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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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20244
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Subject: Agricultural Economics × End date: 2024 × Start date: 2024 × Thesis Type: Ph.D ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    ASSESSMENT OF TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY OF NATURAL FARMING IN DRY TEMPERATE REGION OF HIMACHAL PRADESH
    (UHF Nauni, 2024-04-24) ISHITA MANDLA; Subhash Sharma
    The present study entitled “Assessment of technical efficiency of Natural Farming in dry temperate region of Himachal Pradesh” was carried out in high hills temperate dry zone comprising of Pangi block of Chamba district, Lahaul block of Lahaul and Spiti district and Kalpa and Pooh block of Kinnaur district by taking representative sample of 320 farmers through simple random sampling by selecting 8 farmers from each of the 10-gram panchayats selected from the mentioned 4 blocks. The average family size was 5.68. The overall literacy rate and and literacy index were 90.79 percent and 2.76 respectively. Around 65.31per cent of the sampled household were engaged in agriculture, followed by services 20.80 per cent and business 13.89 per cent. The average number of workers were 3.71. The average size of the land holding was 1.69 hectares out of which the average cultivated area was 1.53 hectares. The average area under Natural Farming was 0.97 hectares and that under Conventional Farming was 0.56 hectares respectively. There were four major crop combinations under Natural Farming i.e. Vegetables, Cereals + Pulses + Millets, Apple + Vegetables + Pulse and Pulses + Vegetables. The major crops grown under Conventional Farming included pea, maize, cauliflower, potato, broccoli, apple and kidney bean. Under Natural Farming in Kharif season, the maximum cost of cultivation was in Vegetables combinations ₹ 60342.94. The Crop Equivalent Yield under natural farming system was highest in all the crop combination as compared to the conventional farming system and it ranged between 1.50 per cent to 16.30 per cent. In Kharif season, the percentage reduction in cost of cultivation under NF over the CF system ranged from 18.75 to 35.84 per cent. The gross returns under NF systems were highest in all crop combinations compared to the CF system. The Relative Economic Efficiency (REE) was highest in all the crop combinations under NF over CF system. The block-wise carbon emissions under Natural Farming were significantly lower compared to Conventional Farming in all four blocks. The Cobb-Douglas stochastic frontier estimates of technical efficiency in natural farming across different farm categories suggest certain inputs like Bijamrit, Jivamrit, Ghanjivamrit, and Agniastra have positive impacts on technical efficiency, while labour has a slight adverse effect. The logistic regression results for factors influencing the adoption of Natural Farming in different farm categories indicate that high yield, health benefits, farm size and decreased pest attack are significant factors positively affecting adoption in different farm categories. Farmers practicing Natural Farming in the study area face various challenges, with common constraints including a shortage of skilled labour, higher wage rates, labour intensiveness, and issues related to technical knowledge. These challenges can impact the overall adoption and success of Natural Farming practices, emphasizing the need for targeted support and training programs to address these issues.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    MARKETING AND PRICE BEHAVIOUR OF MAJOR VEGETABLE CROPS IN NORTH INDIA
    (UHF Nauni, 2024-04-22) ATUL CHAUDHARY; Shilpa
    The present study is entitled “Marketing and price behaviour of major vegetable crops in North India”. For price behaviour and market integration, secondary data of prices and arrivals for Bhuntar, Dhanotu, Paonta, Solan, Ludhiana, and Delhi markets was extracted from the AGMARKNET portal from 2002 to 2022. For structure, conduct, and performance a total of 540 wholesalers were selected from the six selected markets i.e., 180 for each vegetable. For marketing analysis, a sample of 240 vegetable growers was selected using simple random sampling. Local markets of Bhuntar, Dhanotu, Paonta, and Solan were selected for conducting marketing study. Results of the study found that prices and arrivals of all three vegetables (cabbage, capsicum, and tomato) exhibited variability, with prices being more stable than arrivals. Prices were positively correlated across all markets, indicating synchronized movements. Cointegration analysis revealed long-term integration among the markets. Delhi was identified as the key market, sending price signals to other markets and having the highest speed of adjustment towards equilibrium. Forecasting models for each vegetable and market were developed using Holt-Winters Exponential Smoothing and SARIMA methods. However, based on RMSE and MAPE it was observed that the SARIMA model outperformed the HWE-S model. Structure, conduct, and performance analysis revealed that all markets were regulated, well-connected, diversified, and exhibited vertical integration. Market share concentration among wholesalers varied, with Dhanotu generally having the highest concentration across all vegetables. Open auctioning was the primary sale method, but transparency regarding sale and payment methods varied. Producer's share and marketing efficiency were highest in marketing channel A for all selected vegetables in all selected markets. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the dynamics of cabbage, capsicum, and tomato markets in Himachal Pradesh and northern India, with implications for producers, traders, and policymakers.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    DYNAMICS OF MARKET AND TRADE PERFORMANCE OF VEGETABLES IN HIMACHAL PRADESH VIS-À-VIS INDIA
    (UHF Nauni, 2024-12-03) DIVYANSHU; Dr. Chandresh Guleria
    The present study entitled “Dynamics of Market and Trade Performance of Vegetables in Himachal Pradesh Vis-à-vis India”. For value chain analysis, a sample of 180 vegetable growers was selected using simple random sampling. Local markets of Bhuntar in Kullu district and Dhalli in Shimla district were selected for conducting marketing study. For price behaviour and market integration, secondary data of prices and arrivals extracted from the AGMARKNET portal from 2005 to 2022. For competitiveness and potentials of export, secondary data of export quantity and value extracted from UNCOMTRADE source from 2005 to 2022. Results of the study revealed that the literacy rate in the study area was found in case of male 91.36 and in case of female it was 89.59 per cent. Among the annual crops’ vegetable cultivation was more common among all categories of farms followed by cereals. In case of cauliflower, the highest output-input ratio was found highest in marginal farms 2.40 and break-even returns was Rs. 25958.92. In case of pea, the overall output-input input ratio was found to be 3.65. Overall break-even output was found to be and Rs. 23888.91. In case of potato, Overall output-input ratio was found to be 2.30. Overall break-even output was found to be 18.64 (Qtls.). In case of cauliflower, the highest degree of value addition was found to be 6.52 per cent at retailer’s stage (channel-IV). In case of pea, the degree of value addition in channel -II was highest at the processor's stage (56.31%) and lowest at the wholesaler's stage (1.09%). In case of potatoes, the degree of value addition in channel -II (potato chips) was highest at the processor's stage (409.65%) and lowest at the wholesaler's stage (1.79%). Chandigarh for cauliflower and Delhi for pea and potato were found to be the key markets which influence the prices in other markets. In forecasting models, TDNN performed better than ARIMA, it was considered as the best fit model with respect to minimum RMSE and MAPE value in all of the selected vegetable price series. The trade analysis revealed that the India have negligible export potential in selected vegetables. India is one of the world's largest producers of cauliflower, peas, and potatoes, but there are various factors that may make exporting these commodities challenging. Unavailability of labour, low price / non-remunerative price and storage facility were the major problems faced by growers and stakeholders. The study strongly suggested adequate information on seasonality of prices and arrivals would bridge the gap between production and marketing and Efforts are required to increase production efficiency and quality in order to stabilize markets and make the product acceptable and price competitive in other importing nation.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    ASSESSMENT OF TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY OF NATURAL FARMING IN SUB-TROPICAL REGION OF HIMACHAL PRADESH
    (UHF,NAUNI, 2024-02-12) Chinglembi Laishram; Subhash Sharma
    Present study “assessment of technical efficiency of natural farming in sub-tropical region of Himachal Pradesh” was carried out in Nalagarh, Ghumarwin, Una and Sundarnagar blocks by taking representative sample of 320 farmers through multistage random sampling having 80 farmers from each block. The average family size was 5.22. Of these, 47.42 per cent were men, 38.72 per cent were females, and 13.85 per cent were children. The literacy rate exhibited variation ranging from 87.13 to 89.10 per cent among different farm categories, with an overall average of 88.30 per cent. The overall literacy index was recorded as 2.70. 78.02 per cent of the studied households were involved in agricultural activities, while 13.48 per cent were engaged in services and 8.50 per cent were involved in business. The dependency ratio w.r.t family size was 0.30 which indicated that on an average one worker has to support less than one family member. The average number of agricultural workers was 3.19. The overall average land holding in the study region was observed to be 1.82 hectares. At an overall level, the total cultivated area accounted for 67.41 per cent, with 32.13 per cent allocated to natural farming and 31.08 per cent dedicated to conventional agricultural practices. The study region encompasses four primary crop combinations, namely: Vegetables, Cereal + Pulses + Vegetables, Cereal + Pulses, and Cereal + Pulses + Oilseed + Vegetables under natural farming system. The main crops cultivated under the Conventional Farming (CF) system for vegetable crops include cucumber, okra, French beans, potato, pea, and cauliflower and for cereal crop consist of maize and wheat. The primary pulses crops cultivated was Black-gram, Soyabean, and Chick-pea. The primary crops cultivated within the Oilseeds category comprise Sesame and Mustard. The Relative Economic Efficiency (REE) was highest in all the crop combination. When comparing natural farming to conventional farming, natural farming resulted in lower carbon equivalent emissions than conventional farming in all the crop combinations.The Stochastic frontier production function approach was used to technical efficiency in different farm category in the study area and was observed that the coefficients of Jivamrit, Bijamrit, Ghanjivamrit, Agniastra, Neemastra and Bramastra were positive and statistically significant at 1, 5 and 10 per cent level, respectively. Individuals in the treated group conserve Rs. 8189.62 more on average than those who are in the control group. The major problem faced by the farmers in different farm categories was non availability of specialized market, labour intensiveness, inadequate training facilities, non-remunerative prices for produce, etc.