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Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa

In the imperial Gazetteer of India 1878, Pusa was recorded as a government estate of about 1350 acres in Darbhanba. It was acquired by East India Company for running a stud farm to supply better breed of horses mainly for the army. Frequent incidence of glanders disease (swelling of glands), mostly affecting the valuable imported bloodstock made the civil veterinary department to shift the entire stock out of Pusa. A British tobacco concern Beg Sutherland & co. got the estate on lease but it also left in 1897 abandoning the government estate of Pusa. Lord Mayo, The Viceroy and Governor General, had been repeatedly trying to get through his proposal for setting up a directorate general of Agriculture that would take care of the soil and its productivity, formulate newer techniques of cultivation, improve the quality of seeds and livestock and also arrange for imparting agricultural education. The government of India had invited a British expert. Dr. J. A. Voelcker who had submitted as report on the development of Indian agriculture. As a follow-up action, three experts in different fields were appointed for the first time during 1885 to 1895 namely, agricultural chemist (Dr. J. W. Leafer), cryptogamic botanist (Dr. R. A. Butler) and entomologist (Dr. H. Maxwell Lefroy) with headquarters at Dehradun (U.P.) in the forest Research Institute complex. Surprisingly, until now Pusa, which was destined to become the centre of agricultural revolution in the country, was lying as before an abandoned government estate. In 1898. Lord Curzon took over as the viceroy. A widely traveled person and an administrator, he salvaged out the earlier proposal and got London’s approval for the appointment of the inspector General of Agriculture to which the first incumbent Mr. J. Mollison (Dy. Director of Agriculture, Bombay) joined in 1901 with headquarters at Nagpur The then government of Bengal had mooted in 1902 a proposal to the centre for setting up a model cattle farm for improving the dilapidated condition of the livestock at Pusa estate where plenty of land, water and feed would be available, and with Mr. Mollison’s support this was accepted in principle. Around Pusa, there were many British planters and also an indigo research centre Dalsing Sarai (near Pusa). Mr. Mollison’s visits to this mini British kingdom and his strong recommendations. In favour of Pusa as the most ideal place for the Bengal government project obviously caught the attention for the viceroy.

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Author: MANIKANTA, DAMMAVALAM × End date: 2023 ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    A STUDY OF LIVELIHOOD SECURITY AMONG COTTON GROWERS IN GUNTUR DISTRICT OF ANDHRA PRADESH
    (RPCAU, Pusa, 2023) MANIKANTA, DAMMAVALAM; SATPATHY, BINEETA
    The research paper titled "An Investigation into Livelihood Security among Cotton Growers in Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh." The investigation was conducted with the particular goal of assessing the livelihood security among small and marginal cotton growers, as well as identifying the factors related to livelihood security among the selected cotton growers. An effort was also undertaken to identify the constraints associated with achieving livelihood security. The Tadikonda and Ponnur blocks of Andhra Pradesh's Guntur district are where the present research investigation was carried out. From every block, three villages were randomly chosen. From each chosen village, a total of 10 small and 10 marginal cotton growers were located. As a result, a sample of 120 cotton growers from six villages was finally chosen for this research. This research investigates a number of variables affecting cotton growers in a specific area. According to the research, the majority of the cotton growers (55.83 percent) are in the middle age range, between the ages of (36 to 50). Additionally, a significant percentage of cotton growers (59.17 percent) are from nuclear families, and (52.50 percent) are associated with medium-sized families. It's important to note that (32.50 percent) of cotton growers were illiterates. (39.17 percent) of them are under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) social group. Above sixty percent of the cotton growers (66.67 percent) have a medium level of family education when it comes to their family and educational standing. Furthermore, a sizable (60.83 percent) of cotton growers belong to only one organization. Cotton growers control precisely half of the small and marginal landholding (50.00 percent) in the research area. (37.50 percent) of cotton growers only work in farming, which is a sizable portion. The majority of families (34.17 percent) have an annual income between Rs. 45,001/- and Rs. 90,000/-. (67.50 percent) of cotton growers had a medium level of owning assets, according to owning assets. Similar to this, the majority of cotton growers exhibit a medium degree of product marketing (65.00 percent), extension contact (60.83 percent), media exposure (55.83 percent), and information-seeking behaviour (57.50 percent). Last but not least, the majority of cotton growers have medium levels of economic motivation and credit orientation (65.00 percent and 62.50 percent, respectively). These results provide important insights for additional research and development plans by illuminating the many variables affecting cotton growers in this area. This research examines the various indicators of livelihood security among cotton growers in a particular area. According to the data, Most of the cotton growers had medium level of Food security (69.16 percent), economic security (64.17 percent), educational security (65.00 percent), social security (56.67 percent), institutional security (66.67 percent), infrastructure security(70.83 percent) and also (43.33 percent) of cotton growers had high level of health security. Whereas the majority of cotton growers (60.83 percent), overall livelihood security is generally at a medium level and the overall extent of livelihood security is 59.04 percent. These findings provide important information for policymakers and stakeholders to implement targeted interventions and improve the general well-being and sustainability of cotton grower’s livelihoods. These findings provide light on the many facets of security among cotton growers in the area. The results reveal, at a 1% level of significance, correlation analysis revealed that a number of factors positively correlated with livelihood security, those are Annual Family Income, Education, Family Education Background, Caste, Social Participation, Occupation, Operational Land Holding, Mass Media Exposure, Extension Contact, Owning assets, and Information Seeking Behaviour. The research also used regression analysis to pinpoint the most significant variables. The most important effects on livelihood security were found to be caused by Annual Family Income, Operational Land Holding, and owning assets, all of which were statistically significant factors. The combined factors account for 88.20 percent of the total variability in the dependent variable, "livelihood security," according to the regression model's goodness of fit, as measured by R2 (0.882). The main constraints faced by cotton growers in a study area. Cotton growers first admitted Lack of knowledge of technical skills and relevant technologies to increase crop output with a mean score - 67.33. Second, Products with low market prices with a mean score - 72.74, additionally, lack of knowledge of the marketing of the products with a mean score of 72.79, additionally, Repeated crop failures with a mean score of 72.79. It was shown that all four barriers had a statistically significant negative influence on the livelihood security of cotton growers in the area. These results highlight the need to address these issues in order to improve the security of cotton grower’s livelihoods. They also throw light on the unique difficulties encountered by cotton growers.