Central Agricultural University

About: Central Agricultural University is a education organization based out in Imphal, Manipur, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Agriculture. The organization has 1116 authors who have published 1157 publications receiving 9217 citations.

Determinants of Rural Poverty: An Empirical Study of Socio-Economic Factors in Jharkhand, India

Abstract: In India, poverty reduction is one of the major objectives of economic development programmes. Though, India was the first country in the world to define poverty as the total per capita expenditure of the lowest expenditure class, which is required to ascertain a minimum intake of 2400 kcal/day in rural and 2100 kcal/day in urban areas. The same is converted into financial terms and the poverty line is defined as a minimum level of income or expenditure, which is periodically updated. The latest updated poverty line is Rs.356.30 in rural areas and Rs.538.60 in urban areas in 2004-05 (Planning Commission, 2007). There exists a substantial interstate and urban rural differential in the cost of goods and services. One in three Indians lives below the poverty line according to the Tendulkar Committee report which used a measurement of goods and services, rather than calorie intake, to calculate poverty. The World Bank estimates that 80% of India's population lives on less than $2 a day which means a higher proportion of its population lives on less than $2 per day as compared with sub-Saharan Africa. Income based approaches to poverty can not tell more about other forms of deprivations poor go through. Poverty is basically a denial of a range of material needs such as nutritious food, safe drinking water, shelter, healthcare, education, etc. Therefore, multidimensional poverty measures provide better understanding of the nature of poverty-at local, regional, national, and world level. The present study attempts to track and explore some of the important causes of rural poverty in the state of Jharkhand. Socio-economic indicators provide a background to understanding the poverty scenario in a country. These indicators provide data on education, gender, poverty, housing, amenities, employment and other economic indicators. These indicators for the country as well as states will help in identifying the linkages between socio-economic indicators and achievement of health goals. It was found that the rate of decline in poverty is more in agricultural labour class households (27%) than that of farming households (1.9%). Analysis of household data of the sample villages also highlights a high incidence of rural poverty ranging from more than 20 percent in Dubaliya to about 76 percent in Durgapur. Incidence of poverty for four groups of households viz. labour, small, medium and large shows mixed pattern of incidence of poverty. Labour class households and large households were comparatively less poor in most of the villages than that of the other classes i.e., small and medium households. Among various determinants of poverty, obtained by estimating a probit model, considering poor as 1 and non-poor 0, it was found that length of education and number of earning members in family had significant poverty reducing effect, implying that for taking a poor household out of poverty promotion of education and creation of more employment opportunities to provide employment to a large number of household members are essential. It also emanates that big family size and increased dependency on agriculture would induce poverty and it is therefore imperative that family planning policies and alternative non-farm employment programme should receive due priority in any poverty alleviation programme in the state.

Socio-economic Characterization of Rural Households: A Village Level Analysis in Bihar

Abstract: The alleviation of poverty has consistently been one of the chief objectives of Indian policy. The country‘s modern history contains myriad examples of discussion on this topic as far back as 1901. After India achieved independence from Great Britain in 1947, it launched a series of development programmes under various Five Year Plans which contain some kind of poverty eradication or social justice components. The consideration of economic policies vis-a-vis their impact on the poor highlights a continued emphasis by Indian policy makers on poverty alleviation.During the mid to late 1990‘s, the country experienced tremendous economic growth, particularly in industrial and service sectors. Its GDP grew at close to 6 percent annually during this period. Many individuals have suggested that poverty fell considerably during 1990‘s due to trickle down effects. Others do not find evidence that the economic growth strategy employed by Indian Government has reached broad segments of the population.In India, Bihar is amongst the poorest states with poverty incidence of 41.4 per cent. Per capita net domestic product has been estimated to be $ 446 for Bihar which is about one –third of the corresponding national average ($ 1220) and less than one-fourth of Haryana ($ 2052), one of the richest states in India (Government of Bihar, 2011). There has not been any significant influence of the agricultural development and poverty alleviation programmes on reducing poverty incidence. It reflects that strategies adopted under various rural development programmes seem to be inappropriate in the Bihar context. The most of the programmes aimed at improving the economic status of poor households, only a few attempted at improving their human capital (i.e., education, health, housing, social participation, etc.). This might be the reason for ineffectiveness of these programmes on alleviating poverty during the last three decades. The present study is an attempt to understand the village level realities in the overall development scenario of the state, which has been unfortunately termed as poverty hot-spot by many.

Genetic diversity and demographic history of the giant river catfish Sperata seenghala inferred from mitochondrial DNA markers

Abstract: The giant river catfish Sperata seenghala has huge demand in South Asian countries due to its low number of intramuscular bones and nutritive value. However, the culture practises for this fish have not been standardized and the current demand for this fish is being met by capture fisheries only. Unregulated and indiscriminate fishing would lead overexploitation of fish stocks subsequently stock depletion. Genetic diversity between populations would give insight about population structure and demography. In the present study, S. seenghala stocks from three rivers, namely Ganga, Brahmaputra and Mahanadi were characterized using cytochrome b gene and D-loop region. Moderate to high haplotype diversity and low nucleotide diversity values were observed in all populations. Analysis of molecular variance and pairwise FST values showed significant genetic differentiation among populations. Patterns of diversity, haplotype networks and mismatch distribution strongly suggest a historical influence on the genetic structure of S. seenghala populations. S. seenghala stocks from these three rivers are genetically distinct units and management measures should be formulated separately for each population.

Nanotechnology: An Emerging Tool for Management of Biotic Stresses in Plants

Abstract: Biotic stresses are the major factors limiting the crop productivity worldwide. Indiscriminate application of chemicals used for crop protection is the serious concern for health and environmental hazards. Moreover, such practices deteriorate the soil health and increase resistance in phytopathogens and pests. Nanotechnology, the novel interdisciplinary technique developed in last decades provides the sustainable solution. Nanotechnology has the potential to revolutionize agricultural practices. Nanoparticles (NPs), nanobiosensors, quantum dots (QDs), nanobarcodes, and microRNA (miRNA)-based approach have potential role in rapid diagnosis and combating insect pests and diseases in plants. This chapter deals with potential use of NMs in crop protection for better eco-friendly management against biotic stresses in plants.

Quality Evaluation of Solar Tent Dried Puntius sophore and Mystus gulio of North East India

Abstract: Two commercially important small variety fish of north-east India, namely, Puntius sophore and Mystus gulio were dried using indigenously made solar tent dryer. The quality of the dried products was compared with the market sample of dry fish dried under open sun. Biochemical, microbiological and organoleptic characteristics were compared. Moisture and ash components were found higher in market sample in addition to protein and lipid degraded products. Although, bacteriological count was within the acceptable limit in both the products, fungal colonies were detected in market samples. Rehydration properties of market samples were lower than the solar tent dried products. The average temperature difference in the peak hours (12 – 3 o’clock) between outside and inside of the solar tent dryer was 9.94oC and 11.43oC while drying Puntius sophore and Mystus gulio respectively for 3 days. Sensory scores for appearance, colour, odour and texture of the solar tent dried products were above 4 in the case of both the fishes, whereas, in the case of market samples, the scores for the similar quality attributes were between 3 and 4 and were within the acceptable limit.