Background: Maharashtra state in India ranks sixth in area under turmeric cultivation and Sangli, Hingoli, Nanded, Parbhani, Chandrapur are the major turmeric growing districts of Maharashtra. Recently since last few years the area under turmeric crop of Washim district in Vidarbha region is increasing day by day. In Washim district of Maharashtra state, the area and production of turmeric is 1150 ha. and 23000 tones, with productivity 20 tones per hectare. There is great potential to increase production of this crop in future, if growers are oriented towards entrepreneurship and adoption of modern technology. Hence the present study was undertaken to study the adoption level of turmeric growers about recommended turmeric cultivation practices. 
 
Methods: The study was conducted in Washim district of Maharashtra state with the objective to study the adoption of the recommended turmeric cultivation practices by the turmeric growers. Exploratory research design of social research was used. In all, 120 respondents from 12 villages of Malegaon and Risod tehsils from Washim district were selected by random sampling method. The 
data were collected by person interview method. 
 
Result: Findings of the study revealed that, majority of respondents of turmeric growers (63.33%) having medium level of adoption about turmeric cultivation practices followed by 27.5 per cent of the respondents were found low level of adoption and only 9.16 per cent of the respondents were found in high level of adoption category. The selected characteristics of turmeric growers i.e. Land holding, area under turmeric crop, annual income, scientific orientation and knowledge had positive and significant relationship at 0.01 per cent level of probability with adoption. Whereas, farming experience found negative significant relationship at 0.01, per cent level of probability with adoption of turmeric growers. Age, education, source of irrigation had positive and non-significant relationship with adoption level. While only extension contact had positive and significant relation at 0.05 per cent level of probability with their adoption.

Adoption of Turmeric Cultivation Practices by Turmeric Growers

The crop cultivation practices and input portfolio are dynamic; hence moderation of them is a regular practice. The practices also need to be developed for different crops for their successful introduction in new (non-conventional) areas. This new introduction is needed due to climate change-induced variation in agro-climatic conditions and changes in crop adoption to environmental conditions. The systemic investigation into crop cultivation practices for their different aspects (economic, ecological, technical soundness, practical feasibility, adoption, discontinuation rate, market and policy-related interventions, etc.) is needed to suggest any modulation in cultivation practices and development of new practices. The North East Hill (NEH) region has a large diversity in agro-climatic conditions as well as agricultural practices followed. The NEH region is also recognized as having potential for an organic production system, natural farming system yield enhancement through crop cultivation practices modification, testing of new crops for their adoption, organic seed production, indigenous technical knowledge (ITK) documentation, traditional practices documentation and conservation of plant genetic resources. There is a need to document detailed procedures for system investigation in NEH region agricultural activities. The present review describes the point of consideration for systemic investigation of practices and enlists the variables for ranking of problems in these practices. The problem ranking can be used to calculate value-based coefficient and rank-based ratio. The detailed insight into different aspects of production practices can be achieved by following the point of consideration mentioned in this review. The data and/or information generated have scientific value towards initiating the process of modulation of crop cultivation practices and development of cultivation practices of newly introduced crops.

Considerations for Preparation of Questionnaire- An Initial Step in Intervening Cultivation Practices: A Review

<div style="text-align: justify;">A Study was conducted in Sunpura block, Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh with objective of studying the relationship between the selected socio-personal characteristics and extent of opportunities during rice cultivation by the rice growers with sample size of 150 respondents.The extent of opportunities in rice cultivation is any kind of benefit or facility provided to rice growers directly or indirectly by Government or Non-Governmental Organization but not the benefits from natural sources. The study revealed that 60 per cent of rice growers were fall under the medium category, 22 per cent low and 18 per cent high category, which implies that the average rice growers agree on availability of opportunities of rice cultivation. The possible reason might be that majority of farmers can read and write so they get information on new technology through mass media and also because of their high social participation. Further, Stepwise Regression analysis showed that all the selected independent variables put together explained about 54.20 percent of variation in extent of opportunities during rice cultivation among the rice growers coming from the variables like mass media exposure, sources of information and attitude towards pesticide used, were positively and significantly associated with extent of opportunities among the rice growers of Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh.&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">Extent of opportunities in rice cultivation practices at Lohit District of Arunachal Pradesh</div>

Background: The significant presence of 13 (thirteen) numbers of the Community Development (CD) Blocks viz. Murarai-I, Murarai-II, Rampurhat-I, Rampurhat-II, Mayureswar-I, Muhammad Bazar, Suri-I, Suri-II, Dubrajpur, Khayrasole, Illambazar, Bolpur-Srniketan and Labpur of Birbhum District, where a considerable Red Lateritic soil situation with mainly Kharif Rice - fallow farming system along with predominantly mono-cropped Kharif Rice farming situation prevails, raises the ecological and economic concern of overwhelming dominance and continuance of cultivation of Rice in Kharif season. In this background, Rathindra Krishi Vigyan Kendra introduced Ekangi as a crop of drought resistance capacity and totally rainfed, covering the fields within 3 months, preventing Soil erosion due to heavy rain or heavy wind, lowering soil water evaporation loss and maintaining the Soil Water table properly, is a potential crop with huge positive crop economics, can be utilized to replace Kharif Rice in mono-cropped farming situation of red lateritic zones. 
 
Methods: Mainly comparative statistical analyses of the data from the study across all the front-line demonstration programmes on viz. Ekangi and newly released improved high yielding varieties of Kharif Rice viz. Ranidhan (IET-19418), Chandra (MTU-1153) and CR Dhan 800 (IET-20672) in terms of economics viz. net return (Rs./ha) and B: C ratio were analysed. 
 
Result: The present study clearly revealed the fact that the improved cultivation practices for the production of Ekangi as modified by the scientists of Rathindra Krishi Vigyan Kendra had huge economic potential over and above the newly released improved high yielding varieties of Kharif Rice, especially in the mono-cropped Kharif Rice farming situation prevailing in red lateritic zones of Birbhum District, West Bengal. The front-line demonstration (FLD) programmes in the last three (3) years, i.e. 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26, clearly showed that Ekangi has a massive economic edge over three (3) newly released Improved high yielding varieties of Kharif Rice viz. Ranidhan (IET-19418), Chandra (MTU-1153) and CR Dhan 800 (IET-20672) in terms of economics viz. net return (Rs./ha) and B:C ratio. Ekangi enjoyed overwhelmingly higher net return (Rs./ha), ranging from Rs. 6,35,590.00/ha against Kharif Rice Var. Chandra (MTU-1153) in 2023-24 to Rs. 5,91,700.00/ha against kharif rice Var. Ranidhan (IET-19418) in 2025-26 and higher B:C ratio over newly released Improved high yielding varieties of Kharif Rice, ranging from a highest of 4.30 against Kharif Rice Var. Chandra (MTU-1153) in 2023-24 to 3.10 against Kharif Rice Var. Ranidhan (IET-19418) in 2025-26. 
&nbsp;

Modification and Popularization of Improved Cultivation Practices of Ekangi (Kaempheria galanga L.) as Replacement Crop for Rice in Kharif Season for Red and Lateritic Belt of Birbhum District of West Bengal

Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus L.) from dicotyledonous Caryophyllaceae family is one of the important floricultural crop is cultivated all-year-around in temperate areas.&nbsp;In addition, the lengthy vase life of carnations may have great implications for wholesale and retail markets. It is genetically a quantitative long day plant and sensitive to temperature, which is a major factor that influences the growth and flowering, color, grade and the quality of cut flowers. Commonly grown Chaubad and Marquerite carnation are propagated by seed and other different types can be propagated through different ways of propagations like terminal cutting and tissue culture. The soil should be ploughed thoroughly up to 80-100 cm. deep and organic manure is to be mixed with soil properly. Soil sterilization should be done prior to planting. Rooted cuttings of standard carnations are planted on raised beds with a spacing of 20&times;20 cm and spacing of 30&times;30 cm is ideal for spray carnations. However, the lateral shoot development is best at a density of 50 plants/m&sup2;. Apart from major nutrients like N, P and K, Ca, Mg, B and Fe also play a crucial role in carnation nutrition. Spray of 0.1% urea and potassium nitrate (KNO3) and 1 ppm Boron at 10 days interval till flowering produces good quality flowers. The plastic nets having a mesh of 7.5-10cm supported by stakes of metal fixed at the corner of beds is an ideal method. During pinching, the tip of the stem is removed to encourage the growth of the standard or Sim Carnations. Only 4-6 well grown lateral shoots will be allowed to grow. Splitting carnation flower calyces; is one of major limiting factor that affect both pre and post-harvest quality of carnation flowers. The problem of calyx splitting can be controlled by regulating temperature. Higher nitrate to ammoniacal nitrogen ratio during low light periods are recommended to reduce splitting. The optimum stage of standard carnation for distant market is paint brush stage when petals have started to elongate outside the calyx. The spray varieties are harvested with 2 open flowers on each stem. The flowers after harvesting and grading should be pulsed with 10% sucrose+1mm silver thiosulfate (STS) for 8-10hr before transportation to increase storability and vase-life of cut carnations.

Cultivation and Cultural Practices Followed in Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus L.) for Better Production: A Review

<div style="text-align:justify">Clove is a very valuable spice used throughout the world with various medicinal and culinary properties. It cannot be cultivated in all climates and soils. In tropical countries it prefers to grow in red soil in higher altitudes with colder climate. In India, Western Ghats provides a suitable niche for the growth of clove in terms of climate and soil. The clove of commerce is the air-dried unopened flower bud obtained from evergreen medium sized tree. The tree grows to a height of 10-12 metres and start flowering in about four years. Eugenol is the main essential oil extracted from clove buds, stalks and leaves. It continues to produce flower buds for hundred or more years.</div>

Improved Farming Practices for the Cultivation of Spice, Clove (Syzygium aromaticum) in India

Background: A semi-wild yam, Dioscorea praehensilis locally called &lsquo;cocoassi&eacute; &lsquo;in C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire significantly alleviates poverty and enhances household nutrition in several West and Central African countries. Despite its economic and social importance and potential to improve food security, it remains scientifically overlooked and underutilized. 
&nbsp; 
Methods: Using participatory rural appraisal (PRA) tools and techniques, 31 villages in eastern, midwestern and southwestern C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire, selected according to the importance of D. praehensilis production, were surveyed. Information on using and managing D. praehensilis diversity and related folk taxonomy, agricultural practices and production constraints was collected and analyzed. The diversity of D. praehensilis was assessed using the Shannon Weiner diversity index (H&rsquo;), Pielou&rsquo;s evenness index (E) and Margalef species richness index (d). 
&nbsp; 
Result: By synonymy, 18 landraces of D. praehensilis were identified. They were divided into four groups. Stem spine density, tuber root spine density and tuber flesh color are the main morphological characteristics used by farmers to describe the four groups of D. praehensilis. The Shannon diversity index (H&rsquo;=1.30), equitability (0.72) and Margalef species richness (0.65) showed moderate diversity and distribution in the study areas. Farmers reported a decline in D. praehensilis production due to several factors, mainly limited rainfall (30.73%), high tuber flesh oxidation (18.7%) and short post-harvest self-life (15.46%). The most common storage method is pit storage (92.76%). In all study areas, D. praehensilis has a high food value and is important to food security. 
&nbsp;

Indigenous Knowledge, Farming Practices and Production Challenges for Cocoassi&eacute; (Dioscorea praehensilis Benth.): Semi-cultivated Yam Intercropped with Cocoa

Basmati 370 rice is the predominant commercial variety grown by nearly 95% of the farmers in Mwea Irrigation Scheme in Kenya. Farmers agronomic practices are varied and there exist limited systematically documented baseline data on farmers practices, yields and land productivity. This study seeks to establish the farmers practices and yields, compare with monthly crop establishment data and document Basmati 370 yields in Mwea.&nbsp; The scheme was divided into six units and structured questionnaire administered to determine the farmers practices, followed by field yield sampling to quantify productivity.&nbsp; Concurrently, field trails were conducted to establish growth and yield performance of Basmati 370 rice variety under research conditions. Survey results indicate that majority of the farmers (70%), practice random planting for rice crop establishment. Fertilizer use is moderate (50%) and types varied with DAP + MOP and SA (79%) as the preferred combinations. There was nearly 100% use of herbicides for weed control. Farmers field yields averaged 5.0 t/ha and this compared well with experimental yields of 5.5 t/ha, the highest being 6.0 t/ha, during the November cropping. Comparatively, Lower farmers&rsquo; yields (5.0 t/ha) is attributed to inadequate agronomic practices. November cropping gave the highest yields but not different from August and September cropping and possibly the best establishment period. It can therefore be concluded that Basmati 370 rice yields 5.5t/ha in Mwea irrigation scheme. 
&nbsp;

Agronomic Practices and Grain Yields of Basmati 370 Rice Variety under Common Farmer Husbandry Practices in Mwea Irrigation Scheme, Kenya: A Review

The millets are climate resilient, most efficient in use of water, adopted to grown in marginal and sub marginal area, suitably grown in hilly and rainfed area, nutrient dense and having low carbon and water footprint. Considering their significance in present context of agriculture, it is important to know about their region-specific cultivation practices and intervention in it. The North East Hill (NEH) region is known for its diversity in terms of soil and climatic condition as well as crop and plant diversity. The marginal and sub-marginal area with different slope, topography and soil related constraints for production, the millets will be one of the important options for arable crop cultivation. The production practices followed by the farmers and recommended practices were highly diverse due to different agro-climatic condition. At the same time, in several locations production practices were even not developed due to cultivation on very less area with less economic impact at regional or state agriculture. Hence it is informative and knowledge impacting exercise to review the production practices followed and interventions made at institutional and stakeholders level for millets cultivation in NEH region. The present review summarizes the interventions in production practices such as seed and sowing requirement, nutrient, water and weed management as well as insect-pest and disease management in context of NEH region. Besides that, interventions from NEH region at post-harvest and value addition were also discussed in this review. The cost effective and high enumerative interventions in production processes such as substitution of low yielding upland rice cultivation partly or completely with millets, transplanting, fertilization, micronutrient foliar feeding, use of herbicide for weed management and promotion/ up gradation of millets cultivation in new areas (North-East Hill region) are important at production level. The interventions at policy level such as promotion for incorporation of millets in public distribution system, inclusion of millets in school age children diet and different schemes related with supply of nutritious food to children and adolescence are important for NEH region. Increase in diversity of product prepared from millets, initiation of organic seed production of millets, exploring export potential of traditional products prepared from millets to different domestic and international market are important interventions at policy level. At research level, the standardization of production practices for different states in NEH region was initiated and need to be further emphasized rather than using recommendation as it is from other part of India.

Millet Cultivation in North-east Hill Region of India: A Review

<div>Background: Increasing demands of food, depleting land, degrading land resources and changing climate are some of the important factors driving the cropping systems of any agro-ecological zone in the world. Cropping systems have been traditionally structured to maximize crop yields. Now, there is a strong need to design cropping systems which take into consideration the emerging social, economical and ecological or environmental concerns. Legumes can provide opportunities for increased productivity to be sustained because of their adaptability to various cropping patterns and ability to fix nitrogen. Legume-based crop rotation helps to conserve organic matter, maximise soil nitrogen, balance soil nutrients, maintain soil physical properties and break soil-borne disease cycles. Moreover, with increasing fertilizer prices and emphasis of the government for doubling the farmer&rsquo;s income by reducing cost of cultivation, the current trend is to explore the possibility of supplementing chemical fertilizer with the organic ones, more particularly organic manures and bio-fertilizer of microbial origin. The current study is aimed to increase small and marginal farmer&rsquo;s income and to reduce cost of cultivation through legume based vegetable cropping systems and to find out best farming practices. 
&nbsp; 
Methods: Field experiments were conducted at Organic Farm Holta, Department of Organic Agriculture and Natural farming, CSK HPKV, Palampur (H.P.) during kharif and rabi seasons of 2018-19 and 2019-20 on silty clay loam soil to study the performance of different farming practices in legume based cropping system under mid- hills of H.P. Himalayas. The experiment was laid out under Split plot design with three replications comprising of three sequences in legume vegetable-based cropping systems i.e., &ldquo;Soybean-Onion&rdquo;, &ldquo;Okra-Pea&rdquo; and &ldquo;Mash-Garlic&rdquo; under different farming practices i.e., Organic farming, Natural farming, Inorganic and Integrated farming practices. For comparison of different crops soybean equivalent yield and pea equivalent yields were calculated in kharif and rabi seasons, respectively. 
 
Result: In kharif seasons okra crop attained highest soybean equivalent yield followed by soybean and mash crop. In rabi seasons garlic crop attained highest pea grain equivalent yield followed by onion and pea crop. During both kharif seasons organic farming practices attained highest yield and was at par with integrated farming practices. Significantly highest yield was attained from integrated farming practices and was at par with organic farming practices in both rabi seasons. Highest net returns, net returns per rupee attained was in inorganic farming system. Highest cost of cultivation was found in organic farming practices.</div>