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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 IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ON POPULATION DYNAMICS OF GALL INSECTS INFESTING SOM (Persea bombycina King) AND SOALU (Litsea monopetala Roxb.) PLANT(AAU, Jorhat, 2018) Sahu, Bhupen Kumar; Dutta, L. C.The present study on population dynamics of gall insects infesting Som (Persea bombycina King.) and Soalu (Litsea monopetala Roxb.) plant in relation to the weather factors were carried out in the experimental field of Department of Sericulture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat and CMER&TI, Lahdoigarh during 2017-18. Results indicate that the gall insects are host and organ specific and they produce galls on only one species. The gall insect infestation starts with laying of tiny eggs on the upper surface of the leaves in both Som and Soalu plants. On hatching of eggs, the first instar nymphs of Pauropsylla beesoni and maggots of Asphondylia spp. initiate the process of gall formation. The initial gall formation stage is a minute colour change in the infested area which gradually developed into a gall structure. The fully developed gall structures observed on the leaves were light greenish in colour initially and later on changed to purplish red in Som plant and light greenish to dark greenish in Soalu plant. Finally, the adults emerged out from the galls by making tiny holes at the terminal end of the galls. Gall insects appeared throughout the year; however the incidence, population density, extent of damage and intensity of attack of the pest varied during different months of the year and reached a peak in the month of July. Correlation and regression studies were carried out between the incidence, population density, extent of damage and intensity of attack of gall insects with the weather parameters viz., temperature (maximum and minimum), relative humidity (maximum and minimum), total rainfall, number of rainy days and bright sunshine hours. Significant correlation was found with temperature (maximum and minimum), relative humidity (minimum) and total rainfall with gall infestation. Relative humidity (maximum) and bright sunshine hours showed negative relationship with population build-up whereas other environmental parameters showed positive relationship with gall infestation. Thus, it may be concluded that the gall insect, Asphondylia spp. on Som and Pauropsylla beesoni Laing on Soalu plant appeared throughout the year and were largely regulated by meteorological factors viz., temperature, relative humidity and rainfall in different months. Therefore, proper eco-friendly management practices, preferably conservation and inundative release of bio-control agents against the gall insect would be necessary to avoid the probable hazards created by inorganic pesticides. Therefore a detailed study on management of the gall insect population with different bio-control agents is the need of the hour.ThesisItem Open Access Effect of mating duration on reproductive parameters and its impact on larval growth and quality of cocoons of eri silkworm, Samia ricini Donovan(AAU, Jorhat, 2018) Teronpi, Leedarin; Saikia, MonimalaThe current investigation on effect of mating duration on reproductive parameters and its impact on larval growth and quality of cocoons of eri silkworm, Samia ricinia Donovan, was carried out in the laboratory of Department of Sericulture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat in autumn and spring season during the year 2017-2018. The findings revealed that mating duration had significant effect on fecundity/ female/ day, total fecundity, weight of eggs, total weight of eggs and average hatchability percentage and non-significant effect on total oviposition duration and incubation period of eri silk moth. In almost all mating durations and seasons the egg laying percentage was maximum in the first day which gradually decreased with succeeding number of ovipositing days. Irrespective of season, five hours of mating duration was found to be better in total fecundity, weight of eggs and total weight of eggs which was at par with four hours mating duration. Four hours of mating duration was found to be better in both fecundity/ female/ day and average hatchability percentage regardless of season. Season also had significant effect on total oviposition duration, fecundity/ female/ day, total fecundity, weight of eggs, incubation period and average hatchability percentage. Total oviposition duration and incubation period of eri silk moth was recorded longer in spring season than autumn season. Fecundity/ female/ day, total fecundity and weight of eggs of eri silk moth were recorded better in autumn season. But, average hatchability percentage was better in spring season. Mating duration had no significant effect on larval growth and cocoon parameters. However, season had significant effect on larval duration, weight of full grown larvae, weight of matured larvae, ERR (%), cocoon weight, shell weight and pupal weight. Larval duration of eri silk moth was recorded shorter in autumn than spring season. Weight of full grown larvae, weight of matured larvae, ERR (%), cocoon weight, shell weight and pupal weight of eri silk moth was recorded better in autumn season than spring season. But, shell ratio (%) was better in spring season. Interaction effect between mating duration and season was significant in total oviposition duration, weight of eggs/ female/ day, larval duration, cocoon weight and pupal weight. Thus, from the present investigation it may be inferred that a period of three to five hours coupling duration is optimum for maximum egg laying of eri silk moth. In addition to this, though the fecundity and weight of eggs was registered better in autumn, with shorter incubation period and hatching percentage of eggs of the silk moth performed better in spring season. Larval and cocoon parameters showed better performance in the autumn season than spring season.ThesisItem Open Access TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND CULTURAL PRACTICES IN MUGA SILK PRODUCTION IN NORTH LAKHIMPUR DISTRICT OF ASSAM(AAU, Jorhat, 2018) PEGU, KARPUNPULI; Dutta, L. C.Sericulture, or silk farming, is the rearing of silkworms for the production of raw silk. It is an agro based labour intensive industry providing gainful employment mostly for rural people. Sericulture includes cultivation of 4 varieties of silkworm mainly mulberry, eri, muga and tasar. The golden silk muga is the gift of nature to the state and it is the pride of Assam. Muga rearers of Assam have been practicing this culture with traditional indigenous practices. Traditional knowledge is generated by the local people with their own experience and experimentation to meet their needs and these are sustainable in nature. Considering this, the present study was conducted to identify and document various Indigenous Traditional Knowledge in muga silk production, to study the extent of use of Indigenous Traditional Knowledge in relation to the socio-economic profile of the respondents and to find out the problems perceived by the muga rearers in North Lakhimpur district of Assam. A random sampling design was followed to obtain a sample size of 120 respondents. Ten independent and one dependent variable was selected for the study. The statistical techniques used for the analysis of data were frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, spearman’s correlation co-efficient and weighted mean score (WMS). The findings revealed that 50 per cent of the muga rearers belonged to age group of 36-50 yrs and 55.80 per cent had their education up to middle school. Moreover, 41.70 per cent of the rearers belonged to Other Backward Class, 52.50 per cent of the respondent had medium family size, 40 per cent of the members had income ranging from Rs.75001-100000 and 40 per cent of the members have small size land holding, whereas 68.40 per cent, 70.83 per cent and 58.40 per cent of the respondents had medium level of extension contact, risk bearing ability and decision making ability and on the other hand 40.80 per cent of the respondents have received training exposure. The study further revealed that 64.17 per cent of the respondent had medium level of extent of use of ITK in the district. It was affirmed from the findings that age, family size and size of operational land holding were found to be positive and significant whereas education, extension contact and training exposure were negative and significantly correlated with the extent of use of ITK. On the other hand caste, annual family income, risk bearing ability and decision making ability were found to be positive and non significant with the extent of use of ITK. Major problems reported by muga rearers included lack of capital, glamour, people are not interested to lease their land for muga rearing, impact of environmental pollution, lack of availability of machinery, inadequate marketing facilities, unaffordable cost of hiring vehicles and lack of need based training.ThesisItem Open Access A STUDY ON LIVELIHOOD OPPORTUNITIES OF MUGA SILKWORM REARERS OF SIVASAGAR DISTRICT OF ASSAM.(2019-07) Hussain, NawabTasmin; Dutta, L.C.The study entitled “A study on livelihood opportunities of muga silkworm rearers of Sivasagar district of Assam” was carried out in Sivasagar district.The data were collected personally by the investigator through interview method. Simple frequencies, percentage, mean and standard deviation, along with regression were used for analysis. The study revealed that majority(53.33%) of the muga rearers belonged to the Middle-aged group of 36-55 years of age with 68.33 per cent having middle school level of education with all of them belonging to the caste category of Other Backward Class (OBC). It was evident from the study that majority of the muga rearers had small sized family(52.50%) and were marginal rearers(95%).91.66% of the muga rearers had medium income category.Only 11.66 % of the muga rearers were in contact with extension personnels with more than two third (73.33%) of the them having not attended any training on muga rearing.A total of 69 respondents were involved only in sericulture alone followed by 22 of them who practiced agriculture alongwith sericulture.Moreover they have taken up some other options of earning livelihood as petty business, dairy, goatery, with few of them into some services as driving.It was also seen that two factors namely Operational Land Holding and Higher secondary level of education of the muga rearer determined to a greater extent his livelihood opportunities In the course of the study, various independent factors as age, education, caste, etc were studied and its effect on livelihood opportunities of an individual was analyzed statistically to find out the most important factors that significantly affected the livelihood options opted by the respondents of the Sivasagar district. Hence this study would be a helpful reference in the future to be used for analyzing various implifications regarding the choice of livelihood for a muga farmer. It would further instigate the Govt. and concerned authorities to upscale the strategies needed for the expansion of muga culture and attract less problems.ThesisItem Open Access PHENOLOGY AND COCOON CHARACTERS OF ERI SILKWORM (Samia ricini) AS AFFECTED BY TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY UNDER JORHAT CONDITIONS(AAU, Jorhat, 2019-07) Das, Sudipta Kumar; Dutta, L.C.An investigation on “Phenology and cocoon characters of Eri silkworm (Samia ricini) as affected by temperature and humidity under Jorhat conditions” was carried out in the Department of Sericulture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat during summer, autumn, early spring and late spring seasons in the year 2018-19. The results revealed that the occurrence of the phenophases and cocoon characters varied significantly in different rearing seasons. The phenophases viz. egg laying period, incubation period, egg hatching duration, larval duration (instar-wise and total), instar-wise moulting duration and cocoon spinning period were found to be longest during early spring season followed by late spring and autumn season. The shortest duration of the phenophases was observed during summer season. Cocoon characters viz. cocoon weight and cocoon shell weight were highest in early spring season followed by late spring and autumn season while lowest values were observed during the summer season. The egg hatching percentage and instar-wise larval weights were found to be highest during early spring season followed by late spring and autumn season while the summer season registered for the lowest values. Larval accumulated growing degree days were observed to be highest during early spring followed by summer, autumn and late spring. Most of the phenophases and cocoon characters were negatively correlated with temperature and relative humidity. The accumulated growing degree days during larval period had a positive effect on the cocoon yield parameters. Predictive models for growth and cocoon yield of eri silkworm developed which indicated the most significant weather factor (temperature and relative humidity) responsible for growth and cocoon yield. Thus, from the present investigation, it can be inferred that the occurrence of different phenophases and cocoon characters of eri silkworm were largely regulated by the environmental temperature and relative humidity during the seasons. The best season for rearing was found to be early spring (March-April) considering the larval growth parameters and cocoon yield of eri silkworm. Predictive models developed on the basis of temperature, relative humidity and accumulated growing degree days can be used to estimate the growth and cocoon yield of eri silkworm in different rearing seasons. The findings of the study will help to develop agro-advisory bulletin for various seasons which will help the farmers to adapt eri culture in a proper and efficient way for quantitative and qualitative production of eri cocoon and silk.ThesisItem Open Access A STUDY ON THE ERICULTURE BASED LIVELIHOOD OPPORTUNITIES OF THE KACHARI TRIBE IN JORHAT DISTRICT OF ASSAM(AAU, Jorhat, 2019-07) Buragohain, Chowcin Borsali; Saikia, MonimalaLivelihood opportunities refer to adequate and sustainable access to income and resources to meet the basic needs of life. The present study was conducted among the eri rearers of Kachari tribe in the Jorhat district of Assam with a sample size of 120 respondents. A multistage purposive cum random sampling design was followed for the selection of the respondents. The data were collected by personal interview method with the help of a pre-tested structured research schedule measuring ten different independent variables. „Ericulture based livelihood opportunities of the Kachari tribe in Jorhat district of Assam‟ was selected as the dependent variable. Statistical techniques like frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, chi-square test, Spearman‟s correlation coefficient were used for analyzing data, drawing inferences and testing hypotheses. The recent study revealed that 51.67 per cent respondents belonged to the age group 36-50 years having educational qualification mainly up to primary school level (38.33%). Almost 63.33 per cent had medium size of family. Majority of them had kutcha type houses (65.00%). The eri rearers were found to be mainly small (40.00%) category of land holdings with moderate risk bearing ability (75.00%) and decision making ability (62.50%). Most (65.84%) of the eri rearers had an annual income in the range 1,00,001 and above. Total forty nine numbers of ericulture based livelihood options were found among the respondents. Majority (25.83%) of the eri rearers followed “ericulture + paddy + vegetable” as their livelihood option followed by 6.66 per cent involved in “ericulture + paddy + poultry + arecanut”, 5.83 per cent followed “ericulture + paddy+ dairy+ poultry”. Different types of respondents adopted different types of livelihood options along with eri culture to increase their income. The study disclosed that 48.33 per cent respondents attended training on different aspects of eri culture practices. Majority of the male eri rearers needed training on nursery preparation (66.67%), preparation of hank (66.67%) and marketing (41.67%) whereas female eri rearers needed high training on brushing of larvae (51.67%), harvesting of cocoons (51.67%), spinning of silk (48.33%) and preparation of hank (66.67%). A positive and significant relationship was found between ericulture based livelihood opportunities and type of house, family size and annual income. The findings of the study have revealed considerable scope for the livelihood of the Kachari eri rearers which may be drawn as a relevant policy decision to facilitate to upscale and secure their livelihoods through adequate extension and training support.
