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.

Bee Keeping as a Source of Supplementary Income for Improved Livelihoods: A Success Story of ARYA Project in East Champaran

Abstract: Mostly the people of the villages in Mehsi block of East Champaran are engaged in farming and animal husbandry and farm labour. The farmers of this village are also engaged in growing vegetables and spice crops for sale in the nearest markets. Mr Vijay Kumar was not able to maintain his family with farming occupation alone earlier. He earned 2-3 lakhs rupees annually by selling Short communication Singh et al.; CJAST, 39(18): 1-3, 2020; Article no.CJAST.57996 2 honey and bee colonies in nearby markets and at district level market. He set good example for enabling extra income along with agriculture. He established bee keeping unit in his farm along with agricultural crops. After establishing his venture, he is able to meet the local demand by providing good quality of honey and bee colonies to villagers. Despite earlier challenges like lack of market for his honey and difficulty in managing his colonies during the summer, Mr. Kumar has dramatically changed his life and that of his family through the sale of honey and honeybee colonies

Domestication of Phoebe cooperiana in the Eastern Himalayas: population variation in morphological and biochemical fruit parameters

Abstract: Phoebe cooperiana U.N Kanjilal ex A. Das is an indigenous forest tree species yielding fruits consumed widely across the state of Arunachal Pradesh, India. As part of an initiative to domesticate the species, phenotypic variation in fruit and seed morphology as well as the biochemical properties of the pulp were assessed for 14 populations within the state. Nine fruit and seed characters were measured and 12 biochemical parameters of the fruits were analysed. Five trees were selected from each population and a minimum of 30 fruits were collected from each tree. Analysis of variance indicated significant variation in all fruit and seed morphological parameters. The coefficient of variation for fruit weight was reported to be 5.02%, seed weight 5.60%, pulp weight 5.36% and pulp fruit ratio 4.14%. Among biochemical parameters which are of nutritive value, crude protein, vitamin E and A were higher than that found in most common fruits and vegetables. These traits also showed significant variation among the 14 selected populations with crude protein values ranging between 5.99 and 10.76%, vitamin E between 4.80 and 7.33 mg/100 g and vitamin A between 1.88 and 3.13 mg/100 g. The fruits are also high in phenol with a mean value of 22.19 mg/g and displayed promising 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging properties averaging 56.94% antioxidant activity. However, cyanogen content in the fruits was higher than the permissible amount for human consumption, for which processing is recommended before use. The opportunities for domestication are discussed and some promising traits and populations that can be utilized in the domestication programme are identified.