False smut disease of rice caused by the fungus Ustilaginoidea virens (Cooke), has recently been found in agroclimatic conditions of Uttar Pradesh and is sporadic where rice is cultivated. Rain and high humidity (>90%), temperature ranging from 25-35 oC and intensive method of rice cultivation with use of heavy nitrogenous fertilizers resulted into the severe form of disease. The incidence of this disease is becoming a major constraint to adoption of rice cultivars in Gorakhpur district which is situated in North Eastern Plains regions. Considering the facts, integrated disease control approaches were comprised under farmer’s participatory on-farm trial for false smut management in two consecutive years in kharif 2017 and 2018. Technological gap between improved management package and farmers practices were studied based on survey and group discussion with farmers. Full gap was observed in case of use of seed/seedling treatment and partial gap was in use of varieties, method of transplanting, number of hill/m2, use of fertilizers, weed management and plant protection measures, which definitely was the reason of not achieving potential yield. The average incidence of false smut in paddy i.e. 5.75% was recorded in demonstrated plot while it was 10.25% in farmers practice. On an average disease reduction was 42.65 per cent noticed with the use of integrated disease management approach over farmer’s practice respectively. Average infected panicle/hill i.e. 1.38 and average infected panicle/m2 i.e. 2.25 was observed with use of integrated approach while it was noticed 2.38 and 3.25 in existing practices. The recommended rice cultivar yielded 50.25q/ha yield during kharif 2017 while 49.50q/ha was noticed in kharif 2018, it was 19.64 and 20.15 per cent more over farmer’s practice. The average net returns i.e. Rs. 49793.75/ha was received in demonstrated plots while farmers were obtained Rs. 38785.00/ha by their own practices. On an average benefit cost ratio 2.74 was found under demonstrated technologies while it was 2.45 in farmer’s practices. The outcome of the trial inspired the farming communities to adopt area wise recommended varieties with judicious use of nitrogenous fertilizer and other technological options including integrated disease management approach which are being adopted in their cultivation.
A study was undertaken to assess the efficacy of polyherbal growth promoter and liver tonic product Superliv concentrate premix simultaneously on performance of commercial broiler chicks. Sixty day old unsexed commercial broiler chicks were divided randomly into two identical groups of three replicates each. Control group I was given standard basal diet only and no treatment whereas group II was administered Superliv conc.@500g/tonne of feed along with basal diet from 0-6 weeks of experiemental study. Mean weekly body weight gain, total feed consumption and feed efficiency was recorded throughout the study period. A four day long metabolic trial was conducted at the end of experiment to evaluate nutrient utilization parameters. It was observed that the mean total body weight gain and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were significantly (P=0.05) different in treated group compared to control. Percent protein, energy and ether extract retention were significantly higher in group supplemented with herbal liver tonic product than control. It may be concluded that supplementation of Superliv concentrate premix@500g/tonne of feed is beneficial for commercial broiler rearing and optimum feed utilization.
The data on animals of Nali, Marwari and Indian Karakul breeds which were exposed to an epidemic of PPR in the year 1994 were utilized for genetic studies. The diagnosis of the disease was mainly on the symptoms exhibited by the affected animals, necropsy and histopathological examination. As compared to adults the lambs were more susceptible to the disease. The most vulnerable age group was 60 to 120 days. The fatality rates were 4.26, 7.28 and 9.16% in Indian Karakul, Nali and Marwari breeds, respectively. Statistically the breed effect was not significant and so was the effect of sex of the lamb. The sirewise comparison of the data indicated that progeny of certain sires were more susceptible to the disease as compared to that of others in Marwari breed as well as on pooled breed basis. The paper indicates possibility of raising PPR resistant stock.
The socio-economic status of migratory sheep farmers was assessed using a structured survey schedule containing aspects on location, family details, land holding, livestock holding, migration pattern, grazing protocol, labor input in livestock rearing and productive/reproductive efficiency of the flocks. 84.70% of respondents indicated sheep farming as main occupation of which 81.18% were marginal farmers with average land holding of 5.7 ha/family. Among the respondents 96.5% were Hindus, in that 88.2% belonged to OBC and 11.8% to SC community and among OBC 95.8% were Gujar and 4.2% Jat. The average family size of sheep farmers was 6.68 of which 3.06 were males and 3.62 female. Among the males 1.21, 0.84 and 1.01 and among female 1.91, 0.52 and 1.19 heads belonged to adult, 12–18 years of age and <12 years of age category, respectively. The literacy rate in male and female was 52 and 13 per cent, respectively. The average livestock holding of sheep, goat, cattle, buffalo, camel and donkey/family was 93.7, 14.3, 2.3, 1.9, 1.2 and 1.7 heads, respectively and the sheep flock composition was 1.3 ram, 62.0 ewe and 10.9 male and 19.5 female lambs. 94.12% surveyed sheep farmers resorted to annual migration while 5.88% were sedentary flock owners and among the migrating flock, 68.75% resorted to inter state while 31.25% opted for short distance migration, within the state. The major problems faced by sheep farmers en route migration were restrictive rules and regulation (66.25%), resistance by local farmers (63.75%), lack of graded breeding rams (80.00%), lack of veterinary health cover (95.00%) and lack of proper marketing for animal produce (53.75%). During migration the sheep farmers mostly used community rangeland (92.94%), cropped land after harvesting of standing crops (70.59%) and forest land (97.65%) for grazing sheep while road side grazing (27.06%) and other area grazing (4.71%) was used to some extent. The farmers on an average employed 6.9, 7.8 and 8.0 hrs grazing period/day during rainy, winter and summer season, respectively. The labor charges for grazing and management of the sheep ranged from Rs.45 to 150/animal/year with average of Rs.82.80/animal/year. The shrinkage of grazing area was mainly due to encroachment by villagers, construction of building, government allotments and construction of water harvesting structure in the village. The sheep farmers harvested on average three lamb crops in two year. Moreover the cost of health coverage in the migrating flocks ranged from Rs.12–15/sheep/year.
Random amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR) was employed to assess the genetic variability and phylogenetic relationship among six breeds of sheep, viz., Malpura, Kheri, Chokla, Garole and two crossbreds Avikalin and Bharat Merino. Twenty-four individuals from each breed/crossbred were selected randomly. Initially, 40 primers were screened, of which 16 were found polymorphic and utilized for estimation of genetic variability and phylogenetic relationship among the breeds. The genetic distance was found highest between Malpura and Garole (D=0.1428), and the lowest (D=0.0612) between Avikalin and Chokla. However, the genetic identity was observed highest (I = 0.9406) between Avikalin and Chokla and the lowest (I = 0.8669) between Malpura and Garole. The Kheri sheep was found close with Chokla (D=0.0741), followed by Malpura sheep (D=0.0902) based on genetic distance. The phylogenetic tree also showed that Avikalin and Chokla are more close, whereas Malpura and Garole are distant to each other. The present study suggested that RAPD-PCR can be used successfully for analyzing genetic variation and phylogenetic relationship among breeds of sheep.
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