Evaluation of Refresher Training Programme on Conservation Agriculture Practices

Human behavior consists of knowledge, skill and attitude and timely up gradation of thesethree components is must for better human resource development. Training is medium formodification of human behavior to efficiently discharge one’s own duties and responsibilitiesat their respective work place. The paper attempts to evaluate the impact of 10 daystraining programme entitled “Conservation agriculture practices for enhancing productivityand resource use efficiency in major cropping pattern” conducted in the Division ofAgronomy, SKUAST-Jammu on knowledge of the participants regarding different aspectsof conservation agriculture as well as their opinion towards overall organization of trainingprogramme. Gain in knowledge was taken as indicator for assessing the immediate outputof the training programme. Participants were exposed to pre and post knowledge test andthe results of two sample paired t-test (p=.000) so applied revealed that there wassignificant gain in knowledge about different aspects of conservation agriculture afterattending the training programme. Overall majority of the respondents were of opinionthat training programme was well planned and very effective and they had learned differentpractical aspects of conservation agriculture.

Analysis on Resource Use Efficiency of Smallholder's Rice Production Farmers in Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria: Probit Model Approach

This study examined the resource-use efficiency of smallholder rice production farmers in Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. The problem of resource use among small-scale rice production farmers is preponderance in the country. Hence, the study investigated the drivers of the problem in the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria. Specifically, the study was designed to determine the factors influencing the resource-use efficiency of the respondents. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select a total sample size of one hundred and seventy-five (175) rice farmers in Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. Seven estimators such as age, household size, farming experience, educational level, extension services, access to credit, and off-farm income in the Probit model were found statistically significant. Results show that the probability of resource use efficiency of inputs used by the farmers increases with age, farm size, household size, educational level, extension services, experiences in farming, access to credits, but decreases where they have off-farm income. Mc Fadden Pseudo-R2 gives 0.6772, and the Probit model explains a significant proportion of the variations in smallholder farmers' resource use. The study concluded that the socio-economic variables in the model play an important role in influencing resource use efficiency. The study recommends that government agencies and donors should provide simplified, accessible and obtainable credits and grants to existing and prospective rice farmers in order to sustain the current giant stride in rice production in the country.

Profitability, marketing, and resource use efficiency of ginger production in Rukum west, Nepal

The study was designed to investigate the profitability, marketing, and resource use efficiency of ginger production in Rukum west. The sample size of 62 ginger-growing farmers out of 187 farmers was determined using slovin’s formula. In addition, 20 traders from two major market hubs Simrutu and Jhulneta were interviewed. The pre-tested semi-structured interview schedule was administered to interview a randomly selected sample size. Data were analyzed using descriptive and statistical tools, including the Cobb-Douglas production function. Result showed that the average area under ginger cultivation was 0.14 ha. A major portion (46.56%) of the cost was found to be incurred by the seed alone in ginger cultivation. The benefit-cost ratio (2.02) indicates that ginger production enterprise was profitable. The productivity of ginger in the study area was estimated to be 11.39 Mt/ha, while per kg cost of production was found to be (NRs 35.67 = USD 0.30). Most of the gross income (78.85%) was found to be contributed by fresh ginger. Similarly, gross margin, market margin, and producer’s share were found to be 21.16, 33.33, and 62.97%, respectively, for 1 kg of ginger. The indexing technique identified high-cost with low-quality seed and price instability as the major problems associated with the production and marketing of ginger, respectively. Cobb-Douglas production function estimated the value of return to scale at 0.889, implying that ginger production exhibited decreasing returns to scale. A study on resource allocative efficiency revealed that farm yard manure and total labor were underutilized resources while seed rhizome was overutilized resource. Thus, for optimal allocation of resources, expenditure on farm yard manure and total labor need to be increased by 87.374% and 39.908%, respectively. The study concluded that an effort should be made to bridge the gap between optimal resource utilization and current practices. For this, it is prime important to interconnect the combined efforts of ginger growers, provincial government, or any developing partners.

The Optimal Cultivar × Sowing Date × Plant Density for Grain Yield and Resource Use Efficiency of Summer Maize in the Northern Huang–Huai–Hai Plain of China

In order to explore the optimal cultivar × sowing date × plant density for summer maize (Zea mays L.) in the Northern Huang–Huai–Hai (HHH) Plain of China, field experiments were conducted over two consecutive years (2018–2019) on a loam soil in the Northern HHH Plain. A split–split plot design was employed in this study, and the main plots included three cultivars (HM1: early-maturing cultivar; ZD958: medium-maturing cultivar; DH605: late-maturing cultivar); subplots consisted of three sowing dates (SD1: June 10; SD2: June 17; SD3: June 24); sub-sub plots include two plant densities (PD1: 6.75 × 104 plants ha−1; PD2: 8.25 × 104 plants ha−1). The results showed that the effects of cultivar and plant density on grain yield of summer maize were not significant, and the sowing date was the major factor affecting the grain yield. Delayed sowing significantly decreased the grain yield of summer maize, this was due mainly to the reduced kernel weight, which is associated with the lower post-anthesis dry matter accumulation. Moreover, radiation use efficiency (RUE), temperature use efficiency (TUE), and water use efficiency (WUE) were significantly affected by cultivar, sowing date, and plant density. Selecting early- and medium-maturing cultivars was beneficial to the improvements in RUE and TUE, and plants grown at earlier sowing with higher plant density increased the RUE and TUE. The interactive analysis of cultivar × sowing date × plant density showed that the optimum grain yields of all tested cultivars were observed at SD1-PD2, and the optimum RUE and TUE for HM1, ZD958, and DH605 were observed at SD1-PD2, SD2-PD2, and SD2-PD2, respectively. The differences in the optimum grain yield, RUE, and TUE among the tested cultivars were not significant. These results suggested that plants grown at earlier sowing with reasonable dense planting had benefits of grain yield and resource use efficiency. In order to adapt to mechanized grain harvesting, early-maturing cultivar with lower grain moisture at harvest would be the better choice. Therefore, adopting early-maturing cultivars grown with earlier sowing with reasonably higher plant density would be the optimal planting pattern for summer maize production in the Northern HHH Plain of China in future.