eChapters

Introduction

To meet the food needs of the burgeoning population, India will need to produce 300 million tonnes of food grains by 2020. At present more than 75% of the total food grains produced in the country are of rice and wheat. Use of nitrogenous fertilizers has contributed much to the remarkable increase in production of rice and wheat in India that has occurred during the past three decades. During the last half-decade or so while fertilizer N consumption is touching new heights, the production of both rice and wheat is showing a trend of plateauing.

Introduction

It is well-known that soil testing is agronomically sound, beneficial and environmentally responsive tool for monitoring the nutrient as well as pollutant status of soils, and also for making precise fertilizer recommendations for various crops and cropping sequences. Soil testing with associated plant and water analysis is the only tool known which helps to control soil fertility. Nutrient supplying power of soils, crop responses to added nutrients and fertilizer and amendment needs can safely be assessed through sound soil testing programme. Monitoring of soil fertility, against depletion and accumulation of certain elements in toxic proportions over time, is also possible through appropriate soil tests. This also helps to economize on cost of fertilizers and also in increasing fertilizer use efficiency.

Introduction

The Indian agriculture is very complex and carrying out multi-functionalities of providing food, nutrition and ecological security besides employment and livelihood for over 700 million people. Indeed, India has made a marvelous achievement in attaining self-sufficiency in food grain production after the introduction of Green Revolution which eventually resulted in maintaining all-time high buffer stock in warehouses of our country. Such rosy picture in production trends turned to be bleak in the past few years.

Introduction

“Non-monetary inputs are defined as those cultural operations which help to achieve high yield at no extra cost and whose cost does not change with the level of output”.
 
After the advent of green revolution, nutrient management has received the significant attention by farmer as well as researchers; as a result of which and coupled with the requirement for high yielding varieties, consumption of plant nutrient (N, P and K) increased tremendously. Variability was observed in fertilizer consumption between the states. 

Plant mineral nutrition is a sub branch of plant physiology which addresses issues on uptake of elements that plant needs to absorb from air or water or soil to grow and to live. Besides function of nutrient elements in plants, it also includes deficiency symptoms and how to address deficiency symptoms in a plant. Plant mineral nutrition and mechanism of uptake has two major aspects:

Introduction

Nitrogen (N) fertilization assured centre stage for enhancing food production in developing countries especially after the introduction of high yielding and fertilizer responsive crop varieties. Almost half of the human population relies on N fertilizer for food production (Ladha et al., 2005), and about 56 percent of the N fertilizer is used for producing rice, maize, and wheat (IFA, 2002). It has contributed an estimated 40% to the increase in per capita food production over the past 50 years (Smil, 2002). However, excess use of chemical N fertilizer may negatively affect surface water, as well as groundwater, and the atmosphere (through leaching and runoff) through volatilization of N (Galloway et al., 2008).

Water and nutrients are the most important, and readily manageable, variables for producing a profitable crop. Efficient management of water and essential plant nutrients is imperative for achieving sustainable agriculture and maintaining necessary increase in food production to feed the burgeoning population while minimizing economic losses and environmental impacts. Technology here can play a catalytic role in striking a common ground between these environmental and economic goals. Recent advances in sensor technologies indicate that efficient nutrient management in crop fields can be attained through the application of Precision Agriculture (PA)-based geo-spatial technologies such as global positioning system, geographical information system, remote sensing,

With the introduction of high yielding varieties and use of high analysis fertilizer in intensified agriculture under irrigation condition resulted in green revolution in our country. But continuous use of chemical fertilizer in indiscriminate manner without assessing soil also had adverse effect on productivity and environment. Though use of high analysis fertilizer ensured the high production but also resulted in acceleration of mining of native sources of nutrient. This has led to appearance of hidden hunger of several other essential nutrients and sustainability of our agriculture has become venerable.

Introduction
 
The major challenges in 21^st century are food security, environmental quality and soil health. Besides, shrinking land holdings and increasing cost of inputs in India merit adoption of scientific use of plant nutrient for higher crop productivity. The soil fertility and fertilizer use project initiated in 1953 following a study by Stewart in 1947 which was the first systematic attempt in India to relate the knowledge of the soils to the judicious use of chemical fertilizers. The soil testing programme was started in India during the year 1955-56 with the setting up of 16 soil testing laboratories under the Indo-US Operational Agreement for “Determination of Soil Fertility and Fertilizer Use”. In 1965, five of the existing laboratories were strengthened and nine new laboratories were established to serve the Intensive Agricultural District Programme (IADP) in selected districts.

Introduction

Phosphorus (P) is a major nutrient in crop production, but is also a major constraint due to its low bioavailability in soils. It is 11th most abundant element on earth’s crust and a  vital component of DNA, RNA, ATP and photosynthetic system and catalyses a number of biochemical reactions from the beginning of seedling growth through to the formation of grain and maturity. Many factors influence soil P availability like type of parent material from which the soil is derived, degree of weathering and climatic conditions.

Introduction

Increasing consciousness about conservation of environment as well as health hazards associated with agrochemicals and consumers’ preference to safe and hazard free food are the major factors that lead to the growing interest in environmental friendly forms of farming in the world. Organic agriculture is one such broad spectrum of production methods that are supportive to the environment. The basic requirement in organic farming is to increase input use efficiency at each stage of farm operation.

Indian agriculture has grown over past 50 years from subsistence type of farming to a market surplus one with the present food grain production above 250 million tones (Fig. 1) which was only 50 million tones in 1950. At the same time the country has struggled over the years to meet the fertilizer requirement. More than 50 per cent fertilizer consumption is imported.

Introduction

Crop production system includes the components like soil, climate and plant (genetic) material. Within a particular genetic make up of the crop, productivity of the system is limited either by climatic factors, that is, radiation, temperature and rainfall (water), or by inherent edaphic environment that govern the root development and consequent uptake of water and nutrients. Where soils are cultivated over long periods, the edaphic conditions reach at its low levels. When water, nutrients and CO2 are plentiful, yield is determined by radiation and temperature regimes during the growing season. However, under actual field situations, the yields are limited by factors other than climate, which is water and nutrients. These are not only limited in amounts but also are becoming costlier every year. It is, therefore, important that available fertilizers be used efficiently.

Introduction

Soil resource is as important as water for agriculture as it supplies nutrients to the plants and anchorage for stand and establishment. However, people least bother about its importance despite its role in food security and ecosystem services. Good quality soil is a prerequisite for sustainable crop production. The concept of conservation agriculture (CA) has emerged in the recent past wherein conventional practices are modified to reduce farming cost in addition to sustaining soil health. Improvement in the soil health is achieved by increasing soil organic carbon (SOC), aggregation, infiltration, and also reduction in soil erosion.

Introduction

Soil is a complex system consisting of physical, chemical and biological components. These components dynamically interact making it functional to sustain life. All life forms rely on soil microbial processes for their survival. Microbial diversity in the soil is greater than the diversity of any other group of organisms existing in the earth. Microbes as inhabitant of soil are responsible for diverse metabolic functions that affect soil and plant health (Table 1).

Introduction

Nano science is the study of the properties of structures of the size smaller than several hundreds of nano meter (nm). Nanotechnology consists in techniques for designing and manufacturing these structures as well as applications arising from these. The development of nanoscience and nanotechnology is in line with the trend towards miniaturisation. As nanoscience and nanotechnology developed, they make the barriers between traditional scientific and technological disciplines more permeable.

Introduction

Fertilizers in India, are mostly applied either through broadcasting, foliar application or using seed cum fertilizer drills. With the introduction of micro irrigation systems, the application of fertilizers along with the irrigation water became promising and is gaining momentum. The goal of fertilizer application through irrigation is to maximize the uptake rate of fertilizers in order to minimize the losses.

Introduction

Land serves as storage for water and nutrients for plants and other living organisms, but the land resources are limited. India has about 18% of world’s population and 15% of livestock population to be supported from only 2% geographical area and 1.5% of forest and pasture lands (Rao et al., 2015). The per capita availability of agricultural land has declined from 0.48 hectare in 1951 to 0.16 hectare in 1991 and is likely to decline further to 0.08 hectare in 2035. This decline in per capita land availability in the country is mostly on account of rising population (GOI, 2010). 

Introduction

India has predominantly agrarian economy with just 2.5% of the world’s geographical area, but has about 17% of its population. India’s population has increased from 361 million in 1951 to 1270 million at present: a three and half-fold increase in a span of 63 years. By 2020, India will need about 294 million tonnes food grains (Kumar, 1998). However, only 259.29 m t was produced in 2011–12 (Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture, 2012), implying that about 34 m t additional food grains have to be produced from the same or even lesser land area.

Introduction

Out of the total cultivated area of 142 million hectares (M ha) in India during 2011–12, 100.2 M ha was under cereals (the word cereal derives from Ceres, the name of the Roman goddess of harvest and agriculture) and 24.8 M ha under pulses (splitting seed), the staple food grains in the country (Economic Survey 2013). There is very little scope of bringing additional area under food grains; on the contrary this may decline in future due to the land needed for civil amenities and industrial purposes.

Introduction

India is the largest producer, importer and consumer of pulses in the world, accounting for 25 percent of the global production, 15 per cent trade and 27 per cent consumption, being an inseparable ingredient in the diet of the vast majority of population. Since time immemorial, pulses have been cultivated on marginal and sub-marginal lands, which are characterized by poor soil fertility and moisture stress, and consequently their yield potentials have not been realized. Further, more than 90 per cent areas under pulses are rainfed.

Introduction
 
Soybean (Glycine max L. Merril) is the world’s most important oil yielding legume which contributes 25% of the global edible oil, about two thirds of the world’s protein concentrate feeds for livestock, poultry and fish. India ranks fifth in the area and production in the world after USA, Brazil, Argentina and China. The contribution of India in the world soybean area is 10% but to total world soybean production is only 4% indicating the poor levels of productivity of the crop in India (1.1 t/ha) as compared to other courtiers (World average 2.2 t/ha) which is a major cause of concern.

Introduction
 
Sugarcane is an important cash crop of India. Since 1930-31 the area of sugarcane in the country has increased by about 4.3 times and production by about 9.8 times because of the rise in productivity of sugarcane by about 2.28 times, however, during the last decade there is no perceptible increase in productivity of sugarcane in the country. The domestic demand of sugar is around 22-23 million tonnes annually whereas the production of sugar in India is about 26 million tonnes annually. Data on nitrogen use efficiency of sugarcane from 1998-99 to 2013-14 in India is depicted in Fig. 1 and 2 show a decreasing trend (Anonymous, 2015). However, the escalating price of fertilizers in the market has become a cause of concern to sustain the productivity of the crop.

Introduction
 
Cotton belongs to the genus Gossypium, family Malvaceae. Of the 50 species, only four are cultivated, namely, G. arboreum, G. herbaceum, G. hirsutum and G. barbadense. The G. arboreum and G. herbaceum are popularly known as the desi cottons. The G. hirsutum and G. barbadense evolved in the new world and are known as American or Upland (G. hirsutum) and Egyptian or Pima (G. barbadense) cottons. India is the only country in the world where all the four cultivated species of cotton are grown on a commercial scale besides hybrids (both inter and intra specific) in three distinct agro-ecological regions and wide range of soil types.

Introduction
 
In India, most of the agricultural soils are deficient in one or more of the essential plant nutrients required for raising healthy crops and harvesting potential yield. Acidity, alkalinity, salinity, anthropogenic processes, nature of farming, and erosion are the main factors that can lead to soil degradation either alone or in combination of more than one factors.

Introduction
 
Poor nutrient use efficiency result in loss of nearly 0.8 million tonnes of nitrogen, 1.8 million tonnes of phosphorus and 26.3 million tonnes of potassium annually. Soil health is further deteriorated by imbalanced application of nutrients and excessive mining of micronutrients, leading to deficiency of macro- and micronutrients in the soils (ICAR Vision 2030). Due to the imbalanced use of plant nutrients, mining of nutrients is considered as the main cause for decline in crop yield and crop response ratio.

Introduction

Spice – definition and uses

SPICES are aromatic or pungent vegetable substances, used as whole, broken, or ground form, whose function in food is seasoning rather than nutrition and commonly used as a condiment. It may be a dried seed, fruit, root, rhizome, bark or vegetative substance or flower bud. American Spice Trade Association (ASTA) defines spices as “any dried plant product used primarily for seasoning purposes”. Included are tropical aromatics (pepper, cinnamon, cloves, etc.), leafy herbs (basil, oregano, marjoram, etc.), spice seeds (sesame, poppy, mustard, etc.) and dehydrated vegetables (onions, garlic, etc.). Many spices have other uses like food preservation, medicine, religious rituals, cosmetics, and perfumery or as vegetables.

The field of talent management continues to mature from agri-business to extension service, but it is also being impeded both by the scale of debates taking place. The field continues to agree that talent management “adds value” to the organisation such as extension system. To understand the development scenarios of strategic talent management, we need a “theory of value” to understand the elements of talent management which are the most valuable for business-led extension service (BLESS) effectiveness. “Theory of Value” is a generic term which encompasses all the theories within economics that although explain the exchange value (or) price of goods and services. Alternatively, “Value of Theory” encompasses a range of approaches in extension system to understand how, why, and to what degree humans should value things, whether the thing is person, idea, object, (or) anything else for effective functioning of strategic business-led extension service to sustain its clients system.

1. Prelude

Indian agriculture has experienced spectacular changes in the recent period, manifesting large-scale commercialization and diversification. They broadly include cultivation of new crops and varieties, increase in the share of area under cash crops, large scale spread of livestock activities and fisheries, pursuance of high tech in the areas of aquaculture, bio-technology, horticulture, processing etc. India currently is the second largest food producer. If we look critically the resources available with the country we can say it has the potential to be the world’s number one producing over 600 million tons of food products.

Though the extension education was originated as a “field approach” aimed to enhance the life quality of rural people, it has evolved into a scientific discipline that relies heavily on empirical research to develop and test its “field-oriented” approaches and methods. Since its birth, the extension research has passed through several phases and a range of research paradigms like community mobilisation, farmer participatory approaches, technology assessment and refinement, impact assessment, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) aided development, etc.

Farmers require a diverse range of information to support their farm enterprises. Information is needed not only on best practices and technologies for crop production, but also for post -harvest aspects. Agricultural Extension is an essential pillar for research and development in agriculture. Despite a wide range of reform initiatives in agricultural extension in India in the past decades, the coverage of, access to, and quality of information   provided to marginalized and poor farmers is uneven. Approaches to agricultural extension in India and worldwide continue to evolve.

1. Introduction

Democratisation of information makes it possible for ideas, opinions, knowledge and services to be accessible to everyone, anywhere, anytime. In this era of ‘knowledge sharing’, making access to the required information and knowledge is the key to innovation and empowerment of farming community. Rapid technological developments over the years, particularly internet and mobile, have made it possible to provide array of services on a single platform due to convergence. It is a unique opportunity to leverage upon the available ICT infrastructures and deliver the knowledge based services effectively to people. There are number of ICT initiatives being attempted in the field of Agriculture and other sectors. Some of the successful models (web-based and mobile based) have shown way for the future of e-extension in India.

Agriculture is vital to the development of any nation, India being no exception. Development must include the youth and therefore the government seeks to encourage their participation in the agricultural sector. This effort seeks to change the negative perception the youth have of participation in agriculture as uneducated, unskilled, physical labourers with extremely low economic return. Modern agriculture is more than tilling the soil and animals. The sector today offers career opportunities in research, environment, financial management, engineering and other technical areas for the youth to explore. The introduction of the Youth in Agriculture is necessary and important to facilitate food and nutrition security for the sustainable development of the nation.

Throughout the history of Indian agriculture, the contribution of farmers to agricultural technology development and dissemination has been very significant. Farmers’ practices are useful not only for scientific technology development, but also for sustainable agricultural development. Rural economy will sustain only when it effectively utilise the available local resources. But recent agricultural development witnessed that those modern agricultural practices slowly replacing the farmers’ practices. In this juncture the basic challenge for sustainable agriculture is to make better use of these internal resources. This can be done by minimizing the external inputs used, by regenerating internal resources more effectively or by combinations of both (Rolling and Pretty, 1997).

Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernisation and Water Bodies Restoration and Management project (TN IAMWARM) is a multidisciplinary project funded by World Bank. It is being implemented by WRO, PWD as nodal agency in 63 sub basins along with line departments and TNAU as coordinating agency since 2007. TNAU is concentrating on up scaling water saving technologies including Sustainable Sugarcane Initiative (SSI) under Precision farming in sugarcane. Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Virinjipuram is implementing TN IAMWARM project in Cheyyar & Kiliyar sub basin since 2007. Cheyyar  and  Killiyar Sub - Basin are the tributaries  of the Palar Basin that rises in KolarDistrict of  Karnataka enters through Vaniyambadi  and drains an area of about 13,470 Sq. K.M. of which 10,880 Sq. K.M. is in Tamil Nadu. The command area of this sub basin comes under the Cheyyar and Vandavasi Taluk in Thiruvannamalai and Uttermerur, Maduranthagam, and Seyyur Taluk in Kancheepuram Districts  which covers 458 tanks in 12 blocks with a registered ayakut area of 36746 ha. The major crops grown in the sub basin area are paddy, sugarcane, groundnut and pulses.

Vegetables constitute about 55 per cent of horticultural crop production in the country with a total production of 85 million tonnes which is estimated to cross 100 million tonnes in near future. Successful cultivation of vegetables is hampered due to the incidence of several insect pests. Cultivation of hybrids, improved varieties, intensive agronomic practices, off season cultivation and indiscriminate use of insecticides has changed the pest complex in these crops.

The Revised ATMA Scheme provides for dedicated specialist and functionary support to take up training and extension initiatives at State, District and Block level. Besides this, improvement in extension outreach right down to the village level is expected to be achieved through Farmer Friend. The study mainly focused on farmer friend under ATMA scheme. The FF served as a vital link between extension system and farmers at village level (one for every two villages). The FF should be available in the village to advise on agriculture and allied activities. The FF  mobilized farmers’ groups and facilitate dissemination of information to such groups, individual farmers and farm women directly through one to one interaction individually or in groups and also by accessing information / services  on behalf of farmers as per need through Common Service Centres (CSC) / Kisan Call Centres (KCC). (Government of India, 2010).

Krishi Vigyan Kendra is a Government of India funded Indian Council of Agricultural Research Project implemented at district level for enhancing the productivity and livelihood through scientific extension works. Realizing the importance of technology dissemination in the changing scenario of food and nutritional security, ICAR intervened in a big way. All the first line extension projects were merged and brought under single umbrella of KVK. The major emphasis was to enhance the production and productivity as well as to generate household income and employment of farming community. It was also envisaged that these extension works will be act as model for extension agencies and also catalyzed to improve the existing systems for better delivery mechanism.

Rice is a staple food for millions of people in the world, particularly in developing countries like India. The demand for rice is growing with ever increasing population. In India more than 70 per cent of the ground and surface water is being used for Agriculture and out of this 70 per cent is allocated to rice cultivation. Each kg of rice produced with irrigation requires 3000- 5000 litres of water (Anonymous, 2011). The demand of rice in India is increasing with increase in population and is expected to be 140 m.t. by 2025 (Pandey et al., 2008).

Theworld fashioned and occupied by three fourth of the water. Fisheries activities are an indispensable part in the life and livelihood of the peoples. Aquaculture is the most important role for the upward economic strengthening and social mobility. Most of the inland fish farmers are poor due to lack of financial resource. Because of the poor production through the inland fish culture, the most of the farmers in Tamilnadu are undertaking composite fish culture technology. Demand for fish is rapidly increasing due to the growing population and awareness about the superiority of fish to other meats. The marine and freshwater sectors growth were 2.5 and 8 per cent respectively (Ayyapan and Diwan, 2004).

Groundnut is one of the main oilseed crop of India.Unlike many oilseeds, Groundnut can be consumed directly in various farms and hence now it is also being considered a supplementary food crops. In india groundnut is grown in an area of about 6.5 hectares with a production of  about 7 million tones of pods per annum (2007). It is one of the few crops that can be cultivated even on marginal lands under low input conditions. Unfortunately average productivity of groundnut in india is quite low (1000kg) compared to (USA-3000 kg/ha, China- 2600 kg/ha, Argentina-2100 kg/ha  and  Indonesia-1550 kg/ha).

In any work environment the managers, facilitators are equipped with some specific type of skills to perform their activity effectively. In this study, multi stakeholders were involved in the process of Precision Farming from land preparation to marketing. Every stakeholder has a specific task to be performed so as to lead the client in the direction desired. In order to achieve this, the skill components viz., Management and Facilitating skills possessed by them and their own perception on those skills were assessed.

Farmer Field School (FFS) is a capacity building method based on adult education principles for group of farmers. FFS is best described as a ‘school without walls’, where farmers learn through observation and experimentation in their own fields. FFS methodology is potential extension approach to enhance farmer’s knowledge which is a basis for adoption of improved practices (Manoj and Vijayaragavan, 2014). In Andhra Pradesh Department of Agriculture initiated FFS programme in the name of Polambadi during 2006.

Food security is an essential feature of a country’s independence and sustenance. Rapid growing population and increasing purchase capacity, both play an influential role on food security. The cultivation or agriculture has declined the world over, with India and Kerala being no exceptions mainly due to the lack of human resources to work with the soil. Uneconomic crop pricing, lack of social accreditation, poor and unstable income, insecurity to life and health etc. are the main factors which discourage the youngsters in our country from becoming ‘farmers’.

Agricultural practices have been undergoing changes over a period of time throughout the world. The intensive agricultural practices followed during the past four decades in our country resulted in food security and self-sufficiency. This was achieved through development of input responsive varieties coupled with use of chemical fertilizers and plant protection chemicals. Agriculture is an important sector for economic development in India. Crop production is an important income source for millions of farmers in some cases with few cropping alternatives due to ecological constraints. All over the world majority offarmers rely on pesticides and fertilizers to increase yields. Pesticide use in most Indian agriculture is an essential part of production technology. Therefore farmers in developing countries are perceived as overusing pesticides, both in quantity and quality, with mixtures of chemicals, known locally as cocktails, being the favoured form of application (Crissman et al., 1994).

The cropping pattern in India is changing fast, particularly in favour of export-oriented commercial crops. These crops pose threat to the environment. Grapes is one such crop which accelerates environmental degradation. Borkar (2007) reported that with the advancement of technologies, the cultivation practices of grapes had improved increasing the yield and quality of grapes. However, to control the tremendous losses occurred due to pests and diseases in grapes, thousands of hundreds of kilograms of pesticides were dumped into the environment causing pollution.

Fish has a vital role to play in mitigating the protein deficiency in developing countries. Fish has been described as the meat of the third world, and fish contributes significantly in developing and developed countries as a source of employment, income generation and foreign exchange earnings. The minimum per capita consumption of fish of an average Indian should be 11 kg per annum, as recommended by the ICMR. However, the per-capita consumption of fish in India is only 5 kg per annum, whereas, per capita consumption of fish in Japan was 62.6 kg, China - 30 kg and Bangladesh - 35 kg (Goswami et al., 2012).

Agriculture is the key force in India and nearly two-third of the work force is directly or indirectly depends on agriculture to support their livelihood. In every day situation, farmers are facing complex problems viz., pest hazards, weed control, moisture insufficiency, soil fertility, farm credit, labor shortage, soil erosion, crop production technologies and so forth to improve the production and productivity. It is not sufficient to give agricultural related information to farmers alone and it is very essential to give information on newly released technologies to the people involving in the extension activities or extension personnel’s.

Distribution channels are behind every product and service that consumers and business buyers purchase everywhere. Product distribution is one of the four elements of the marketing mix. Usually, combination on institutions specializing in manufacturing, wholesaling, retailing and many other areas join force in Distribution channels. A Distribution channels are a set of inter-dependent organization involved in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption. Distribution channels decisions play a role of Strategic importance in the overall presence and success a company enjoys in the market palace.

Animal husbandry contributes 30 percent of agricultural gross domestic products in India and hence remains an important livelihood activity to the growing population of India. Mixed and diversified farming provides significant profit to the farmers than either only with agricultural or livestock farming. One of the biggest challenges in animal production is to produce animal products for human consumption through sustainable technologies. In the southern districts of Tamilnadu, dairy farming, sheep and goat rearing and back yard poultry form the major livestock livelihood activities.