The aim of this study was to apply for zero-inflated generalized Poisson regression in the modelling of mite counts that include excess values of zero and overdispersion. The results of, as mean regression, overdispersion and zero-inflated regression, were determined in three stages. It was obtained that 33.33% (120 observations) of the total numbers of mite taken as a dependent variable to model had zero values. The overdispersion parameter range was detected to be quite high. It was determined that zero-inflated data and overdispersion had an important effect on mite counts (P&lt; 0.01). The effects of region, month, year, varieties, temperature and humidity were found to be statistically significant on mite counts (P&lt; 0.01). The number of eggs found in harmful mites (Aculus schlechtendali) in the Starking variety was relatively higher than in the Golden variety. The results displayed that the differences among regions and varieties regarding the number of eggs found in harmful mites were statistically significant (P&lt;0.01). &nbsp; &nbsp;

Modeling the mite counts having overdispersion and excess values of&nbsp;zero using zero-inflated generalized poisson regression

<div>India became independent in 1947, when it was still reeling from the impact of the 1943 Bengal famine and world as a whole was experiencing the brunt of world war second. Thus India was born hungry in a hungry world. The country leaders were well aware of the challenge that India was expected to face in terms of food security and it was Jawaharlal Nehru who said everything can wait but not agriculture. The first president of India Rajendra Prasad after taking the chair, the first thing he did was to hoist the flag at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, declaring &ldquo;India&rsquo;s most pressing task would be to conquer the battle of hunger. The Indian population has increased tremendously from 376 million in 1950 to 1380 million in 2020 and it is agriculture and its allied sectors that sustained such a huge population. India still has a significant proportion of population 14% undernourished, 35% children stunted, 20% children underweight, 52% women of reproductive age anaemic. India could bring out green revolution, white revolution and blue revolution in order to provide food security to its people. India presently is not food deficient; it has attained self sufficiency in food production and stands exporters of food. However the irony is that India stands at place 102 in global hunger index with score of 30 that is a matter of concern (Global Hunger Index-GHI, 2019). The problem is in making this food available to the people or access to the food is ensured. India needs nutritional security rather than food security besides transformation in agriculture and allied sectors to become free from hunger. The task is tough and precipitated by Covid-19 pandemic, but not impossible. India has much strength but will need research, extension, implementation and policy framing to have sustainable, nutrition sensitive, climate resilient, integrated and smart agriculture to eliminate hunger.</div>

Saga of Hunger in India- Challenges, Chances and Resolutions: A Review

<div>Background: After harvesting of kharif crops, lack of sufficient soil moisture availability limit the cultivation of rabi crops in the Birbhum district of West Bengal. So a huge area remains fallow during the rabi season mainly because of infrastructure to harvest and to utilize the bountiful rains of the monsoon. So, agronomic measures to conserve the soil moisture are very suitable for the region because of their low cost and capability to reduce soil erosion. In this region, maize stalk are not used as fodder for animals and are usually burnt or kept outside the field. Similarly, during rainy season, there is plenty of water hyacinth and paddy straw found around cultivated areas. Retention of crop residues and weed biomass on the soil surface in combination with zero tillage initiates process that lead to improve soil quality and overall enhancement of resource use efficiency. 
 
Methods: The trials were conducted for consecutive two years (2017-18 and 2018-19) in split plot design with three main plot treatments as cropping system after Maize, viz, i) Maize-chickpea (CS1) ii) Maize-lentil (CS2) iii) Maize-lathyrus (CS3); with five sub-plot treatments as mulching i) No-mulching (Residue Removal) (M0) ii) In-situ Maize stalk mulching (M1) iii) In-situ maize stalk mulch + Water hyacinth (5 t/ha) (M2) iv) In-situ maize stalk mulch + Paddy straw (5 t/ha) (M3) v) In-situ maize stalk mulch + Water hyacinth (2.5 t/ha) + Paddy straw (2.5 t/ha) (M4) but the individual rabi crop&rsquo;s data were analyzed in randomized block design (RBD) as the individual crops have different growth characteristics. 
 
Result: Experiments result revealed that mulching with M3- In-situ maize stalk mulch + Paddy straw (5 t/ha) is the best practice for growing pulses under zero-till condition after Maize in Maize-legume cropping system. Growing of pulses in different cropping system under zero-till condition not only will increase the cropping intensity and production of pulses in the country but also will increase the fertility of the soil.</div>

<div>Performance of Zero-till Bio-mulching on Different Pulses under Maize-legume Sequence</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">A study was conducted in two districts i.e. Fatehabad from South-West zone and Karnal from North- East Zone of Haryana state .A list of all the villages (Zero tillage technology users) in each selected village was prepared. Twenty farmers (having small, medium and large size of land holdings) were selected by using random sampling techniques from each village. Therefore, the sample constituted for the proposed study was one hundred and forty farmers/respondents to collect the information for the purposively study. To measure the knowledge and adoption level of ZTT users, they were asked to reply different questions on recommended aspects/practices of ZTT users. The correct answers were awarded a score and incorrect reply was given zero score. The scores obtained under various aspects/practices were summed up with both respondent wise and as well as component wise. The computing low, medium and high knowledge level on the basis of socio economic status. The study revealed that Mean knowledge score of the respondents was 62.75%. High socio-economic status farmers were found to have high level of knowledge in all practices i.e. pre sowing (72.26%), after sowing knowledge (74.66%) and fertilizer knowledge (74.16%) medium and low socio-economic status farmers had found poor or medium knowledge about ZTT. Pooled farmers (57.85%) had favoural attitude towards ZTT. High socio-economic status farmers (63.63%) had better attitude under favourable conditions than medium (32.09%) and low (24.32%) farmers. The SES farmers, having pre sowing adoption (66.80%) and fertilizer adoption (55.50%), after sowing adoption (50.66%) the medium and low SES. Farmers. High SES farmers than (63.63%) had better attitude under favourable condition than medium (32.09%) and low (24.32%) farmers.&nbsp;</div>

<div>Knowledge and attitude of farmers towards Zero &ndash; Tillage Technology in Haryana</div>

Although Conservation Agriculture (CA) techniques have long been known, they are still rarely applied by farmers in their farming. Three principles of conservation agriculture: 1). zero tillage (ZT), 2). Cover crop used and 3). Crop rotations have spread throughout the world, but in practice, only one or two of the three principles used and vary greatly (The combination of zero tillage and crop residue is more efficient in utilizing rainwater and a more resilient agronomic production system compared to conventional tillage (CT) or zero tillage (ZT) without crop residue application. Not using crop residue in the system can result in decreased production and even yield zero. Zero tillage applications that are not combined with ground cover will result in poor farming performance. In reas with low rainfall, the yields were highest obtained in farms that combined zero treatments and the use of crop residues, whereas in rainfed areas with conventional (CT) systems, when residues were removed from no-till (ZT) systems, wheat and maize yields were drastically reduced. Furthermore, in many small-scale farms, the residue yield is low and has many competing uses. Crop residues are generally burned in the fields or fed to livestock. For successful farming using CA techniques, at least a combination of 2 principles of conservation agriculture is needed, namely the use of crop residues and ZT as soil cover or the use of crop residues as soil cover with crop rotation, can provide better results than only applying one of the three CA principles. 
&nbsp;

Conservation Agriculture: A Review of Plant Residue use with Zero Tillage and Crop Rotation

Background: Minimum input and Maximum output are the new emerging trends in agriculture. To cope up with the sharp rise in population and limiting farm land, as well as to increase farm income there is an immediate need to increase the present cropping intensity. Such can be achieved when the long duration rice fallows are proficiently brought under intensive cultivation. Zero tillage technology is done without land preparation after harvesting the paddy; hence the cost of cultivation is less than the normal potato cultivation which in turn helps the farmers to get a better income.&nbsp; 
Methods: In Sonitpur and Barpeta district of Assam, zero tillage survey was incorporated recently; Potato can be grown in those rice fallows successfully. The zero-tillage practice would allow crop intensification and aid to additional farm income without much soil and environmental degradation as compared to any traditional practices. It&rsquo;s time that farmers are made aware of these conservation agricultural practices for the greater good.&nbsp; 
Result: ZT-practice can benefit the farmers by cutting down the cost on labour and other expensive farm practices along with minimizing the associated risks of environmental degradation.

Zero Tillage (ZT) Potato Cultivation

<div>Background: Inclusion of legume crops in efficient cropping system is important to maintain soil bio-physical property for sustainable production systems. Conservation agriculture (CA) practices have been demonstrated to be successful in cereal based systems. But the information on zero-tillage as CA practice in legume based systems is lacking, which may further help in conservation of soil resources on sustainable basis. Hence study on impact of zero-tillage on soil biological and physico-chemical properties was undertaken at CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Regional Research Station, Bawal (Rewari), India during 2019-20 and 2020-21. 
 
Methods: The soil of experimental site was loamy sand in texture and low in organic carbon, N and P, while medium in K. The treatments included nine tillage combinations for crop establishment under mung bean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek]-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cropping system (MWCS) viz., Zero-tillage mung bean (ZTM) fb zero-tillage wheat (ZTW), ZTM fb reduced tillage wheat (RTW), ZTM fb conventional tillage wheat (CTW), reduced tillage mung bean (RTM) fb ZTW, RTM fb RTW, RTM fb CTW, Conventional tillage mung bean (CTM) fb ZTW, CTM fb RTW, CTM fb CTW. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with three replications. 
 
Result: After two years, there was no change in soil texture and EC of the soil due to different crop establishment methods, while the bulk density of upper soil layer (0-15 cm) decreased marginally under system-based ZT method. The Infiltration rate increased with decrease in the frequency of tillage in both the crops. Organic carbon in upper layer increased while pH decreased marginally under ZTM-ZTW as compared to CTM-CTW. Available N and P showed increasing trend with decrease in number of tillage operations after two years of MWCS. Tillage practices had no significant effect on available K. The grain yield of wheat was not influenced by tillage during 2019-20, but in 2020-21 it was significantly higher under ZT wheat sown after ZTM (5025 kg ha-1) than RTW (4622-4722 kg ha-1) and CTW (4593-4641 kg ha-1), irrespective of tillage practices in mung bean. The seed, stover and biological yields of mung bean were similar under all crop establishment methods in MWCS. This indicated sustainability of zero-tillage methods of establishment in MWCS.</div>

Zero-tillage in Mung Bean-Wheat Cropping System: Impact on Soil Properties and Crop Productivity

Agriculture in India is characterised by small and marginal farmers and they constitute nearly 80 per cent of the total land holdings. The cultivation of multiple crops under small land holdings results in regular production of lesser quantities of vegetables, which the farmers cannot take to the market regularly, leading to a distress local sale of produce through the middlemen. Facilities to store the produce for a shorter period and taking a bulk of commodity to the market would be a viable option for them. Though the refrigerated storage of vegetables can keep them fresh over a longer period, the high initial investment and energy requirement appears to be the hurdles for small and marginal farmers. The zero energy cool chamber could be the best alternative to such farmers having smaller holdings especially for short term on farm storage of perishables without any recurring expenditure on energy source, as it works on the principle of evaporative cooling. The present study on the storability of vegetables under ZECC had proved its usefulness in extending the storability of tropical vegetables, with reduction in temperature up to 9o C and increase in relative humidity by 18 per cent could be achieved inside the chamber compared to ambience. The ZECC proved useful in storage of vegetables with minimum PLW and decay and the freshness was retained for 3 days in lab lab, 4 days in bhendi, five days brinjal, bitter gourd and radish. 
&nbsp;

Studies on storability of vegetables in zero energy cool chamber

<div>Background: Weeds are prime factor that adversely effects on growth, quality and yield of mungbean during summer and rainy season. Being a short duration crop, it faces heavy weed competition right from the early growth stages to harvesting. The critical period of crop weed competition in mungbean was initial 25-30 days, yield may be reduce up to 50-90% if weeds not manage at this stage. Hence, there is a need to find out the successful weed management strategies to realize higher growth and yield. The progressive transformation of agriculture concerning intensive use of herbicides is gaining status in recent years due to easy, lower cost, timeliness and successful controlling weeds. Therefore, keeping above information in view, the present study was undertaken to assess the effect of different weed management practices in summer mungbean under zero tillage condition to find out the better weed management, higher productivity and profitability. 
 
Methods: In this field-laboratory investigation during summer season, 2019, different herbicides were applied to manage weeds in mungbean. Eight treatments were applied based on various application windows. In the field and laboratory, the collected samples were determined for crop weed competition, yield attributes, yields and net returns. &nbsp; 
 
Result: The results revealed that weed free treatment was recorded lowest weed population at 30 DAS and harvest (1.8 and 2.9), weed dry weight (1.1 and 1.9g) and highest weed control efficiency (96.3 and 94.9%) followed by Pendimethalin (PE) fb one HW and Shaked (Propaquizafop + Imezathyper) application. The similar results also observed in nutrients removed by weeds. Among yield attributes, weed free treatment recorded the longest pod length, no. of pods/plant, no. of seeds/pod and test weight (7.9, 21.0, 9.7 and 43.0g, respectively) which was at par with Pendimethalin (PE) fb one HW and Shaked (Propaquizafop + Imezathyper) application. The magnitude of seed yield was increased under weed free (10.1 q/ha) and Shaked (Propaquizafop + Imezathyper) (9.5 q/ha) treatments by 127.9 and 113.8%, respectively over weedy check. Application of Shaked (Propaquizafop + Imezathyper) recorded highest net returns (Rs 55,079/ha) and B: C (2.8) over rest of the treatments. It can concluded that application of Shaked (Propaquizafop + Imezathyper) @ 2 L/ha at 20 DAS recommended for better weed control, higher yield and net returns of summer mungbean under zero tillage condition.</div>

<div>Effect of Weed Management Practices on Weed Dynamics, Nutrient Depletion, Productivity and Profitability of Summer Mungbean (Vigna radiata) under Zero Tillage Condition</div>

Zero Tillage (ZT) has been considered as a proven technology to increase the farm income, but its adoption in the semi-arid part of western India is still uncertain. This paper examines the ZT diffusion pattern (including the reasons for non- and dis-adoption and constraints in adoption of the technology) and estimates the farm-level impacts of the ZT technology. &nbsp;The most pronounced impact of ZT is at the cost-saving compartment. However, since ZT wheat farmers could sow the crop much earlier than their conventional counterparts results in gaining 8 percent increase in yield. &nbsp;Determinants of adoption were attempted employing a multinomial logit model. &nbsp;Ownership of ZT drill, cropping pattern and household factors were influencing ZT adoption. Although a number of constraints for continuous adoption of ZT, including uncongenial field situation (excess moisture, undulated plots, small landholding etc.) and difficulty to manage previous/kharif crop (pearl millet, cotton) residues. The ZT technology was also found to be effective in reducing the farmer dependency on external inputs and ensures sustainable production of wheat.

Modeling the mite counts having overdispersion and excess values of zero using zero-inflated generalized poisson regression

Saga of Hunger in India- Challenges, Chances and Resolutions: A Review

Performance of Zero-till Bio-mulching on Different Pulses under Maize-legume Sequence

Knowledge and attitude of farmers towards Zero – Tillage Technology in Haryana

Conservation Agriculture: A Review of Plant Residue use with Zero Tillage and Crop Rotation

Zero Tillage (ZT) Potato Cultivation

Zero-tillage in Mung Bean-Wheat Cropping System: Impact on Soil Properties and Crop Productivity

Studies on storability of vegetables in zero energy cool chamber

Effect of Weed Management Practices on Weed Dynamics, Nutrient Depletion, Productivity and Profitability of Summer Mungbean (Vigna radiata) under Zero Tillage Condition

Adoption and impact of zero tillage in the rice-wheat production system of Haryana