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Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur
The history of agricultural education in Kerala can be traced back to the year 1896 when a scheme was evolved in the erstwhile Travancore State to train a few young men in scientific agriculture at the Demonstration Farm, Karamana, Thiruvananthapuram, presently, the Cropping Systems Research Centre under Kerala Agricultural University. Agriculture was introduced as an optional subject in the middle school classes in the State in 1922 when an Agricultural Middle School was started at Aluva, Ernakulam District. The popularity and usefulness of this school led to the starting of similar institutions at Kottarakkara and Konni in 1928 and 1931 respectively.
Agriculture was later introduced as an optional subject for Intermediate Course in 1953. In 1955, the erstwhile Government of Travancore-Cochin started the Agricultural College and Research Institute at Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram and the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at Mannuthy, Thrissur for imparting higher education in agricultural and veterinary sciences, respectively. These institutions were brought under the direct administrative control of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Animal Husbandry, respectively. With the formation of Kerala State in 1956, these two colleges were affiliated to the University of Kerala. The post-graduate programmes leading to M.Sc. (Ag), M.V.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees were started in 1961, 1962 and 1965 respectively.
On the recommendation of the Second National Education Commission (1964-66) headed by Dr. D.S. Kothari, the then Chairman of the University Grants Commission, one Agricultural University in each State was established. The State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) were established in India as an integral part of the National Agricultural Research System to give the much needed impetus to Agriculture Education and Research in the Country. As a result the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) was established on 24th February 1971 by virtue of the Act 33 of 1971 and started functioning on 1st February 1972. The Kerala Agricultural University is the 15th in the series of the SAUs.
In accordance with the provisions of KAU Act of 1971, the Agricultural College and Research Institute at Vellayani, and the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, were brought under the Kerala Agricultural University. In addition, twenty one agricultural and animal husbandry research stations were also transferred to the KAU for taking up research and extension programmes on various crops, animals, birds, etc.
During 2011, Kerala Agricultural University was trifurcated into Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU), Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) and Kerala Agricultural University (KAU).
Now the University has seven colleges (four Agriculture, one Agricultural Engineering, one Forestry, one Co-operation Banking & Management), six RARSs, seven KVKs, 15 Research Stations and 16 Research and Extension Units under the faculties of Agriculture, Agricultural Engineering and Forestry. In addition, one Academy on Climate Change Adaptation and one Institute of Agricultural Technology offering M.Sc. (Integrated) Climate Change Adaptation and Diploma in Agricultural Sciences respectively are also functioning in Kerala Agricultural University.
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ThesisItem Open Access Effectiveness of instructor controlled interactive video (ICIV) in dissemination if farm technology(Department of Agricultural extension, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2000) Radhakrishnan, D; KAU; Ranjan Karippai, SThe study was aimed at bringing out the effectiveness of Instructor Controlled Interactive Video (ICIV) in popularising agricultural technologies among the farming community. The impact of the different treatments of ICIV with different video formats was also experimented. The study was conducted among 150 vegetable growers from Nadathara grama panchayath of Thrissur district. The respondents were farm women cultivating vegetables. IPM in vegetables was chosen as the message to be disseminated. The dependent variables of the study were knowledge gain and symbolic adoption of IPM practices in vegetables. The set of 11 independent variables chosen covered the psychological and situational factors of the respondents. The distribution of. respondents based on knowledge gain and symbolic adoption showed that majority of respondents were in high category after participating in ICIV. Out of 11 independent variables studied six variables were correlated significantly with knowledge gain. Five variables showed non significant relationship. Multiple regression analysis showed that 62 per cent variation in knowledge gain was contributed by the independent variables. Correlation analysis of independent variables with symbolic adoption showed that five independent variables had a positively significant relationship with symbolic adoption. One variable was negatively significant with symbolic adoption. Remaining five varied showed non significant relationship. Multiple regression analysis concluded that 59.2 per cent variation in symbolic adoption was brought about by related independent variables as a whole. The significant 'F' value indicated that all the treatments were effective in terms of knowledge gain and symbolic adoption. Students 't' test was carried out to compare the treatments. ICIV with 'Feature' mode of video presentation and ICIV with 'Skill demonstration' mode of video presentation were the most effective modes in maximising knowledge gain and symbolic adoption.ThesisItem Open Access Techno- socio- economic assessment of farmers practices in the cultivation of cowpea in Thiruvanathapuram district(Department Of Agricultural Extension, College Of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2000) Manjjusha, A R; KAU; Shilaja, SThe study aimed at assessing the socio-economic and technical aspects of the farmers' prac- tices in the cultivation of cowpea as perceived by the researchers, extension personnel and the farmers. The study was conducted in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala State. On the basis of dis- cussion with experts, researchers, extension personnel and people's representatives in the district, Kalliyoor panchayat was selected as the locale of the study which is the prominent vegetable cultivat- ing area in the district. Two sets of respondents were selected for the study. Forty practising farmers cultivating cow pea was included as the respondents of the first category. Fifty extension officials and agricultural scientists working with sufficient experience in extension or research related to the culti- vation of cowpea was selected as the second category of respondents. The dependent variables of the study were knowledge of farmers about the recommended practices and extent of adoption of farmers' practices. These dependent variables were quantified us- ing measurement devices developed for the study. Fifteen independent variables were selected for the study which included age, education, main occupation, farming experience, annual income, area under cowpea, exposure to information sources, irrigation index, social participation, extension orientation, economic motivation, innovativeness, cosmopoliteness, credit orientation, risk orientation, participation in PTD and perception about PTD. All these independent variables were quantified with the help of available measurement procedures. For assessing scientifically the socio-economic and technical aspects of the farmers' practices identi- fied, matrix ranking was adopted. The data were collected using both non-participant observation technique and a pre-tested structured interview schedule prepared for the purpose. Different statistical tools like mean, percentage analysis, correlation analysis, multiple linear regression analysis and step- ) wise regression analysis were used to analyse the data. I'" The study revealed 57 farmers' practices in the cultivation of cowpea. The practices 'applica- tion of neemcake, groundnut cake and bonemeal twenty days after sowing', 'spraying neemoil ernul- sion against American Serpentine Leaf Miner' and 'ploughing the land after adding lime' registered the highest techno-socio-economic indices. The practices 'drying of pods for four to six days', 'application of neem cake, groundnut cake and bonemeal twenty days after sowing' and 'basal application of cattle -;- manure or poultry manure' were considered by the farmers as most efficient. But researchers and extension personnel considered the practices 'basal application of cattle manure or poultry manure', 'drying of pods for four to six days' and 'application of poultry manure ten days after sowing' as most efficient. About 48 per cent of farmers belonged to the low knowledge category and 40 per cent possessed high knowledge about the selected recommended practices. 'Sowing after first week of June is the most suitable time', 'ploughing the land thoroughly two to three times to remove weeds and stubbles' and 'hoeing at the time of application of second dose of nitrogen' were the most known practices to cent per- cent of the farmers selected for the study purpose. About 53 per cent of the farmers belonged to the low adoption category and 38 per cent of the farmers were in the high category with respect to adoption of efficient farmers' practices. 'Drying of pods for four to six days' was the practice adopted by majority of the farmers in this area. Twelve practices out of eighteen were adopted by more than 50 per cent of the farmers. With regard to relationship of knowledge with selected independent variables, variables viz., education, annual income, exposure to information sources, so- cial participation, extension orientation, cosmopoliteness and risk orientation were found to have sig- nificant and positve relationship with knowledge of recommended practices. Extent of adopion of efficient farmers' practices was related positively and significantly with five independent variables viz., education, exposure to information sources, social participation, extension orientation and knowl- edge about recommended practices. The results of multiple regression analysis revealed that about 71 per cent of the variation in knowledge and 61.77 per cent of the variation in extent of adoption were explained by the selected independent variables. Step-wise regression analysis revealed that of the 71 per cent of the variation in knowledge, 47 per cent was contributed by exposure to information sources alone, about 6.0 per cent by the variable age and remaining by all the other independent variables. Incidence of pests and diseases, labout scarcity and uneven production were the major production constraints experienced by majority of the respondents and high labour charges, high cost of material inputs and price fluctuation of the produce were the major economic constraints.ThesisItem Open Access Techno-socio-economic assessment of farmers practices in rice cultivation in Thiruvananthapuram district(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2000) Manoj, S; KAU; Bhaskaran, CIn developing countries existing research systems are not always able to generate technologies needed to solve the problems of resource poor farmers. Such farmers are forced to develop their own technologies suited for particular conditions. So farmers’ practices and farmer experimentations have got growing significance now a days. A research study was under taken to asses the socio-economic and technical aspects of farmers’ practices in rice cultivation in Thiruvananthapuram district. Farmers practices included all those practices which were actually followed by farmers in the rice cultivation consisting indigenous and recommended practices. The experimental area selected was Andoorkonam Ela of Kaniyapuram village panchayat. The study was conducted in three phases. Phase-1 consisted of collecting data regarding the profile characteristics of rice farmers. During Phase-II, all farmers’ practices were collected using non-participant observation technique. The third phase consisted of techno-socio-economic assessment and assessing the ecofriendliness of farmers’ practices. For this study, two sets of respondents were taken- the practicing farmers and scientists/ extension officials. The research endeavour identified 51 farmers’ practices in rice cultivation. These practices were documented and described along with their scientific rationale. Majority of the farmers (54.29 per cent) were in the low knowledge group regarding the knowledge of farmers about the recommended practices. However, most of them (54.29 per cent) were in high adoption category regarding the adoption of farmers practices. • The variables education, annual income, exposure to information source, social participation, extension orientation, economic motivation, innovativeness risk preference and participation in PTD were having a positive and significant correlation with knowledge of rice farmers about the recommended practices. Adoption of farmers’ practices was influenced by the variables such as occupation, farming experience, total area under paddy, social participation, economic motivation and innovativeness. Soaking the seeds in water for 18-24 hours, using the variety PTB-9 for the second crop and preparing the main field using tractor were practices which showed cent per cent adoption. About ninety per cent of the farmers adopted the practice of sprinkling cowdung slurry over the soaked seeds. Application of poultry manure in place of FYM was adopted by more than fifty per cent of the rice farmers. The most ecofriendly practice as perceived by farmers was the sprinkling of cowdung slurry over soaked and heaped rice seeds in order to enhance germination. Using poultry manure in place of the costly and unavailable FYM was the most efficient farmers’ practice as rated by farmers and scientists/ extension officials. The other efficient farmers’ practices were the ‘plantain fruit bait for squirrels and mynas’ and bird scaring techniques such as ‘placing coconut leaflets, placing coloured plastic bags, bird scarers and stretching audio and video tapes over the field. A systematic and organised effort should be taken to document and assess these farmers’ practices throughout the state which is inevitable to improve efficiency and productivity in rice cultivation. A multi disciplinary approach is essential for such type of research and a comprehensive feed back should be given to the research system in Kerala.ThesisItem Open Access Role of nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) in empowerment of farmers(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2000) Jyothish, Mannambeth; KAU; Kishore Kumar, NDevelopmental programmes implemented through government machinery could not bring about much changes in the rural sector as far as the developmental aspects are concerned. At the same time, many of the NGOs working in the rural areas could bring about attractive results. So a study was undertaken to identify the dimensions of empowerment of farmers through NGOs, to study the roles played by NGOs, to study the extent of people participation and to develop a strategy for empowerment of farmers. Kannur district was selected as the locale of study and ten functional NGOs were randomly selected. From each NGO, ten beneficiaries and ten non beneficiaries were selected as respondents. Data was collected using structured pre tested interview schedule. Nineteen variables were selected for the study and from that fourteen variables identifies as dimensions of empowerment. The beneficiaries were found better compared to non beneficiaries in almost all the variables studied. The perception about the role of NGOs were more with the beneficiaries than non beneficiaries. Extent of participation in. the various activities were also more with beneficiary farmers. Lack of evaluation, Non co-operation from the government side and lack of financial support and lack of follow up were the main constraints faced by •NGOs. The steps for strengthening NGOs include effort from government side, training of staff, constant touch with academic institutes properly documented programmes, coordination between NGOs and experimenting with new ideas. Strategy for empwerment of farmers aims at collection of data, assessing needs, creating awareness, establishing rapport, identification of resources, organising people in subgroups, defining goals and achieving objectives.ThesisItem Open Access Protoplast isolation, culture and regeneration in mango (Mangifera indica L.)(Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2000) Ullas Mony; KAU; Rajmohan, KAttempts were made to standardise techniques for isolation, culture and regeneration of protoplasts in mango, during 1998-1999 at the Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Centre, College of Agriculture, Vellayani. Efforts were made to standardise the source of explant, optimum concentration, temperature and duration of incubation and osmolarity of the enzyme mixture. Callus induced from nucellus of immature fruits was found to be the best plant material for protoplast isolation. The cell wall digesting enzymes Cellulase 'Onozuka' R-I0 and Macerozyme R-lO at l.0 and 0.5 per cent respectively at a pH of 5.8 yielded the highest number of protoplasts (101 protoplasts per " field). The optimum time of incubation was found to be eight hours. Pre- plasmolysis of the callus was found to be not beneficial. Treatment without pre-plasmolysis and with 9.0 per cent osmolarity recorded the highest yield. Incubation temperature of 28.0 "c was found to be optimum for the best yield of protoplasts. Cell wall formation and microcalli development from the protoplast was observed when Murashige and Skoog medium with half strength of major salts, supplemented with BAP 3.0 mg r', NAA 0.1 mg r ' along with sucrose or glucose 90.0 g r ' was used. Combinations of osmoticums like sucrose 70.0 g r', mannitol 10.0 g r' and glucose 10.0 g r' as . well as sucrose 70.0 g r', mannitol 10.0 g r' and inositol 10.0 g r' were found to be ideal for cell wall formation and micro calli development.ThesisItem Open Access Utilization of communication sources by dairy entrepreneurs of Ollukkara block in Thrissur district(Department of Extension, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, 2000) Pradeep, C A; KAU; Raj Kamal, P JThe utilization of communication sources and the information and skill needs of 60 dairy entrepreneurs in Ollukkara block of Thrissur district were studied. A multistage random sampling procedure was adopted to select the respondents. The socio-personal, socio-economic and socio-psychological characteristics of the respondents were studied along with •availability, preference, utilization pattern, credibility of communication sources and information and skill needs of farmers by using a structured schedule. Suitable statistical tools were used for analysing the data collected. Dairy entrepreneurs were seen utilizing information source in their system, both institutional and media. Of the various sources, the most accessible to them comparatively were milk co-operatives, radio and newspaper. Though veterinary hospital, veterinary college and other professionally qualified persons were the comparatively most preferred for information regarding dairying, yet these sources were not seen utilized adequately, Instead, the sources comparatively utilized were radio, newspaper and friends. The reasons for this strange finding are to be understood. Feature stories and question-answer items in the farm pages of dailies, farm news, Kerala Agricultural University news and farm and home programme of radio were seen frequently read or heard. Hence, the utility of these items/programmes such as training, symposium and farm clinics were found to be less available and evidently less utilized. These programmes need to be adequately organized inorder to address to the needs of dairy entrepreneurs. It was in general observed that availability or access and preference for communication sources influenced their frequency of utilization. The first three most important and trustworthy communication sources mentioned were other professionally qualified persons, veterinary college and veterinary hospital, those most preferred for information, even as the same were comparatively less utilized by the entrepreneurs. This situation obviously demanded for a more entrepreneur friendly approach adopted by these sources. Of the information needs, the most needed ones were heat detection and artificial insemination followed by bread characteristics and source of good dairy animals for purchase. Hence information on these felt needs are to be imparted through appropriate extension methods preferably through the most utilized media sources such as radio and newspaper but regularly and repeatedly. Skills were most needed about first aid measures, preparing concentrate feed and handling milking machine. Demonstrations can help in this regard. Similarly, proper understanding of the importance of skills such as making milk products, preparing silage and urea treatment of straw which are very relevant to economic dairying is to be developed through suitable extension methods. Although all the independent variables studied had together explained considerable and significant variation in the frequency of utilization of communication sources, yet fixed investment, economic motivation and levels of aspiration were found to be the strong determinants of the frequency of utilization of communication sources. While considering information and skill needs together, the strong determinants were educational status, land holding, fixed investment, innovation proneness and marketing orientation.ThesisItem Open Access Performance analysis of the self help groups in vegetable production in Thiruvananthapuram district(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2000) Sreedaya, G S; KAU; Kumari Sushama, N PThe study was carried out in Thiruvananthapuram District. of Kerala among the six selected self help groups, 3 each from KHDP and IVDP. The study aimed to analyse the group characteristics of self help groups, planning, production and marketing aspects of vegetables, extent of adoption of recommended practices with regard to vegetables, constraints faced by the farmers of SHGs and to analyse the perception of officials about SHGs. The respondents consisted of 120 farmers selected from SIX Panchayaths namely Kalliyoor, Venganoor & Vembayam under KHDP and Anad, Pothencode & Sreekaryam under IVDP. The second category of respondents included extension personnel of KHDP and IVDP who were actively associated with vegetable production. The dependent variable for the study were group characteristics, planning, production & marketing aspects of vegetables & extent of adoption of recommended practices. The independent variables included the personal, socio-pshychological characteristics of farmers. The correlation analysis was done to find out the relationship between the independent variables and all the dependent variables and also between the ,- dependent variables. To compare the groups under KHDP and IVDP 't' test was done, which revealed that there existed significantance difference between these groups with respect to annual income, farm size, credit orientation, market perception, knowledge in vegetable cultivation, group cohesion, group leadership, need satisfaction, team spirit and equity. The major constraint felt by KHDP SHGs was marketing through field centres where as IVDP SHGs faces planning, production, marketing and organizational constraints. The analysis of the perception of officials about SHGs revealed that all of them had fairly high perception about SHGs.ThesisItem Open Access Techno-socio-economic consequences of national watershed development project for rainfed areas in Thiruvananthapuram district(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2000) Lakshmi, S; KAU; Balakrishna Pillai, GThe study entitled "Techno-socio-economic consequences of NWDPRA in Thiruvananthapuram district" was undertaken tc assess the techno-socio-economic consequences on beneficiaries due to the implementation of NWDPRA. An attempt was also made to identify the constraints perceived by the farmers and extension agents. The study was conducted in the four watersheds, one from each t a l u k of Thiruvananthapuram district which was selected randomly. A sample of hundred beneficiaries was selected according to the probability proportional to size of the beneficiaries in the selected watershed areas. Data were collected through well structured and pretested i n t e r v i e v schedule. The study revealed the following: Majority of the farmers had small land holdings. Most of the farmers received only medium level of technical guidance. The percept ions of the major i t y of respondents about the availability of low cost watershed technologies, observability of the innovation and complexity of the innovation were medium. About three-fourths of the farmers had a favourable attitude towards watershed development programmes. Most of the farmers had medium level of extension participation, mass media exposure and economic motivation. More than half of the respondents did not attend any training programme related to watershed management. More than half of the respondents had only medium I eve 1 0 f k now led g e i n wa t e r s he d p 1 ann i n g , i nn 0 vat i v e n e ss, indebtedness and orientation towards incentives. Majority of the farmers followed medium level of cropping intensity. The adoption of the watershed management practices by the farmers was only at medium level. Social status of the farmers was on average level. The perception of the farmers about the employment generated was low and the perception about the increase in resource use efficiency was medium. About half of the respondents were of the perception that the increase in income and productivity was low on account of NWDPRA. Farm size, availability of low cost watershed technologies, observabiiity of the innovation, attitude towards watershed development programmes, extension participation, mass media exposure, training participation, knowledge in w~tershed planning and cropping intensity had positive and significant association with adoption of watershed management practices. Complexity of innovation and indebtedness had negative association with adoption. Social status of farmers had positive association with farm size, technical guidarice, availability of low cost watershed technologies, observabi 1 i t y of innovat ion, at t i tude towards watershed development programmes, extension participation, training participation, knowledge in watershed planning, innovativeness and orientation towards incentives. Indebtedness had negative association with social status of farmers. Employment generation had positive and significant relationship with indebtedness and orientation towards incentives. Farm size, technical guidance, availability of low cost watershed technologies, observability of the innovation, attitude towards watershed development programmes, extension participation, training participation and knowledge in watershed planning had positive and significant relationship with increase in resource use efficiency. The variables farm size, availability of low cost watershed technologies, observability of the innovation, attitude towards watershed development programmes, extension participation, mass media exposure, economic motivation, knowledge in watershed planning, innovativeness and cropping intensity were found to have positive and significant relationship with increase in income. Indebtedness had a negative relationship with increase in income. Increase in productivity had a positive and significant relationship with farm size, availability of low cost watershed technologies, observability of innovation, at tit ude towards watershed deve lopment programmes, ex ens ion participation, mass media exposure, training p a r t i c i pa t i on , knowledge in watershed planning and cropping intensity. Indebtedness had a negative relationship with increase in productivity. ~ Stepwise regression analysis revealed that availa bility of low cost watershed technologies and farm size contributed to 76 per cent of variation in adoption of watershed management practices. The results of s t e pw i s e regression analysis revealed that the variables farm size, mass media exposure, orientation towards incentives, technical guidance, observability of innovation, innovativeness and attitude towards watershed development programmes contributed to 54 per cent of variation in social status of farmers. The important constraint perceived by the farmers was inadequacy of funds provided to land owners in NWDPRA and the important constraint perceived by the extension agent was inadequate co-ordination among the implementing agencies of NWDPRA. The results of Spearman's rank order correlation of constraints revealed that there was agreement between farmers and extension agents with respect to the constraints in NWDPRA.ThesisItem Open Access Problems and prospects of medicinal plant cultivation in Thiruvananthapuram district(Department of Agricultural Extension, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2000) Allan Thomas; KAU; Padmanabhan, V BA research study entitled "Problems and prospects of medicinal plant cultivation in Thiruvananthapuram district" was undertaken with a view to assess the knowledge of the medicinal plant cultivators on the medicinal value of the plants cultivated by them, to identify the training need of the cultivators in medicinal plant cultivation, to study the market orientation of the cultivators, to analyse the cost-benefit relationship of medicinal plant cultivation and to identify the problems and solutions in medicinal plant cultivation. One hundred medicinal plant cultivators were selected from the four taluks of Thiruvananthapuram district using stratified random sampling technique with proportionate allocation. Data were collected by using a structured interview schedule. Knowledge was assessed by developing a knowledge test for the study. Training need was identified using the method developed by Bhatnagar (1987). Market orientation was studied by using the method developed by Anantharaman (1991), which included identification of marketing channels and analysis of cost- benefit relationship of medicinal plant cultivation by using input-output analysis in terms of economic aspects of medicinal plant cultivation. Problems and solutions in medicinal plant cultivation as perceived by the cultivators, procurers and retail shop dealers were identified by using open-end questions. Ranking was done to identify the importance of the problems and solutions. Majority of the medicinal plant cultivators had medium to high-level knowledge on the medicinal value of the plants cultivated by them. The independent variables, namely, age, farming experience, experience in medicinal plant cultivation, farm size, area under medicinal plant cultivation, annual income, income from medicinal plant cultivation, extension contact, extension participation, mass media exposure and information seeking behaviour were having significant and positive relationship with knowledge. The variable education was found to have no relationship with knowledge on medicinal value of plants cultivated by them. Marketing was perceived as the most important area of training at knowledge level followed by processing, storing, seeds and sowing, harvesting, land preparation, manuring, weeding, plant protection and irrigation in the descending order of importance whereas for training need at skill level, processing was holding first preference followed by harvesting, storing, marketing, seeds and sowing, land preparation, plant protection, manuring, weeding and irrigation. Market orientation of the cultivators was studied under two heads, namely, identification of marketing channels and analysis of cost-benefit relationship of medicinal plant cultivation. Among the marketing channels identified, the producer-dealer-ayurvedic medicine manufactures was the channel through which bulk of the produces were marketed. The cost-benefit relationship of medicinal plant cultivation revealed that it was a profitable enterprise. The problems identified in the descending order of importance by medicinal plant cultivators, procurers and retailers were, pre-harvest and post-harvest handling, lack of storage facilities unorganised marketing, non availability of genuine planting materials, lack of developmental and extension service, lack of research work for developing new varieties, lack of credit/loan facilities, lack of cultivators package of practices, over- exploitation of wild medicinal plants, fluctuations in market price, substitution and adulteration, confusion with respect to identification of the species, inexorable monetisation of medicinal plant economy, absence of practical training, climate and soil and lack of co-ordination among medicinal plant cultivators. Training of farmers in pre-harvest and post-harvest handling of medicinal plant produce, providing suitable storage facilities, creating a regulated market for the medicinal plant produces, ensuring regular and timely supply of genuine planting materials through government and service agencies, initiating more research for developing new varieties of improved medicinal properties, providing credit or loans through institutionalised agencies at low interest rates, providing the farming community with a unique and standardised package of practices recommendations of an authentic expertise body, conserving the wild economically important medicinal plant species and initiating participatory and group approaches in medicinal plant cultivation only can help the farmers to solve the aforesaid problems. Medicinal plants are a national treasure. Preventing extinction and preserving the great Indian medicinal heritage is of much importance. With the advent of 21 st century due to global search for "alternatives" in health care, there is a tremendous resurgence of interests in traditional system of medicines by popularising medicinal plant cultivation.