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Aims: Under the innovative concept of integrated farming, a trial using vanraja birds was conducted to find out the comparative performance of birds reared in confinement and outdoor in orchards. Study Design: 600 Vanraja birds of one month age were divided into two equal groups was conducted. One group (T1) that served as control was confined to shed and put on concentrate feeding and the another group (T2) were given free access to the KVK orchard during day and confined to shelter during night and were allowed to feed on herbage, insects and other scavenging resources during the day and in the evening hours were offered kitchen waste comprising of leftover rice, vegetable waste, egg shells, leftover pulses etc. collected from the hostels of Faculty of Veterinary Sciences & Animal Husbandry, Shuhama that are in the close vicinity of the Kendra. Methodology: The two groups of vanraja birds were compared with respect to body weight gain, egg production and mortality rate and at the end of 40 weeks trial the concentrate feeding cost in case of free range reared birds was reduced and there was less mortality, increase in the body weight and egg production with additional income from the existing orchards as compared to the control group kept confined to sheds Results and Conclusion: This innovative model of integrating the poultry with horticulture has been termed as horti-poultry model that proved to increase performance of birds with respect to decreased mortality, lower body weight (fat accumulation) that caused increased egg production and lower mortality. Further an additional income of 101850/hectare of land was observed. The model when replicated in fields is expected to be game changer in improving rural income by rearing birds in orchards.

Fruit crops are nutritionally more effective than the field crops collectively by the virtue of their permanent nature of tree morphology (nutrients locked therein), prolonged growth stages, differences in root distribution patterns, developmental stages from the point of view of nutrient requirement, and preferential necessity of certain nutrients by particular cultivars. Perennial fruit crops have huge commercial status in world trade and in the economy of various regions, even if they cover only 1% of global agricultural land. Due to huge distinction in the nutrient use efficiency of perennial fruit crops, their nutrient management-based production system is characteristically intricate to understand. Modern orchardists operate to rising standards of production using a range of best management practice systems, and orchardists are becoming increasingly aware that an ecologically stable soil system is vital for sustaining healthy crops. Fertile soils normally hold all the nutrition required for healthy crop growth but rely on the right combination and volume of microbial populations to digest and transform these minerals to compounds readily available for plant uptake. Thus, adequate mineral nutrition is a preharvest factor affecting fruit quality. While developing fertilization program in any stone fruit orchard, available nutrient status of the soil and plant needs to be taken into contemplation along with the actual plant nutrient requirements. For understanding the significance of balanced supply of nutrients, sound knowledge about nutrient interactions is essential.

Loquat, a non-climacteric fruit, is well known for its taste, juiciness and high nutrition value. Loquat is mainly consumed as fresh fruit and the important quality attributes are skin color, flesh firmness, soluble solids content, acidity and soluble solids content/acidity ratio. It has a short shelf life at ambient temperatures and is susceptible to various physical, mechanical and nutritional losses. A number of technologies have been evaluated for extending the shelf-life of loquat fruit and include cold storage, controlled atmosphere storage, modified atmosphere packaging, edible coatings, chemical and heat treatments.