Background: Odisha started a programme to revive millets in 2017. Keeping this in the background, this paper examines growth of production, area and yield and decomposition of production of millets in Odisha in the last six decades by using triennium ending data, TE1962-63 to TE2019-20. Methods: Boyce’s kinked exponential method has been used to estimate growth for production, area and yield. Production was decomposed to area, yield and interaction effects. Millets as a crop group is compared with other foodgrain groups and then analysis was carried out for four specific millet crops - ragi, jowar, bajra and small millets. Result: In Odisha, the 1960s and 1970s indicate an increasing trend in production of and area under millets. There is a reversal of these trends since 1980s. The decline started first for small millets in the 1980s and subsequently since the 1990s for the three major millets - bajra, jowar and ragi. Decomposition of millets production indicates that the decline since 1980s is largely on account of area effect, but also because of yield effect in the 1990s and 2010s.

No abstract

No abstract

Gladiolus (family Iridaceae) is one of the most important bulbous flower crops due to its long attractive spike with variety of colours, prolonged vase life and its ability to withstand long distance transportation. Four different varieties of Gladiolus (V1-American Beauty, V2-Pacifica, and V3-Summer Pearl and V4-Single Jester) with uniform size of corms were taken for assessing the effect of four concentrations of GA 3 (25, 50, 75 and 100 ppm) on cormel production. The experiment was conducted in Factorial Randomized Block Design. Un-treated control was also maintained. The observations were recorded on various vegetative growths, cormel production and floral attributes. Spikes were harvested when basal florets showed colour. In this investigation GA 3 100 ppm was found most effective for enhancing reproductive growth Number of florets per spike (16.10) time taken for Colour breaking (89.53 days) were observed at 50 ppm. Maximum floret size (13.16cm) and earlier 50% flowering (84.81days) were recorded at 25 ppm GA 3 . Treatment with GA 3 showed delayed 50% heading in (101.66 days) at 100 ppm. The results revealed that var. Summer Pearl recorded earlier colour break (89.53 days), earlier 50% flowering (84.80 days) and maximum cormel production (16.43) maximum number of florets per spike (16.10) and maximum florets size (13.16 cm) were exhibited by var. American Beauty.