Introduction. As part of the National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP), a potato value chain study was organized in Bihar, in collaboration between the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in Patna, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the International...

Emerging challenges in livelihood security necessitate group action; hence, building social capital is the critical in reducing rural poverty in India. Self-help groups (SHGs) have emerged as an effective mechanism of empowerment as well as being an efficient mode of technology dissemination....

Livestock production, especially dairy, has long been an important activity for smallholder and resource-poor farmers in India, both for household nutrition and income. Most of the livestock are kept in mixed farming systems, where crop residues, mainly cereal straws have been an important feed...

We can ignore the state of global and national land and water resources only at our great peril. We tend to assume that environmental degradation is a contemporary condition, but there is historical evidence to show that cultures rise and fall on their agricultural base’s ability to support...

The application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in agriculture is increasingly important. E-Agriculture is an emerging field focusing on the enhancement of agricultural and rural development through improved information and communication processes. More specifically,...

Livestock is an integral part of rural economy in Bihar and fodder is a critical input for livestock development. Data shows that there exist a huge gap between demand and supply of fodder (both dry as well as green). Most part of the south Bihar comprising of agro climatic zones, IIIA and IIIB...

Local brands are rapidly emerging in food retail in Asia. However, it is not well understood what impact they have in domestic food markets. In a detailed case study of makhana in Bihar, one of the poorest states in India, we see the fast emergence - a doubling over five years leading to a share...

Migration of population has been a recurrent phenomenon since the dawn of human history. Though its form has changed but it remains a dominant event in the global social system. In modern days also people migrate from underdeveloped areas to the developed ones in search of better opportunities....

Market integration is an important determinant of responsiveness and behavior of the markets needed to formulate price policies. Indian wholesale milk markets are correlated with varying degrees of integration. Paper uses monthly wholesale prices of milk for the period from April 1997 to...

Dairy farmers in Bihar are mostly smallholders having one or two local-bred milch animals, which are raised on crop residues and natural pastures with under-employed family labour. Feeding grains, oil cakes and green nutritious fodder are limited to crossbred cattle. Feed and fodder deficiencies...