Fifty three genotypes of Capsicum annuum L. collected from different parts of the West Bengal, India were characterized for 23 characters namely, stem colour, plant growth habit, branching habit, leaf size, leaf shape, leaf margin, leaf colour, leaf pubescence, pigment at node, flower per axil, corolla colour, anther colour, calyx margin, mature fruit colour at intermediate stage, fruit shape, fruit position, fruit adherence to the calyx, fruit shape at pedicel attachment, blossom end fruit shape, ascorbic acid content of the fruit, capsaicin in red fruit and colour value of the ripe fruit. These genotypes upon cataloguing showed distinct variations with respect to vegetative, inflorescence, fruit and quality characters. A wide range of variation was also observed among the genotypes for several morphological, fruit and quality characters. Among the different characters, white corolla colour showed 100 % frequency and higher frequency was also recorded in single flower per axil (86.79 %), number pigmentation at node (83.02 %) and green fruit colour (69.81%) at intermediate stage. Predominance of single descriptor state was found in more than 50 % genotypes for 15 characters. Based on the D2 value 53 genotypes were grouped into 17 clusters and results indicated that Cluster I and Cluster VII comprised with 29 and 9 genotypes respectively. Rest of clusters consisted of one genotype in each case. Variability studies revealed that there was a wide range of variability for all the characters studied. High heritability along with higher genetic advance (as a %age of mean) was found in capsaicin content in fruit, number of fruits per plant, yield per plant and primary branches per plant. These characters may be considered as reliable selection indices as they are possibly governed by additive gene effect. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/sja.v11i1.18387 SAARC J. Agri., 11(1): 91-103 (2013)

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The study was conducted to find out the pattern of labour engagement (both family andhired labour), price realization of different type of small tea growers and economic analysisof the small tea growing system. Small tea growers of Jalpaiguri and Uttar Dinajpur districtof West Bengal were selected purposively. The present study mainly considered primarydata for analysis and a small amount of secondary data was also collected from records ofConfederation of Indian Small Tea Growers’ Association (CISTA) and Self-Help Group(SHG) registers. It has been found that there is a variation in price of green leaves in bothdistricts and higher rates are observed in the month of March. SHGs with own processingunits were found to fetch higher prices compared to other units because of their collectivebargaining power, absence of middlemen and owing co-operative processing units. Numberof such SHGs, with processing units were found in Jalpaiguri district whereas, UttarDinajpur district recorded no SHG with own processing units. The economic analysis alsopresented a clear picture about fixed and operational cost, gross return with or withoutdividend and benefit cost ratio.

Entrepreneurial competence being underlying characteristic of a person leads to effective or superior performance in a job. The study explored the level of entrepreneurial competence and its relationship with socio-personal characteristics of Post-Graduate students of Anand Agricultural University (Gujarat). The 150 postgraduate students were selected on proportionate random sampling basis. To measure entrepreneurship competency level, the indicators advocated by Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India were used. The study revealed that majority (92.00%) of the postgraduate students possessed moderate level of entrepreneurial competency. Among different component traits of entrepreneurial competency, information seeking behaviour, concern for high quality work and efficiency orientation were important. Socio-personal characters like knowledge of different languages, fathers' education and risk orientation had positive impact and academic performance and agricultural business anxiety had negative impact on possession of entrepreneurial competency.

The economy of the developing country like India predominantly depends on agriculture and development of it emphasizes on the need of related information to be transferred to the farmers. Now-a-days Information and Communication Technology (ICT) plays a vital role in every sector of development. The country like India is increasingly integrating ICT into its national development plan and adopting strategies for its wide spread promotion for transforming the nation into a knowledge vibrant e-learning society. The farmers are also showing interest towards ICT. A positive attitude towards ICT will surely enhance this interest towards harnessing benefits out of it on a sustained basis. As attitude depends upon the socio-personal disposition of an individual, the present study tried to tress out those factors in relation to use of ICT. The study was conducted in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal. An attitude scale was used to generate data. From the study, it has been found that family education, asset possession, management orientation and communication behaviour are significantly associated with the development of favourable attitude towards use of ICT tools.