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Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour
Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour established on 5th August, 2010 is a basic and strategic institution supporting more than 500 researchers and educationist towards imparting education at graduate and post graduate level, conducting basic, strategic, applied and adaptive research activities, ensuring effective transfer of technologies and capacity building of farmers and extension personnel. The university has 6 colleges (5 Agriculture and 1 Horticulture) and 12 research stations spread in 3 agro-ecological zones of Bihar. The University also has 21 KVKS established in 20 of the 25 districts falling under the jurisdiction of the University. The degree programmes of the university and its colleges have been accredited by ICAR in 2015-16. The university is also an ISO 9000:2008 certified organisation with International standard operating protocols for maintaining highest standards in teaching, research, extension and training.VisionThe Bihar Agricultural University was established with the objective of improving quality of life of people of state especially famers constituting more than two third of the population. Having set ultimate goal of benefitting society at large, the university intends to achieve it by imparting word-class need based agricultural education, research, extension and public service.
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ThesisItem Open Access Economics of Maize Production in Bhagalpur District of Bihar(Department of Agricultural Economics, BAU, Sabour, 2017-07) Kumari, Sushma; Wadhwani, Mukesh KumarMaize is one of the most important cereal crops in the world agricultural economy both as food for human beings and feed for animals. It can be used at any stage of crop growth; i.e. early stage as succulent green fodder to fully matured stage as maize grain. It provides food, feed, fodder & serves as source of basic raw material for a number of industrial product and play important role in the livelihood of millions of poor farmer in developing world. India is the 5th largest producer of maize in the world after China, Brazil Mexico and Russia contributing 2 percent of world production and 9 per cent of total food grain production in the country. At an annual production of about 10-14 m. t., maize is the third most produced grain in India after wheat and rice. It has witnessed 56 per cent output growth during last 3 decades. With this increasing demand, India has to produce 20 million tons of maize to meet its requirement by 2020. The productivity of maize in India is 2.5 t per ha against the world average of 5.5 t, indicating its tremendous untapped yield potential. In India, Bihar state ranks 4th in production of maize, is the main supplier of maize grain to different states for utilization in seed and other purposes. The crop is being cultivated in about 7.04 thousand ha area (2015-16), producing 25.17 thousand tones annual with productivity of 3571 kg per ha (DES, GoB). The crop is being cultivated in all three seasons of the year i.e. kharif, rabi and zaid (summer) in the state. It is the only agricultural crop in Bihar, whose productivity (4.42 t per ha) is much higher as compared to national average (2.5 t per ha) especially rabi and zaid maize. Virtually the state has witnessed a maize revolution over past few decades with introduction of hybrid seeds. Of the total annual maize production 44 percent is produced during rabi (winter) maize while zaid (summer) and kharif maize contributes 29 and 27 percent respectively. The productivity of winter maize (4421 kg per ha) is also much higher than kharif (2559 kg per ha) and zaid (3903 kg per ha) in the state. Though the area, production and yield under maize has increased during last three decades; there are only 8-10 maize processing units in Bihar. Of the total production 8-10 per cent of maize is processed within the state despite the fact state has huge and rising marketable surplus. In absence of adequate processing facility, the huge marketable surplus of Bihar depends completely on other states for its consumption, depriving its value addition, employment generation and higher income for the people in the state. The processed maize in the form of poultry feed and seed then comes back to the state. Any obstruction in this trading chain in future may lead into spoilage of that surplus, affecting the entire value chain and largely adversely affecting farmers. Maize is mostly grown by all category farmers. Hence, price discovery and better income realization becomes the key in giving a push to maize production in Bihar. Besides its export potential and diversified uses, maize cultivation offers solution for industrialization of agriculture in the state. In view of the above facts the present study entitled “Economics of Maize Production in Bhagalpur District of Bihar’’ has been undertaken to estimate the costs and returns, marketing pattern, level of technology and constraints in maize production by the farmers in study area. The study is based on primary data, collected through survey method from a sample of 70 farmers, consisting of 63 percent of marginal-small, 23 per cent semi-medium and 14 per cent medium-large category farmers, selected randomly through Multi-Stage Sampling Technique from Naugachia, Bihpur and Rangra blocks of Naugachia sub-division of Bhagalpur district. The sample farmers were classified as marginal-small (up to 2 ha), semi-medium (>2-4 ha) and medium-large (> 4 ha). The average operational size of land holding was 2.55 ha, which ranged from 1.21 to 7.60 ha among three categories of farms. The Cropping Intensity was 233 percent with highest of 248 per cent on semi-medium category farms and minimum of 221 per cent on medium- large farms. It was found that maize is being grown by all categories of farmers throughout the year, i.e. in kharif, rabi and zaid seasons under irrigated condition in study area. The medium-large category farmers devoted highest area under maize in all three seasons, i.e. 2.50 ha in kharif, 4.27 ha in rabi and 3.48 ha in zaid seasons with overall mean as 0.64, 1.50 and 1.18 ha during three seasons respectively. The gross area under maize during these seasons was 55.93 percent of the gross cropped area (3.33 ha), which indicates commercial nature of the crop in study area. It is being cultivated commercially during rabi and zaid seasons only for grain purpose while the kharif crop is being cultivated mostly for fodder and cob purpose. The kharif crop also faces risk of failure on account of uncertain weather/heavy rain during the season. Therefore cost and return has been worked out only for rabi and zaid season crops.The cost of cultivation of rabi maize was found in order of category of maize farms i.e. highest on medium-large farm (Rs 55749 per ha) while lowest on marginal-small farms (Rs. 48129 per ha). The material cost was found highest (Rs. 36525 per ha) on marginal- small farms, while it was Rs 36525 and Rs. 40943 per ha on semi-medium and medium-large category farms respectively. The cost of irrigation and fertilizer was estimated as Rs 14415 (28.20 per cent) and Rs 7990 (15.63 per cent) per ha, indicating the importance of these two inputs in rabi maize production. The yield of maize in rabi season was highest (94 q/ha) on medium-large farms, while it was 88 q/ha on semi –medium as well as marginal-small category farms. It is also reported that the study area is well known for highest yield of rabi maize in the state of Bihar and as well as in the country. The average price received was Rs 1140 per quintal. The average gross income was estimated as Rs 101460 per ha. The per hectare total cost of cultivation of zaid maize was estimated as Rs 29505. It was found in reverse order of category of maize farms, i.e. higher on marginal-small farms while less on medium-large farms. The material cost was found highest (Rs 19258 per ha) on marginal-small farms, while it was Rs 17556 and Rs 15055 per ha on semi- medium, and medium-large category farms respectively. On overall basis material cost constituted of 42.85 per cent of the total cost of cultivation (irrigation and fertilizer cost 11.42 and 12.48 per cent of total cost). The yield of zaid maize was found ranging from 49 q per ha on marginal-small farms to 63 q per ha on medium-large farms. The average price received by the maize growers was as Rs. 1486 per quintal. The average gross income has been estimated as Rs. 75786 per ha, ranging from Rs 73059 per ha on marginal-small to Rs 90090 per ha on medium-large farms. The net income against variable cost (Rs 51687 per ha) and total cost (Rs. 50341 per ha) on overall basis in rabi season was more as compared to zaid season. The return to total cost ratio was estimated at 2.0 in rabi season while in zaid season it was 2.6.The ratio was found in descending order in rabi season while in ascending order in zaid season. The farmers used higher quantity of seed by 53 per cent against recommended rate in study area, which ranged from 39.22 per cent on marginal- small farms to 60 percent on medium-large farms. The farmers also used higher quantity of N, P and K in maize. The nitrogen use was more to the extent of 184 per cent on marginal-small farms followed by semi-medium (142 per cent) and medium-large category (115 percent) with the overall average as 167 percent. The gap in phosphorus use was highest on semi-medium farms (46 percent) with overall gap of 27 percent while gap in potassium application was 70 per cent on overall basis. The irrigation was applied by all categories of farms more or less in optimum number in accordance to recommended level. The average quantity of maize seed used in zaid season was 17 kg per ha, whereas quantity of N, P, K used was 149, 72 and 86 kg per ha respectively. The gap in seed rate 15 percent ranging from 8 to 20 per cent among three categories. The gap in Nitrogen application was highest on medium-large farms (97.00 percent) followed by semi-medium and marginal-small category (91.07 and 62.42 percent). This indicates that farmers in zaid season also use excess quantity of nitrogen in maize crop. The gap in phosphorus and potash application was of the level of 79 and 114 percent respectively. During zaid season the farmers were applying irrigation in less number (36.00 percent) than the recommended number. The constraints were broadly classified into agro-biological, economic (resource) and marketing factors. The agro-biological factors included weather, soil, rain fall, severity of pest and diseases and natural calamities while the economic factors include scarcity of seed, fertilizer, irrigation, plant protection and labour. Among the agro-biological factors natural calamities and weather was considered as the most important limiting factor by 53 and 24 per cent of sample farmers. The suitable variety, quality of seed was considered as limiting factor by 33 and 36 per cent respectively. The availability of urea and Murate of Potash was considered as limiting factor by 53 and 47 per cent of sample farmers respectively. About 39 per cent of the sample farmers were of the opinion about high price of DAP, 34 percent of MoP and 27 percent about SSP. The availability of chemicals and their price was considered by 54 and 39 percent of sample farmers. Irrigation and labour availability was also considered as limiting factor by 70 per cent of the sample farmers. The maize was marketed in village market by 60 percent of the farmers while 33 percent sold at farm level. Only 7 percent of sample farmers sold to distant market. This may be due to quantity of marketed surplus as well as farmers’ inability to communicate, transport and store the produce for marketing to distant market at later period. As far as mode of transport is concerned the tractor seems to be most preferred (64 percent) due to easy availability and movement in villages. Among market agency, wholesalers (43 percent) and Commission Agents (30) were found playing important role in marketing of maize. The contractors (27 per cent) were also involved in maize marketing. Both of the modes of sale (64 percent); i.e. cash as well as credit sale was under practice in study area. The bargaining (67 percent) was the most important method of trade while 33 percent of farmers also sold their produce under pre-contract. It may be concluded that maize being cost and labour intensive nature of crop, the farmers should be trained on balance use of technology/resource/input specially seed and nutrient, viz. N, P and K management irrespective of category of farmer. This will help in better resource use efficiency, reducing cost of production and enhancing profitability. The farmers are forced to sell their produce through contractors/traders due to their inability in marketing activity, lack of marketing linkages, storage and also due to lack of operating capital required for purchase of technological inputs. After repealing of APMC Act (since 2006) no alternate marketing system has been implemented in Bihar state. Therefore there is need of organizing maize producers to form Producer Company on the lines of MAHGRAPES etc. prevailing in Maharashtra state. Though the State Govt. has launched various programmes under Agriculture Road Map aimed to increase production, productivity and profitability of crops in general, their benefits are yet to be harvested by the farming community. (Limitation: No generalized conclusions can be drawn out of the results of this investigation due to small sample size of respondents whose response to questions pertaining to various aspects of maize was solely based on their memory though it gave firsthand information about the study area. For any universal conclusion and its intended applicability the study needs to be conducted on much larger sample size.)ThesisItem Open Access A study on vulnerability to agriculture in Kosi region of Bihar(Department of Agricultural Economics, BAU, Sabour, 2016-07) Bharti, Jyoti; Kumari, MeeraClimate is the primary determinant of agricultural productivity. Climate change and its impacts are well recognised today and it will affect either physical or biological system. Bihar is highly vulnerable to climate change and variability because vulnerability to climate change is closely related to poverty as the poor are least able to respond to climate change. To cope up with changes in the production system and virtual stagnation of the crop yield the present study on vulnerability to agriculture in Kosi region of Bihar was planned to examine the factors affecting vulnerability and their relationship.The study was also planned to construct vulnerability index and compare different districts of the delineated area in relation to vulnerability index.For this purpose a composite vulnerability index was developed, emphasizing on the three major components namely, (i) Exposure (ii) Sensitivity and (iii) Adaptive capacity. To derive the vulnerability index and draw meaningful inferences both the method of equal and unequal weight were employed. The four major factors of vulnerability were also taken into consideration to assess the temporal and spatialvulnerability. This includes the demographic factors, climatic factors, agricultural factors and occupational factors.Quantitative assessment of vulnerability is usually done by constructing ‘vulnerability index’. To construct and compare the vulnerability indices the periodfrom1976-2015 was subdivided into 4 parts i.e. from 1976-1985, 1986-1995, 1996-2005 and 2006-2015. It means spatial as well as temporal vulnerability was also quantified. For the construction of vulnerability index,simple average score method, Patnaik and Narayanan Method by giving equal weight towards the variable. However, Iyengar and Sudarsan’s method and Expert judgement methodwas also used to construct the vulnerability indices. Next two methods was mainly based on giving unequal weight towards the indicators. It is because some parameters influenced more to the vulnerability and vice-versa. For identification of indicators as well as their relationship between them trend and pattern of different factors like agriculture, climatic, demographic and occupational factors of eight districts were undertaken for the same andresult revealed that those factors falling under sensitive was positively related , however the factors responsible for adaptive capacity were negatively related with vulnerability.The results of investigation revealed that, in the year 1976-1985 the district of Kishanganj ranked first and the district of Araria ranked last (8th ) in the overall vulnerability to climate change.As for contribution of sources wasconcerned, the agricultural sector played a significant role in ranking Kishanganj district at the first position by contributing to the tune 34.67 per cent to the overall vulnerability followed by occupational 28.96 per cent, climatic 22.45 per cent, and demographic factors 13.92 per cent.From the period 1986-1995, the district of Kishanganj ranked first in the overall vulnerability to climate change amongst all the selected districts of the region replacing Khagaria district to the second position, followed by Purnea district at the third. In the year 1996-2005, Khagaria district retained its first position with demographic and agricultural indicators being major contributors towards the overall vulnerability to climate change. The values of vulnerability indices varied from 0.30 (Madhepura) to 0.59 (Kishanganj) in 1996-2005 indicating that there was a wide variability in the factors influencing climate change. In the year 2006-2015, the district of Supaul replaced Kishanganj from the first position with reference to overall vulnerability to climate change.Data pertaining to sensitivity component was concerned, that due to reoccurrences of flood leads to damage to the crops or livestock population was found maximum in Kisanganj (21.954) district followed by Araria (21.896) and Purnea (20.882). It implies that Kisanganj was remain stand in first position with respect to sensitivity component of vulnerability was concerned.On the basis of the degree of vulnerabilitythe Kisanganj districtwas again placed under highly vulnerable district,however the district of Supaul, Saharsa, Madhepura, Purnea and Khagaria were placed under moderate vulnerability whose degree of vulnerability varied from 28.42-73.14and the district of Araria was considered as least vulnerable district amongst all the selected district under study so far. Its range of vulnerability was varied from ≤ 28.58.Therefore climate change policies have to be integrated with sustainable development strategy such as social control, pollution control, as well as emphasis towards regional crop planning for most vulnerable district of Kosi region of Bihar.Since the worst sufferers of climate change impacts are the rural communities, (who depends mainly on agriculture as their livelihoods), it is important to focus on the impacts of climate change on livelihoods, and re-establish the links among poverty, livelihood and environment. However, focusing on the communities only are not enough, and so long as the community initiatives do not become part of the government policies, it is difficult to sustain the efforts. Thus, the link between local, state and national governments to the community is of utmost importance.ThesisItem Open Access Economics of Banana Production in Bhagalpur district of Bihar(Department of Agricultural Economics, BAU, Sabour, 2016-07) Kumari, Priyanka; Wadhwani, Mukesh KumarBanana is an important fruit crop grown (34310 ha, NHB :2013-14) in the state of Bihar .The state ranks 7th in the country in terms of annual production of 1435.78 thousand metric tonne. There are two distinct banana growing areas; viz. old Vaishali region and new North- Eastern (Kosi) region, endowed with congenial climatic conditions favourable for growth and development of banana. It is an important source of income and employment for small as well as large category growers. The banana in the state has been reportedly being cultivated under traditional system. It is considered as high feeder crop in terms irrigation and nutritional requirement. Regional variation in costs and returns including resource use efficiency has been found. Further, within the region there is variation among different farm size group. The profitability of the banana production has not been quite substantial due to fluctuating prices and inability of the growers on the part of marketing including post-harvest management. The review of banana production and marketing has revealed that there exist several gaps in the knowledge and information on all the above issues. The banana fruit, which has become an integral component of socio-economic fabric of the people of state, is now facing various constraints. Therefore, in view of obtaining present status of the above aspects present study has been conducted. The study is based on primary data, collected from a sample of 60 banana growers, consisted of 26 (43 %), 25 (42 %) and 9 (15 %) marginal & small, semi-medium and medium & large category. The data were collected from the sample growers with the help of specifically prepared pre-tested schedules through Survey Method by interviewing them, selected through Multi-Stage Sampling Technique from a cluster of 3 villages of Nawgachia block of Bhagalpur district. The statistical measures like mean, percentage, ratio, frequency distribution etc. were used to accomplish objectives of study. The study revealed that per ha average total cost of cultivation of banana var. robusta was found ranging between Rs.1, 00,566.45 on marginal & small farms to Rs.95, 294.42 on medium & large farms. The variable costs included material cost (72.55 %) and labour cost (23.60 %). The material cost was found highest (Rs.72364.71 per ha) on marginal & small farms. The average labour cost was estimated as Rs.22512.93 per ha. The average cost of irrigation and fertilizer constituted 35.59 per cent and 16.01 per cent of total cost, respectively while labour cost constituted of 23.60 per cent. The yield (number of bunches per ha) was found ranging from 2768 to 2847 among three categories of farms and the average price received by the banana growers was Rs. 129.91 per bunch. The average gross income has been estimated as Rs. 3, 64,007.87 per ha, which was ranging in ascending order to size of farms; i.e. higher on large farms and less on marginal farms. The “return to total cost ratio” was estimated at 3.78, which was also in ascending order to size group. The scarcity of labour was considered as the most important limiting factor (88.89 per cent) by medium & large category growers. The non-availability of credit was important to the extent of 88 and 77 per cent by semi-medium and marginal & small growers, respectively. Heavy rainfall as well as frequent cyclone was the major natural calamity due to which their crop was damaged, resulting heavy economic loss to them. There was no provision of crop insurance also. Non-availability of proper market, dominance of pre-harvest contractors, price-fluctuation and no practice of grading were considered as factors affecting banana production by all categories of growers. Most of the quantity of produce is marketed through pre–harvest contractors, which were reported to be their financer. Marketing linkages have not yet been developed and stabilized in the area due to large number of small un-organized banana producers. The growers in general (76.67 %) were found selling banana in ‘local market’. The semi-medium and medium & large category (36.0 and 56.0 per cent) growers were also found selling it to ‘distant markets’. The ‘contract sale’ was pre-dominantly prevailed as ‘mode of sale’ in the area. The ‘cash sale’ as-well-as ‘credit sale’ was prevailing in the area. The marginal & small category growers sold banana to the pre-harvest contractors. The study suggest that Banana being heavy feeder and labour intensive nature of crop, the growers should be trained on its nutrient and water management including that of ratoon crop as well as on post-harvest management technology. The predominance of pre-harvest contractors and large number of un-organized marginal & small banana growers restricts growers to harvest benefits of scale of production. Therefore there is need of organizing growers to form Producer Company on the lines of MAHGRAPES, MAHAMANGO, MAHABANANA etc. prevailing in Maharashtra state. After repealing of APMC Act (since 2006) no alternate marketing method has been developed/implemented in the state. Direct marketing by producer to the consumers has been experimented through ‘APNI MANDI’ is the state of Punjab, Haryana etc. The same may be implemented in Bihar to safeguard the interest of farming community in general, with some modification, if any. Disposal of large quantity of bio-waste in form of pseudo-stem is generated every year poses great problem to banana growers. This can be a source of fiber which has high value in market for its durability and strength. Therefore efforts should be made towards sustainable waste utilization by extraction of fiber and its conversion into various value added products like bags, wall hangings, pot-hangers, tablemats etc. to the extent possible. Though the State Govt. has launched various programmes under Agriculture Road Map aimed to increase production, productivity and profitability of horticultural crops, their benefits are yet to be harvested by the farming community.