Promoting conservation in India by greening coffee: A value chain approach / P.G. Chengappa, Karl M. Rich, Arun Muniyappa, Yadava C.G., Pradeepa Babu B.N., and Magda Rich

The Indian coffee sector is at an important transition point, increasingly stuck in the middle between quality and value segments of the market. A potential niche for India is in the development of eco- friendly (green) coffees, leveraging the natural environment and biodiversity present in many regions. In this study, we conducted a value chain assessment of the coffee sector in Coorg, a major production area in India, to identify the potential entry points and constraints to a conservation-oriented strategy of upgrading. Our results highlight that coffee value chains in Coorg are fragmented and largely uncoordinated, with innovative upgrading efforts largely individually motivated. This suggests that integrating conservation principles in a broad-based branding strategy could be difficult at the level of the chain without institutional support or the entry of chain champions. On the other hand, integrating conservation as a diversification activity e.g. through the development of butterfly gardens for tourism, could provide a low-cost way of adding value for farmers while promoting good environmental stewardship

Coffee certification in India: Awareness, practices, and sustainability perception of growers

Certification programs have been employed in many agricultural products as a means to encourage and communicate compliance with standards associated with various attributes, such as organic, fair-trade, GMO free, and eco-friendly, among others. Such programs further seek to provide added value, through a price premium, to producers and supply chain actors associated with the label. In this paper, we review a number of global labeling and certification programs that could add value for coffee farms in India through the promotion of conservation and environmental protection. We provide results from a survey conducted on a sample of coffee farms in Coorg district, India, to assess their awareness and perceptions related toward certified coffee and environmental conservation in general. Survey results illustrate strong positive associations with the environment by coffee planters, particularly among certified and organic producers. However, price premiums for certified and organic coffee are relatively small. While the potential of conservation-oriented certification for coffee in Coorg could be relatively limited outside of a few individual-level niches, branding Coorg more generally as a conservation-oriented region could hold promise, leveraging and personalizing the uniqueness of the natural offerings from Coorg and tapping into burgeoning associations with place and region in India

Sustainability Coffee Certification in India : Perceptions and Practices

Certification programs has been employed in many agricultural products as a means to encourage and communicate compliance with standards associated with various attributes, such as organic, fair-trade, GMO free, and eco- friendly, among others. Such programs further seek to provide added value, through a price premium, to producers and supply chain actors associated with the label. In this paper, we review a number of global labeling and certification programs that could add value for coffee farms in India through the promotion of conservation and environmental protection. We provide results from a survey conducted on a sample of coffee farms in Coorg district, India to assess their awareness and perceptions related towards certified coffee and environmental conservation in general. Survey results illustrate strong positive associations with the environment by coffee planters, particularly among certified and organic producers. However, price premiums for certified and organic coffee are relatively small. While the potential of conservation-oriented certification for coffee in Coorg could be relatively limited outside of a few individual-level niches, branding Coorg more generally as a conservation-oriented region could hold promise, lever- aging and personalizing the uniqueness of the natural offerings from Coorg and tapping into burgeoning associations with place and region in India

Not Available

Not AvailableGlobally maize is an important cereal crop for food, feed, fodder, and also a raw material for various food and non-food-based industries. The area, production, and productivity of maize are increasing continuously in India and the World. However, the rate of increase and level of productivity across different countries varies. The major reason for the variation in maize productivity across countries is the varying degree of adoption of improved technologies. To meet the growing demand for maize in the India and world, production and productivity of maize need to be enhanced which can be achieved by the increasing area under hybrids and by using improved packages and practices for its cultivation. The increasing area under the hybrids maize will create a high demand for hybrid seeds in near future. Hybrid technology is one such technology that has impacted significantly on the increase of maize productivity across the globe. In India, the area covered under hybrid technology is around 70% of the total maize area of the country. There is tremendous scope to bring more and more area of maize under hybrid technology. In this context, the Manual of hybrid seed production technology in maize published by the ICAR-Indian Institute of Maize Research is a significant contribution for accelerating quality seed production in the country. The seed production manual covers all aspects of maize hybrid seed production. The manual briefly introduces to the readers the bird-eye view of the global and Indian scenario of the hybrid seed market, current status, future scope, and system of seed production that existed in India and elsewhere. It covers the biology of maize which is a basic requirement in terms of understanding the crop per se before taking up hybrid seed production. The manual covers the major aspects of seed production like important considerations before taking up hybrid seed production, standardizing seeds production techniques for a new site, techniques of hybrid seed production, various agro-techniques involved in hybrid seed production, and crop protection. It also covers the procedure involved in seed certification. This manual of hybrid seed production in maize would serve as an important resource material for all those who are actively involved in maize hybrid seed production.ICA

The behaviour of queen honeybees and their attendants

The behaviour of queen and worker honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) was observed using small colonies in observation hives. Workers paid more attention to queens which had been mated for 2 months or more than to those which were newly mated; virgin queens received least attention. Queens received most attention when they were stationary and least when they were walking over the comb; virgin queens were most active. Queen cells had as many attendants as virgin queens and queen larvae were inspected almost continuously. The queen pheromone component 9-oxo-trans-2-decenoic acid stimulated 'court' behaviour when presented on small polyethylene blocks, but workers responded aggressively to complete extracts of queens' heads. Both the heads and abdomens of mated queens received much attention from court workers but the abdomens were palpated by more workers for longer and were licked much more. The queens' thoraces were least attended. Abdominal tergites posterior to tergite glands were licked for longer than those anterior to the glands. Only worker bees very near to the queen reacted to her and joined her 'court'. No evidence was found of a diel periodicity in the behaviour of a queen or her 'court'. During the winter the queen's court was smaller than in summer and she walked less and laid fewer eggs. When colonies were fed with sucrose syrup in winter, their queens laid more eggs and workers reared more brood but there was no change in the attention received by the queens. The implications of these findings for the secretion and distribution of queen pheromones are discussed