Transforming Weather Index-Based Crop Insurance in India: Protecting Small Farmers from Distress. Status and a Way Forward. Research Report IDC-8

In India, agriculture contributes 14% of the GDP and employs 54% of the workforce (NCAER 2013). It accounts for 8.56% of the country’s exports. Despite agriculture’s steady decline in share in the GDP, it remains the largest economic sector and plays a significant role in the country’s overall socioeconomic development. However, agriculture is fundamentally a risky economic activity, particularly for small and marginal farm households because the climate risks, including aberrant rainfall, and natural calamities and input risks have a significant impact on yields. Low investment potential combined with poor coping ability render farming households vulnerable to debt and poverty traps in the face of adverse weather shocks. It is estimated that about 60% of the variation in yield can be attributed to various weather-related shocks. Since 70% of crop production in India is subject to the vagaries of the monsoon, crop insurance has been in existence through many public sector insurance companies for decades. Different agricultural insurance products have been tried out on a limited, ad-hoc and scattered manner..

Managing soil fertility constraints in market-led shift to high value agriculture for benefiting smallholders in the semi-arid tropics

Low productivity and cultivation of low value crops in the Indian semi-arid tropics (SAT) is the main cause for poor farm-based livelihoods. Poverty leading to low risktaking ability of farmers and production related constraints like widespread multi-nutrient deficiencies are major stumbling blocks for shifting to high value agriculture. Realizing the need to support povertyentrapped smallholders to connect to markets, the government of Karnataka state in India supported market-led shift to high value agriculture through a consortium of technical institutions and convergence of agricultural schemes. New widespread deficiencies of secondary and micronutrients like sulfur (52% farms), zinc (55%) and boron (62%) along with earlier known deficiencies of nitrogen (52%) and phosphorus (41%) were identified as main constraints for realizing productivity potential and a threat for sustainability. Policy supported initiative during 2011/12 showed more economic returns with diversified high value crops and strengthened 0.23 million smallholders. On-farm evaluations of soil test-based nutrient balancing to tomato, okra, brinjal, chilies, onion, cabbage and beans increased productivity by 5 to 58% over the farmers’ practice of adding macronutrients only. Small additional cost (` 770 to 1520 per ha) of balanced nutrition significantly increased additional benefits (` 5300 to 74,000 per ha) with fairly high cost-benefit ratio (1:4 to 1:82). Substantial returns enhanced risk-taking ability of smallholders to manage productivity constraints in future by themselves. Results showed that initial little investments in science and market-led social assistance programs should be a way forward for mainstreaming poverty-entrapped smallholders in other parts of SAT

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Sm-Nd ages of two meta-anorthosite complexes around Holenarsipur: Constraints on the antiquity of Archean Supracrustal rocks of the Dharwar craton

Whole-rock Sm-Nd isochron ages are reported for two stratiform meta-anorthosite complexes emplaced into the Archean supracrustal-gneiss association in the amphibolite facies terrain around Holenarsipur, in the Dharwar craton, South India. While these metaperidotite-pyroxenite-gabbro-anorthosite complexes are petrologically and geochemically similar, they differ in the intensity of tectonic fabric developed during the late Archean (c. 2.5 Ga) deformation. They also differ in their whole-rock Sm-Nd isochron ages and initial Nd isotopic compositions: 3:285 _ 0:17 Ga, "Nd à 0:82 _ 0:78 for the Honnavalli metaanorthosite complex from a supracrustal enclave in the low-strain zone, and 2:495 _ 0:033 Ga, "Nd à ¡2:2_0:3 for the Dodkadnur meta-anorthosites from the high-strain southern arm of the Holenarsipur Supracrustal Belt (HSB). We interpret these results as indicating that the magmatic protoliths of both meta-anorthosite complexes were derived from a marginally depleted mantle at c.3.29 Ga but only the Dodkadnur rocks were isotopically reequilibrated on a cm-scale about 800Ma later presumably due to the development of strong penetrative fabrics in them during Late Archean thermotectonic event around 2.5 Ga. Our results set a younger age limit at c. 3.29 Ga for the supracrustal rocks of the HSB in the Dharwar craton

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Not AvailableNot AvailableVietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VAAS), Vietnam and conducted at ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research, Hyderabad, Indi

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Not AvailableNot AvailableVietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VAAS), Vietnam and conducted at ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research, Hyderabad, Indi

Novel euglycemic and hypolipidemic agents: Pyridine containing unsaturated thiazolidinediones

403-406Pyridyl containing 2,4-thiazolidinediones having cyclic amine as linker have been synthesized. Both unsaturated thiazolidinedione <span style="font-size:15.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size:8.5pt;font-family:" times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:="" "times="" roman";mso-ansi-language:en-us;mso-fareast-language:en-us;="" mso-bidi-language:ar-sa"="">6<span style="font-size:15.5pt;mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt;font-family:" times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";="" mso-ansi-language:en-us;mso-fareast-language:en-us;mso-bidi-language:ar-sa"=""> and saturated thiazolidinedione 5 and their various salts have been evaluated in db/db mice for euglycemic and hypolipidemic effects. The maleate salt of TZD 6a is found to be a very potent euglycemic and hypolipidemic compound.</span

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Not AvailableNot AvailableVietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VAAS

Impact of selenization pressure on the micro-structural properties of Cu2ZnSnSe4 thin films

The Cu2ZnSnSe4(CZTSe) thin films were prepared by a two-step process consisting of high vacuum sequential evaporation of precursors stack (Sn/Se/ZnSe/Se/Cu/Se) in 4-folds followed by selenization at 350 degrees C in tubular furnace under varied argon gas pressure from 1 mbar to 600 mbar with an interval of 150 mbar. The Cu/(Zn + Sn) and Zn/Sn ratios found to vary from 1.22 to 0.93 and 1.94 to 1.08 with an increase in pressure and the stacks selenized for 600 mbar showed nearly stoichiometric composition with slight Cu-poor and Zn-rich values required for CZTSe growth. The X-ray diffraction studies revealed similar diffraction pattern with a preferred orientation along (112) plane, indicating the formation of kesterite-type CZTSe for all the selenization pressures. Raman spectra recorded using different excitation wavelength sources (785, 532 and 458 nm), revealed two main peaks at 192 and 172 cm(-1) and two supplementary weak peaks at 82 and 232 cm-1 corresponding to kesterite-ordered CZTSe phase for films selenized at a pressure of 600 mbar. Appreciable changes in morphology have been noticed with increase in selenization pressure from low dense irregular rod like morphology to compact spherical grain morphology. All the samples showed high absorption coefficient (>10(4)cm(-1)). A slight variation in optical band gap from 0.90 to 1.01 eV was found with increase in selenization pressure. The Hall effect measurements reveal that all the films are p-type conductive. The precursor stack films selenized at 600 mbar exhibit high mobility of 7.88 cm(2)(Vs)(-1) with lower carrier concentration of 2.54 x 10(19) cm(-3) and resistivity of an order of 10(-2) Omega cm, respectively. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved