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| AGRICULTURE TRIBUNE | Monday, January 14, 2002, Chandigarh, India |
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Making dairying more profitable Honey: a splendid gift of nature Need for scientific management of chilgoza |
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Making dairying more profitable DAIRYING cannot become a profitable profession unless determined
attention is paid to milk and calf production. The dairy farmers suffer losses due to various causes such as deaths of animal, infestation with worms, outdated husbandry practices, self-medication of sick animals, unvaccinated stock and poor breeding. A healthy livestock is fundamental to the welfare of a nation as it provides milk, meat, hide, draught power and fuel. It produces to stable the agricultural-industrial economy. The entire edifice of dairying rests on four pillars — feeding, breeding, heeding and weeding. Feeding:
The dairy owner must take it for granted that one of the most important parts of dairying is sound feeding of the animal. Cross-breeding for higher productivity coupled with more and more understanding of feeding and management has put greater pressure on dairy animals. Besides producing large quantities of milk a dairy cow is supposed to carry her next calf because “a calf a year” is an essential action plan for higher production and profit. The dairy owner has a great choice for locally available feed and fodder which need to be supplemented with minerals, vitamins and trace elements. Well-balanced ration plays an important role in improving the performance and health of the dairy animal. It must be remembered that over-feeding is as harmful as under-feeding. Much progress is being made in the field of animal nutrition. The dairy farmer, beside making the best use of his experience and observation, should remain in close contact with the veterinarian who is in a better position to convey the latest on the scientific feeding. The sound feeding of the dairy animal is not a simple matter. The feed and fodder should be fibrous, scientifically balanced, economical and palatable. Breeding: The regular breeding and genital disease-free herd is cherished by a prospective dairy farmer. The tool to improve livestock quality and production depends on artificial insemination (AI) of local cows and buffaloes with the semen of the bulls of high genetic potential. The AI as a means of milk and calf production, is now accepted and utilised worldwide. By this method, several thousands of females are inseminated artificially with semen collected from bulls and maintained at semen collection centres. Since 5,000 to 10,000 doses of semen can be processed from a single bull, it becomes imperative to ensure that bulls donating semen with impaired fertilising capacity are not used. For this regular evaluation of each and every bull is necessary. The evaluation requires a gynaecologist to conduct a physical examination, a bacteriologist to conduct disease tests and a semenologist to evaluate semen. Unless the infertility in males and females are not dealt properly, the AI system of breeding will not yield the desired results. All dairy farmers should avail of the expertise of the state bacteriologist to get their whole herd examined for brucellosis and other allied genital diseases known to cause infertility and abortions in cows. When semen is of good quality and female to be inseminated is free from genital defects, the proficiency of inseminator matters. His ability, experience and
technique play a vital role in achieving cherished conception rate. Heeding: Nothing is more unfortunate than the occurrence of an outbreak of a contagious disease in the herd of a dairy farmer. Besides spending a huge sum of money on buying medicines for the treatment of sick animal, the farmer also has to suffer the loss of milk. Sometimes, he has to bear the brunt of the deaths of costly animal. It should be a routine with dairy farmers to vaccinate their animals against contagious diseases well in advance. The prophylactic vaccines for most of the contagious diseases are freely available in the market. These vaccines are extra-fragile and as such due care is needed in procurement and vaccination. The animals to be vaccinated should be free from worms for the optimum production of antibodies against the diseases. Protection against contagious diseases and parasites (external and internal) will ensure health and efficiency of the dairy animals. New health technologies can play effective role in the treatment of various diseases of animals. At the village level, inadequate veterinary service is available to dairy farmers. Many vets, especially the less qualified, are known for pricking unnecessary injections. This is due to ineffective diagnostic facilities and consequent treatment by hit-and-trial methods. This is unfair in the modern scientifically advanced era. Veterinary medicine has gone through substantial changes during yester-century. Major technological advances are still not available to dairy farmers. This is the reason for low profile treatment of sick costly dairy animals. The ultimate sufferer is the dairy owners. Weeding: Timely disposal of animals suffering from incurable diseases like tuberculosis should be done to save time, labour and money spent on their management and feeding. |
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Honey: a splendid gift of nature HONEY is a natural sweet substance produced by the honey bees from the nectar of blossoms or from the secretions of other parts of the plants, which honey bees collect, convert into honey and store in the wax comb to ripen. Fetching honey from honey bees is an age-old practice of the man. The importance of honey has been described in ancient Indian literature. In ancient Greece also honey was regarded as an invaluable food and a glorious gift of God. It is believe that the Greek gods were immortal because they ate ambrosia which contained honey as a chief constituent. There are several references to honey in the book “Natural History” written by Aristotle. During ancient times in Mesopotamia and Syria, the illnesses were cured with honey. This is mentioned in the wooden logs found in the library of giant Bani Pal. In ancient India also, diseases and illnesses were cured with honey. Hippocratus and Gallon also considered honey as an all-weather remedy. Modern research, investigations and experiments have also concluded that honey can cure several general diseases and disorders. Today many kinds of honey as well as honeyed preparations are available in the market making it arduous and confusing to differentiate a pure preparation from the spurious one. But this can easily be done. Put a drop of honey in a glass filled with water. If the drop spreads and dissolves in water, the honey is not of good quality. The drop should settle at the bottom. If honey falls on a white cloth and dries and such cloth is washed there will be no scar left in case of pure honey. Sugar and jaggery are the common adulterants of honey. Dip cotton wool in the suspect sample and light it. If it burns with a crackling sound, the honey is impure. Honey can be taken before or with the food and even after the food. It is useful in all weathers but should be avoided in very hot days. It increases the effectiveness of a substance or medicine manifold with which it is taken. Honey can be eaten with water, milk, curd, fruit juice, tea, bread, vegetables, lemon and any other eatable. On extreme heating or when mixed with very hot substance, the properties of honey degenerate. Honey should not be mixed with ghee, oil, etc. and by mixing with such substance in equal amount of honey, it becomes toxic. All over the world, except India and other developing countries, honey is consumed as food or in food products. But in India honey is consumed as a medicine and the rate of its consumption per person per year is only 25 g whereas in countries like Germany and Switzerland the average man consumes 1.5 kg of honey in France, England, Japan and Italy the average consumption is 250 kg of honey per year. So there is a great scope to increase our per capita consumption to get rid of malnutrition and other health problems. Also the consumer in India needs to be educated about the quality of honey. Most of the people have the conception that only the translucent honey is the best nectar but as a matter of fact it is the granulated honey which is the best. Also there are various types of honey for which we need to develop a taste like sunflower honey, wild honey and litchi honey, etc. Also they should not forget that consumption of pure honey makes an individual healthy, strong, sturdy and increases his life. It has been also documented as the best food for the old, infirm and senile people to get rid of various body ailments. |
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Need for scientific management of chilgoza THE chilgoza or neoza pine known botanically as pinus gerardiana wall is a compact small to medium-sized tree. The pine is a native of North-West Hindu Kush Himalaya (latitude 30°N to 37°N and longitude 66°E and 80°E) occurring in Afghanistan, Baluchistan, J&K (Kishtwar) and Himachal Pradesh between 1600 and 3300 m elevations. In Himachal Pradesh, it occurs naturally in dry temperate zone i.e. parts of Kinnaur and Chamba (Pangi) districts, covering an area of about 2,060 hectares. However, unlike other timber yielding pines, the species is valued for its edible nuts (kernels are a rich source of carbohydrates, and proteins. Soil and climate:
The tree grows in loose, light and barren soils, metamorphosed crystalline rocks, granites and quartsite formations and virtually regarded as the “champion” of rocky mountains. Chilgoza forests often grow on steep slopes sometimes mixed with deodar, kail, spruce, betula (bhojpatra) and quercus ilex species. The total precipitation in its zone varies from 35 to 90 cm per annum, most of which occur in the form of heavy snow during winter months. The species lies outside the influence of monsoon rains and can stand severe cold in winter. Regeneration problem:
Though a good coloniser and champion of rocky sites, the species seems to have entrapped itself to the monetary benefits of local people. It has been estimated that only 5 per cent of seed bearing cones (inaccessible sites) are able to survive the wrath of people and become available for natural regeneration. Further, the cones or seeds are devoured or eaten by a large number of pests, birds, squirrels, rodents and cone borers, etc. The other factors detrimental to its regeneration are severe lopping practice, browsing animals chiefly sheep and goat, extraction of torchwood on fuelwood and even timber by the people. Collection and marketing: Earlier the chilgoza nuts produced in Himachal Pradesh were consumed locally but after partition when the major chilgoza bearing forests went to Pakistan, it is exported out in fairly large quantities. According to an estimate by Karwasra about 14 to 17 tonnes of nuts are annually collected in Kinnaur district and sold in the plains where it fetches a good price. Since the practice has been going on for many decades, the chilgoza forests have dwindled remarkably in recent years. The nuts fetch a price of Rs 350 to Rs 400 per kg at present as a result the neoza has emerged as an important cash crop next only to apple in Kinnaur district. The future of chilgoza: Since almost each and every cone is lopped from the tree, very little is left for its regeneration. This is amply demonstrated by the preponderance of badly damaged mature or over mature trees, while young and middle aged classes are scarce or entirely lacking in its zone. This has obviously put a big question mark on its future survival. Besides, no serious attempt seems to have been made by the state Forest Department to rehabilitate or manage the species despite availability of funds under tribal development schemes. There is thus an urgent need to undertake large-scale afforestation in the species involving local people at every stage of its rehabilitation i.e. right from seed collection, nursery raising to harvesting and selling of the produce. I suggest following measures for the same: — Chilgoza development or protection committee can be constituted under joint forest or participatory management. Though people will have the right of collection, each such village should contribute at least 10 to 15 per cent of nuts to the DFO concerned for further multiplication i.e. nursery raising, etc. The village head can act as a link in this regard. — The present practice of lopping be discouraged and instead a proper tool be designed for breaking off the cones from trees. — Raising of clonal seed orchard (1-2 ha) using site-matching genotypes in at least five locations in its zone. — Use of scientific method of seed extraction i.e. use of specially designed solar dryers and protection measures against pests and diseases. — Establishment of chilgoza nursery at block on village level (out of seed provided by villagers), thus, providing employment and cheap planting material to the villagers. — Mass awareness involving schoolchildren and mahila mandals and youth clubs can be launched for preservation of chilgoza forests. — Motivation and involvement of local people in chilgoza planting activities. — Technology transfer through training involving Forest Department officials, including progressive farmers of the area, be organised. — Research with reference to breeding, storage, nursery technology needs to be refined keeping in view the local conditions. The scientists working at the RRS, Sharbo (Peo) and the Dr Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, have done extensive work on propagation (seeds, grafting and cuttage propagation), plus tree selection, variation studies, progeny evaluation, etc. which needs to be put into practical use now. The Forest Department should take the lead and undertake large-scale planting work involving local people, especially village women, to save the species from further devastation/denudation. |
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FARM OPERATIONS FOR JANUARY Vegetables Potato — Complete sowing of spring potato. If the seed raised from autumn crop is to be used for spring planting, its dormancy should be broken by dipping cut tubers in the mixture of 1 per cent Thlourea and 1 pprn gibberelic acid for an hour followed for 48 to 72 hours. Avoid direct contact with ethylene chlorohydrin. Air dry the treated seed pieces for 24 hours in thin layer in shade. — For spring crop, the seed may be dipped in the solution of Agallol (500 g in 100 litres of water) for five minutes before sowing. — Twenty tonnes of farmyard manure alongwith 75 kg on N (165 kg of urea or 300 kg of CAN), 25 kg of phosphorus (155 kg superphosphate) and 25 kg of potash (40 kg of muriate of potash) per acre should be used. Drill all P and K and half N at sowing and the remaining N at the time of earthing up. — The late and early blight of potato may be checked by spraying the crop with Indofil M 45 @ 500-700 g/acre. The covering of the seed with dehaulmed shoots should be avoided in infested plants. — Aphids attack can be reduced by spraying 300 ml Rogor 30 EC or Metasystox 25 EC or 75 ml of Dimecron 85 SL in 100 litres of water per acre. Carrot: For seed production, transplant 10-15 cm long and fully matured roots of carrot at 45x30 cm (line x plant) spacings. Before transplanting, apply one quintal of CAN or 55 kg of urea, 155 kg of superphosphate and 40 kg of muriate of potash per acre. Pea The crop may be sprayed with Karathane @ 80 ml/acre or Suflex @ 600 g/acre to control powdery mildew disease. If rust attack is there, spray the crop with Indofil M 45 @ 400 g in 200 litres of water. Onion — Complete transplanting of onion seedlings by the middle of this month. Delayed transplanting leads to poor formation of bulbs and lowers the yields. — To control weeds, spray Stomp 30 EC at 1.01/acre (within a week of transplant). — To control purple blotch, spray the crop with 600 g of Indofil M 45 or 500 g Difolatin mixed with 200 ml of Malathion and 200 ml of Tritone or linseed oil as sticker in 200 litres of water/acre. Spray may be repeated at an interval of 10 days. — Onion maggots feed on the developing bulb and cause discoloration of leaves. Apply 4 kg of Thimet 10 G or Lindane 6 G per acre and give light irrigation. Early cucurbits — Mark lines to prepare trenches on spacing required for each crop. Apply NPK as per recommendations at 25-30 cm wide trenches and irrigate the channels. Soak seeds in lukewarm water. Wrap in a woollen rag and place in a warm place during night and in the sun during the day. When the radicle emergence starts, sow on the northern edge of the trench prepared earlier. Provide sarkanda hedge at 75° on this side and irrigate the trenches as fortnightly intervals. — To obtain early crop of muskmelon, watermelon, bottle gourd and pumpkin, procure 5 kg 100 gauge thick white plastic bags of 15x10 size. In case of heavy soils, mix soil, silt and farmyard manure in equal proportion. In case of heavy soils, and farmyard manure in equal proportion. In case of heavy soils, mix soil, silt and farmyard manure in equal proportion. In case of heavy soils, silt may not be used. Puncture each bag at the bottom and fill it with this mixture and place the bags in sunlight and well protected from the frost and chilly northern winds. In the last week of January, dibble two seeds per bag and water the bags with a tumbler. This technique is suitable for raising early crops of all the cucurbits in the kitchen gardens and for commercial cultivation of muskmelon, watermelon, pumpkin, ash gourd and bottle gourd. A seed rate of 200-500 g is sufficient to raise seedlings for one acre. Progressive Farming, PAU |
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