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Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat
Assam Agricultural University is the first institution of its kind in the whole of North-Eastern Region of India. The main goal of this institution is to produce globally competitive human resources in farm sectorand to carry out research in both conventional and frontier areas for production optimization as well as to disseminate the generated technologies as public good for benefitting the food growers/produces and traders involved in the sector while emphasizing on sustainability, equity and overall food security at household level.
Genesis of AAU -
The embryo of the agricultural research in the state of Assam was formed as early as 1897 with the establishment of the Upper Shillong Experimental Farm (now in Meghalaya) just after about a decade of creation of the agricultural department in 1882. However, the seeds of agricultural research in today’s Assam were sown in the dawn of the twentieth century with the establishment of two Rice Experimental Stations, one at Karimganj in Barak valley in 1913 and the other at Titabor in Brahmaputra valley in 1923. Subsequent to these research stations, a number of research stations were established to conduct research on important crops, more specifically, jute, pulses, oilseeds etc. The Assam Agricultural University was established on April 1, 1969 under The Assam Agricultural University Act, 1968’ with the mandate of imparting farm education, conduct research in agriculture and allied sciences and to effectively disseminate technologies so generated. Before establishment of the University, there were altogether 17 research schemes/projects in the state under the Department of Agriculture. By July 1973, all the research projects and 10 experimental farms were transferred by the Government of Assam to the AAU which already inherited the College of Agriculture and its farm at Barbheta, Jorhat and College of Veterinary Sciences at Khanapara, Guwahati.
Subsequently, College of Community Science at Jorhat (1969), College of Fisheries at Raha (1988), Biswanath College of Agriculture at Biswanath Chariali (1988) and Lakhimpur College of Veterinary Science at Joyhing, North Lakhimpur (1988) were established. Presently, the University has three more colleges under its jurisdiction, viz., Sarat Chandra Singha College of Agriculture, Chapar, College of Horticulture, Nalbari & College of Sericulture, Titabar. Similarly, few more regional research stations at Shillongani, Diphu, Gossaigaon, Lakhimpur; and commodity research stations at Kahikuchi, Buralikson, Tinsukia, Kharua, Burnihat and Mandira were added to generate location and crop specific agricultural production packages.
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ThesisItem Open Access PERCEPTION OF FARMERS ON HIGH YIELDING VARIETIES OF RICE RELEASED BY ASSAM AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY- A STUDY IN GOLAGHAT DISTRICT OF ASSAM(2021) MURALI, VARNA; Barman, SundarThe present study was conducted in Golaghat district of Assam with the objectives to determine the perception of farmers towards AAU released high yielding varieties of rice and its correlation between the selected profile characteristic of the respondents and the problems faced by the farmers in cultivating HYVs of rice along with their suggestive measures. A multistage purposive cum random sampling design was followed for selecting 120 respondents for the study. Appropriate statistical tools viz. frequency, percentage, arithmetic mean, standard deviation, ranking, Pearson’s correlation, and chi-square were used to analyze and interpret the data according to the objectives. The analysis of the profile characteristics of the farmers revealed that the majority (70.83 %) of the respondents belonged to the age group of 30 to 50 years and most of them (94.17%) were male, had high school education i.e., 9 to 10 years of formal educational experience, belonged to OBC category (50.83 %), with a medium-sized family of 5 to 6 members (55.83 %), Agriculture was primary source of income for the majority (83.33%) with average annual income of ₹ 110437.50. Marginal landholders (less than 1 ha) were the majority (60.00%) in the study area with 80 to 100 per cent of the total operational landholding under rice cultivation with least scatteredness of land holdings. The average farming experience of the respondents was 26.57 years with an average cropping intensity of 147.32 per cent. A major proportion of the respondents (58.33%) had a medium level of innovativeness, degree of commercialization (81.67%), economic motivation (63.33%), extension contact (70.00%), and mass media exposure (70.83%) with the highest extension contact with farmers’ organizations and television was the highest utilized mass media. Irrigation facility was not available for the majority (79.17%) of the respondents. Most of them were having a medium degree of farm mechanization, a medium level of labour availability (6-12 number of labour), and a medium level of infrastructural facilities. Around 83.33 per cent of the total rice acreage (90.00 ha) in Sali season was occupied by HYVs of rice released by AAU. The dominating varieties in the study area were Ranjit, Ranjit Sub-1, Mahsuri and Bahadur Sub-1 in terms of percentage share of area and percentage adopters. The majority of the farmers had a moderate level of perception on quality of high yielding varieties of rice released by AAU. Greater productivity, climatic adaptability and good cooking quality and taste were the quality traits highly perceived by the farmers. Bina Dhan-11, Keteki Joha, and Ranjit Sub-1were the varieties perceived as high by the farmers in terms of quality dimensions. Annual income, caste, occupation, degree of land scatteredness, innovativeness, commercialization, economic motivation, extension contact, mass media exposure, the status of infrastructural facilities and family labour were found to have a significant association on perception level of farmers towards HYVs of rice. Fluctuating market price, uncertainty in rainfall, high cost of inputs, lack of irrigation, etc. were some of the severe problems faced by the farmers of the study area in the cultivation of HYVs of rice. It is discovered from the study that the majority of people have a moderate perception on quality dimension of HYVs of rice released by AAU. To popularize the highly perceived high yielding varieties, the extension system should put sincere efforts for promotions through large-scale demonstrations, training, awareness programmes, etc. The varieties having a low level of perception need to be refined and recast quality.ThesisItem Open Access EFFECTIVENESS OF ONLINE TEACHING-LEARNING AMONG AGRICULTURAL STUDENTS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A STUDY ON STUDENTS AT ASSAM AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY, JORHAT(AAU, Jorhat, 2021) Deka, Chaya Snigdha; Barman, UtpalOnline teaching and learning have played a significant role, thus helping in the emergence of virtual class learning (Dey and Ghosh, 2020). The study entitled “Effectiveness of Online Teaching-Learning among Agricultural Students’ during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study on students’ at Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat” was a descriptive study done by conducting an online survey amongst the undergraduate students at the College of Agriculture, Jorhat. The survey was conducted in a questionnaire in Google Form and distributed among the students via emails. A total sample size of 250 students were taken through stratified random sampling out of which 91 students responded to the questionnaire. The study was conducted to know students' perception of the technology used by AAU in conducting online classes during the pandemic and experience on onlinelearning along with problems related to financial, mental, emotional and others. The study touched on the points related to students' perspectives on the issues related to online learning. The study found that most students use smartphones to take online classes (43.50 %). Most students used Google Classroom (97.80 %). In contrast, most students think Google Meet is a useful online teaching tool (92.3 %). Teachers most used Google Meet and Google Classroom together (50.54 %). Students have a moderate level of perception of the technology used by AAU for online classes. The most severe issue students faced during online classes was poor internet connectivity (52.75 %). According to the research findings, online teachinglearning platforms can be used as an alternative teaching and learning method for the agricultural discipline, as the current situation has compelled the educational system to shift to this new way of learning.ThesisItem Open Access Adoption of Maize Based Cropping System in Flood Affected Areas as Coping Mechanism -A Study in Morigaon District, Assam(AAU, Jorhat, 2021) Goswami, Swapnali; Barman, SundarMaize is now being important crop component for cropping system followed in flood affected areas of Assam. Considering the importance of maize crop in flood affected areas, the present study was carried out in Morigaon district of Assam with following objectives - 1. study the extent of adoption of maize based cropping system in flood affected area, 2. assess the income of the farmers after adopting this maize based cropping system, 3. determine perceived effectiveness of maize based cropping system as coping mechanism for flood, 4. study the factors likely to influence in adoption, income and perceived effectiveness of maize based cropping system and 5. identify problems faced by farmers in adoption of maize based cropping system. A purposive and proportionate random sampling method was used for selecting respondents. Appropriate statistical methods were used for analysis and interpretation of data. It was revealed from the study that majority (76%) of the farmers show moderate level adoption of recommended maize cultivation practices. ’Sowing time’, ‘method of sowing’, ‘drainage facility and moisture maintain at critical stage’ were adopted by all respondents as recommended. While in case of varieties, weeding operation, fertilizer application, plant protection measures were adopted with modification from the recommendation. Different maize based cropping systems were identified in the study area, among which ‘Maize-Maize/Mustard- Vegetable’ and ‘Rice/Maize-Maize/Boro paddy-Jute/Vegetable’ cropping systems were mostly followed by the farmers. It was also found from the study that maize varieties such as P3401, DE222, Maharaja 92, Bumper and Sun Vamman were mostly grown in the research area. Maize based cropping system was found more profitable than rice based cropping system. The average income earned by the maize farmers was found as Rs. 3, 35,823 whereas the average income of rice farmers was Rs. 2, 92,649 and difference was found statistical significant. Majority (64%) of farmers following maize based cropping system was found as medium level effectiveness for coping with adverse effect of flood. Well established marketing channel, suitable climate and soil for growing maize and also a good benefit cost ratio of maize based cropping system were the important dimensions for farmers to consider it as effective. The result depicts that the explanatory variables ‘farming experience’ (X4), ‘maize cultivated area’ (X6), ‘cropping intensity’ (X8), ‘resource status’ (X9), ‘economic motivation’ (X15), ‘degree of innovativeness’ (X16), ‘perceived effectiveness’ (X18) and ‘income’ (X19) were found positive and ‘age’ (X1), ‘operational land holding’ (X5), ‘flood proneness’ (X7) were negative and significantly contributing for expressing the variation of extent of adoption. These variables together explained 87% (R2 = .878) variation of extent of adoption of maize based cropping system. The positive and significant contribution for explaining the variation in income of farmers were ‘educational experience’ (X2), ‘family size’ (X3), ‘operational land holding’ (X5), ‘maize cultivated area’ (X6), ‘cropping intensity’ (X8), ‘extent of adoption’ (X18), ‘perceived effectiveness’ (X19) and negative and significant contribution for explaining the variation in income of farmers was ‘market agent visit to a farm’ (X13). These variables together explained 84% (R2 = .848) variation of income of farmers followed maize based cropping system. Likewise positive and significant contribution for explaining the variation in perceived effectiveness of farmers were ‘maize cultivated area’ (X6), ‘resource status’ (X9), ‘farmers visit to the market’ (X12), ‘extent of adoption’ (X18), ‘income’ (X19) and ‘flood proneness’ (X7) was found as negative and significant contribution for explaining the variation in perceived effectiveness. Around 69% variation of perceived effectiveness is explained by these variables in together. But different problems related to finance, market, production etc were also came into focused during the time of personal interview with the respondents. Extension agencies, both private and public extension system need to be strong for understanding the farmers’ level problem and try to solve them. There is also a need of different trainings on maize crop and extension system should put forward its sincere efforts for popularizing the benefits of maize crops among the farmers for its further adoption in future.ThesisItem Open Access A STUDY ON KNOWLEDGE AND ADOPTION OF ORGANIC FARMING PRACTICES OF BLACK RICE (CHAK-HAO) BY THE FARMERS OF MANIPUR(AAU, Jorhat, 2021) Devi, Kharibam Kabita; Das, P. K.The present study entitled “A study on knowledge and adoption of organic farming practices of black rice (Chak-Hao) by the farmers of Manipur” was carried out with the following objectives: 1. Study the personal, socio-economic, psychological and communication characteristics of farmers associated with organic cultivation practices of black rice 2. Assess the farmers’ level of knowledge and extent of adoption of recommended organic cultivation practices of black rice by the farmers 3. Find out the factors influencing farmers’ level of knowledge and extent of adoption of recommended organic cultivation practices of black rice by the farmers 4. Identify the constraints as perceived by the farmers in production and marketing of organic black rice The study was undertaken in Imphal West and Kakching districts of Manipur which were selected purposively, asthese two districts had the larger area under organic black rice cultivation. The Patsoi sub-division from Imphal West district and the Waikhong sub-division from Kakching district were selected purposively as these two sub-divisions had larger area under organic black rice cultivation. From Patsoi subdivision, three villages namely Kamong, Heigrujam and Ngairangbam were selected purposively on the basis of highest number of black rice cultivating farmers. From Waikhong sub-division, three villages namely Wangoo, Sugnu and Khongyam were selected purposively on the basis of highest number of organic black rice cultivating farmers. For each of the selected villages, a list of organic black rice cultivating farmers was prepared from which 50 per cent of the total farmers was selected to the sample following proportionate allocation method. Thus, from the population of 160 farmers, a sample of 80 farmers were selected for the study. The primary data for the study were collected by the personal interview method with the help of a structured research schedule during the period from April, 2020 to September, 2020. Keeping in view the objectives of the study, 19 independent variables and 2 dependent variables were included in the study. The independent variable included in the study were Age, Education level, Farming experience, Type of family, Family size, ii Size of operational land holding, Area under black rice cultivation, Farm mechanization, Annual farm income, Annual net income from black rice production, Extension contact, Mass media exposure, Exposure to training, Scientific orientation, Decision making ability, Achievement motivation, Economic motivation, Management orientation and Risk bearing ability. The dependent variables included in the study were farmers’ level of knowledge of recommended organic cultivation practices of black rice and extent of adoption of recommended organic cultivation practices of black rice by the farmers which was measured by using the procedure used by Borah (2017).The statistical techniques and tests used in the study for analysis and interpretation of the data were frequency, percentage, arithmetic mean, standard deviation, co-efficient of variation, multiple correlations, multiple regression and t-test for testing the significance of the coefficients for correlation and regression analysis. Findings revealed that majority of the respondents (56.25%) belonged to middle aged category followed by 37.50 per cent of respondents in old aged category. The rest 6.25 per cent of the respondents belonged to young aged category. Majority of the respondents (31.25%) had middle school level of education and again 31.25% had Graduate/diploma and above level of education followed by 22.50 per cent respondents with high school level of education, 10.00 per cent with higher secondary /PU level of education. 5.00 per cent of the respondents were illiterate but there were no ‘can read only’ and ‘can read and write/primary level’ category respondent in the sample of the study. Great majority of the respondents (81.25%) had medium (5-8 years) experience of organic black rice farming followed by 10.00 per cent respondents with long term experience (9 years and above). Only 8.75 per cent of the respondents had short term experience (Up to 4 years) of organic black rice cultivation. Most of the respondents (61.25%) belonged to the nuclear family type and the rest 38.75 per cent belonged to the joint family type and majority of the respondents (66.25%) had small family size (having up to 5 members) and rest 33.75 per cent had large family size (having up above 5 members). More than half of the respondents (56.25%) belonged to the small category of operational land holding size followed by marginal land owners 35.00 per cent and 7.50 per cent of the respondents with semi-medium land holding while only 1.25 per cent of the respondents belonged to the medium land holding category. No respondents were found in the large land holding category. Great majority of the respondents (85.00%) were having land area from 0.23 to 0.76 ha under organic black rice cultivation followed by 7.50 per cent respondents having land area from 0.76 to 2.0 iii ha under organic black rice cultivation. Again 7.50 per cent of the respondents had land area up to 0.22 ha under organic black rice cultivation. In case of farm mechanization majority (62.50%) of the respondents were having medium level of farm mechanization, followed by 18.75 per cent with high level of farm mechanization and the remaining 18.75 per cent were having low level of farm mechanization. Majority of the respondents (56.25%) had medium annual farm income ranging from Rs 110038 to Rs 520891 followed by 38.75 per cent respondents with low annual farm income ranging from Rs 45300 to Rs 110037 while only 5.00 per cent of them had high annual farm income ranging from Rs 520892 to Rs 747000. Regarding the net farm income from organic black rice production, majority of the respondents (78.75%) had medium net income ranging from Rs 37451 to Rs 83906 followed by 11.25 per cent respondents with low net income ranging from Rs 25500 to Rs 37450 and 10.00 per cent of them had high net income ranging from Rs 83907 to Rs 125000. Majority of the respondents (75.00%) had medium level of extension contact followed by 20.00 per cent with low level of extension contact and only 5.00 per cent of the respondents were found with high level of extension contact. Majority of the respondents (63.75%) had medium mass media exposure, followed by 23.75 per cent with low mass media exposure. Only 12.50 per cent of the respondents had low mass media exposure and majority of the respondents (81.25%) had medium level of exposure to training followed by 23.75 percent respondents with high level of exposure to training and only 7.50 percent respondents with low level of exposure to training. Majority of the respondents (46.25%) had low level of scientific orientation followed by 36.25 per cent respondents with medium level of scientific orientation and 17.50 per cent respondents with high level of scientific orientation. Majority of the respondents (60.00%) had low level of decision making ability followed by 33.75 per cent respondents with medium level of decision making ability and only 6.25 per cent respondents with high level of decision making ability. Most of the respondents (68.75%) had medium level of achievement motivation followed by 25.00 per cent respondents with low level of achievement motivation and only 6.25 per cent of them had high level of achievement motivation. Majority of the respondents (52.50%) had medium level of economic motivation followed by 32.50 per cent respondents with low level of economic motivation and 15.00 percent respondents with high level of economic motivation and majority of the respondents (71.25%) had medium level of management orientation followed by 17.50 per cent respondents with low level of management orientation. Only 11.25 per cent of iv the respondents were found with high level of management orientation. Majority of the respondents (67.50%) had medium level of risk bearing ability followed by 26.25 per cent respondents with low level of risk bearing ability and only 6.25 per cent respondents with high level of risk bearing ability. Findings revealed that majority of the respondents (53.75%) had medium level of knowledge on recommended organic cultivation practices of black rice, followed by 30.00 per cent respondents with low level of knowledge and the remaining 16.25 per cent of them were found with high level of knowledge. The findings revealed that majority of the farmers (71.25%) had medium extent of adoption, followed by 23.75 per cent of the respondents having low extent of adoption of recommended organic cultivation practices of black rice. Only 5.00 per cent of them had high extent of adoption of recommended package of practices of organic black rice. Findings of correlation analysis indicated that out of the 19 selected independent variables, 9 independent variables were significantly correlated with farmers’ level of knowledge of recommended organic cultivation practices of black rice. Among the 9 independent variables, 8 variables viz., education level (0.841), farming experience as organic black rice cultivator (0.339), extension contact (0.843), mass media exposure (0.477), exposure to training (0.820), scientific orientation (0.328), decision making ability (0.741) and management orientation (0.829) showed significant and positive relationship with the level of knowledge of recommended cultivation practices of organic black rice at 0.01 level of probability and 1 variable viz., farm mechanization (0.272) showed significant and positive relationship with the level of knowledge of recommended organic cultivation practices of black rice at 0.05 level of probability. The variables which were found to have significant correlation with level of knowledge of recommended cultivation practices of organic black rice were further selected for multiple linear regression analysis with a view to determining the relative influence of those variables in predicting the variation in level of knowledge. The prediction power of multiple regressions was estimated with the help of coefficient of multiple determinations (R2) and adjusted R2. Out of 9 independent variables, only 5 variables, viz., education level (0.329), extension contact (0.716), exposure to training (0.155), decision making ability (0.544) and management orientation (0.267) were found to contribute significantly towards v variation in the farmers’ level of knowledge of recommended organic cultivation practices of black rice. Four variables, viz., extension contact, exposure to training, decision making ability and management orientation showed significant contribution towards level of knowledge at 0.01 level of probability and only one variable viz., education level showed significant contribution towards the level of knowledge of recommended cultivation practices of organic black rice at 0.05 level of probability. The value of R2 (0.902) indicated that 9 independent variables selected for the study were efficient in predicting the level of knowledge of recommended organic cultivation practices of black rice. The 9 independent variables fitted in the linear regression analysis could predict 90.20 per cent of the variation in the farmers’ level of knowledge of recommended organic cultivation practices of black rice. The value of adjusted R2 (0.890) indicated that 9 independent variables selected for regression analysis could predict 89.00 per cent of the variation in the farmers’ level of knowledge of recommended organic cultivation practices of black rice taking only the useful variables into account. Findings of correlation analysis indicated that out of the 20 selected independent variables, 10 independent variables were significantly correlated with extent of adoption of recommended organic cultivation practices of black rice by the farmers. Among the 10 independent variables, 9 variables viz, education level (0.793), size of operational land holding (0.736), extension contact (0.857), mass media exposure (0.859), exposure to training (0.831), scientific orientation (0.781), decision making ability (0.449), achievement motivation (0.548) and economic motivation (0.849) showed significant and positive relationship with the extent of adoption of recommended cultivation practices of organic black rice at 0.01 level of probability and 1 variable viz., knowledge (0.261) showed significant and positive relationship with the extent of adoption of recommended organic cultivation practices of black rice at 0.05 level of probability. The variables which were found to have significant correlation with extent of knowledge of recommended organic cultivation practices of black rice were further selected for multiple linear regression analysis with a view to determining the relative influence of those variables in predicting the variation in extent of adoption. The prediction power of multiple regressions was estimated with the help of coefficient of multiple determinations (R2) and adjusted R2. vi Out of 10 independent variables, only 6 variables, viz., education level (1.075), extension contact (1.978), scientific orientation (0.256), achievement motivation (0.237), economic motivation (0.317) and knowledge (0.107) were found to contribute significantly towards variation in the extent of adoption of recommended organic cultivation practices of black rice by the farmers. Three variables, viz., education level, extension contact and scientific orientation showed significant contribution towards extent of adoption at 0.01 level of probability and the remaining three variables viz., achievement motivation, economic motivation and knowledge level showed significant contribution towards the extent of adoption of recommended organic cultivation practices of black rice at 0.05 level of probability. The value of R2 (0.908) indicated that 10 independent variables selected for the study were efficient in predicting the extent of adoption of recommended organic cultivation practices of black rice. The 10 independent variables fitted in the linear regression analysis could predict 90.80 per cent of the variation in the extent of adoption of recommended organic cultivation practices of black rice by the farmers. All the respondents (100.00%) perceived that ‘high cost of labour during peak time’ was the most important constraint (ranked first) faced by the farmers in production of organic black rice. The other constraints faced by the farmers in order of importance were ‘small and fragmented land holding’ (97.50%), ‘Lack of knowledge of latest technical information’ (75.00%), ‘Inability to attend training programmes on organic black rice production due to distance’ (67.50%), ‘Lack of skill to operate machines/implements’(50.00%), ‘Lack of knowledge about organic certification process’(45.00%), and ‘non-availability of equipments’ (11.25%) which were ranked 2nd, 3rd , 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th respectively. Regarding marketing related problems, majority (77.50%) of the respondents perceived that ‘lack of market related information’ was the most important constraint faced by the farmers which was ranked first. The other constraints faced by the members in marketing of organic black rice were ‘lack of market facility other than MOMA’ (72.50%), ‘low selling price’ (37.50%), and ‘poor storage facility’ (12.50%) which were assigned ranks from 2nd to 4th respectively.
