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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Evaluation of transgenic brinjal expressing dsRNA of flp-18 against Meloidogyne incognita
    (DIVISION OF NEMATOLOGY INDIAN AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE NEW DELHI, 2014) Zirwal Yogiraj Namdeo; Uma Rao
    Root knot nematodes (Meloidogyne species) are the most economically important group of plant parasitic nematodes worldwide attacking nearly more than 2000 host plants. The inadequacy and limitations of current control measures demand the development and designing of novel management strategies. The most cost effective and sustainable method for combating their damage is to develop resistant plants that suppress nematode development and reproduction. Recent developments in the sequencing of several eukaryotes including M. incognita and other plant parasitic nematodes provide an invaluable wealth of potential target gene sequences that can be used for disrupting the nematode life cycle which in turn can help in their management. RNA interference (RNAi) has proved to be a very promising tool for understanding the role of these genes in the nematode physiology and pathogenesis so that they could be the possible targets for designing nematode resistant crops. The FMRFamide-like peptides (FLPs) are the most diverse and widely studied group of nematode neuropeptides. FLPs play a significant role in the nematode nervous system as a neurotransmitters or neuromodulators and proposed to be one of the important targets. The present study was undertaken to examine the stability of transgenic brinjal expressing dsRNA of flp-18 against different population densities of M. incognita. T1 plants of transgenic brinjal carrying a single copy of flp-18 were challenged with 1, 2, 4 and 8 second stage juveniles per gram of soil along with wild type for comparison. Bioefficacy studies performed revealed 40–70% reduction in host invasion compared to wild type plants. Likewise, reproduction and multiplication was also reduced considerably by 41–50 and 60- 75% respectively irrespective of the population density. Molecular analyses by PCR and qRT-PCR of the T1 transgenic plants used in the bioefficacy confirmed both for the presence of transgene and its expression. Comparison of total proteins of transgenic and wild type plants did not show any difference. This is a pioneer study to demonstrate the performance of host delivered RNAi based transgenics against various population densities. Generally, nematode populations under field conditions are not evenly distributed and quite variable. The population density in given field could be either at economic threshold level or ii below or above these levels (i.e. under ETL, ETL and above ETL). In view of this, the present study suggests that transgenic brinjal plants expressing dsRNA of flp-18 gene could provide stable resistance to M. incognita at various population densities. It may prove promising for the management of M. incognita under field conditions with varying population densities.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Comparative economics of conservation versus conventional agricultural practices in Haryan
    (Division of Agricultural Economics Indian Agricultural Research Institute New Delhi, 2014) Vikram Yogi; Amit Kar
    Indian agricultural sector has undergone several significant changes since independence. Introduction of high yielding varieties associated with better package of practices, mechanization and diversification of the production system during the green revolution period have raised crop yield and farm income significantly. Haryana is one of the leading state where these transformations still continue. The conventional mode of agriculture through intensive agricultural practices was successful in achieving target of food production, but simultaneously led to degradation of natural resources and environment. Conservation agriculture can be seen as a new way for enhancing productivity and conserving resources in order to achieve the goal of sustainable agriculture. The study of existing scenario for various conservation agricultural practices and their economic feasibility shows that the zero tillage and laser levelling practice are most popular among the farmers. The adoption pattern shows that large farmer easily adopted the conservation agriculture compared to small and medium farmer. The comparative study of cost of cultivation of wheat found that cultivation under zero tillage was more profitable, due to lower cost incurred towards human labour, machine labour, seed and irrigation. Benefit cost ratio for wheat cultivation under zero tillage was 2.01 which was higher than other conventional agricultural practices which shows that it’s economically feasibile over others practices in study area. The Cobb-Douglas production function was used to analyze the allocative efficiency. Analysis shows that the allocative efficiency of wheat cultivation under zero tillage, rotavator and conventional mode were less than one, indicating resources were over utilized. The stochastic frontier production function analysis showed that the mean technical efficiency of wheat cultivation under zero tillage cultivation system was 96 per cent, under rotavator it was 95 per cent and in conventional method it was 94 per cent. It showed that if resources are optimally used than the gross return can be increased by 4, 5 and 6 percent in zero tillage, rotavator and conventional mode of wheat cultivation respectively. Economic efficiency in zero tillage was 62 per cent and it indicated that there is a scope to 67 increase the returns by 38 per cent with optimum allocation of resources. Economic efficiency was 52 per cent under rotavator and 34 per cent under conventional system of wheat cultivation. The determinants for practicing conservation agriculture in wheat were reduction in cost, higher income, and ownership of equipment, timely sowing, government promotion policy and subsidies. Availability of rotavator, high cost of machine and non availability of machine were major constraints of conservation agriculture in wheat among farmers in study area.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    DYNAMICS OF PRODUCTION, CONSUMPTION AND MARKET INTEGRATION OF MAJOR PULSES IN INDIA
    (DIVISION OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS INDIAN AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE NEW DELHI, 2014) M. VEMBU; V.C. Mathur
    India is the major producer and consumer of pulses in the world, both in terms of quantum and variety. In India, a large proportion of population is vegetarian and pulses form the main source of vegetable proteins for them. Although, India’s pulse production accounts for about 25 and 33 per cent of global production and area, respectively, yields remain lower than in many other countries of the world. The country still it has to go a long way to meet the minimum per capita requirement of 80 grams per day recommened by the World Health Organisation. Further, per capita per day availability of pulses continues to decline, owing to increasing population and per capita income. Simultaneously, stagnation in the pulses productivity and acreage pose a threat for further decline in the per capita availability of pulses. In this study, an attempt was made to examine the performance of the pulses sector, to identify the underlying factors affecting pulses supply response and to assess the integration of major pulses markets. This thesis contribution to the pulses economic literature is both methodological and empirical. Many of the past supply response studies are based on traditional econometric techniques (classic linear regression) and the Nerlovian framework. Results of traditional econometric techniques are reliable when the time series data are stationary. However, there can be a possibility that some macroeconomic time series data are non stationary and the results and conclusions drawn from using those techniques have the risk of invalidity. This study specifically attempts to quantify the supply response, when the variables in the data set expressed in levels are neither stationary nor nonstationary. Findings of this study suggest that stagnation in pulses production and acreage may be attributed to the widening revenue gap between pulses and their respective competing crops. The spatial market integration among the important wholesale markets was examined to assess the pulses market efficiency. The distinguished feature of this paper is the application of the ARDL model to assess cointegration when a majority of Indian pulse markets price series are stationary and non-stationary which excludes the use of Johansen and Engle Granger cointegration techniques. Findings of the study suggest that Indian pulse markets are transmitting part of the shocks they receive, implying that Indian pulse markets are interlinked but not perfectly integrated.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Critical Analysis of Mobile Based Agro - Advisory Services: A Case of mKRISHI
    (Division of Agricultural Extension, IARI, New Delhi, 2014) MADAN SINGH; R. Roy Burman
    Agriculture is the main occupation of farming community of India. Indian agriculture is the home of 80 per cent small and marginal farmers. Small holdings also face new challenges on integration of value chains, liberalization and globalization effects, market volatility and vulnerability to climate change etc. Despite the improved interest and investment in agricultural extension in India, such services fail to meet diverse information need of the stakeholders. Given the challenges, the arrival of information communication technology (ICT) is well timed. ICT in agriculture is an emerging field focusing on the improvement of agricultural and rural development in India. It can provide timely accurate and quality information to the farmers which facilitate increased agricultural output.Many information and communication technology (ICT) projects in Indian agriculture have emerged, either substituting or supporting extension services by providing farmers with access to agricultural information. But the content that the ICTs deliver has more relevance if it is localized and context specific, as this improves the value and action ability of the information, which can have greater impact on farm management.Among modern ICT modes, mobile phone has been most recent and widely accepted mode of delivering information to the farmers in developing country including India.Increasing mobile phone and mobile phone based services enhances the availability to knowledge and information and will further help in improving awareness, education, better adoption of technology, better health and efficiency, reduced transaction costs, better market. The present study was conducted on mKRISHI® in Nasik in Maharashtra and Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu. An ex-post facto research design was used for the study. The data was collected from 60 beneficiary farmers and 60 control farmers. Besides, 10 extension personnel, KVK scientist and mKRISHI® staff were also selected from each of the two districts for the study. Thus, there were a total of 140 respondents. A structured interview schedule was developed to collect the data from respondents. Most of the farmers perceived that it was highly effective in terms of timeliness of information, quality of information, utility of information, satisfaction of farmers and ease of understanding of the information. Information provided by mKRISHI® helpedin increase in yield, market price and increasedfarm income. Despite of high level satisfaction, there were some constraints which cause hindrance in the smooth running of mKRISHI®. Technological constraints were the most severe in mKRISHI® information delivering and followed by economical constraints. Hence, mKRISHI® had wider impact on the farmers among the sampled respondents. It can be replicated to remaining part of country for effective dissemination of farm technology information.