The global COVID-19 pandemic has hit the agriculture sector hard around the world. A study was conducted to assess the impact of the pandemic on cropping patterns, crop management, usage of chemical inputs and their organic alternatives, harvesting, and marketing avenues through a survey approach in the two states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in India. A total of 250 farmers participated in the study, the data was analyzed by Chi-square test and Kruskal–Wallis test. The assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on some aspects was undertaken by dividing the study period into three phases. Though a smaller number of people were infected with COVID-19 in the initial phase of the pandemic compared to the later phases, farm operations and the procurement of inputs were significantly affected at this phase as there was a sudden disruption in transportation due to COVID-19-induced movement restrictions. During the entire study period, commodities such as rice, bananas, vegetables, coconuts, and flowers suffered maximum crop loss compared to pulses, groundnuts, cotton, and rubber. Among fertilizers, the maximum shortage was observed for chemical fertilizers (46%) and biofertilizers (30%) compared to cow dung (18%) and poultry manure (6%), indicating that farmers tended to use more local materials that could be easily procured and accessed compared to shop-based inputs. A rise in the cost of cultivation, scarcity of farm workforce, and difficulty in hiring farm machinery all have contributed to the loss of profit during the pandemic period. As a response to COVID-19, growers initiated post-harvest processing of commodities, and cropping systems remained the same during the period. The paper also discusses some remedial measures to be adopted by households in the future, to minimize the impacts of such pandemics in the agrarian sector.

A study was conducted to assess the marketing behavior of organic Farmers. Ex post facto research design was used in this study. The study was conducted in Coimbatore, Erode and Tiruppur districts of Tamil Nadu. Three blocks were selected purposively and a sample of 20 certified organic farmers were selected from each of the blocks purposively. A total of 180 certified organic farmers were surveyed for the study. Three fourths of the certified organic farmers fell under the fully selling pattern of organic produce, and 38.89 per cent of the certified organic farmers sell the entire produce immediately after the harvest.

Smartphone application usage has increased exponentially over the past decade. The potentiality of smartphone applications as a tool for various decision-making processes is not fully explored, especially in the field of agriculture. This work systematically evaluates smartphone applications developed by research institutes and non-profit organizations and made available to Indian agriculture stakeholders, who have the world’s largest user base. The study analyzed 25 smartphone applications developed for the agriculture and allied sectors available to the Indian farming community. The usability, accessibility, frequency of updates, user ratings, and number of downloads of smartphone applications are systematically evaluated. Furthermore, this article assesses the divergence between existing smartphone applications and the needs of agricultural stakeholders. This research necessitates the importance of systematic evaluation of digital applications available to the end-users and offers guidelines to application developers, researchers, and policymakers on the potential shortcomings of prevailing smartphone applications and warrants features for future smartphone applications.

Purpose: There is a particular paucity of information emanating from Tamil Nadu state, where organic farming appears to have a promising future. Some of the constraints revealed from primary sources suggest to the importance for a comprehensive study that would resulting in a strategic model framework for sustainable organic farming in Tamil Nadu.Research Method: Precisely, 180 organic farming practitioners from the Coimbatore, Erode, and Tiruppur districts in Tamil Nadu were selected through purposive random sampling method. A semi-structured questionnaire and a personnel interview style were used to collect data. To determine significant contributing independent variables that determine the impact of organic farming, a step-down regression approach was employed. Findings:The majorities of participants were old-aged, had undergone collegiate to secondary education, had received organic farming training, and owned low livestock. Though there was a moderate level of media exposure, extension personal interaction, risk and scientific orientation among the respondents were apparent. Farmers' perceptions about environmentally friendly conservation practices, the use of organic manures, the profitability of organic farming, and environmental degradation ranged from moderate to high levels. Independent variables accounted for 77.30 percent of the variation in organic farming's impact on farmer livelihood security. Based on these observations, a model has been proposed for designing a future strategy. Originality/ Value:The proposed model will serve as a wake-up call for policymakers and concerned officials in framing new programs from the standpoint of organic farming.

The goal of this research was to look into farmers' perceptions of climate change in agriculture. An ex post facto research design was used in the study. The research was carried out in wetland, dryland, and garden land farming systems in the Tamil Nadu districts of Madurai and Sivagangai. A total of 120 farmers representing three farming systems were chosen and surveyed for the study using a proportionate random sample procedure. Personal interviews with respondents were conducted using a well-structured and pre-tested interview schedule. Descriptive statistical tools were used to analyze the data. According to the findings, more than half of the respondents in the wetland (65.00%), dryland (50.00%), and garden land (55.00%) were perceived climate change in agriculture at a medium level. The majority of the garden land respondents (72.50%) had perceived the increased pest and disease incidence due to climate change than the respondents of wetland (52.50%) and drylands (30.00%). More than three-fifths of the respondents in the study area had perceived the income from agriculture was adversely affected (69.17%) due to climate change followed by the change in crop yield (64.17%) and cost of cultivation was increased (61.67%) due to the climate change. As a result, any intervention that supports the use of climate change adaptation measures may take into account location-specific factors that influence farmers' perceptions of climate change and adaptive responses to it.