Economic impact assessment is a process of measuring development objectives such as increase in production, income and improvements in the sustainability of production systems. The new technology transferred to farmers’ field raised many interesting issues i.e. production growth, employment and income generation. The recent trends in India’s agricultural growth and development indicate a sharp deceleration in the agricultural sector despite an overall impressive growth of the economy is a major cause of concern today. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the impact of trends in new agricultural technology witnessed after the introduction of improved methods of cultivation, particularly in arid region of Rajasthan. This will help resolving the present crisis in order to develop agriculture into a vibrant sector contributing substantially to the growth and economy for its sustainable development. In this paper, an attempt has been made to document the impact of a medicinal and a staple cereal- pearl millet variety on income generation and to analyze the responsible factors. The cost of cultivation is higher in Sonamukhi followed by hybrid pearl millet (HHB-67) and local cultivar. The total return from the Sonamukhi is much higher than pearl millet crop. The prevailing broadcasting method in Sonamukhi cultivation facilitates natural growing of water melon and thumba (Citrullus colocynthes). Sonamukhi generated additional income of Rs. 4320.00. The labour requirement for the local cultivar of pearl millet and hybrid (HHB-67) and Sonamukhi was of tune to 24, 33 and 44 man days. The Sonamukhi also acted as micro-shelterbelt. The soil fertility of the field has also increased as per farmers’ perception. Some of the fanners used the crop residue as manure afier decomposition. The additional employment was generated by 35%, 28% and 44% by employing new technology consisting of pearl millet, cluster bean and mung bean crops over traditional cultivation of pearl millet, cluster bean and mung bean crops, respectively. The contribution of new technology was of the time 33%, 27% and 40% and the remaining contribution was due to increase in complementary inputs.

The information on poisonous seeds of indigenous plant species is very much useful not only for promoting awareness among the people to avoid from harmful effects but also for judicious utilization of such seeds for control of insect-pests, bugs, mosquitoes and many injurious organisms. Very occasional references were made with regard to the poisonous nature of seeds of wild plants growing in the state or country. Therefore, attempts were made to identify the poisonous seeds of some selected plant species of Gandhamardan hill ranges of Orissa with their local name, locality of collection, distribution and notes on poisonous action.

The undivided Kalahandi district was a grand repository of vegetable wealth of which medicinal plants were plentiful. Of the 62 tribes inhabiting in Orissa, about 54 tribes are present in this region since they are utilising various forest products to meet the necessities of life sustenance. However, in course of time the forest cover has been reduced mostly due to over exploitation of woody elements. One of the important aspects of tribal lifestyle is utilisation of indigenous medicinal plants to cure various ailments. Due to depletion of medicinal plants there is also shrinkage of this knowledge among them. Hence, a floristic exploration of medicinal plants has been launched upon during 1997-1999. This has yielded 229 angiospermic species under 197 genera belonging to 76 families. These have been properly identified and are preserved in the form of herbarium specimens in the P.G. Department of Botany, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar. Their nomenclatures have been updated. In the present checklist, the species are arranged alphabetically with corresponding families and local Oriya names. Different parts used to cure diseases have also been appended. Need for the conservation of rare and less known medicinal plants has been highlighted.

The spice family Zingiberaceae comprised of 53 genera and over 1400 species is distributed throughout the world. The family is economically most important for spice, medicines, essential oil, dye, oleoresin and also few of them are used as vegetables as well as garden plants. Orissa records only 9 genera and 24 species wildly growing in different forest areas belonging to this family. Regional Research Laboratory has been trying to collect the germplasm of zingiberaceous plants and develop the agrotechnology of their large scale cultivation. This paper includes the enumeration of these species, their present status and distribution,vernacular name, uses, flowering as well as ecology.

A survey conducted to elucidate the different plant species (32 numbers) pertains to their insect repellent activities from the folklore and literature of Orissa state based on medicinal, ecological and tantric philosophy. The paper highlights on the use of root, stem bark, leaf, flower, raw juice, fumigant and contact keeping of plants/plant parts in various agricultural, medicinal, veterinary and household uses, as insect repellent species.

In the present communication three infrageneric taxa have been enumerated as new records for the State of Orissa.

Twentyfour plant species with less known medicinal or medico-religious uses ractised by the tribals of Phulbani district, Orissa are reported alongwith local names and mode of administration.