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Background: Green gram is the important pulse crop of India and grown under extensive agroclimatic condition in India for its versatile uses. Moreover, extreme and inappropriate use of inorganic nutrients deteriorated the soil quality by reducing the soil microbial population and also declined the quality of crops. Now a days, majority of population living in urban and rural area had demand for safe and healthy food for which inclusive food production technology needs to be developed with priority on quality enhancement and yield stability. In fact, it is not possible for farmers to directly shift from inorganic source of nutrients to organics in their crop production as it may lead to decrease in crop yields in the initial years. This may be possible due to substitution of organic sources of nutrients in place of inorganics to fulfil the crop nutrient requirement for accomplishing higher and stable crop yield of better quality with upgradation in soil health. Therefore, the present study was carried out to evaluate the influence of differential substitution of nutrients through organics on growth, yield and nutrient content of green gram (Vigna radiata) in irrigated sub-tropical region of J and K. Methods: The experiment was conducted for two consecutive years in field during summer 2016 and 2017 at research farm of division of Agronomy located at latitude and longitude of 32°40' N and 73°64' E at SKUAST-Jammu. Experiment was laid out with 16 treatments and three replications. Green gram variety "SML-668" was grown as per their respective recommended packages of cultivation except for the nutrient-N and its organic sources which were applied as per the treatments. Nutrient content of green gram was worked out in the laboratory following standard procedures. Result: The pooled result of the two-year study of green gram concluded that significantly highest growth parameters and yield of green gram were recorded with treatment 100% recommended dose of fertilizer whereas significantly lowest value of all these parameters were recorded with treatment 100% NPK through FYM. Numerically highest value of NPK content in seed and stover of green gram after two-year experiment was recorded with treatment 100% NPK through FYM whereas highest gross returns, net returns and B:C ratio were recorded with treatment 100% recommended dose of fertilizer when compared with other treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The green revolution has been a major boost to the agriculture sector throughout the world including India. The food production of the country increased by many fold during the 1960s and 1970s and has continued to increase since then. But, the boom of green revolution could not last long as we witnessed stagnation in the productivity of our farm lands along with soil and crop health degradation. This forced the scientific and farming community to look for efficient and ecologically safe farming systems which led to the evolution of the concept of „sustainable agriculture". Sustainable agriculture is a holistic concept of agriculture which helps in meeting the needs of the present generation without affecting the future generation. It helps in maintaining optimum crop production along with maintaining soil health, conservation of natural resources and preserving ecological balance and biodiversity in agroecosystems. This review aims to create a paradigm for future studies on new and innovative techniques for sustainable crop production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) implies the most efficient use and management of organic, inorganic and biological sources of major nutrients as well as micronutrients to attain higher levels of crop productivity and to maintain the fertility of the soil. Brinjal is one of the most popular and commercially important vegetable crops of India. Research works on INM system for brinjal crop is scanty. This paper has reviewed the research work carried out by various scientists in India and abroad. The review deals with the effect of different INM components on growth, yield, fruit quality, nutrient content and uptake, incidence of brinjal shoot and fruit borer (BSFB) as well as economics of brinjal and other Solanaceous vegetables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A survey was made on certified organic farms in the country to ascertain the real benefits and feasibility of organic farming in terms of the production potential, economics and soil health in comparison to the conventional farms. The study revealed that organic farming, in spite of the reduction in crop productivity by 9.2%, provided higher net profit to farmers by 22.0% compared to conventional farming. This was mainly due to the availability of premium price (20-40%) for the certified organic produce and reduction in the cost of cultivation by 11.7%. In cases, where such premium prices were not available and the cost of cultivation was higher primarily due to purchased off-farm inputs, organic farming was not found economically feasible. However, there was an overall improvement in soil quality in terms of various parameters, viz. physical, chemical, biological properties, availability of macro- and micronutrients, indicating an enhanced soil health and sustainability of crop production in organic farming systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field experiments were conducted for three successive seasons of kharif and rabi during 2007 and 2009 at Kothavaripalli Village, Madanapalle Mandal of Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh, with an objective to evaluate the impact of Jeevamrutha on yield and returns of two varieties of rice (Oryza sativa) Masura and Hamsa. Jeevamrutham was prepared in the farm with urine and dung of native cows and the same was applied in cultivation of both varieties of rice. The cost of production, yield net return and benefit-cost ratio were estimated using jeevamrutha and compared with those of chemical farming. The analysis of the results showed that the yield with application of jeevamrutha is 2.775 tons /acre in Masura and 2.625 tons /acre in Hamsa variety of rice. These were 3.0 tons and 2.5 tons per acre by chemical method of farming. It indicated that application of Jeevamrutham could yield better than chemical farming in Hamsa variety. But the cost of cultivation was 18% higher in Masura and 19% higher in Hamsa variety of rice when grown with recommended dose of fertilizers as compared to the production using jeevamrutha. In both the varieties benefit-cost ratio was better with application of Jeevamrutha method being 3.39 in Masura variety 3.0 in Hamsa as compared to 1.09 and 0.6 in chemical methods of rice production respectively. The economic analysis showed that jeevamrutha production method is commercially viable since it registered better net returns and benefit-cost ratio than recommended dose of fertilizers in rice production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]