The present study was undertaken with a view to assess the impact of soil health card to identify the factors affect on fertilizer consumption and fertilizer use efficiency in sugarcane and kharif paddy crops in South Gujarat region of Gujarat State. The multistage random sampling technique comprised of 224 farmers was taken for the study. The production function analysis employed for determinants of fertilizer use indicated that annual total income of farmers, short term credit , one year lagged price and educational level were found the major influencing factors for determining fertilizers consumption in sugarcane and kharif paddy in general, for with and without Soil Health Card farmers. The production function analysis employed for fertilizer use efficiency indicated that there existed a variation in the production elasticities of resource inputs between the crops and groups of farmers under study. In general, area under the crop, human labours, phosphorus and other working capital were the important resource variables positively and significantly influencing the crop output in general for with and without Soil Health Card farmers. The nitrogen and manure showed

the negative and significant effect on crops output when farmers used these resources excessively. 

KVK as an innovative institution imparting skill training on agriculture and allied vocations for the farmers, farm women, rural youth and school drop outs for generating income and self employment. A study has been conducted with fifty tribal farmers in Dhanakauda block of sambalpur district in Odisha during 2012 to assess their perception towards KVK training programmes. It has been observed that appropriate selection of trainees, content addressing the local needs, easily understandable, immediate use and emphasis on skill up-gradation. Group discussion and exercise,

encouraging interaction, circulation of reference materials and more audio-visuals are to be used while conducting training. Long duration training programmes of one week to one month has to be organized for rural youth during lean period and duration to be fixed as per the lesson plan formulated. Clear understanding and confidence over the message, liasoning for the availability of inputs, credit and market support along with well furnished hostel with library facilities and enhancement of meals for training to motivate tribal farmers to attend KVK training. 

Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Kurukshetra took up an initiative for economic empowerment of landless Scheduled Caste rural women by motivating them to adopt mushroom cultivation as an income generating activity. As part of this programme KVK has conducted three trainings for these landless Scheduled Caste rural women since 2008-09. In total 120 such ladies were trained over a period of three years. The trainees were provided practical training through method demonstrations on compost preparation, spawning and casing management practices, harvesting and packaging of button mushroom. The post- training evaluations of these 120 women from 12 villages showed that majority (>75%) of them gained low to medium level of knowledge on the vocation. These trained women had taken up white button mushroom cultivation in polythene bags during October to March every year. The economic empowerment of the landless Scheduled Caste rural women by way of mushroom production of KVK has created awareness regarding its cultivation among them .With technical back-up of the KVK, the adoption of mushroom cultivation by 25 percent of trained landless Scheduled Caste rural women has paved the way for their economic empowerment. 

Sugarcane is a major cash crop of India, particularly in UP, Maharastra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujurat, and Foot hils of Uttarakhand. Sugarcane crop has a productivity of 70 tonnes/ha and an area of 4.2 mha. It plays a pivotal role in the national economy. Sugarcane is considered as one of the best cash crops in Orissa. It is grown in all the 30 districts of Orissa. The selected district Dhenkanal occupied 4th position in area (1.49 thousand ha) and in production (99.06 thousand MTs) and 5th position in yield (668.50 qtls/ha) in 2005-06. This study was carried out in Dhenkanal district, Orissa. A sample of 160 farmers was randomly selected from two blocks i.e. Dhenkanal and Kankadahad.The climatic constraints for sugarcane cultivation in Orissa will continue to account for disparity in cane productivity and sugar recovery in this area. Farmers perception based on their experience indicates a good rating for quality of soil, but poor rating for water quality. But a gap was found to be existing between potential and realized yield. The constraints regarding the sugarcane cultivation were mainly related to the payment problems, there is no alternative sugar mill other than Shakti sugar mill, the long waiting period for the disposal of cane besides harassment of the farmers by the staff of sugar mill. The long distance between sugarcane growers of the study area and sugar mill has added to difficulties of sugarcane growers, which has led to decline in area under sugarcane. 

The present study was conducted in purposively selected Deogarh district of Odisha coming under North western plateau agro-climatic zone. A field survey was undertaken to find out the trend in area, productivity and adoption of technologies in relation to cultivation of watermelon. The experimental yield was found to be 77.25% higher than the district average and 91.4% higher than the farmer’s practice. Level of education and caste of the farmers were reported having no significant relationship with the yield of the crop. Higher return was found to be the major reason for popularisation of cultivation of watermelon. Increasing cost of inputs and instability in market prices were found to be the most important drawbacks in commercialisation of watermelon in the study area.

The study explore the agribusiness opportunity and employment pattern of green Arecanut processing based on primary data created from 215 processing plants from Jalpaiguri and 100 processing plants from Cooch Behar districts of West Bengal. Both Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and survey methods were adopted to elicit information. It revealed that most of the processing plants were run by the owners’ of the land either as sole processor or in partnership. In later case usually the educated rural youths took part in joint venture by providing land and sharing finance with well experienced working counterpart. About two-third of plants remain under single ownership indicating participation and predominance of marginal processor. About 23.26% of plants in Jalpaiguri stand on leased land providing commercial expansion of the business. The highest volume of business is mainly concentrated in February to March due to availability of raw materials and the demand of processed grade item like ‘Tipni’, ‘Sagar’ and ‘Rota’. Average annual employment generated from a optimum size plant operating average 625 qtls of green nut per season was found 914 mandays of which 28.80% were female. Among the different operations, highest mandays (34.54%) was required for sun drying followed by de-husking (16.79%) and preparation of Tipni grade (10.10%) and for establishing the said plant initial average fixed investment was ` 79270.00 which requires the attention to understand on scale of finance. The said agribusiness may be taken as a policy option for the generation of income and employment in particularly in group approach.

Financial Inclusion has been accorded high importance by RBI to aid inclusive growth of the economy. There have been formidable challenges in this area such as bringing sections of society that are financially excluded within the ambit of the formal financial system, providing financial literacy and strengthening credit delivery mechanisms. In the present study, secondary data on various government schemes on Financial Inclusion in Uttarakhand state as whole and district Udham Singh Nagar in particular were analysed. The study highlights the proportion of schemes of Udham Singh Nagar to that of Uttarakhand, wherein, figures of KCC and DRI of Udham Singh Nagar remarkably contribute in the achievement of targets of Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand has done well in regard to deepening of credit and extending other banking services since its formation. There is no end of schemes, plans, and regulations aimed at providing financial services and products to the poor people. For better penetration of banking services in the region, few schemes are running in the State and district of which PMJDY, the latest initiative by Central Government, has been executed in the Mission Mode. As the progress of PMJDY in India and Uttarakhand has shown splendid figures, District Udham Singh Nagar also moves in the similar direction of progress, covering 100 % targeted households in Uttarakhand. 

This paper dealt with estimation of catch fish demand function in Uttar Pradesh. Demand functions desirable therelationship between the quantity demanded and the various factors affecting the demand. Demand is determined by many factors simultaneously yet in traditional demand curve, the quantity demanded of a product is assumed to depend solely on price of product. Consumer survey was conducted for estimation of demand function of fish species. The total amount of fish consumed per day in kg. price of different fish species, income of the consumer house hold were collected from the market. When the preference for fish will increase by 1 unit the quantity demanded for fish was increased by 0.16 units. The result justifies that when price of substitute good increase the demand for main commodity increases. The result was also in accordance to when price of fish will increase, the demand for fish will go down. Similarly the preference pattern for fish also follows the economic logic. The similar pattern as the linear demand function, the explanatory variable like income, price of mutton, price of fish and preference for fish were found significant. Interestingly, the estimated co-efficient of price of fish was estimated to be -0.39, indicating there by when price of fish was increased by 1% he quantity demanded for fish was decreased by 0.39 percent. For this reason the estimated co-efficient of C-D demand function with respect to prices of fish will be used in computation of economic

surplus.

An economic study, intended to know the impact of NHM on temporal changes in area, production of horticultural crops, performances of different components under NHM and constraints faced by sample beneficiaries, study was conducted in Karnataka state using primary and secondary data during the year 2013-14. Major findings of the study reveals that, significant increase in area, production and yield of horticultural crops achieved after implementation of the NHM, components such as area coverage and IPM have incurred highest expenditure over the years, but full potential could not be tapped due to severe constraints in infrastructural bottlenecks, marketing facilities and post-harvest management etc. So efforts are needed to improve the conditions of infrastructural facilities by spending higher expenditure on those items.

The present study was carried out in National Capital Region (NCR) of India. Five zones viz. National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida, Gurgaon and Faridabad were selected and 60 consumers from each zone were sampled thus, a total of 300 consumers were selected for this study. Tabular analysis, conjoint analysis and logistic regression model were employed to study socio-economic indicators of consumers, their shopping behavior, preference for organised food retail and the factors influencing consumer purchase through organised food retail. During the study, it was observed that the level of education, monthly income of household, ownership of vehicle and working women in household positively influenced consumer preference for organised food retails. Majority of consumers from all five zones viz. NCT of Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida, Gurgaon and Faridabad of NCR had no specific day of shopping and they shopped at weekly basis and spent one hour for shopping at organised food retails. The quality of products and proximity of retail outlets were important attributes for consumers to visit organised food retails. They preferred even higher price for quality products. Cash payment, wide range of products and self selection are being preferred by consumers.

Pulses are very much important for Indian diet. India is at top amongst all the major pulses producing countries but it is unable to meet out the domestic demand. The production till now is not sufficient to feed the whole Indian population. The domestic yield of pulses is very low as compared to global average and the same situation prevails in case of per capita availability. Thus, the present study is an attempt to examine the growth and instability in area, production and yield and to identify the components due to which production is increasing in present scenario. The empirical results of the study reveal that the maximum growth (3.4%) in area was found in case of gram followed by tur (1.5%). There is negative growth in area in urd and moong. The production registered highest growth (5.4%) in case of gram followed by tur (2.2%). The productivity witnessed the highest growth in urd (2.5%) followed by moong (2.3%).

The study looked into the demand and supply of institutional credit to agriculture in Jammu & Kashmir. It was observed that the agricultural credit has increased in absolute terms since 1980’s but its share in total credit has gone down for 12.4 to 7.8% of total credit disbursed in the economy between 1980 and 2010. The results revealed wide disparity across regions with respect to the disbursement of direct credit to agriculture. Moreover, there is a huge gap in the financial requirement and supply of institutional credit to agriculture in the state. The estimates of regression analysis indicated that real farm prices, gross irrigated area, coverage of rural banks, loanable cash balances of commercial banks, state gross domestic product and agriculture domestic product were significant positive determinants of direct credit supply to agricultural sector. On the other hand higher level of permanent income, rural literacy, technology level and value of farm assets have contributed in the improvement of demand for institutional credit. While temporary income and cooperative agricultural credit appeared negative indicating that it supplement farmers’ financial requirement and in turn resulted in declining demand for institutional credit. Based upon the findings, the study put forth few policy suggestions. 

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (Prime Minister People Money Scheme) created a record opening up of bank accounts in India in a very short span. The utility of the bank accounts is great for the financial inclusion and which was demonstrated across India in various ways. However, there are some concerns on the utilisation of the bank accounts, as some studies pointing out the dormant bank accounts and overburden on the banking system with large number of accounts with little or no transaction for a longer period. There is also a case of using the wide post office network for the financial inclusion, which are reachable to every villager without any cost to government as well as the beneficiaries. This study focuses on the utilisation pattern of the post office and bank accounts in India by using the Global Findex data collected by the World Bank in year 2011 and draw some lessons on how to increase utility of the bank accounts to general public without excessively burdening the banking system. The sample drawn is nationally representative with

the sample size of 3518 adult members 1837 male and 1679 female. We find that post offices are relatively more likely than traditional banks to provide accounts to individuals who are most likely to be financially excluded such as the poor, less educated and those out of the labour force. Even though over all use of the bank accounts is low, they play a greater role in increasing savings habits and likely to play a greater role in direct cash transfer under different government welfare programmes.

Wheat is a dominant product in the consumption basket of Indian households and can be considered as a strategic commodity. In this paper different ARIMA time series models were specified and estimated. Forecasting performance of these models were evaluated and compared by using common criteria such as: root mean square error, mean absolute deviation and mean absolute percentage error. The data used in this study include wholesale prices of wheat for year 2002 to 2012. Empirical results showed that ARIMA (1,1,1) price forecast time series model fitted the price series well and they have correctly predicted the future trend of the price series within the sample period of the study. Thus, ARIMA (1,1,1) was the most representative model for the price forecast of wheat in Sriganganagar market of Rajasthan. This model can facilitate the farmers and wholesalers in effective decision making.

Jute fibres are separated from non-fibrous tissues and woody part of the stem by dissolution and decomposition of pectins and gums by a process called retting. Retting employs the joint action of microbes and moisture to dissolve the cellular tissues and pectin surrounding the bast fibre bundle. The huge amount of clear water requirement and environmental hazards caused by chemicals and microbes presents the major disadvantage of retting. Moreover retting is time consuming and costly.

India has experienced rapid growth in potato production during recent past and the country has almost doubled its potato production during 2003-2013. The potato productivity improved 31.4% over this period of time. However, potato production scenario in southern states of India is quite grim and with the result potato consumers of these states always have to purchase potatoes at very high prices compared to the national average prices. With the objective to augment potato production in southern states this study was carried out for analysing socio-economic characteristics of

potential potato growers in non-traditional Anantapuramu and Kurnool districts of arid region in Andhra Pradesh. A long list of socio-economic factors viz. education level, occupation pattern, house condition, tractor ownership, food security level, access and affordability to civic amenities, children’s education type, possession of household amenities, expenditure pattern and level of mechanization adoption were studied in this study so that most suitable area for potato introduction may be identified.

The analysis of local market institutions in West Bengal and Bihar reveals that the market for agricultural produce is overwhelmingly dominated by private trade at the village levels. Though there has been modest public sector effort to support agricultural markets through building up of public sector marketing agencies, promoting cooperatives, etc., the fact remains that the market is dominated by private trade in agricultural produce in a largely unorganized manner.

There have been numerous village-level market institutions at work for the marketing of specific commodities, through even greater numbers of trade channels in the marketing chain. Owing to higher number of trade channels in prolonged marketing chains, the producers’ shares in cases of all crops turn out to be quite low, especially for fruits and vegetables. 

An attempt has been made in this paper to examine the role of small and marginal farmers in crop production and seed utilisation mechanism. The study also tries to highlight the availability of the existing institutional arrangement and policy supports towards improved seed production and distribution in India. The study has been undertaken based on the secondary data of diverse years starting from 2001 to 2011. It has been observed that small and marginal farmers still largely depend on public sources for seeds apart from their retention and local seeds. It has been also found that seed replacement rates are low and only 24% of the sub-marginal and 29% of the marginal farmers replace seed every year

against 40% in case of large farmers. In spite of different policies like National Seed Policy, National Seed Project, National Seed Bill etc., the study has found that it is necessary to invest more in research and development for seed especially in the era of trade liberalization to make agriculture more remunerative and competitive. 

Using polynomial (viz., linear, quadratic and cubic) and exponential models fluctuation in area, production and productivity of wheat crop in Gujarat state was studied. The data for the years 1960-61 to 2006-07 were used for model fitting and efficiency of the fitted model(s) was tested using data of 2007-08 to 2010-11. The models were fitted on original data as well as three, four and five year moving averages data. The most suitable model was selected on the basis of adjusted R2, significant regression coefficient, root mean square error, mean absolute error, normality (Shapiro-Wilk test) and randomness of residual’s (Run test) distribution. The results showed that none of the models was suitable for area prediction whereas third degree polynomial model on original data was found suitable to fit the trend of production and productivity of wheat in Gujarat state with adjusted R2 values of 53.75 and 85.30 respectively. 

Field experiments were conducted at eleven centers of All India Coordinated Research Project on Potato located in different agro-climatic zones to investigate the role of phosphobacteria in P economy in potato crop during 2005-06 and 2006-07. Six treatments consisting of combinations of different levels of P as well as phosphobacteria (PSB) used in the study showed significant effect on yield of potato. At Kalyani, Chhindwara, Kota, Patna, Hassan and Ooty, recommended dose of NK + 75% P + PSB was statistically at par with recommended dose of NPK in term of total yield. At Bhubaneshwar, Dholi, Hisar, Deesa and Modipuram, 75% of fertilizer P + PSB either had no significant effect on potato tuber yield or reduced the yield marginally in two years of experimentations. Net returns with recommended NPK or 75% P + PSB showed the best results at most of the centers. The per cent saving of fertilizer P, calculated using quadratic model, was maximum for Hassan (43%). In general, use of PSB saved around 20 to 25% P, depending upon agro-ecological situations and soil conditions. However, at Bhubaneshwar, Kota and Dholi the saving being very meager was not economical. The results clearly indicate the role of PSB in saving fertilizer P across different agro-climatic zones, However, it also came out very clearly that effectiveness of the PSB depends on agro-ecological situations and soil conditions.

The current study focuses to explore the degree of market integration in William Bartlett variety of pear grown in Kashmir, commonly known as Bagughosha, through co-integration analysis on the wholesale weekly prices of its two commercial grades Bagughosha Super and Bagughosha Special, collected from two national fruit markets of India (Delhi and Mumbai), from August, 2005 to October, 2013. The results reveal that Pear markets were co integrated and competitive. A disequilibrium ranging from 16.47 to 50.33% among the selected grades of the fruit was observed.VAR and VECM models were used to study the behaviour of market prices, which revealed that Delhi market turned most dominating market for higher prices of the selected variety and grades.

The present study entitled “An Analysis of the Factors Affecting the Apple Production and Productivity in Shimla” was undertaken with a vision to study the status of apple productivity in the western Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh. Narkanda was selected randomly as the ultimate block of study from the Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh state. The objective was aimed at analyzing the apple cultivation and the factors affecting the apple production and productivity. The study sample was drawn using random sampling method in four stages making a total of 70 orchardist households from five altitudinal zones namely < 1500 m, 1500-2000, 2000-2500, 2500 -3000 and above 3000 m msl respectively in the study area. General mathematical and statistical methods were utilized to perform the present study. Overall multiple regression analysis was carried to know the factors influencing the apple production and for evaluating the economic efficiency of resources which has indicated that there exist a scope to increase the apple productivity in the study block, by increasing the levels of the variables like FYM, Chemical fertilizers, human labour, fixed costs and also that it should stick to optimum no. of sprays for plant protection and by maintaining the plant density. The findings of the present study strongly recommend the optimum use of the resources in order to adapt to the adverse conditions and attain desired growth in apple cultivation and ultimately the productivity. 

In present study attempts has been made to assess the present household income and expenses of inland fishermen in Theni province, India. In Present investigations, 140 respondents were selected and assessed their household socio economic condition, employment, income, and saving with predesigned interview schedule through simple random sampling technique. This study discovered, majority of fishers (about 80%) has having education includes primary education and fishing dominantly by middle age group fishers (60%) with work experience of 10 years, but only 24%

were participated in the training programme. The unemployment was found to lower of 31% in fishing as compared to non-fishing (41%) and fishing related activities (75%). Hence, these indicates that, there is scope for amplify the inland fishing per providing appropriate training programme to patronize the social profile. At the same time, the non-fishing activities like agriculture has inevitable role in livelihood and generating higher economic returns when it compared to fishing and fishing related activates. While presenting consumption pattern, education was accounted higher percentage

than food, social ceremonies, cloths, health, transport etc, the excess amount was saved in institutional and noninstitutional organization.

Agricultural regulated markets have been playing a pivotal role in the procurement of farm produce. Punjab stateaccounts for about six per cent of the total regulated markets in the country. With the rising agricultural production andgrowth of regulated marketing facilities, Punjab has become one of the leading states in development of marketing infrastructure and facilities for orderly marketing of agricultural produce. in the best interests of both producers and

consumers. Basic infrastructural facilities like pucca auction platforms, parking, drinking water, electricity, mandi lights, internal roads, rest houses, toilets, bank and post office etc. were present in almost all the markets. Market information system was quite efficient in all the sampled markets. Thus all the markets are performing well on physical as well as financial front and the number, capacity and existing infrastructure of the regulated agricultural markets in the state comfortably meets the requirements of the increasing farm produce in the state. Nearly half of the total expenditure incurred by the Punjab State Agricultural Marketing Board during 2011-12 was for the infrastructural development in the agricultural markets. The study concluded that n efficient agricultural marketing system can be evolved by improving, strengthening and optimally utilising the existing market infrastructure in the state.

The present study is intended and undertaken in Manipur, a North-Eastern state of India. The study is based on secondary data collected from Census reports. As per the Census 2011, North-Eastern States having 45.59 million population, shares about 3.77% of National figure. The region continued to share about 3.80% of country’s total female population (585.65 million) too. Decadal growth rate (SGR) of female population is slightly above (2.2% during 1991- 2001 and 1.79% during 2001-2011) that of male (2.12% during 1991-2001 and 1.72% during 2001-2011) in India. Similarly growth of female population is outpassing the growth of male population in the Manipur with a clear cut margin (2.56 against 2.34% in 1991-2001 phase, 1.95 against 1.81 during 2001-2011 phase). The state shares about 5.97% of total population and 6.06% of female population of North-East. Share of female worker to the total worker is around 39% in Manipur but in National figure is sometimes less and around 25% over the decades. The percentage of female cultivator (37.9), household industry worker (14.1) and other worker (34.5) in the state are high compare to the national figure.

A study was conducted to find out the yield gap, adoption pattern, determinants of adoption and constraints in adoption of soybean production technologies. The primary data was collected from 30 farmers selected on the basis of yield levels, as high, moderate and low in the Northern Hill Region agro-climatic zone of Madhya Pradesh. The study revealed that at overall yield level gap-I, II, and III were found to be 47.51%, 18.52 and 59.22%, respectively. More than 90% of respondents were not adopting land levelling, irrigation management, plant protection measures, seed treatment, and nutrient management due to various constraints such as lack of capital, high cost, lack of knowledge etc. Multiple regression analysis showed positive and significant impact of education on adoption of soybean production technologies. The model fitted was found to be bets fit with R2 60%.

Agriculture is the mainstay for the economic development of the country. Pulses are one of the important food commodities in India where a large vegetarian and even non vegetarian population are highly dependent on pulses for protein source. Since pulses are cheaper than meat (animal protein) often referred to as ‘poor man’s meat’ in developing countries like India. But the area under pulses is declining at an alarming rate. The present study aimed at examining the response behavior of arhar and gram growers to the changes in price and selected non price variables in all districts of

eastern region of Uttar Pradesh. This is estimated by the application of Nerlovian price expectation adjustment model. Short and long run elasticies has also been calculated which reveals that farmers are not responding to change in prices. Demand and supply has been projected for the years 2019-20 and 2029-2030. The study revealed that there can be a huge amount of negative gap between demand and supply 

Institutional credit has played a very important role in the development of the agricultural sector. In fact, credit acted as a means to provide control over resources to enable the farmers to acquire the required capital for increasing agricultural production. The major success of green revolution in Indian agriculture to a large extent is the impact of institutional credit support to the agricultural sector in terms of expansion in inputs like fertilizers, irrigation, private capital formation, etc. The introduction of a new credit product called ‘Kisan Credit Card’ (KCC) in 1998-99 with three different sub-limits viz. production, asset maintenance and consumption needs are a step in this direction. Since inception of the scheme up to March 2012, banking system has issued 124365 numbers of KCCs in the Jammu and Kashmir state. The corresponding number of cards issued at all India level as on October, 2011 has been 1078.36 lakh. In the number of KCCs the share of commercial banks is maximum i.e. 51.32%, this is followed by 45.97% share of RRBs and only 2.71% is contributed by the co-operative banks. The total bank branches in financial year 2010-2011 were 1302 whereas it was 1449 in the financial year 1011-12. Progress in issuance of KCCs by banks in J&K for the financial year 2010-2011 the target was ` 27466.36 lakh and achievement was only 14.23%. In Jammu region total coverage was 37.53% in different districts whereas in Jammu district the coverage was 39.75%. Highest number of farmer’s coverage under KCC in Jammu region made in Samba district (85.22%).

Rhizospheric soil from tea [ Camellia sinensis L.] was screened for the presence of phosphate solubilizing bacterial populationin-vitro where eight isolates were able to solubilize tri calcium phosphate in Pikovskaya’s agar. These isolates were also screened for phosphate solubilization in liquid medium. Phosphate solubilizing activities of these strains were associated with a drop in the pH of the medium. Furthermore, these 8 isolated strains were inoculated in specific media containing tryptophan to produce growth regulating substances indole acetic acid (IAA) under in-vitro conditions. Amount of phosphate solubilized ranged from 11.07±0.91-82.77±0.96mg/l and IAA production ranged from 11.23-28.78 mg/l. These bacterial strains may be further characterized and field tested for their use as effective growth promoters for hill crops.

This paper analyses the total factor productivity (TFP) growth and its components “technical change and technical efficiency change in production of rapeseed and mustard (R&M) in major states of India. The productivity growth has been estimated through data envelopment analysis (DEA) based Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) for the period 1994-95 to 2011-12 for which recent data for selected states were available. Decomposition analysis of TFP change has revealed that output growth of R&M was driven by both technical change and technical efficiency change. This is further witnessed by the positive and significant growth of yield in increasing production of R&M. Regional pattern of productivity growth has revealed large interstate variations with states mean TFP change was 3.3%. Analysis of input use has shown lower growth during study period. Analysis has also shown that the share of current and capital inputs in total cost of cultivation has shrunk and input use efficiency has slowed down significantly (except Rajasthan). The study has concluded that the recent sloth in yield of R&M in study states could be due to inefficiency of input use rather than slowdown in technical change. The study calls for an increasing investments on research for development of high-yielding disease resistant and stress tolerant varieties and demonstration of location–specific good agricultural practices on farmers’ fields to encourage adoption of improved practices. A combination of research and extension will lead to increase input

use efficiency at farmers’ fields and thereby sustaining growth in TFP.

After recording a huge negative trade balance of dairy products during 1980s, India has evolved as net exporter in dairy trade during the last three decades. Exports of dairy products increased almost 200 times since early 1980s to later half of new millennium whereas value of imports decreased by 7 times by this period. The export perceived vast changes in composition as well as destination over the study period. The present study analyses the temporal changes in composition and direction of Indian dairy exports at most disaggregate level in light of several policy interventions during last three decades and identify the potential sources of gains thereof. The study is based on the secondary data from various sources on several variables, the major being dairy trade statistics from DGCI&S and ministry of commerce for 1980-81 to 2009-10. Compositional analyses of export basket indicates that India has multiplied its product portfolio from traditional dairy products like concentrated and sweetened milk and cream and fat based products to value added dairy products like cheese and curds, whey based products, yogurt and other acidified dairy products. Harfindahl index of geographical concentration indicates that the country has continuously diversified trade destinations over the last three decades. New trade partners have emerged in African Countries apart from conventional partners from Asian and European countries. In light of the empirical evidences, the study concludes that generation of more exportable surplus through improved breeding and feeding programmes is the key to amplify the foreign exchange earnings from dairy sector. Policy and research emphasis should be on development of efficient milk value chain to boost trade. To improve the bargaining power of the country, on the quality front, India should improve its image as a reliable and consistent supplier of safe and quality dairy products conforming to the international standards. A comprehensive strategy for producing quality and safe dairy products should be formulated with legal backdrop. Harmonization of BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) quality standards with that of international quality standards will go a long way in materializing the export potential of Indian products into foreign currency.