the results revealed that the addition of phytosome- conjugated carvacrol essential oil and carvacrol essential oil in diets was found beneficial in reducing the cost of broiler production, thereby enhancing the margin of profit in broiler production and fetching higher net profit than the control group