Mysore District Research Articles

Effect of Socio-Economic and Demographic Characteristics on Agricultural Labourers Migration in Bidar District of Karnataka, India

The study was carried out in the Bidar district of Kalyana Karnataka where a people's migration is big. Three talukas were chosen based on the highest labour force from the district. In specific, they were Bidar, Bhalki, and Basavakalyan. In random selection, four villages from each taluka were selected. The primary data was taken via the personal interview process from a total of 240 samples randomly from every taluka for the experiment, with 80 samples. The current study was an attempt to obtain the different motives for the migration of farm labourers from the district of Bidar and to create the correct models for migration data. Tabular research was led in the sample villages of Bidar district for the specific characteristics of migrants and non-migrants. The tabular research found that about 50 percent of people from all talukas migrate from sample households. The tabular analysis exposed that 44 per cent of individual migration compared to the entire family migration and individuals belonging to the 15 – 30-year age group migrate more. Research also found that agricultural labourers in the villages are fleeing because of underemployment and unemployment. Agricultural families are not successful, so many leave with smaller land holdings for better opportunities. Also, the current study attempted to know the nature and magnitude of the association between the agricultural labourers migration in the bidar district and their socioeconomic characteristics. Results of the correlation coefficients of migration over other variables viz. land holding, family size, education, income including migrants income (IMI), and income excluding migrants income (EMI) revealed a significant relationship among land holding and migration. Along with family net income and relocation, the important relationship still occurred. Even between migration and family size.

Impact of a school-based nutrition educational intervention on knowledge related to iron deficiency anaemia in rural Karnataka, India: A mixed methods pre-post interventional study.

To understand the extent to which adolescent awareness about anaemia and anaemia prevention can be changed by nutrition messages received at school. Mixed-methods pre-post intervention study. Three government schools in Bagalkot, Belagavi and Raichur districts of Karnataka, India. Students of grade six and seven and teachers involved in implementing the intervention. An educational intervention was co-developed by school teachers and nutrition experts using locally adapted resource materials that consisted of lectures, role play and practical demonstrations. Seven half-hour educational sessions were delivered by school teachers over 7 weeks to 455 students. Pre- and post-intervention tests measured changes in adolescents' knowledge about anaemia. Semi-structured in-depth interviews with teachers and focus groups with students explored their reactions to the intervention. Knowledge score related to anaemia. The percentage of children with correct scores increased by 7.3-49.0 percentage points for the tested questions after implementation of the intervention. The mean knowledge score increased by 3.67 ± 0.17 (p < 0.01). During interviews, teachers and students highlighted high acceptance of the intervention and materials, an increase in awareness, a positive attitude towards changing behaviour around diet, an increase in the demand for iron and folic acid supplements and improved sharing of messages learned with peers and families. Challenges expressed included need for further training, time limitations and hesitancy in teaching about menstruation and pregnancy. Educational interventions carried out for adolescents by teachers in schools are effective in improving awareness and attitude related to anaemia and its prevention.

A Study on Prevalence of Anaemia among Women in Reproductive Age Group in Rural Areas of Coastal Karnataka

BACKGROUND&#x0D; Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional disorder in the world. The most common type of anaemia is due to nutritional factors and is also found especially among women of reproductive age group, pregnant, and lactating mothers. Anaemia is indicative of poor nutrition and health. We wanted to estimate anaemia among women in the reproductive age group in rural areas of Coastal Karnataka in this study.&#x0D; METHODS&#x0D; A community-based cross-sectional study was done among women in the reproductive age group using an RDT kit in the rural areas of Coastal Karnataka. Villages were selected from Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts of Coastal Karnataka.&#x0D; RESULTS&#x0D; Out of 540 subjects, 18.5% were in the age group of 30-34 followed by 16.8 % in the 40-44 years age group respectively. Based on the educational status, PUC level of education accounted for 40.9%. Among the study subjects, 477 were married, 60.1% had haemoglobin above 12mg/dl and 39.9% had less than 12mg/dl haemoglobin levels.&#x0D; CONCLUSIONS&#x0D; The prevalence of anaemia among women of reproductive age group in Coastal Karnataka is about 39.9%. Compared to NFHS 5 data the prevalence of anemia is lower in Coastal Karnataka.

Clinical, laboratory, and molecular epidemiology of Orientia tsutsugamushi infection from Southwestern India.

Scrub typhus is a vector borne disease which in a proportion of patients causes multiorgan involvement and death if untreated. Infecting genotype and virulence factors play a role in severity of infection and outcome. The current prospective cohort study was undertaken to elucidate the severity of illness in scrub typhus patients and to identify the circulating genotypes in Karnataka, India. A total of 214 patients of either gender from 9 districts of Karnataka and one patient each from Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, India were enrolled in the study. With a predefined severity criterion, 132 patients were segregated to the severe group. Multi organ involvement was seen in 59 (44.69%) patients. Phylogenetic analysis revealed JG-v like (48.97%), Karp-like (26.53%), JG-like (22.44%), and Kato-like (2.04%) strains in Karnataka. Patients infected with Orientia tsutsugamushi Karp-like strains had respiratory involvement (69.2%), cardiovascular involvement (46.2%) and thrombocytopenia (23.1%) and required higher hospital resource utilization.

Variability in Physico-Chemical Fruit Quality in Dessert Type of Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.) Genotypes Located in Four Districts of Karnataka, India

The survey work for identifying elite jackfruit type was initiated in the year 2015 jackfruit season. During 2015 jackfruit season, 27 jackfruit types identified through an extensive survey were spread in 4 districts viz., North Canara (2 types), Chikmagalore (6 types), Tumkur (16 types) and Hassan (3 types). Analysis of variance for 30 characters in 27 type jackfruits revealed a greater variability in the survey zone. Flake thickness, bulb length and TSS exhibited a considerable amount of variation in number. Fruit weight had a range from 0.91 kg (Type-23) to 9.30 kg (Type-12). The type-12 recorded maximum fruit length (42.00 cm) and fruit breadth (30.40 cm). The bulb color varied from cream(Type-6) to Yellow(12 jackfruit types), light yellow(Eight types) and orange(four types) The maximum bulb number of 170 was noticed in the type-7. Bulb weight was maximum in Type-12 (5.42 kg) and minimum in Type-23 (0.22 kg). Bulb length showed a range from 8.53 cm (Type-17) to 3.92 cm (Type-23). Similarly bulb breadth was maximum in Type-13 (5.60 cm) and minimum in Type-5 (3.07 cm) and Type-6 (3.07 cm). Total Soluble Solids (TSS) content was noticed high in Type-18 (32.38oBrix). The maximum score for crispness was noted Type-4 (4.90) and Type -17 (4.90). Overall acceptability score was higher in Type-10 (4.50). Type-10 (4.50) was the best and having good score for overall acceptability and other physico chemical parameters studied.

Undernutrition among rural school-age children: a major public health challenge for an aspirational district in Karnataka, India.

For school-age children, a healthy transition from childhood to adolescence and adulthood depends on proper nutrition. Globally, most nutritional surveys focus on preschool and adolescents, neglecting school-age children. Recent studies have shown the prevalence of thinness among adolescents to be 26.5% in Karnataka. Similarly, among children aged < 5 years in the Raichur district, the prevalence of stunting, wasting, and being underweight was 39.8, 23.2, and 40.7%, respectively. The present study aimed to bridge the data gap between < 5 years of children and adolescents through a nutritional survey of school-going children in Raichur, one of the aspirational districts of India. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from January to March 2020 among rural school-age children (n = 2700) in 30 villages of the Raichur district of Karnataka, India. The school children were selected through a multi-stage cluster sampling technique. The WHO Anthro-plus software was used for calculating the age and sex-specific Z-scores for weight-for-age (WAZ), height-for-age (HAZ), and BMI-for-age (BAZ). Of the 2,700 school-age children surveyed, the mean weight and height were 22.2 kg (+5.8) and 124.9 cm (+11.6), respectively. The prevalence of children having weight-for-age Z-scores < -2 SD (Underweight) was 45.3% (95% CI: 42.7%-47.8%). The magnitude of stunting and severe stunting was 19.5% (95% CI: 18.0%-21.0%) and 7.6% (95% CI: 6.6%-8.6%), respectively. The proportion of children with BMI for age Z-scores < -2SD (thinness) was 43% (95% CI: 41.1%-44.9%), with sub-district Sindhanur having a dual burden of malnutrition. Despite many flagship programs, the prevalence of undernutrition in school-age children remains a considerable public health problem in the aspirational district of Raichur, India. Furthermore, exploratory studies are recommended to identify the factors associated with undernutrition among school-age children and strategize evidence-based intervention.

Assessment of Extension Advisory Services in Contract and Non-Contract Broiler Farming

Poultry is one of the most important and fastest growing sectors of agriculture today in India. Poultry in India has emerged as the most dynamic and diversified subsector. Estimates from all India poultry breeders association indicates that poultry will contribute for USD 17.31 billion of the total India’s gross value and satisfies the hungers of 50 million people through direct or indirect employment. Within the poultry sector, broiler and layer segment constitutes about 65.3 and 34.7 percent with the monthly turnover of 400 million chicks and 8400 million eggs respectively [1]. As per the 19th Livestock census, Karnataka ranks 5th place in both egg and meat production in India and it has about 534.42 lakh poultry (512.54 lakh in rural area and 2.19 lakh in urban areas) and 96.60 lakh fowl in backyard poultry comprising of 17.84 lakh cocks, 43.99 lakh hens and 34.77 lakh chicken below five months. The share of backyard fowl population in total fowl population was 11%. The State stands 7th in egg production and 10th in chicken meat production in the country. The present study was conducted to assess the extent of extension advisory services in contract and non-contract broiler farming. The study was conducted in 3 districts of Karnataka and the data was collected from 60 contract and 60 non-contract broiler farmers through pretested interview schedule. The study revealed that Cent percent of the Contract Broiler Farmers (CBF) depends on Integrator for the extension advisory services, non-contract broiler farmers depend upon private poultry consultant for extension advisory services. The returns are assured and almost fixed in contract broiler farming, whereas in Non-Contract Broiler Farming (NCBF) they vary widely depending upon the market price, Establishment of regulatory bodies and expansion and strengthening of the EAS is essential for further improvement.

First report of Athelia rolfsii (=Sclerotium rolfsii) associated with foot rot disease of Chrysanthemum morifolium in India.

Chrysanthemum morifolium L. is an important flower crop grown in different parts of Karnataka for its striking cut flowers and international market value. During a field survey (Mysore district, Karnataka, February, 2022), chrysanthemum fields were found infected with foot rot disease. The presence of white mycelial structures with sclerotia were recorded near the stem-soil interface. The disease incidence ranged 10-12% measured in an area of approximately 10 hectares. The infected plants showed quick wilt, yellowing and toppling of the entire plant. Infected plants from Doddamaragowdanahally and Rayanahally (n=15) were collected and associated fungal pathogen isolated after surface sterilization with NaOCl (1%) on potato dextrose agar (PDA) amended with chloramphenicol (50 mg/L). Fungal mycelia developed from the infected tissues were inoculated on to fresh PDA plates to obtained pure cultures for further identification. Fungal colonies with dense, aerial whitish-cottony mycelia with uniformly globoid sclerotia (0.284.2 mm) were observed after 15 days of incubation (28 ± 2°C). Sclerotia were white in the beginning and turned brown at maturity. The average number of sclerotia produced per plate ranged from 240 to >480 (n = 10). To further to confirm the identity of the isolates, two representative isolates (CmSr1 and CmSr2) was subjected to molecular identification based on ITS-rDNA sequences. Briefly, genomic DNA was isolated from 12 day old cultures using the CTAB method and ITS-rDNA was amplified using ITS1-ITS4 primers (White et al., 1990). An expected amplicon of >650 bp (ITS) was obtained and later sequenced from both the directions. The consensus sequences were analysed through nBLAST search which revealed that 100% sequence similarity with reference sequences of Athelia rolfsii (S. rolfsii) from GenBank database (MT127465, MN974137, KC292637; identity 656/656; 0 gaps). A phylogenetic tree obtained by the neighbor-joining method using MEGAX shared a common clade with the reference sequences retrieved and computed, thus confirming the identification based on sequence analysis and molecular phylogeny. The representative sequence of A. rolfsii isolates CmSr1 and CmSr2 isolates deposited in GenBank with Accession nos. ON456153 and ON456154, respectively. Based on etiology, morphological, cultural and molecular data the pathogen was identified as Athelia rolfsii (Curzi) Tu & Kimbrough (Syn: Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc.) (Mordue, 1974; Mahadevakumar et al., 2016, 2018). Plants (n=60) were inoculated with sclerotial bodies (2 sclerotia/plant) near stem soil interface under green house and covered with polythene bags (at 27 ± 2°C and 80% RH). Non-inoculated plants (n=20) served as controls. The development of foot rot disease was observed eight days after inoculation. A total of 48 plants showed the foot rot symptoms and 12 inoculated plants and control plants remained healthy. The identity of the fungus was confirmed by morphological and cultural characters after re-isolation. C. morifolium is an important flower crop in Karnataka. S. rolfsii is known to be associated with blight and collar rot of Chrysanthemum spp. from Kerala (Beena et al., 2002) but no species (host) identity provided. Therefore, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of foot rot disease caused by Athelia rolfsii on C. morifolium in India. Early diagnosis of this disease will help the farmers to adopt suitable management practices to avoid loss.

THE ROLE OF EDUCATION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF RESETTLED TRIBES IN MYSORE DISTRICT

This paper examines the role of education for the development of resettled tribes in Mysore district. Resettled tribes of Mysore district are socially disadvantaged groups. Government of Karnataka has implemented several programmes for the socio economic upliftment of resettled tribes of Mysore district. Even after regular policy interventions, the literacy statuses of the resettled tribes remain deficient. The number of school drop outs is increasing while the number of girl student pursing secondary education is dropping. There is a need to focus on the issues concerning modified and easier access to education and equity for resettled tribal communities. The need to high light the problems induced after the CORONA pandemic. Hence, there is a need to intervene. Earlier Majority of the resettled settlements are deprived of basic educational support including Anganawadi centres, Vidyagama and Ashraya schools. But, Government of Karnataka along with the support of the District administration has taken several measures to spread educational access to resettled tribes. Creating programmes to bring the tribal people to the mainstream of the society and promoting decent livelihood by creating economic opportunities through skill development, capacity building and conduction of training programmes needs to be focused.

Seroepidemiology of Hepatitis E virus among the voluntary blood donors in the coastal region of Karnataka, India

Background: Hepatitis E is a fecal orally transmitted disease and an emerging transfusion transmissible infection with potential transfusion safety implications. Hepatitis E Virus screening among blood donors is not routinely done despite the fact that it is endemic in India. As there are very few reports and evidence, the justification for mandating HEV screening among blood donors is still only marginally convincing. Therefore, the present study was carried out to determine the incidence and prevalence of HEV infection among blood donors in Coastal Karnataka, India. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital in Udupi district of Karnataka, India. A total of 1939 blood donors were randomly selected between June 2020 to June 2022 to participate in the study, where anti-HEV IgM antibody screening was performed using HEV IgM ELISA test kit (DiaPro, Italy). Further, a randomly selected 588 and 1620 pooled donor samples were screened for anti-HEV IgG antibodies and HEV RNA, respectively. Results: The overall prevalence of HEV IgM antibodies among study population is found to be 1.39%, with a statistically significant difference between males and females (n=20, 1.18% vs. n=7, 3.07 %; p=0.027). The prevalence of HEV IgG antibodies was 11.39%. Exposure to agriculture, animal husbandry, and poor hand hygiene were significant risk factors for HEV IgG reactivity. Conclusions: Given the high prevalence of HEV viral markers in the study population, routine screening of blood donors for risk factors and implementation of serologic testing in endemic areas may be considered.

Constraints faced under open and protected cultivation of vegetables- A case studyof tomatoes and capsicum in Karnataka

The present study aimed to analyze the constraints faced by farmers in the production and marketing oftomatoes and capsicum under open and protected cultivation practices in Karnataka. The study was conducted in majortwo vegetable producing districts of Karnataka. Kolar from South Karnataka and Belagavi from North Karnataka were thetwo districts selected for the study. Rank Based Quotient (RBQ) was adopted for the analysis. The results indicated thatheavy incidence of pests and diseases (RBQ value 69.44) and severe incidence of blossom end rot due to calcium deficiency(RBQ value 85.19) were the major production constraints under open and protected cultivation practices, respectively.Lack of quality planting material and requirement of intensive management practices were the other serious productionproblems under open field cultivation of tomatoes. While, incidence of fruit borer and requirement of high cost forestablishment were the production problems faced by the farmers under protected cultivation of tomatoes. Heavy drop ofimmature fruits under open cultivation and high cost of establishment under protected cultivation were the other seriousproblems faced by farmers in production of capsicum. Lower market price during peak harvesting season and high fluctuationin prices for capsicum were the serious marketing problems. Use of disease-free quality planting material, self-raising ofseedlings, utilization of calcium fertilizers and adoption of cost-effective management practices and proper portfolio managementwere the measures suggested to the farmers to overcome these problems. These findings will be helpful to the policy makersand farmers for developing policy framework and relevant guidance for promoting vegetable production in the state.

Economic analysis of horticulture nursery enterprises in Koppal district of Karnataka

Nursery is a place where plants are grown, nurtured and sold out. In current scenario nursery raising is the mostbenefited sector, because it needs small area and short time to generate more income. The Koppal district was purposelyselected as it occupies prime place in the nursery raising of horticultural crop in the region. The primary data was collectedfrom 30 nursery owners in the study area. The present study aims to analyze the costs and returns of nursery enterprisesin Koppal district of Karnataka state. The findings of the study revealed that, the costs involved in the production ofseedlings was `2,64,840.43 and `6,20,071.01 in small and large sized shade net house, respectively. Of which, variablecost and fixed costs constituted `2,42,111.04 and `22,729.39 in small sized and `5,69,347 and `50,724.01 in large sizedshade net house, respectively. The financial feasibility analysis indicated net present worth of `1,73,128 and `2,87,789with a discounted benefit cost ratio of 2.29 and 2.40 and payback period was estimated to be 1.05 and 1.07 years and theIRR generated in the nursery enterprise was found to be 28 and 30 percent for small and large nurserieswhich is higher thanthe prevailing interest rate. According to the study, the ratio of variable costs has a higher share compared to that of fixed costsand also this business has vast potentials of generating employment and income of the owners in rural areas of Koppal district

Value Chain Analysis for Robusta Coffee in Kodagu District of Karnataka

The present study was conducted in the Kodagu district of Karnataka. Simple descriptive statistics tools like averages and percentages were used to estimate the cost of production, returns, price spread and margins made. The study results indicated that the coffee growers share in export price (66.49 per cent) is a little high in parchment coffee production than in dry cherry coffee production (40.54 per cent), which was attributed to the value-addition activities undertaken by the coffee grower's. Thus, the study indicated the opportunities for coffee growers to move up in the value chain and thereby increase their share in export prices.

Prevalence of stuttering among school age children in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka, India

PurposeStuttering is a fluency disorder with a worldwide prevalence of 1%. Reports on the epidemiology of stuttering in India is limited. Our primary goal was to examine the prevalence of the disorder among school children. The study also aimed to study the impact of several risk factors on the prevalence of stuttering. MethodA total of 3437 children in the age range of 6–15 years were screened in 16 camps conducted in and around schools of Dakshina Kannada. The children were screened for stuttering using a screening tool by an SLP based on their grade and medium of instruction and further validated using Stuttering Severity Instrument-4. ResultThe prevalence of stuttering in school going children was 1.68%. Gaussian test reveals effect of gender on the prevalence of stuttering (Z1 = 3.501, p < 0.001) with a ratio of 2.4:1 among males and females respectively. No significant association was obtained for socioeconomic status (X22 = 1.42, p = 0.492) and linguistic structure (Z1=1.653, p = 0.0984) on the prevalence of stuttering. Good to excellent inter-rater and intra-rater reliability was obtained. ConclusionThe prevalence of stuttering in Dakshina Kannada is established for the first time in the current study which helped determine in early identification and intervention for children with stuttering leading to better prognosis and quality of life.

A Study to Determine the Emotional and Behavioral Problems Among Children of Employed Mother's in Selected Schools at Vijayapur District Karnataka

A Study to Determine the Emotional and Behavioral Problems Among Children of Employed Mother's in Selected Schools at Vijayapur District Karnataka

Terrestrial Orchid Diversity in Sagara Taluk of Shimogga District Central Western Ghats Region of Karnataka

The current article evaluates the study of terrestrial orchids in Sagara taluk of Shimogga district, reports total 26 terrestrial orchid species in Sagara taluk region Shimogga district Karnataka from the period of January 2019-January 2022 and provides information on their distribution, phenology aspects and biological status in the district. Extensive field surveys were carried out periodically in different part of the taluk particularly in grasslands and hilly region to study the diversity and phenological character of the plant. It was noticed that, when compared to other species, the Habenaria species is richly distributed in Sagara taluk regions. During field visits also noticed some anthropogenic activities highly effects on the diversity of the terrestrial orchids. The further study has to be carried out to get more information related to diversity and current status of terrestrial orchid species in Sagara taluk region of Shimogga district Karnataka.

Exploitation of indigenous fluorescent pseudomonads against stem and pod rot of groundnut caused by &lt;i&gt;Sclerotium rolfsii&lt;/i&gt;

Stem and pod rot of groundnut is an economically important soil borne disease caused by Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc. The present study aimed to evaluate the indigenous bacterial bio control agent Pseudomonas fluorescens strains having multiple traits related to bio control and plant growth promoting activity. Healthy rhizospheric soil from groundnut field was collected from different North Karnataka districts. Nineteen strains of P. fluorescens were isolated by serial dilution technique on King’s B medium. The antagonistic potential of nineteen strains was tested against S. rolfsii by using dual culture technique. The per cent inhibition was highly variable among the nineteen strains of P. fluorescens ranging from 2.59 to 75.18 per cent. Maximum mycelial inhibition of S. rolfsii was recorded by the strain PF-2 (75.18%) followed by PF-3 (72.96%), PF-6 (69.62%) and least inhibition was recorded by PF-13 (2.59%). Five superior strains of P. fluorescens showed fluorescens under UV light, yellowish green pigmentation, rod shaped cells under microscope. Five superior strains were subjected for various biochemical tests and all the isolates were positive for biochemical characterization such as Gram staining, endospore production, catalase, starch hydrolysis, urease test, casein hydrolysis and gelatin liquefy action and negative for KOH and in dole test. Further, these strains were subjected for plant growth promoting traits such as HCN production, IAA production, siderophore production and volatile compounds production. Among these, the strainsviz., PF-2 and PF-3 were scored as strong with respect to antagonism and growth promotion. The strainsPF-6, PF-7 and PF-10 were scored as moderate with light brown colour. Among the tested strains of P. fluorescens, the isolates PF-2 and PF-3 were recorded higher production of siderophore, isolates PF-6, PF-7 and PF-10 showed moderate production of siderophore. The strain PF-2 of P. fluorescens showed highest per cent of mycelial inhibition of S. rolfsii indicating higher production of volatile compounds, followed by PF-3 and PF-6. Whereas, the least mycelial inhibition was recorded by the isolate PF-10 indicating less production of volatile compounds.

Microbes in Management of Fungal Diseases of Grape

In India, grapes are commercially cultivated in the state of Maharashtra and some districts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu which are characterized by warm, humid and intermittently wet or cloudy weather. Viticulture practices and grape pathology in these tropical regions is vastly different from that in temperate regions, necessitating greater emphasis on microbial interventions for disease management. Three fungal diseases namely, downy mildew, powdery mildew and anthracnose are the major threat to sustainable viticulture and cause great economic loss to growers. The high susceptibility of commercial grape varieties, presence of abundant inoculum in vineyards, and favourable weather for most part of the year, have a cumulative effect and disease outbreaks occur in a very short span of time. Dependence on chemicals alone has led to increase in cost of cultivation, development of fungicide resistance in pathogens, and presence of fungicide residues at harvest; apart from environmental concerns on continued and high use of fungicides. The use of naturally occurring microbes for biological control of diseases and also for induction of systemic resistance in susceptible grape varieties against these diseases is a safer and sustainable option. Worldwide researchers are searching for efficient microbes for management of grape diseases in vineyards and postharvest and this article is a compilation of their work.

Suggestions For Overcoming Obstacles In Betelvine Cultivation Of Davanagere District, Karnataka

Like every other occupation, agriculture has its own constraints. In such a way, this article portrays the various constraints/ barriers experienced by the Davanagere district betelvine growers involved in betelvine cultivation. Harihara and Honnali taluks of the Davanagere district were purposively selected as it holds the highest area under betelvine cultivation. Twenty-five betelvine growers were selected from each of the six selected villages of two taluks of the Davanagere district of Karnataka. The selected betelvine growers were enquired about the difficulties experienced in betelvine cultivation using a three-point continuum and analyzed using Constraint Faced Index (CFI). Based on the study, it was found that yield loss due to inconsistent climatic conditions, high cost of labour, high cost of chemicals and fluctuation in market price were the prominent technical, labour, economic and marketing constraints experienced by the betelvine growers of Davanagere district respectively. Encouraging value-added products was the highly suggested measure followed by a provision of good quality inputs and providing credit facilities were the key suggestions put forward by the betelvine growers to overcome the constraints.

Survey, Detection, Characterization of Papaya Ringspot Virus from Southern India and Management of Papaya Ringspot Disease.

Papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) is a significant threat to global papaya cultivation, causing ringspot disease, and it belongs to the species Papaya ringspot virus, genus Potyvirus, and family Potyviridae. This study aimed to assess the occurrence and severity of papaya ringspot disease (PRSD) in major papaya-growing districts of Karnataka, India, from 2019 to 2021. The incidence of disease in the surveyed districts ranged from 50.5 to 100.0 percent, exhibiting typical PRSV symptoms. 74 PRSV infected samples were tested using specific primers in RT-PCR, confirming the presence of the virus. The complete genome sequence of a representative isolate (PRSV-BGK: OL677454) was determined, showing the highest nucleotide identity (nt) (95.8%) with the PRSV-HYD (KP743981) isolate from Telangana, India. It also shared an amino acid (aa) identity (96.5%) with the PRSV-Pune VC (MF405299) isolate from Maharashtra, India. Based on phylogenetic and species demarcation criteria, the PRSV-BGK isolate was considered a variant of the reported species and designated as PRSV-[IN:Kar:Bgk:Pap:21]. Furthermore, recombination analysis revealed four unique recombination breakpoint events in the genomic region, except for the region from HC-Pro to VPg, which is highly conserved. Interestingly, more recombination events were detected within the first 1710 nt, suggesting that the 5' UTR and P1 regions play an essential role in shaping the PRSV genome. To manage PRSD, a field experiment was conducted over two seasons, testing various treatments, including insecticides, biorationals, and a seaweed extract with micronutrients, alone or in combination. The best treatment involved eight sprays of insecticides and micronutrients at 30-day intervals, resulting in no PRSD incidence up to 180 days after transplanting (DAT). This treatment also exhibited superior growth, yield, and yield parameters, with the highest cost-benefit ratio (1:3.54) and net return. Furthermore, a module comprising 12 sprays of insecticides and micronutrients at 20-day intervals proved to be the most effective in reducing disease incidence and enhancing plant growth, flowering, and fruiting attributes, resulting in a maximized yield of 192.56 t/ha.