The total number of operational land holdings in Rajasthan is 7.7 Millions. The net irrigated area has increased by 140% in the last three decades. The increase in irrigation facilities has led to the development of the new agroforestry and horticulture systems which includes cultivation of trees with the vegetable crops. This has enhanced the demand of Quality Planting Materials (QPM) among the farmers.   In addition, the several vegetables and orchard trees in the Kitchen Gardens are some well proven methodologies where the Quality Planting Materials have been in demand. The non-availability of genuine and disease-free planting material at the local level has led the farmers to travel long distances to get the quality planting materials.   At present, only 1/3rd demand for the planting material is being met by the existing registered Nurseries; the rest is met from the unorganized sectors, implying the need for establishing more Nurseries...

In Andaman & Nicobar Islands, the Rural Poultry Farming is considered to be a profitable Enterprise through the sale of Eggs as well as Meat. Approximately, 75% of the farm families keep 6 to 12 Rural Birds in their backyards. The Rural Birds produce 40 to 80 Eggs per Hen per Year, out of which, 31% is consumed by the family, 57% sold and only 12% used for the hatching purposes.     The Broody Hens are used for the multiplications of the stock. The entire management of Rural Poultry production is being handled by women. This underlines the significant relationship of women & rural poultry and its role in supporting the livelihood security of the rural farming community. However, the non-availability of the Rural Poultry Chicks is regarded as one of the major constraints in the progress of the Rural Poultry Farming in the Islands. Also, there is no commercial supplier for the Rural Poultry Chicks in the Islands.   For addressing the issue of...

The ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Regional Centre, Guwahati, Assam developed the protocols for the Culture Based Fisheries (CBF) and Pen Culture Technology for the Floodplain Wetlands (Beels) of North-East India. As a part of the outreach activities initiated by the ICAR-CIFRI under the North-Eastern Hills Component, the Institute demonstrated culture-based fisheries (CBF) and pen culture in Bamuni Beel (N 26º 18' 91'' and E 91º 45' 60''), Kamrup Rural District, Assam.   The Bamuni Beel, a closed Floodplain Wetland of the Lower Brahmaputra Valley, is a Small Beel having 16 ha water spread area and roughly oval in shape. The water depth in the beel is 2.5 M to 3.7 M in Monsoon which gets reduced to 1.5 M to 2.5 M during winter making it suitable for both pen culture and CBF. The livelihood of 65 Bodo Tribal Households of Bamunigaon Village under the Bezera Development Block depends on the Beel. Prior to 2006-07, the Beel supported purely capture...

The per capita consumption of Pork is highest in Nagaland in India. In Nagaland, the tribals’ prefer to consume home grown fresh Pork. Also, there is a cultural preference to black pigs. The pig farming is intermingled with socio-cultural practices of Nagas’. There is an annual demand of almost sixty thousand metric tonnes of pork. But the state’s own production is around thirty thousand tonnes. Therefore, the state is deficit by almost 50%. This demand and supply gap is further increasing owing to increase in human population and decrease in pig population of Nagaland. It imports live pigs as far as from Punjab, Haryana and southern states to meet its demand.   To address the problem of low productivity of Pig production system in Nagaland, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi has implemented the ICAR-Mega Seed Project on Pig at ICAR-Research Complex for North-Eastern Hill Region, Nagaland Centre, Medziphema since the Year - 2009. In this Project, the...

The Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.), one of the most important fruit crops cultivated in the arid regions, is distributed throughout the Middle East, North Africa, South Sahel, areas of East & South Africa, Europe, Asia and USA with approximately 150 Million Trees worldwide. The Date Palm is a very good source of nutrition having 70% carbohydrates. 1 Kg Date Palm fruits give 3,000 Kg calories. It is also a good source of Vitamin - A, B-2, B-7, Potassium, Calcium, Copper, Manganese, Chlorine, Phosphorous, Sulphur and Iron, etc. India is the largest country in import of Date Palm importing about 38% of the world market. Traditionally, the local varieties of Date Palm were grown from the seeds in Kutch-Bhuj area of Gujarat but, the multiplication from seeds of such plants was not feasible due to dioceous nature of the plants. The high quality planting materials were not available. The Date Palm is cultivated for its high productivity and the high nutrient value of...