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Dr. Y. S. Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry, Solan
Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, was established on 1st December, 1985 with the objective to promote education, research and extension education in the fields of Horticulture, Forestry and allied disciplines. Late Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar, the first Chief Minister and the architect of Himachal Pradesh perceived the importance of Horticulture and Forestry to develop and improve the State economy which led to the establishment of this University. Its history lies in erstwhile Himachal Agricultural College, Solan, established in 1962 and affiliated to the Panjab University. It became one of the campuses of Agriculture Complex of Himachal Pradesh University on its formation in 1970. Consequent upon the establishment of Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya in 1978, this campus became its Horticulture Complex and finally in 1985, assumed the status of a State University, being the only University in the country engaged exclusively in teaching, research and extension in Horticulture and Forestry.
The University is located at Nauni in Solan District of Himachal Pradesh, 13 km from Solan on Solan-Rajgarh Road, at an elevation of 1300 metres above mean sea level. Solan town is situated on national highway (NH-22) and is well connected by train and bus services.
The University has four constituent colleges, out of which, two are located at the main campus Nauni, one for horticulture and the other for forestry, having 9 and 7 departments, respectively. The third College i.e., College of Horticulture & Forestry is located at Neri in Hamirpur District on Nadaun-Hamirpur state highway, about 6 Km from Hamirpur town and is well connected with bus service. The college offers three Undergraduate Degree Programmes i.e. BSc (Hons.) Horticulture, BSc (Hons.) Forestry and B. Tech. Biotechnology and MSc degree programme in a few subjects. The fourth college i.e. College of Horticulture and Forestry, Thunag (Mandi) is located at Thunag District Mandi. This college offer BSc (Hons.) Horticulture and BSc (Hons.) Forestry degree programme. In addition, there are five Regional Research Stations, 12 Satellite Stations and five Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) situated in different zones of the State.
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ThesisItem Open Access AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF FARMING SYSTEMS FOR IMPROVING LIVELIHOOD SECURITY OF HILL FARMERS(NAUNI,UHF, 2020-12) SANJEEV KUMAR; SHARMA, RAVINDERABSTRACT The present study has been carried out in the hills of Himachal Pradesh by selecting a sample of 240 farmers from all four agro-climatic zones of the State. Stratified random sampling technique was used for the selection of sampled households. The results revealed that average family size at overall level in the study area comprises of 5.39 persons, out of which, the proportion of males (52.24%) was higher than the female (48.09%) counterparts. The literacy rate was found to vary between 83.33 to 90.00 per cent among selected districts with overall literacy rate of 87.08 per cent. Agriculture has been found as the main occupation as 65.83 per cent of farmers at overall level were engaged in it. Average size of land holding was found maximum (1.35 ha) in Kinnaur district of Zone-IV followed by Mandi district of Zone-II (1.23 ha), Shimla district of Zone-III (1.17 ha) and Una district of Zone-I (1.07 ha). Overall, the average land holding of the sampled households was 1.21 hectare out of which only 47.93 per cent was irrigated. The gross cropped area was highest (2.08 ha) in Mandi district followed by Una (1.84 ha), Shimla (1.54 ha) and Kinnaur (1.33 ha) districts. The cropping intensity was highest in Una (194%) followed by Mandi (192%), Shimla (143%) and Kinnaur (110%) districts with overall cropping intensity of 157 per cent. The standard animal unit was highest (4.01) in Kinnaur district followed by Shimla (3.55), Mandi (3.27) and Una (2.95) districts. The farmers of the study area were practicing six major farming systems, viz., C+V+F+D, C+F+D, C+V+D, V+F+D, C+D and F+D at overall level. Among these farming systems, C+V+F+D and C+F+D farming systems were most profitable in Kinnaur district of Zone-IV with output-input ratio of 1.38 and 1.35, respectively. Further, C+V+D farming system was most profitable in Shimla district of Zone-III(1.18), whereas, the output-input ratio in case of C+D farming system was higher (1.16) in Una district of Zone-I. The output-input ratio under V+F+D and F+D farming systems was 1.33 and 1.28, respectively. The results related to input use pattern of existing farming systems revealed that among selected districts as well as at overall level, expenditure on human labour accounted for maximum proportion of total input cost followed by expenditure on green fodder and dry fodder. On an overall level, lowest variation in Cost C3/D (16.65%) was under C+V+D farming system, whereas, the income inequality was minimum (0.18) under C+D farming system. The impact of age of farmer under C+D; household size under C+V+F+D, C+F+D and V+F+D; farmers’ education under C+V+F+D, C+V+D and V+F+D; years of experience under C+F+D and C+V+D, and number of animals under all existing farming systems was found statistically significant. Further, increasing returns to scale were found under C+V+F+D (1.05), C+F+D (1.13) and C+D (1.15) farming systems implying that doubling of input in these systems will result in enhancing the output more than double, whereas, under C+V+D (0.98) and V+F+D (0.88), there were decreasing returns to scale. The optimum plans developed for different farming systems clearly revealed the possibility of increasing the farm profitability by optimum utilization of the available resources. The estimated impact of market access on input use and agricultural productivity revealed that the use of inputs under investigation increased with improvement in market access of farmers leading to increase in aggregate agricultural productivity. On an overall level, it was found that lack of subsidy for inputs, lack of processing facilities, lack of training or extension services, high cost of inputs, high cost of production, labour scarcity, lack of regulated markets, price fluctuations, non-remunerative prices, monkeys/wild animals/stray animals’ menace and higher insect/pests /disease attack were the major constraints of farming systems in the study area.ThesisItem Open Access PRODUCTION AND MARKETING OF VEGETABLE CROPS GROWN UNDER NATURAL FARMING: A CASE STUDY OF MANDI DISTRICT IN HIMACHAL PRADESH(NAUNI,UHF, 2020-11) AJAY KUMAR; PRASHER, R SABSTRACT The present study entitled “Production and marketing of vegetable crops grown under natural farming: a case study of mandi district in Himachal Pradesh.”. A sample of 120 farmers practicing natural farming was selected using Simple Random Design. 40 farmers from three block i.e. Sundernagar, Karsog and Balh were selected. A sample of 5 traders, 5 wholesalers and 5 retailers from Sundernagar were selected randomly. Results revealed that literacy rate was 96.15 percent in males and 81.58 per cent in females with literacy index of 3.15 and 2.32 in males and females respectively indicating average quality of education. 81.14 per cent of the household engaged inagriculture followed by Services 8.75 per cent and Business 0.9 per cent. Average number of workers was 3.71. Average land holding was 0.83 ha out of which 0.30 ha area under natural farming and 0.15 ha area under conventional farming. The cropping intensity was 204 per cent in natural farming. The average number of livestock was 4.92 out of which cow was 15.79 per cent, bullock 22.72 per cent and improved buffalo was 1.21 per cent. The agriculture income share in total household income was 58.11 per cent. There were four major crop under Natural Farming i.e. Tomato (0.02 ha), Frenchbeans (0.07 Ha), Pea (0.03 Ha) and Cauliflower (0.04 Ha). The estimated yield per hectare of land in Tomato was 101 q/ha, French Bean 60 q/ha, Pea 59 q/ha and Cauliflower 86 q/ha. The yield from SPNF crops were less as compare to conventional crops. The estimated net returns from per hectare of land in Tomato was Rs. 117433 /ha, French Bean Rs. 89522/ha, Pea Rs. 81686/ha and Cauliflower Rs 75509/ha. The estimated costs per hectare of land in Tomato was Rs. 86532 /ha, French Bean Rs. 81164/ha, Pea Rs. 64188/ha and Cauliflower Rs 61620/ha. The sum of elasticity coefficient in all SPNF crops were decreasing returns to scale. Marginal factor price ratio of natural fertilizers, labour, seed and plant protections for all SPNF crops is less than unity which indicates resources are at over utilization level. Three main marketing channels were found prevalent in the study area for marketing of vegetables grown under natural farming. Among these channel-C, connecting Producer – Local traderWholesaler - Retailer - Consumer was found to be the most preferred channel as 63.00 per cent of the produce was traded through this marketing channel. facing irrigation issues during peak times, Lack of govt. Support, Inadequate training facilities, lack of extension facilities, Non availability of specialized market, No fair price for produce in market, and Wholesalers not taking consent while selling the produce were production and marketing problemsreported by the farmers in the study areaThesisItem Open Access COMPARATIVE ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF ORGANIC AND INORGANIC VEGETABLE FARMING IN MID HILL ZONE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH(NAUNI,UHF, 2020-11) THAKUR, NIYATI; SHARMA, RAVINDER“Comparative ECONOMIC ANALYSIS of Organic and Inorganic Vegetable of Organic and Inorganic Vegetable Farming in Mid Hill Zone of Himachal Pradesh” was conducted during 2019-20. Simple random sampling design was used to select the respondents from the randomly selected Dharampur and Gopalpur blocks of Mandi district. A sample of 100 farmers were selected. The selected farmers were classified as marginal (<1 ha) and small (1-2 ha). Both primary and secondary data were used for the study. Socio – economic analysis of the farmers revealed an average size of 4.26 members with a literacy rate of 97.54 per cent and an index of 3.91.Dependency ratio on the study area was 0.18. The cultivated land accounted for 90.34 per cent of total land holdings and 10.90 per cent of the total land holdings was under vegetable crops. A cropping intensity of 176.16 per cent was found in the study area. Average number of cattle units were 2.16 of which 37.33 per cent were buffaloes. Cost analysis of inorganic and organic cultivation revealed that output – input ratio in inorganic cultivation of cauliflowers was 1.71, whereas, in organic cauliflower it was 2.27. Similarly, in case of organic pea this ratio (2.59) was higher compared to inorganic pea (1.96).The output – input of organic potato (2.56) was higher than inorganic potato (1.98). In case of organic tomato, output- input ratio was 2.65 compared to inorganic tomato (1.95), thus revealing higher returns per rupee investment in organic cultivation of vegetable crops. Resource use efficiency analysis of organic and inorganic cultivation of vegetable crops revealed that majority of inputs are being underutilized. Thus their reallocation will result in enhanced production. However, in inorganic cultivation of potato labour was overutilised. Major problems in the cultivation of vegetable crops in the area were high wage rate, lack of organic certification and shortage of skilled labour.ThesisItem Open Access ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF VEGETABLES GROWN UNDER NATURAL FARMING IN UNA DISTRICT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH(NAUNI,UHF, 2020-11) MAHAJAN, ANKITAABSTRACT The present study entitled “Economic Analysis of vegetables grown under Natural Farming in Una district of Himachal Pradesh” .A sample of 120 farmers was drawn by using simple random technique. For the analysis of data the total respondents were divided into three classes according to the size of their land holdings, viz., marginal (<1 ha), small (1-2 ha), and medium (>2 ha). Results of the study revealed that 66.67 per cent households had joint families and 33.33per cent were nuclear families. The average family size was 5.59 persons with literacy rate of 82.49% and 2.11 as literacy index.83.60 per cent of work force is involved in agriculture. The average land holding size was found 1.06 hectares, of which 22.56 per cent were under natural farming , 53.12 per cent were under conventional farming. Cropping intensity of natural farming was 196.5 per cent.and 194.52 per cent in the conventional farming. Tubewell (71.67%) w as major source of irrigation in the study area. Agriculture and Livestockformed84.18 per centpart ofincome of the farmer. The total cost of cultivation of cabbage, cauliflower, pea, potato, spinach, radishper hectare under natural farming were Rs.53167.73, Rs. 50452.18, Rs. 52198.87. Rs. 60553.71. Rs. 59090.95., Rs.50978.87 respectively and corresponding figures under conventional farming were Rs 159879.66, Rs 115451.16, Rs 118036.71, Rs 132312.37 , Rs 92806.1, Rs 107140.18.The average net returns from cultivation of cabbage, cauliflower, pea, potato, spinach, radish under natural farming were Rs.1.41 lakh ,Rs.1.01 lakh, Rs.1.31 lakh, Rs.1.23 lakh, Rs.1.28 lakh, 1.61 lakh respectively and corresponding figures under conventional farming were Rs.1.12 lakh,Rs.0.56 lakh,Rs.1.12 lakh,Rs.0.74 lakh,Rs.1.07 lakh,Rs.1.53 lakh. The output-input ratio of vegetables grown onnatural farms was higher than vegetables grown on conventional farms. Productivity of crops under natural farming was found lower than crops under conventional farming however lesser productivity were compensated by lower cost of. Three marketing channels were prevalent in the study area for marketing of vegetables crop viz., Channel-I (Producer Consumer), Channel-II (ProducerWholesalerRetailer Consumer) and Channel-III (ProducerLocal trader wholesaler-RetailerConsumer). The most favoured channel adopted by vegetable growers in the study area was Channel-C as the highest proportion of total marketed produce moved through this channel (54.33%).Around 70 per cent of cauliflower, 66 per cent of pea, 67 per cent of cabbage, 71per cent of potato, 64 per cent of radish and 66per cent of spinach were disposed via Channel – III followed by Channel – II, and Channel–I. Major problem faced by more than 50per centfarmers was lack of adequate information and lack of extension facilities . Other problems like lack of govt support, poor knowledge of package of practices, inadequate training facilities, lack of technical knowledge non-availability of labor at peak operation time were also faced bythe farmer.ThesisItem Open Access COMPARATIVE ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF ORGANIC AND INORGANIC VEGETABLE FARMING IN LOW HILL ZONE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH(NAUNI,UHF, 2020-11) CHAUDHARY, ATUL; SHARMA, RAVINDERABSTRACT “Comparative Economic Analysis of Organic and Inorganic vegetables Organic Farming in Low Hill Zone of Himachal Pradesh” was conducted during 2019-20. Simple random sampling design was used to select the respondents from the randomly selected Amb block of Una district and Sadar block of Bilaspur District. A sample of 100 farmers was selected. The selected farmers were classified as marginal (<1 ha), small (1-2 ha) and medium (>2 ha). Both primary and secondary data were used for the study. Socio – economic analysis of the farmers revealed an average size of 5.33 members with a literacy rate of 86.50 per cent and an index of 2.34. Dependency ratio on the study area was 0.24. The cultivated land accounted for 98.25 per cent of total land holdings. A cropping intensity of 191.97 per cent was found in the study area. Average numbers of cattle units were 2.32 of which 63.53 per cent was cows. Cost analysis of inorganic and organic cultivation revealed that output – input ratio in inorganic cultivation of cauliflowers was 1.89, whereas, in organic cauliflower it was 2.15. Similarly, in case of organic pea this ratio (1.68) was higher compared to inorganic pea (1.33).The output – input of organic potato (2.55) was higher than inorganic potato (2.20). In case of organic tomato, output- input ratio was 2.98 compared to inorganic tomato (2.49), thus revealing higher returns per rupee investment in organic cultivation of vegetable crops. Resource use efficiency analysis of organic and inorganic cultivation of vegetable crops revealed that majority of inputs is being underutilized. Thus their reallocation will result in enhanced production. However, in inorganic cultivation of potato, plant protection was over utilized and in case of organic tomato, fertilizer was over utilized. Major problems in the cultivation of vegetable crops in the area were high wage rate, lack of organic certification, shortage of skilled labour and lack of knowledge.ThesisItem Open Access ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF PRODUCTION AND MARKETING OF MAJOR VEGETABLE CROPS IN KULLU VALLEY OF HIMACHAL PRADESH(NAUNI,UHF, 2020-11) MANDLA, ISHITA; VAIDYA, MANOJ KUMARABSTRACT The present study entitled “Economic Analysis of production and marketing of major vegetable crops in Kullu valley of Himachal Pradesh” was carried out in Kullu and Naggar blocks of district Kullu on the basis of highest area under vegetable cultivation. The multi-stage random sampling procedure was adopted to select the respondents. Compound annual growth rate was used to analyse the trend in vegetable cultivation and various cost concepts were used in order to calculate the benefits realized from vegetable cultivation. The results of the study indicate that about 64.09 per cent of the surveyed people were engaged in agriculture. The major vegetable crops grown were tomato, cauliflower and pea. The cropping intensity in the study area was in the range of 150.66 to 173.58 which indicates that there is a scope to improve farm management for better returns. The overall cost of cultivation was worked out for three major crops and it was found highest in tomato (Rs.129036.00/ha) followed by pea (Rs.125674.51/ha) and then cauliflower (Rs.104969.00/ha).The net returns were found highest in tomato (Rs.144266.00), despite the high cost incurred in its cultivation, followed by cauliflower (Rs.125021.00) and pea (Rs.112361.43). The Cob-Douglas production function determines the efficiency of each resource used and it showed that labour and plant protection had significant impact on tomato production whereas seed, FYM, labour and fertilizer had significant impact on cauliflower production. In case of pea, FYM, labour and plant protection had significant impact on the pea production. The efficiency ratios for the significant variables in all the vegetables were greater than unity. It is thus concluded from the analysis that the vegetable growers in the study area were not using the resources efficiently. Four main marketing channels were found prevalent in the study area for marketing of vegetables. Among these channels, channel-B consisting of Producer- wholesaler- retailer- consumer was found to be the most preferred channel as more than 50 per cent of the produce was disposed off through this channel. Problems like non-availability of labour at operation time, high wage rates, high transportation charges, limited market information and lack of storage facility were the major production and marketing problems reported by the farmers in the study area.ThesisItem Open Access ECONOMIC VIABILITY OF ORGANIC PRODUCTION OF TOMATO AND CAPSICUM IN SOLAN DISTRICT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH(NAUNI,UHF, 2020-11) KUNWAR DIVYANSHU; VAIDYA, MANOJ KUMARABSTRACT The present study entitled “Economic viability onf Organic production of Tomato and Capsicum in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh” was carried out in district Solan.A complete list of registered organic farmers was obtained from Department of Agriculture, Govt of Himachal Pradesh.Simple random sampling technique was adopted to draw sample from the population.A total sample of 25 per cent was drawn randomly which comes to 60 farmers. The farmers were categorized on the basis of their land holding as marginal (<1 ha), small (1-2 ha) and medium (>2 ha).The overall literacy rate was worked out to be 89.56 per cent with literacy index of 2.76 indicating average quality of education. The results show that 73.69 per cent of the surveyed households were engaged in agriculture. The cropping intensity in the study area was in the range of 172.28 to 190.91percent falling under medium to marginal farm category. The overall cost of cultivation was worked out for two major crops i.e. tomato and capsicum. It was found highest in tomato (Rs110845.85/ha) followed by capsicum (Rs105101.54/ha). The net returns was found highest in tomato (Rs 258120.15) followed by capsicum (Rs 188553.25).The Cob-Douglas production function determines the efficiency of each resource used. The coefficient of multiple determinations (R2) of the function is 0.71 in case of tomato, which shows that the variable under study explained 71 per cent of variation in the model.All inputs were estimated greater than unity which means under utilization of these inputs and increase in their usage would lead to maximization of profit. In case of capsicum efficiency ratio for seed, FYM, plant protection, biofertilizers and labour was found greater than 1 which means under utilization of resources and increase in the use of these inputs will increase profit. Problems like nonavailability of labour at peak operation time, high wage rates, non-remunerative prices for the produce, high transportation charges, limited market information and lack of storage facility were the major production and marketing problems reported by the farmers in the study area.ThesisItem Open Access ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF HARAR (Terminalia chebula) CULTIVATION IN ZONE I OF HIMACHAL PRADESH(NAUNI,UHF, 2020-11) NANCYABSTRACT The present study entitled “Economic analysis of Harar (Terminalia chebula) cultivation in zone 1 of Himachal Pradesh”. A sample of 60 Harar farmers was selected using simple random sampling. The farmers were categorized on the basis of their total land holding as marginal (<1 ha), small (1-2 ha), medium (>2 ha). Results of the study revealed that overall literacy rate was found 91.37 per cent with literacy index of 2.68 indicating average standard of education. Average operational area was found to be 1.02 ha, in which Harar plantation was 0.41 ha for the sampled farms. The cropping intensity was worked out to be 152.94 per cent which indicates that there is a scope for increase in farm efficiency. Harar crop contributed to total household income ranging from 30.04 per cent in marginal farmers to 21.39 per cent in medium farmers. The initial cost of plantation per 100 plants was worked out to Rs. 23853.00 at overall farm category level, which ranges between Rs. 22994.00 in marginal category to Rs. 25326.00 in medium category farms. The maintenance cost of nonbearing plants was found to be Rs. 21097.75, Rs. 24419.57.00, Rs. 31263.15, in the first to third year respectively at overall farm category level. Maintenance cost during bearing stage increased with the age of plantation from Rs. 38898.26 to Rs. 42015.61 per hundred plants in the age groups of 4-10 and 10-20 years respectively and then gradually decreased to Rs. 41028.66 in the age group of 20-25 years of plantation age. The proportion of variable cost ranged from 63.41 to 65.67 per cent in different years and share of fixed cost varied 34.33 to 36.53 per cent in the total cost. The average returns in term of money value was highest in case of medium farms i.e. Rs. 133738.56 followed by marginal farms Rs. 129842.56 and small farms Rs. 128017.95. The payback period worked out to be 6 years. Benefit-cost ratio was estimated to 2.23, Internal rate of return (IRR) 37.20 per cent and net present value Rs. 433778.4. These measures clearly indicated that Harar cultivation in the study is a profitable venture. The sensitivity analysis was carried out at the discount rate of 6 per cent, 10 per cent and 15 per cent. Benefit-cost ratio was found to be greater than one and net present value was found positive with increases in costs and decreases in returns 5 per cent and 10 per cent respectively for all the farm categories. Non-availability of the labour at peak operation time, lack of timely availability of inputs and quality planting material and lack of technical knowledge about diseases management, far-off market, non availability of transportation for low volume produce and high transportation charges, lack of inadequate market for NTFPPs and market information were some of the production and marketing problems faced by the farmers in the study area.ThesisItem Open Access ASSESSMENT OF TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY OF APPLE CULTIVATION IN HIMACHAL PRADESH(NAUNI,UHF, 2020-11) DEV RAJ; SHARMA, RAVINDERABSTRACT The present study entitled “Assessment of Technical Efficiency of Apple Cultivation in Himachal Pradesh” was undertaken with a vision to study the technical efficiency in apple cultivation. Out of the four agro-ecological zones of Himachal Pradesh, zone-II, zone-III and zone-IV were selected purposively. The results of trends in area, production, productivity and export-import of apple were analysed at international, national and state level and results showed that the world’s apple production has grown at a compound growth rate of 2.51% per cent per annum, whereas India recorded a significant growth (3.40%) per annum which was higher than world’s growth rate. Increase in apple production of world was due to area (33.35%) and yield (41.19%) expansion, whereas, increase in production in Asian region was because of area-yield effect (52.02%). Trend in area and production was analyzed by dividing the study period into two sub period 1973 to 1990 (P-I) and 1990 to 2018 (P-II) and results revealed that the increase in apple production in India and Himachal Pradesh was mainly due to area expansion only. In Himachal Pradesh, growth in apple production has been decreased (4.74%) in second period as compared to first period (7.35%). Area under apple orchards was found to be highest (1.32ha) in zone-II followed by (1.15ha) in zone-III and (0.91ha) in zone-IV. Among the traditional cultivar, Royal Delicious and Red Delicious were the major apple cultivars occupying 54.17 and 34.72 per cent of the total area, whereas, Top Red (39.02%) and Red Chief (34.15%) occupied the major area among the new cultivars. Net returns from age group 27-35 year were highest (Rs. 3.79 lakh) followed by age group 17-26 (Rs. 3.34 lakh), >35 (2.55 lakh), 12-16 (Rs. 2.07 lakh) and 7-11 (Rs. 92,873.75) years, whereas, the payback period was found to be in 9 years and internal rate of return as 24 per cent for all agro-climatic zones. The overall mean technical efficiency was found to be highest (88.64%) in 17-26 years apple plantation followed by 27-35 (85.63%) years, 12-16 (81.24%) years, 7-11 (75.68%) years and >35 (70.04%) years. Mean technical efficiency for all age group plantations was highest in zone-III followed by zone-II and zone-IV, which means that the sample apple orchardists of zone-III were already operating in more efficient level of production. Sampled apple orchardists were adapting the major strategies like rainwater harvesting techniques (76%), high density plantation (66%), improved varieties (61%), and moisture conservation techniques (64%) to mitigate the impact of climate change in order to improve the production and productivity of apple.