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The importance of organic manure as soil amendment is increasing day by day especially for the improvement of soil health. Flower waste has a high moisture content and easily degradable carbon content. A long duration leachate and odour problem arises during accumulation of flowers. The study aimed on changes in the physico-chemical parameters during the pit method composting of flowers using effective microbial consortium. Four different composting mixturemarigold flower waste + Dried Leaves (1:1), Marigold flower waste + Dried leaves (1:1) + Microbial consortium, Rajnigandha flower waste + Dried leaves(1:1) and Rajnigandha flower waste + Dried leaves (1:1) + Microbial Consortium were prepared. Results revealed that the temperature profile in all the treatments in cemented pits showed a rapid procedure from ambient temperature of 32ºC to 55ºC. The maximum temperature obtained was 55ºC within six days in the pits and pH varied from 4.5 to 5.5 and after 30 days it was found to be 7.0. The measurement of humus content was observed more in the treatments where fungal inoculants were applied as compared to un-inoculated treatments. The final product was rich in carbon, nitrogen content and was found non-phytotoxic.

A tricycle type manually operated foliar applicator was developed with ground clearance of 74.15 cm that can be operated on standing wheat crop having row spacing of 20-22 cm. The physical properties of urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) with 3% N were found nearly equal to water with respect to dynamic viscosity, surface tension and specific gravity of UAN. Based on pressure, discharges requirement and corrosiveness of UAN, reciprocating typePVC pump (2 no.) with capacity of 4.53 l/min each was selected for the sprayer. Three type of nozzles, i.e. flat fan, stream jet SJ7 and stream jet SJ3 were evaluated in terms of discharge, spray pattern and spray angle at different heights and pressures. Spray pattern and uniformity of spray distribution of nozzles (flat fan, stream jet SJ3 and SJ7) were determined on patternator test rig. Flat fan nozzles showed most uniform pattern at 2 kg/cm2 pressure and 500 mm nozzle height, whereas streamjet SJ7 showed maximum uniformity at 1.6 kg/cm2 and 600 mm height. Streamjet SJ3 nozzles were found suitable for low boom height and directed application of fertilizer. Variation in discharge of nozzles among the boom was observed less than 10% while operated in field. Field capacity of the developed foliar applicator was found 0.3 ha/h. Operating pressure of 1.5 kg/cm2 was found ergonomically suitable with an average heart rate and energy expenditure of 119 beats/min and 26.7 kJ/min, respectively for operating the prototype. The break-even point (BEP) and payback period (PBP) of developed foliar applicator were estimated as 113.43 h/year and 4 years at the operational cost of Rupees 94.68/ha.

Response surface modeling approach was applied to optimize the ingredients level for barnyard millet based Nutri-Functional Snack (NFS) food using a D-optimal mixture design. The effect of ingredients level of barnyard millet (50–70%), quality protein maize (20–50%) and flax seed (0–20%) with constant level of skim milk powder (5%) on the physical and functional properties of NFS such as bulk density, colour, expansion ratio,water absorption index, water solubility index, crispiness and sensory were investigated. The regression models that explained the significant effects of different percentages of ingredients level on all the response variables were determined. The developed regression model of all the responses had a coefficient of determination (R2) and adjusted R2 value of higher than 0.9245 and 0.8490, respectively. The optimum conditions for maximum acceptability of NFS food having 70% barnyard millet, 28% quality protein maize and 2% flaxseed.

An electronic experimental set-up was developed to evaluate three seed-metering mechanisms, viz. slanting, semi- circular and rectangular shape for three paddy varieties and to investigate the influence of the selected levels of variables, viz. forward speed, cell shape and inclination of seed-metering plate on performance parameters of seed- metering. Mean seed spacing, miss index and seed damage were found to increase with increase in forward speed and angle of inclination while multiple index decreased with increase in forward speed and angle of inclination for all metering plates tested. Precision decreased with increase in forward speed and with increase in angle of inclination, it increased initially up to optimum value and then decreased. The mean seed spacing of 14.8 cm close to theoretical seed spacing of 15 cm, highest quality feed index of 88.1%, lowest miss index of 6.1% and minimum seed damage of 0.38% were observed in slanting type metering plate at an angle of 35º with the horizontal and at a forward speed (belt speed) of 2 km/h. Hence, for design of precision paddy planter, the optimum parameters, like slanting type metering plate with angle of inclination 35º and forward speed of 2 km/h can be used to achieve best results.