Search

Over decades, the total wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production of the country has been able to meet the domestic consumption and export considerable amount of it. APEDA reports the export of 2.26 lakh MT of wheat for the worth of `424.94 crores/60.55 USD Millions during 2018–19. Further increase in production is only possible through varietal replacement with varieties having higher productivity potential in the existing production area through horizontal spread. Two reputed wheat varieties of ICAR-IARI, viz. HD 2967 and HD 3086 with good nutrient content and resistance as well as tolerance to major fungal diseases were distributed among 572 farmers of two villages of Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh respectively, with predominant rice-wheat cropping cycle to assess their acceptance level over space and time among villagers through assessment trials from winter (rabi) season 2014–15 to 2019–20. In selected, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh villages the relative yield advantage of HD 2967 was 21.7% and 19.9%, respectively and of HD 3086 was 17.5% and 14.3%, respectively over the local check. HD 3086 additionally reported bold grain, less lodging and less quality loss in the situation of repeated rainfall in maturity stage. The popularity and acceptance of the varieties were evident by the horizontal spread for HD 2967 i.e. 468.2 ha (Haryana) and 383.2 ha (Uttar Pradesh) from 6 and 6.4 ha, respectively from the winter (rabi) season of 2014–15 to 2019–20. The study re-affirms the philosophy of Farmer-to-Farmers spread of modern technologies including the HYV seeds.

Soybean [Glycine max. (L.) Merr.] serve as one of the most valuable crop in the world; not only for oil purpose italso feed for livestock and aquaculture. A simple laboratory grease belt method for soybean planter was developed fortesting and calibrating the seed metering mechanism. The study was conducted in the year 2017, in the Departmentof Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Allahabad. The main frame consists of variable speed drive, and greasecoated belt that are fitted with necessary provisions. The second frame consists of seed hopper and seed metering unit.The field and laboratory methods have been developed and used for evaluation of planter performance, each methodhaving its own advantages and shortcomings. In the present study, grease belt was used for laboratory evaluation ofwheel type seed-metering device and investigated the feeding quality, missing index, seed rate, and uniformity ofseeds in the row at various speed of grease belt. The results from grease belt methods were in good agreement andanalysis of variances showed that seed-metering device with 18 cells in 50 rpm performed better than seed-meteringdevice with 32 cells and in other speeds. Calibration of the manually operated seed-cum-fertilizer soybean planterhas been done in the laboratory. During calibration of planter, it found that there was less missing of soybean due tocircular shape of seed. Due to full hopper the pressure was high at the bottom and due to this force on seed of soybeaneasily reaches at the metering device.

The use of mobile applications and decision support system for agriculture is important in today's era. To enrich agriculture various mobile applications have been developed by different research institutes in NARES which are helping the farmers in their cultivation practices. In the present study, a mobile application named "HPDI Ergon" has been developed with intent to mapping of drudgery in physiological and psychological components and biomechanical evaluation of agricultural activities. In this respect the app named "HPDI Ergon" was developed during 2019-20 in computer application at ICAR-ISARI, New Delhi to assesses the drudgery involved in the work and give recommendation to mitigate it. In this app farmers are assessed based on different physiological and postural ergonomics parameters which includes heart rate, energy expenditure rate, total cardiac cost of work, physiological cost of work, human physical drudgery index variable etc. and conclusion is drawn on physiological and drudgery limitations. The app is developed using Android Studio and Java programming language. Individual registered farmers are selected to undergo different ergonomics and drudgery analysis. The data generated by different analysis is stored in the database which is implemented using SQLite database. Based on the results of all the ergonomic analysis and drudgery analysis using HPDI conclusion is drawn regarding whether there is any need of changing or improving the working condition or not. Accordingly, different suggestions and various improved tools are provided to the farmers for reducing their both physiological stress and drudgery in their working environment.

The multifaceted challenges concerning women's health in hills of Uttarakhand is associated with increasing malnutrition in the State, which ultimately affect the nutritional dividend of the nation. Sub-Himalayan range of the northern Indian subcontinent include regions where an overwhelming number of rural women have always been a part of the active work force in agriculture and allied sector. Present study is an attempt to document the nutritional status of farm women emphasizing their food consumption pattern, dietary intakes and diversification, energy and nutrient balance in Uttarakhand State in the year 2019-20. Collected field level data were analyzed with the help of suitable statistical techniques. It was found that 48 % women in foot hills and 40% women in mid hills had low dietary diversity. The findings also suggest that the prevalence of Chronic Energy Deficiency was high among farm women and energy balances in the respondents (from 171.97 kcal to 415.32 kcal) are corresponding to different grades of BMI. Multivariate regression analysis were employed to drive relationships between high dietary diversity (≥5 food groups) and other independent variables as age, BMI, MUAC, CC, skinfold measurements, body density (D), % body fat, fat mass, fat free mass (kg) . It was found that MDD-W is positively correlated with independent variables (R2=0.702, Adjusted R2=0.721, Standard Error of Estimate=0.0312).

For appropriate technology dissemination to farmers, social sciences in agriculture especially Extension Education act as a bridge connecting researchers and farmers therefore, the aim of post graduate courses at agricultural universities is to develop suitable human resource with desired competencies to enable effective extension work. As teaching effectiveness is crucial for achieving academic excellence and to inculcate desired competencies among students, the attributes of teachers contributing towards teaching effectiveness need to be analysed. This study was conducted during 2019 and examines the perception of 210 postgraduate (M Sc and Ph D) students across 10 agricultural universities of Northern India. Teachers were categorized based on scores of attributes obtained through student ratings. The association between teacher attributes and overall teaching effectiveness was calculated and finally a teaching effectiveness framework was designed based on those attributes, which were significantly associated with teaching effectiveness. It was also found that majority of students rated overall teaching effectiveness under medium category (48.09%) followed by high category (34.76%). In addition, all attributes were found to be positively correlated with overall teaching effectiveness. Out of 32 items under all attributes, 27 items which were significantly associated with teaching effectiveness were included in teaching effectiveness framework. In light of the findings, suggestions were also formulated for teachers regarding their teaching attributes as perceived by students.

In India, teaching, research and extension are the three pillars of National Agricultural Research and Education System (NARES) in which agricultural extension connects agricultural research and farmers. Teaching in agricultural extension discipline across agricultural universities at postgraduate level prepares extension professionals to conduct need based research and transfer relevant technologies to farming community. The present study primarily focuses on assessing the overall teaching effectiveness of agricultural universities with respect to extension education discipline in order to understand the competence level of extension graduates from Indian agricultural universities. The investigation is based on primary data compiled from 66 teachers engaged in teaching of extension education discipline and 210 postgraduate (M Sc and Ph D) students across 10 agricultural universities of Northern India. It was found that majority of the students (64.29%) perceived that overall acquisition of essential extension competencies is low, while only 10.94 percent of students perceived it to be high. Out of the 10 universities examined for teaching effectiveness, six had medium teaching effectiveness, while two universities had high and two universities had low teaching effectiveness. The overall teaching effectiveness index of all 10 universities was 0.607 indicating a teaching effectiveness of above average. The present study therefore identified those essential extension competencies which need emphasis in the extension education teaching-learning scenario. The teaching effectiveness index developed can be used by agricultural universities to assess teaching effectiveness of extension education teachers.

Weeding activity in vegetable cultivation carried out by women is one of the drudgery prone activities. Women are regularly adopting poor and static posture while doing weeding for long hours by traditional equipment, resulting in various physical load on spine or lumbo-sacral region leads to drudgery coupled with work related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). The research paper aims to assess and quantify the drudgery with weeding activity by rural women in which physiological ergonomics evaluation was done for traditional method and with improved technological support with three replications of fifteen minutes work cycle without rest pause. Ergonomic parameters namely Heart Rate, Energy Expenditure Rate, Total Cardiac Cost of Work, Physiological Cost of Work, VO2 Max were measured during the experiments. Observations were recorded on farm women worker with normal health, without any major illness, regularly involved in farm operations and were in the age group of 25 to 45 years. Weeding activity of farm women was quantified and a sample of 10 physically fit rural women having permissible limit of physiological parameters were selected for the study. It was found from investigation that there was reduction in human physiological parameters, viz. heart rate, energy expenditure rate, Total Cardiac Cost of Work, Physiological Cost of work, Blood pressure and Oxygen Saturation.

Women in India are facing several health-related issues, which ultimately affect the economic output of the nation. The health of Indian women is intrinsically linked to their status in society. Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are some of the few states in India which belong to Indo-Gangetic Plains where an overwhelming number of rural women have always been a part of the active work force in agriculture, forest protection, cattle care, and dairying. Present study is an attempt to know the food consumption and dietary intakes of farm women in rural sector of the UP and Haryana. Collected data were analyzed with the help of suitable statistical techniques. Education, energy consumption and protein consumption have significantly positive relationship with nutritional status of respondents, whereas family size has significantly negative relationship with nutritional status. It was found that the diets were inadequate in energy, protein, iron, β-carotene and ascorbic acid contents to the tune of 16.71 and 15.91; 7 and 10.58; 14.33 and 21.63; 25.66 and 34.33; 16.71 and 18.05 percent, respectively in selected villages of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. These comparisons were made with recommended dietary allowances (ICMR 2010). Iron intake in the daily diet of women in both villages was found to be 19.7 mg and 20.54 mg, which is 34.33 and 31.53 per cent less than recommended level (30 mg). Prevalence of Chronic Energy Deficiency (CED) was found to be higher among the farm women of both the states.