The triumph of dairy industry is extremely influenced by operations, viz., procurement of milk, processing and distribution of milk and its products. Among these three components, milk procurement is the edifice of the dairy industry on which economic efficiency of dairy industry lies. Efficiency of milk procurement is heavily dependent on the operational efficiency, viz., milk collection, transportation, chilling and reception of milk. Oct-Dec 2007

Mulberry sericulture is a labour-intensive industry in all its phases, namely, cultivation of silkworm food plants, silkworm rearing, silk reeling and other post cocoon processes. In the global context, silk accounts for about 0.2 per cent of total textile fiber production. However, in value terms, silk stands for high value export oriented items in the world trade. Oct-Dec 2007

Livestock are almost an integral and inseparable component of the farming system in the state of Uttaranchal. The rural poor have sustained themselves in difficult conditions, and in their endeavour, livestock continue to be their active partner. Oct-Dec 2007

The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is a method of paddy cultivation, though some consider and treat it as a technology. SRI method totally deviates from the traditional way of cultivating irrigated paddy over centuries and hence it has different water saving capabilities.

Uttaranchal is one of the newly formed states of the Indian Union which falls under the North Western Himalayan (NWH) zone. Even though Uttaranchal state as a whole is surplus with food production, the hill districts depicts a different picture. They face a shortage of about 29 thousand tonnes of foodgrains. Eleven out of the 13 districts in Uttaranchal come under hilly area of NWH region.

Notwithstanding the legislative provisions to safeguard their landed interests, tribals are getting driven to circumstances in which retaining hold over the land under their possession is becoming difficult. The quality of land held by them is so poor that, in its present form, it cannot promise them any reasonable returns. The low returns leave little surplus for tribals to plough it back into agriculture to improve the quality of the land.

Punjab peasantry is in the clutches of severe indebtedness. To overcome the problem of debt trap, effective measures should be taken by the government, social organisations and farming community. The government should exercise a strong check on the activities on non-institutional credit agencies and provide institutional credit facilities to the farming community at low rates of interest with easy repayment facilities. The co-operative sector should be developed/strengthened in the state.

One of the serious and unrelenting problems faced by the Indian farmers households has been indebtedness. Despite substantial improvement in agricultural output as well as distribution of credit through institutional sources since the introduction of the new agricultural technology, indebtedness among the farmers households is found to be widespread even today.

The Bundelkhand region of India is a semi-arid plateau, which consists of twelve districts of northern Madhya Pradesh and five districts of southern Uttar Pradesh. The region suffers from severe ecological degradation induced primarily by the factors such as soil degradation and deforestation. Temporary and long-term migration of villagers from the rural areas of the region in search of alternative sources of livelihood has become increasingly common. This situation has created a vast market for the short term land lease market in the region.

Groundwater plays a critical role in the agricultural economy of Gujarat state. The lack of surface water resources has put more pressure on groundwater to meet both agriculture as well as industrial and domestic sector demand. More than 90 per cent of the total irrigated area is covered through groundwater source in the region. The groundwater development in the region has taken place in an exponential manner. There is heavy overdraft, exceeding the annual rechargeable capacity in some areas.