Usage of Information and Communication Technologies among Agrarian Youths of Manipur, India

The present study aimed at analysing the usage of ICTs by the agrarian youths of state Manipur, India. The locale of study was Imphal-West district of Manipur, from where 120 respondents have been randomly selected from six villages of the two sub-divisions viz., Patsoi and Wangoi. The study delved into examining whether the socio-economic profiles of youths have any significant dependence with the utilization of different ICT tools viz., Radio, T.V., Mobile Phone, PC/Laptop, Internet and Information Kiosk. The major findings of the analysis reveal that ‘Attitude towards ICTs’ has significant dependence at 5% level of significance with the utilization of Radio. The variable ‘Education’ has significant dependence with the utilization of television at 10% level of significance. The utilization of PC/laptop by respondents had significant dependence with ‘Education’, ‘Attitude towards ICTs’, ‘Cosmopoliteness’ and ‘Social participation’ at 1% level of significance. With respect to utilization of Internet by agrarian youths, the variables, namely ‘Education’, ‘Attitude towards ICTs’, ‘Cosmopoliteness’ and ‘Social Participation’ have significant dependence at 1% level of significance. Pertaining the utilization of information kiosks by respondents, the variable ‘Age’ has significant dependence at 1% level of significance. Lack of infrastructural facilities to access ICTs was the most profound constraints faced by agrarian youths of Manipur.</jats:p

Farmers’ Climate Change Adaptation Intention in North Eastern Hill Region of India

Climate change is real. Production and productivity are affected by the variability in climate. Adaptation measures to climate change are needed to tackle by the farmers. To know the adaptation intention measures practices by the vulnerable farmers of North Eastern Hill Region (NEHR) of India, the study was conducted in three states of NEHR viz., Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Meghalaya. The most vulnerable district to climate change from each selected states were purposively selected. With α at 0.05% level of significant and effect size of 0.40, a total of 257 farmers were selected by proportionate random sampling without replacement. The respondent farmers have medium ‘Mass media exposure’, low ‘Extension contact, medium ‘Exposure to long term stress or shocks and low ‘Access to climate change mitigation &amp; adaptation services. The majority farmers practiced Crop and variety diversification and ‘Adjusting planting calendar’ as ‘Climate change adaptation intention’. ‘Mass media exposure’ and ‘Extension contact’ were found significant with the ‘Climate change adaptation intension’ of farmers. From the Multinomial Logistic Regression model, there exist a relationship between the independent variables of the study and the dependent variable, ‘Climate Change adaptation intention’ of farmers in Agriculture and allied ventures. The study suggested improvement of accessibility and usefulness of local services like agricultural extension deemed a necessity for successful adaptation strategies in the North Eastern Hill Region of India.</jats:p

Image_1_A comparative study of localized phosphorus application and broadcasting method on biomass production and their use efficiency on Chilli (Capsicum annuum) under alkaline soil.jpeg

Rhizospheric based phosphorus (P) fertilizer management is necessary for crop production due to environmental concerns caused by the overuse of the broadcasting method and limited P reserves. This study proposes a comparison of P management that enhances P nutrition in Chilli (variety: Arka Khyati) through seedling root-dipping (SRD) in P-enriched slurry (SSP-amended; pH of 8.1), micro-dose placement (MDP; drill and place closer to plant root), and full dose (187.6 mg kg-1) placement by broadcasting (FD). In SRD, seedlings were dipped in five different P concentrations (50, 100, 200, 300, and 400 mg P2O5 kg-1) for varying durations (0, ½, 1, 2, 3, and 4 hours) and transplanted into pots (dipping in 0 mg P2O5 kg-1 consider as control), along with the MDP and FD treatments (total 33 treatments with 5 replications). [Seedlings dipped in 200, 300, and 400 mg P2O5 kg-1 died within a week after transplanting, thus were excluded from further analysis]. The amount of P received in MDP and FD were 21-90 times higher than P adhesion to seedling roots in SRD treatments. Root volume was in order SRD>MDP>FD. Seedlings dipped in 100 mg P2O5 kg-1 for 2 hours in SRD exhibited the highest biomass production, P-use and -recovery efficiency; and showed an increase of 52%, 178%, and 293% in FD, MDP, and SRD compared to the control respectively. It is recommended to use the SRD method with other P sources in reduced amount to maintain the native P pool in soil, and further multilocational trials are needed to validate.</p