Lala I.P. Ray

Effects of Drought on Livelihoods and Gender Roles: A Case Study of Meghalaya

Climate change has serious repercussions on food security, availability, accessibility and utilisation and food system stability. Women farmers currently account for 45–80 per cent of all food production in developing countries depending on the region. When climate change-related disasters strike, women are more vulnerable than men, and the workload of women and girls increases. In India, women are actively engaged in agricultural activities, including paddy cultivation and fishing, which are both affected by changing weather patterns. Loss of livelihood increases women’s vulnerability and marginalisation. The current study was conducted in 10 villages of Meghalaya, a north-eastern state in India. It concluded that extreme climate variability affects both the sexes but with different consequences as they are subjected to different roles and responsibilities. We suggest empowering women with requisite knowledge of their rights, relevant information and skills, and also by being helped with adequate resources to enable them to act and make their own decisions.

Performance of rajma (Phaseolus vulgaris) cultivars under organic mulches in Meghalayan Plateau of North Eastern India

A field experiment was conducted at college of postgraduate studies farm during winter season of 2015-16 in Ri-Bhoi district, Meghalaya to study the effect of two different organic mulch on rajma cultivars. The experiment was laid out in a split plot design with three main plot treatments (mulching practices) and four sub-plot treatments (rajma cultivars) and replicate thrice. It was recorded during this field investigation, that the performance of weed mulch was better over maize stover and no mulch. The emergence percentage (89%) was better under weed mulching. The plant parameters, viz., plant height (51.19 cm after 60 DAS), number of branches per plant (7.84 after 60 DAS), pod length (15.05 cm), dry matter accumulation per meter square (1.15 kg), number of seeds per pod (6.48) was found significantly higher for the cultivar Selection-9 over remaining three varieties. Yield of 2.37 t ha-1 was recorded for weed mulch, followed by maize stover mulch (2.22 t ha-1) and no mulch (2.05 t ha-1). Similarly, weed mulch registered highest harvest index of 41.09% followed by maize stover mulch. The average yield of Selection-9 was found to be 2.52 t ha-1 which was higher significantly over other three cultivars.

Nutrient modeling for a semi- intensive IMC pond: an MS excel approach

Semi-intensive Indian Major Carp (IMC) culture was practised in polythene lined dugout ponds at the Aquacultural Farm of Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal for 3 consecutive years at three different stocking densities (S.D), viz., 20,000, 35,000 and 50,000 numbers of fingerlings per hectare of water spread area. Fingerlings of Catla, Rohu and Mrigal were raised at a stocking ratio of 4:3:3. Total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) value along with other fishpond water quality parameters was monitored at 1 day intervals to ensure a good water ecosystem for a better fish growth. Water exchange was carried out before the TAN reached the critical limit. Field data on TAN obtained from the cultured fishponds stocked with three different stocking densities were used to study the dynamics of TAN. A developed model used to study the nutrient dynamics in shrimp pond was used to validate the observed data in the IMC pond ecosystem. Two years of observed TAN data were used to calibrate the spreadsheet model and the same model was validated using the third year observed data. The manual calibration based on the trial and error process of parameters adjustments was used and several simulations were performed by changing the model parameters. After adjustment of each parameter, the simulated and measured values of the water quality parameters were compared to judge the improvement in the model prediction. Forward finite difference discretization method was used in a MS-Excel spreadsheet to calibrate and validate the model for obtaining the TAN levels during the culture period. Observed data from the cultured fishponds of three different S.D were used to standardize 13 model parameters. The efficiency of the developed spreadsheet model was found to be more than 90% for the TAN estimation in the IMC cultured fishponds.

Resource productivity of rice cultivation in Tripura: A spatial analysis§

The paper has reported the resource productivity of rice cultivation in Tripura. The study was conducted in both hill and valley regions of the state by selecting a sample of 120 rice growers. The productivity of resources of rice of individual farms has been estimated through Cobb-Douglas production function. The major resources for productivity of rice were human labour, fertilizer and manures in hill region and agrochemicals human labour, fertilizer and manures in the valley region. The use of small farm machinery like power-operated tiller and cono-weeder has been suggested as an intervention in the form of technology introduced for enhancement of labour efficiency. Further, the state government should provide necessary region-specific trainings and education to the farmers for judicious use of resources like fertilizers and agro-chemicals in rice cultivation in Tripura.

Climate change and investment in agricultural research: Policy challenges in India

Agriculture will continue to be the major sector supporting the Indian economy. On the other hand, the reported and projected impact of climate change raises question against its sustainability and stability. The present paper through reviewing of the relevant literature therefore aims to address three interrelated issues. The first issue on climate change reflected that the annual temperature increase by 0.5°C during the period 1901–2003 and to counteract the negative impact of climate change, the farming community resorted to adaptation strategies, mainly adoption of resistant cultivars. Concerning this need, the Central Government initiated the mega project National Initiatives on Climate Research Agriculture (NICRA) with a budget of 200 crores during the year 2010–11 and the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) scheme with a budget support of 1, 08, 000 crores in order to provide resilient to agriculture with one of the main components on the development of crop cultivars. Emphasizing the need for research in agriculture particularly under the climate change scenario the third issue on the status of Agricultural R&D investment in India was discussed and revealed that the level of Agricultural Research Indicator (ARI) is below the recommended level of 2% being only 0.43% during the year 2012–13. Meeting the need of the farming community coupled with the objectives of the mentioned Government initiatives and the target set to attain 2% of ARI during the twelve plan the study recommended that Agricultural R&D investment needs to be strengthened to maintain the viability of Indian agriculture.

Impact Assessment of Mobile Based Agro-advisory: A Case Study of Tribal Farmers of Ri-Bhoi District of Meghalaya

To enhance livelihood and income of tribal farmers in Meghalaya, an agro-advisory service has been launched under the programme “Development and Deployment of Mobile Based Agro-advisory System in North-East India” at Central Agricultural University, Barapani. This study has accessed the impact of this project in 11 villages of Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya by randomly selecting 218 farmers. The study has revealed that the information gathered through agro-advisory service has been very useful and helpful to the farmers. The programme has gained high popularity among the farmers of Meghalaya and a sufficient number of farmers has been found to be benefitted through the agro-advisory service in the crop as well as livestock sectors. Among the crops, the ginger being a cash crop of the state, needs more care right from its planting to harvesting. The agro-advisory on the complete package and practices especially in selection of rhizome, its treatment, maintaining spacing during planting and also tips about proper care during harvesting provided by the experts of agro-advisory has been highly beneficial in production of ginger in the state. Facilitating artificial insemination and vaccination in pig and piglets have encouraged the farmers to have more access to agro-advisory services. Hence, to provide agro-advisory in a sustainable manner, convergence of such types of programmes with state department extension machinery is recommended as it will help uplift the livelihoods of rural tribals in the state.