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NFBSFARA , The Indian National Agricultural Research System (NARS)

NARS has to find solutions to the immediate problems of farming as well as keep its competence in technology development in the forefront to meet all continuously emerging anticipated and unanticipated problems. For this continuous strengthening of basic and strategic research and, applied research in the frontier areas of agricultural sciences is required. Fully realising this need, the Government of India decided to establish a national fund for supporting basic and strategic research under the ICAR with the objective to build capacity for basic and strategic research of national and long-term importance to break yield and quality barriers and make India a global leader in research for development, through the partnership of all research organizations who can contribute towards this objective.

The Fund strongly encourages collaborative and multi-institutional research based on innovative ideas of scientists for solving advanced scientific and technological problems in agriculture. Scientists from all research institutions universities and private sector with proven research capacity and located in India are eligible to participate.

AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING COLLEGE, BAPATLA

a. Name of the College

College of Agricultural Engineering

b. Postal Address

College of Agricultural Engineering, Bapatla – 522 101,
Guntur District

c. Telegraphic Address

d. Telephone No. with STD 08643 - 224068
e. Fax No. 08643 - 224068
f. E-mail caebpt@gmail.com
2. Year of Establishment of the College

1990
The B.Tech (Agril.Engg.) Programme was started in 1983

3. Objectives

Present day agriculture needs technological interventions to make rain fed, irrigated and dry land Agriculture more productive, sustainable and remunerative to farmers and to fulfill the objectives of several governmental schemes.

The next green revolution has to be achieved only through adoption of agricultural engineering principles and practices for the development and sustainability of agriculture. Some states in India and many states in advanced countries like USA and Germany have a strong base of “Agricultural Engineering” profession in Governmental Departments and in Universities to support the technological interventions for the Development and sustainability of Agriculture.

Hence, there is a need to develop trained manpower in agricultural engineering in the country to cater to the following needs of agriculture in general and the farmers in particular.

Mandate

1. Mechanization of Agriculture to reduce cost of cultivation and to perform all field operations including harvesting and threshing in time to increase net income to farmers.

2. Natural resources Management Technologies to cope up with water scarcity, water excess and salinity problems with efficient water management, micro irrigation and drainage systems to sustain agriculture

3. Value addition to agricultural products by efficient storage, handling and processing technologies to make agriculture more remunerative to farmer.

Objectives

1. To design efficient irrigation water management methods with surface and micro-irrigation methods to overcome water scarcity and inequitable water distribution situation to improve water use efficiency.

2. To reclaim waste lands and problematic lands to increase land productivity by adopting suitable drainage and water technologies

3. To design and manufacture suitable agricultural machinery and implements requited for different soils and crops in the state to reduce the labour requirement and the total cost of cultivation for the farmers and to perform all field operations in time according to the need.

4. To design and develop suitable post-harvest equipment and processed to give value addition to agricultural and horticultural produce to get more price

5. To design process equipment for milk and food products to meet the market requirements

6. To design soil and water conservation, irrigation and drainage structures to preserve the precious natural resources.To design the energy conserving technologies for applications in agriculture using solar, wind and other non-conventional energy sources

4. Programmes Offered

1. Post graduate –M.Tech. (Agril.Engg.)
(2 years) - November, 2006

2. Undergraduate –B.Tech (Agril. Engg.)
(4 years) - August, 1983

5. Name of the Associate Dean Dr. T.V. SATYANARAYANA

Aquaculture: (Freshwater, Brackishwater, Mariculture & Coldwater)

  • Developing sustainable technologies for mariculture, open sea culture.
  • Diversification in aquaculture by bringing more potential fin/ shellfish species and varied culture systems in fresh and brackishwater farming.
  • Breeding and culture of high value fin-fish and shell-fishes.
  • Organic aqua-farming
  • Fish health management, immuno-prophylaxis and therapeutic against common diseases.
  • Ornamental fish breeding and farming
  • Up-scaling of breeding and culture technologies for potential coldwater fish species.
  • Technology development for aquaculture inland saline water areas.
  • Up-scaling pen and cage culture technology in reservoirs and wetlands.
  • Fish nutrition, feed development and technology for live feed organisms.
  • Water budgeting in inland aquaculture
  • Development of water re-circulating units for different aquaculture systems.
  • Genetic improvement in existing finfish and shellfish species for growth and disease resistance.

Capture Fisheries (Marine & Inland)

  • Species-wise biological database of commercially exploited marine fish stock and estimate of existing fish yield.
  • Meeting the challenges of responsible fisheries.
  • Computer based models for fishery management in open waters.
  • Developing marine and estuarine biodiversity database, formulating conservation and management action plan on GIS platform
  • Using remote sensing technology, mapping potential inland fishery resources in the country incorporating information on production, dominant catch trends, species composition and ecological status.
  • Impact of river linking on fish stocks, aquatic biodiversity and estimating environmental flows in river systems to sustain ecosystem properties and production.
  • Generating long term data base on ecosystem ecology, responses of fish behaviour including physiology to climate extreme changes in inland and marine environments.
  • Develop climate change action plan ensuring to minimize negative impacts and exploit new opportunities.
  • Environmental impact assessment and bio-remediation of stressed aquatic ecosystems
  • Assessment and action plan for hill fishery resource management.
  • Pilot-scale testing of appropriate management models for improving fisheries in reservoirs, lakes and floodplain wetlands.
  • Addressing the issues related to safety at sea for fishers both in terms of policy and support.

SOIL-FORMING MATERIALS

Rocks are the chief sources for the parent materials over which soils are developed. There are three main kinds of rocks:
(i)igneous rocks,
(ii)sedimentary rocks, and
(iii)metamorphic rocks.

Igneous rocks. They are formed by the cooling, hardening and crystallizing of various kinds of lavas and differ widely in their chemical composition. They chiefly contain feldspars, maphic minerals and quartz. Rocks containing a high proportion of quartz (60-75%) are classified as acidic, whereas those containing less than 50% quartz are classified as basic. The common igneous rocks found in India are the granites(acidic) and basalts or the Deccan Trap (basic)

Sedimentary rocks. They are derived from igneous rocks and are formed by the consolidation of fragmentary rock materials and the products of their decomposition deposited by water. The common sedimentary rocks are conglomerate, sandstone, shale and limestone. Alluvial, glacial and aeolian deposits form the unconsolidated sedimentary rocks.

Metamorphic rocks. They are formed from the igneous or sedimentary rocks by the action of intense heat and high pressure or both resulting in considerable change in the texture and mineral composition. The common metamorphic rocks are gneis from granite, quartzite from quartz or sandstone, marble from limestone and slate from shale.

Soil-Water Conservation

Wind erosion also has been responsible for destroying the valuable top soil in many areas. Halting the march of desert in Rajasthan is one of the vital and outstanding problems facing the country today. An extreme example of sand movement from the coast is to be seen in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat where the once-flourishing ports are now covered with advancing sand-dunes.

In addition to the erosion of the cultivated fields, neglected pastures and wastelands, considerable roadside erosion also takes place owing to the defective highway engineering. Defective drainage and water-logging throw appreciable areas out of cultivation every year and indirectly increase the erosion hazards.

Extent of soil erosion. In India, there is very little area free from the hazard of soil erosion. It is estimated that out of 305.9 million hectares of reported area, 145 million hectares is in need of conservation measures.

Severe erosion occurs in the sub-humid and per-humid areas due to high rainfall and improper management of land and water.

Agricultural land in the major part of the country suffers from erosion. Apart from reducing the yields through the loss of nutrients, erosion destroys the soil resources itself every year. For example, in Maharashtra over 70 per cent of the cultivated land has been affected by erosion in varying degrees and 32 per cent of the land having been highly eroded is no longer cultivable. In the Sholapur district, nearly 17 per cent of the land of medium depth (more than 45 cm) has deteriorated into shallow soils (less than 45 cm) in 75 years from 1870 to 1945. Similarly, in Akola, Buldana and Yeotmal districts, the number of fields with less than 37.5 cm soil depth increased during the same period by 54, 16 and 8 per cent respectively. As much as 2.3 million ha is already under ravines scattered all over India. The ravines apart from ruining the soil resources for ever are a constant threat to the adjoining fertile cultivated lands.

OPIUM POPPY (papaver somniferum Linn)

Poppy is a native of the western Mediterranean region,introduced into India in the early sixteenth century.India produces about 70 per cent of the world's production and 90 per cent of it is exported annually.The crop can be grown under a licence issued by the Excise Department and, as such, its cultivation is restricted to about 24,000 hectares in the districts of Neemuch,Mandsaur and Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh ; in Faizabad,Bara Banki,Bareilly and Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh,and in Chittoor,Jhalawar and Kota in Rajasthan.

ISABGOL (plantago ovata Forks.)

It is an annual stem-less herb, a native of Persia, now grows as a cash crop on about 16,000 ha in the Mehsana, Palampur and Banaskantha districts of Northern Gujrat, India is the largest producer of isabgol and exports seed and huskworth Rs 25 million annually. The husk is the rosey-white membranous covering of the seed which constitutes the drug and is given as a safe laxative, particularly beneficial in habitual constipation, chronic diarrhoea and dysentery.

C.succirubra Pavon

C.succirubra Pavon is a hardy tree which grows between elevations of 1,200 and 2,000 m in some parts of Annamalais and attain a heught of 18-20 meters. This species possess a remarkable ability to withstand both high humidity and drought. Its main alkaloid is cinchonidine. The total Alkolid in the root ,stem and bark is 7.6,5.5 and 3.3 per cent respectively. Out of these amounts, quinine constitutes 0.76-1.42, 1.1-1.74 and 0.8-1.76 per cent respectively in the root, stem and bark.

CINCHONA (cinchona ledgeriana Linn.and allied spp.).

Sixty-five species distributed in the Andes at elevations of 800 to 2,800 m, occur mainly in Peru, Bolivia, Columbia and Ecuador. Commercial supplies of the bank are obtained from C.ledgeriana, c.officinalis, C.calisaya, C.succirubra and their numerous hybrids. The cinchona bark yields quinine which is used as a treatment against malaria. Quinine salts are now increasingly used in soft drinks as bittters and quinidine sulphate is use in the treatment of heart troubles, such as auricular fibrillation and venticular trachycardia. Cinchona plantations cover about 1,600 ha in the Nilgiris and the Annamalais Hills(Tamil Nadu). India, Indonesia and Zaire(the Congo) are major suppliers of quinine products to the world market ; the Indian export of quinine salts earns about Rs 10 million annually.

Rajendra Agricultural University (RAU)

Rajendra Agricultural University (RAU)
Email:
rau@bih.nic.in
Pusa
Samastipur
Bihar PIN 848125
06274-74255,
74266

OILSEED CROPS Groundnut Arachis hypogaea L.

GEOGRAPHICAL ORIGIN. Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)is believed to be the native of Brazil to Peru, Argentina and Ghana, from where it was introduced into Jamaica, Cuba and other West Indies islands. The plant was introduced by Portuguese into Africa from where it was introduced into North America. It was introduced into India during the first half of the sixteenth century from one of the Pacific islands of China, where it was introduced earlier from either central America or South America.

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE. The oil content of the seed varies from 44 to 50 per cent, depending on the varieties and agronomic conditions. Groundnut oil is an edible oil. It finds extensive use as a cooking medium both as refined oil and Vanaspati Ghee. It is also used in soap making, and manufactoring cosmectics and lubricants, olein stearin and their salts. Kernels are also eaten raw, roasted or sweetened. They are rich in protein and vitamins A, B and some members of B2 group. Their calorific value is 349 per 100 grammes. The H.P.S. type of groundnut kernels are exported to foreign contries. The residual oilcake contains 7 to 8 per cent of N, 1.5 per cent of P 2O5 and 1.2 per cent of K2O and is used as a fertilizer. It is an important protein suppliment in cattle and poultry rations. It is also consumed as confectionary product. The cake can be used for manufacturing artificial fibre. The haulms (plant stalks) are fed ( green, dried or silaged) to livestock. Groundnut shell is used as fuel for manufacturing coarse boards, corksubstitutes etc. Groundnut is also of value as rotation crop. Being a legume with root nodules, it can synthesise atmospheric nitrogen and therefore improve soil fertility.

BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION. Groundnut (Archis hypogaea L.) is a member of sub-family, Papilionaceae of the family Leguminosae. Archis hypogaea L. consists of two subspecies each containing two botanical varieties.

Jatropha (Bio Diesel)

The consultancy on bio fuel crops will discuss in detail about the various plants from which the raw material for the fuel can be obtained, with specific focus on jatropha. The session will include basic information like cultivation of these plants, marketing, accessories needed, care for the plants to be taken, the type of fertilizers

India's rice industry warns against GE trials

The warning came just over a week after the European Union decided to compulsorily test all U.S. shipments of long-grain rice. That followed a discovery that U.S. imports to Europe were contaminated with genetically modified (GMO) rice.

No biotech rice is allowed to be grown, sold or marketed on the territory of the European Union's 25 countries.

India has carried out field trials of mostly short-grain rice at 10 different sites across the country since 2005, but the Supreme Court last month suspended fresh tests on all crops until a further court hearing.

Previous trials show no signs of GM seeds infecting rice exports.

But importers and farmers fear the risk of contamination through mixing of seeds during storage or in transportation could affect consumer confidence and India's reputation as a "clean and reliable" rice exporter.

"Indian rice is GM-free and we want to keep it that way," said R.S. Seshadri, director of Tilda Riceland and a member of the All-India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA) -- which represents exporters like Satnam Overseas, Sunstar, Kohinoor.

"We are asking them not to do further testing ... we need to review guidelines and enforce stricter standards in light of what has happened in the U.S.," he told a news conference.

India is the largest producer and exporter of Basmati rice -- a long-grain rice priced for its characteristic subtle aroma and delicious taste -- and exported 1.15 million tonnes, generating 30.3 billion rupees in the 2005/6 financial year.

Although most of the tests were on short-grain rice, farmers say many were not informed that field trials were taking place near their own rice paddys. If contamination occurs in exported stocks, buyers in Europe and Middle Eastern countries might ban Indian products, unions say.

"The GM-testing happening in this country is a dirty joke which is being played on us," said Yudhvir Singh, a senior official from the Bharatiya Kisan Union, a union representing hundreds of thousands of farmers across India.

"We run the risk of hundreds of thousands of farmers losing their livelihoods if bans are imposed or we lose consumer confidence in products."

Marathwada Agricultural University (MAU)

Marathwada Agricultural University (MAU)
Email:
mau@ren.nic.in
Parbhani
Maharashtra PIN 431402
02452-235812

Mahatama Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth (MPKV)

Mahatama Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth (MPKV)
Email:
kvmp@ren.nic.in
Rahuri
Maharashtra
02426-243215

Advisors for cultivation of crops in Maharashtra

I am interested in promoting through voluntary efforts among small / medium farmers cultivation of ASHWAGANDHA, COLEUS,or patchouli, asparagus, sarpagandha, tinospora or any suitable crops for Thane Distt in Maharashtra to begin with. I am looking for guides to guide these farmers to help in this task of rural development.

Some of the important contributing factors for farmers' suicide

  • absence of adequate social support infrastructure at the level of the village and district,
  • uncertainty of agricultural enterprise in the region,
  • indebtedness of farmers,
  • rising costs of cultivation,
  • plummeting prices of farm commodities,
  • lack of credit availability for small farmers,
  • relative absence of irrigation facilities,
  • repeated crop failures,
  • dependence on rainfall for farming,
  • rural living and easy access to poisons, and
  • lack of political will and insight in the region.

Farmers, suicide, psychological autopsy, debt in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state

Agriculture is the main stay of the state of Maharashtra. Total irrigated area which had been used for cultivation is 33,500 sq kilometers. Average annual profit from cultivation in the state of Maharashtra is the lowest of all Indian states, lagging far behind the state with the highest - Jammu and Kashmir (Rs. 4363 vs. Rs. 22,770). The reasons for such a pathetic state of farmers include below average rainfall, heavy load-shedding, lack of small irrigation projects, poverty, pressure of private moneylenders and banks, ignorance of ancillary occupations for raising income, employment problem of the farmers' children, decreasing interest of the young generation in farming, rapid urbanization, apathy and lack of political willpower toward welfare and development of the region, etc. Cumulative effect of all these is evident on the psyche of the people of Vidarbha in general and farmers in particular. Farmers are hence prompted to turn to local moneylenders (sahukars) who charged them a much higher rate of interest. In fact moneylenders proved to be the most common and easy source of loans for the farmer (28.4%) followed by loans procured from relatives (22.93%) while only 3.94% turned to land development banks.

Fish production in Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh has 17,088 km of rivers and canals, 4.6 lakh ha of reservoirs and 60,000 ha of ponds and tanks that produce about 51,000 tonnes of fish. The average fish yield from FFDA ponds is about 1.5 tonnes/ha/year. On account of the vast resources, even a marginal increase in yield rate in the reservoirs of the state can contribute a substantial quantity of fish to the production basket. With the following interventions, fish production in Madhya Pradesh can be increased substantially:

• Adopting reservoir fisheries management guidelines (200 kg/ha/year)

• Integrated rice-duck-poultry-fish culture (2 tonnes/ha/year)

• Carp culture (2.5 tonnes/ha/year)

Fish production in Madhya Pradesh can be increased to more than 1 lakh tonnes/annum by adopting these measures, nearly doubling the production, that could be marketed in other states with profit.

Vermicompost for Sugarcane - New Experiments

Plant nutrition and the soil-plant system. The key-role of fertilizers and their judicious use in crop husbandry is well understood, when one is familiar with the general facts about plant nutrition. It is now known that at least 16 plant-food elements are necessary for the growth of green plants. These plant-nutrients are called essential elements. In the absence of any one of these essential elements, a plant fails to complete its life cycle, though the disorder caused can, however, be corrected by the addition of that element.These 16 elements are: Carbon(C), hydrogen(H), oxygen(O), nitrogen(N), phosphorous(P), sulphur(S), potassium(K), calsium(Ca),magnesium(Mg), iron(Fe), manganese(Mn), zinc(Zn), copper(Cu), molybdenum(Mb), boron(B) and chlorine(Cl). Green plants obtain carbon from carbon-di-oxide from the air; oxygen and hydrogen from water, whereas the remaining elements are taken from the soil. Based on their relative amounts, normally found in plants, the plant nutrients are termed as macronutrients, if large amounts are involved, and micronutrients, if only traces are involved. The micronutrients essential for plant growth are iron, manganese, copper, zinc, boron, molybdenum, and chlorine. All other essential elements listed above are macronutrients.

As mentioned above, most of the plant nutrients, besides carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, originate from the soil. The soil system is viewed by the soil scientists as a triple-phased system of solid, liquid and a gaseous phases. These phases are physically seperable. The plant nutrients are based in the solid phase and their usual pathway to the plant system is through the surrounding liquid phase, the soil solution and then to the plant root and plant cells. This pathway may be written in the form of an equation as: M(Solid)->M(Solution)->N(Plant root)->(Plant top) where 'M' is the plant nutrient element in continual movement through the soil-plant system. The operation of the above system is dependent on the solar energy through photosynthesis and metabolic activities. This is however, an oversimplified statement for gaining a physical concept of the natural phenomenon, but one should bear in mind that there are many physico and physico-chemical processes influencing the reactions in the pathway. The actual transfer in nature takes place through the charged ions, the usual form in which plant-food elements occur in solutions(liquid phase of the system). Plant roots take up plant-food elements elements from the soil in these ionic forms. The positively charged ions are called 'cations' which include potassium(K+), Calcium(Ca++), magnesium(Mg++), iron(Fe+++), zinc(Zn++), and so on. The negatively charged ions are called anions and the important plant nutrients taken in this form include nitrogen(NO-3), phosphorous( H2PO-4), sulphur(SO-4), Chlorine(Cl), etc.

The process of nutrient uptake by plants refers to the transfer of the nutrient ions across the soil root interfaces into the plant cell. The energy for the process is provided by the metabolic activity of the plant and in its absence no absorption of nutrients take place. Nutrient absorption involves the phenomenon of ion exchange. The root surface, like soil, carries a negative charge and exhibits cation-exchange property. The most efficient absorption of the plant nutrients takes place on the younger tissues of the roots, capable of growth and elongation.

In this respect, root-systems are known to vary from crop to crop. Hence their feeding power differs. The extent and the spread of the effective root-system determines the soil volume trapped in the feeding-zone of the crop plant. This is indeed an important information in a given soil-plant system which helps us to choose fertilizers and fertilizer-use practices. The absorption mechanisms of the crop plants are fairly known now. There are three mechanisms in operation in the soil-water-plant systems. They are:(i) the contact exchange and root interception, (ii) the mass flow or convection, and (iii) diffusion. In the case of contact exchange and root interception, the exchangeable nutrients ions from the clay-humus colloids migrates directly to the root surface through contact exchange when plant roots come into contact with the soil solids. Nutrient absorption through this mechanism is, however, insignificant as most of the plant nutrients occur in the soil solutions. Scientists have found that plant roots actually grow to come into contact with only 3 percent of the soil volume exploited by the root mass, and the nutrient uptake through root interception is even still less. The second mechanism is mass flow or convection, which is considered to be the important mode of nutrient uptake. This mechanism relates to nutrient mobility with the movement of soil water towards the root surface where absorption through the roots takes place along with water. Some are called mobile nutrients. Others which move only a few millimetres are called immobile nutrients. Nutrient ions such as nitrate, chloride and sulphate, are not absorbed by the soil colloids and are mainly in solution. Such nutrient ions are absorbed by the roots along with soil water. The nutrient uptake through this mechanism is directly related to the amount of water used by the plants (transpiration). It may, however, be mentioned that the exchangeable nutrient cations and anions other than nitrate, chloride and sulphate, which are absorbed on soil colloids are in equilibrium with the soil solution do not move freely with water when it is absorbed by the plant roots. These considerations, therefore, bring out that there are large differences in the transport and root absorption of various ion through the mechanism of mass flow. Mass flow is, however, responsible for supplying the root with much of the plant needs for nitrogen, calcium and magnesium, when present in high concentrations in the soil solution, but does not do so in the case of phosphorous or potassium. The nutrient uptake through mass flow is largely dependent on the moisture status of the soil and is highly influenced by the soil physical properties controlling the movement of soil water.

The third mechanism is diffusion. It is an important phenomenon by which ions in the soil medium move from a point of higher concentration to a point of lower concentration. in other words, the mechanism enables the movement of the nutrients ion without the movement of water. The amount of nutrient-ion movement in this case is dependent on the ion-concentration gradient and transport pathways which, in turn, are highly influenced by the content of soil water. This mechanism is predomionant in supplying most of the phosphorous and potassium to plant roots. It is important to note that the rhizophere volume of soil in the immidiate neighbourhood of the effective plant root receives plant nutrients continously to be delivered to the roots by diffusion. However, when the nutrient concentration builds up far excess of the plant in the reverse direction. These are some of the choice of fertilizers and fertilizer practices for practising scientific agriculture.

The relationship in the soil-plant system stated in the simple equation give in the earlier paragraph reflects the highly dynamic nature of the soil solution. One knows that the roots of the growing plants continuously remove nutrient ions from the soil solutions. At the same time, the breakdown of the soil minerals and the generating of more exchangeable cations, the biological activity and the additions made to the anions, e.g. nitrates, continuously change the composition of the soil solution. At a given point of time, therefore, the available plant nutrients in the soil solution may range from a tiny amount to larger quantities. Under favourable conditions, crop plants, in general, require larger amounts of plant nutrients than the quality found in soil solution at any given time. Hence, the situation of nutrients supply to plants becomes a limiting factor, specially, at the critical stages of plant growth and low crop yields result in recognition, therefore, fertilizers application and the use of suitable fertilizers are recommended for higher crop yeilds in productive farming. The knowledge of the specific role of each essential element in the growth of crop plants and their amounts required for efficient crop production is considered necessary in adopting scientific fertilizers use.

Crop improvement programme Cereal crops Phule Mauli (RSLG-262)

MPKV-Research
i) Cereal crops
Sorghum and bajra are the important kharif foodgrain crops. The University has recently released the variety of sorghum "Phule Yashoda" (SPV-1359). It is recommended for a medium to heavy soils and responds well to irrigation (1 to 2 irrigations). It yields 25-30 q/ha. It was released in 1998 at State level and subsequently released in 2000 at National level.

The sorghum variety Phule Mauli (RSLG-262) released during 1999 is a drought resistant variety recommended for light to medium soil and its yield under rainfed conditions is 12-15 q/ha. Improved variety of sorghum APV-504 (Swati) released by the University in 1989 is recommended for rabi tracts.

The variety 'Shradha' of bajra released by the University yields upto 25 q/ha. The improved agro-techniques for moisture conservation in drought prone area has been developed for higher productivity of bajra. The last 15 years yield data shows that, the yield of bajra has increased from 250 kg/ha to 690 kg/ha due to adoption of modern techniques of cultivation for this improved variety.

Rice is another important crop wherein variety Indrayani, Pavana and Kundalika have been released by the Agricultural Research Station, Vadgaon Maval and Darna by Zonal Agricultural Research Station, Igatpuri of this University.

Hunis and Manjari composites are the high yielding early and medium duration varieties of maize developed by the University. These varieties are catching the area very fast in Kolhapur region of the State.

General Greenhouse Management


Greenhouse Construction
Climate Control in GH Structures
Greenhouse Management: Soil Sterilization and preparation, cultural practices in flower and vegetable cultivation
Irrigation and Fertigation Technology
Crop Protection
Post Harvest and Marketing
Ergonomics


Marketing of Horticultural Produce

Importance and Scope
Post-Harvest and Handling
Marketing Channels
Domestic & Export Marketing : Potential Markets & Procedures
Logistics and Planning
Marketing of Allied Products

FUNDING SCHEMES

Bank of Maharashtra
Minor Irrigation for Agriculturists scheme for purchase of various irrigation equipments.
Mahabank Kisan Credit Card scheme for cultivation of crops, meeting the short-term credit needs of farmers.
Farm Mechanisation for Agriculturists scheme for Purchase of Tractors/Power tillers, Harvesters, Threshers & other farm
implements.
Animal Husbandry scheme for Purchase of animals, Poultry- Broiler Farm, Layers Farm, Hatchery Sheep/Goat Rearing Construction
of Byre, and Purchase of Machinery Working Capital Requirements under
Scheme for Cultivation of fruit crops-mango, Pomegranate, Grapes etc.
Scheme for providing finance to set up of Agri-Clinics/Agribusiness Centers.
Scheme for Financing Farmers for Purchase of Agricultural land.
Scheme for Financing Two Wheelers to Farmers
Scheme for Providing Loans to Farmers for Purchase of consumer durables
Scheme for Hi-tech projects in agriculture.
Rural Godown Scheme (Gramin Bhandaran Yojana) for scientific storage of agricultural produce.
Minor Irrigation for Agriculturists


Purpose :
Digging of new wells, revitalization of existing well, purchase of oil engine, electric motor, pump set installation of pipe line, sprinkler, irrigation, drip irrigation, tube well, bore well, etc.
Eligibility : Agriculturist who owns agricultural land.
Amount : For new dug wells as per the NABARD Unit costs for equipments/estimates.
Repayment : Depending upon the repaying capacity 7 to 11 years.
Security : Mortgage of land, Hypothecation of movable assets and guarantors.
Other Terms & Conditions :
Proposed well should be located in white watershed area. It should not be in dark watershed area.