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Neem coated urea (NCU) applied to rice can result in high N use efficiency as it contains nitrification inhibition properties. Field experiments were conducted for three years (2005–2007) at Ludhiana (sandy loam soil) and Gurdaspur (clay loam soil) for evaluating the relative performance of NCU vis-a-vis ordinary urea as a source of N for transplanted wetland rice. Along with a no-N control, the two N sources were tried at three N levels––40, 80 and 100% of the recommended level of 120 kg N ha−1. Different doses of N were applied in three equal split doses at transplanting, 21 and 42 days after transplanting (DAT). For need based site specific N management for improved N use efficiency, the two sources of N were applied using leaf colour chart (LCC). In this treatment a basal dose of N at the rate of 20 kg N ha−1 was applied after 7 DAT and LCC readings were recorded at weekly intervals starting 14 DAT. Whenever the intensity of green colour of the first fully opened leaf from the top was less than shade 4 of the LCC, N was applied at the rate of 30 kg N ha−1.

The Green Revolution technology succeeded in transforming India from a large food importer and large recipient of food aid in the 1950s and 1960s, to a food secure country. Indeed, during periods of the 1980s and 1990s, India could occasionally export food. However, the Green Revolution technology may not have reduced the instability of agriculture during the last two decades. This paper examines the factors responsible for instability in area, yield and production for major crops in India from 1950–1951 to 2001–2002. This period is divided into a pre-Green Revolution and post-Green Revolution, with each period analyzed separately as well as jointly. Further, a similar analysis is done for rice yields for the top five producing states. The results show that the sources of growth of crop production have been achieved primarily from yield increases, especially since the introduction of the Green Revolution technology. Area cultivated did expand, but this expansion was not rapid enough to generate the realized production changes. Results for the Green Revolution technology impact on instability are somewhat mixed. The purest measure of crop instability, coefficient of variation, shows a decrease in production instability for wheat, total cereals, sugarcane, and total pulses for all of India. The remaining 10 crops and crop groups show an increase in production instability. Measures of dispersion for crop instability show similar results, but the interpretation of these results is less transparent because these measures involve covariances between area and yields and other interactions effects. Overall, many of the problems associated with production instability continue to persist, and the challenge to find increased stability continues.

Although, IPM approach is creating awareness and interest among the farmers, but its implementation at farm level is not up to the expectations. In the backdrop of this, the present study was carried out with objectives to estimate the cost of cultivation, yield and returns on IPM and Non-IPM farms in Haryana. The findings revealed that the cost of cultivation for IPM sugarcane farms was almost equal to Non-IPM sugarcane farms. The per quintal cost of production on IPM sugarcane farm ('190.39) was lower as compared to Non-IPM sugarcane farms ('209.54), mainly due to higher productivity per hectare on IPM farms (850 q) sugarcane than the Non-IPM farms (783.33 q). The gross returns on IPM and Non-IPM farms were estimated to '242316.67 and '223399.10 per hectare, respectively. The output-input ratio indicated of IPM (1:1.50) and for Non-IPM (1:1.36) that sugarcane cultivation was more profitable on IPM farms as compared to the Non-IPM sugarcane farms. The regression analysis showed that the plant protection chemicals have affected the yield of sugarcane on IPM farms significantly.