Yield estimation of coconut in Tumkur district of Karnataka

Coconut in India is cultivated mainly in the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh which account for more than 90 per cent of area and production of coconut in the country. With about 10 million people dependent on coconut farming and its allied activities, it contributes to more than 83,000 million rupees to the country’s GDP and about 6 per cent to the edible oil pool. However, there are no precise estimates of its production and productivity. The official statistics on area and production of coconut is being published with two years lag by the Department of Economic and Statistics and hence an assessment of surplus/ deficit production and its repercussion in the coconut market economy could not be made many times. Absence of such statistics at the right time for timely dissemination to stakeholders is considered as an impediment for the development and growth of the industry. Coconut Development Board initiated statistical survey for estimation of production of coconut across major coconut growing states in India by undertaking field surveys and yield estimates based on established phenotypic characters of the buttons/ nuts. The estimation was carried out in Tumkur district of Karnataka also which has the highest area under coconut. A total of 406 farms were surveyed in four taluks of the district covering 4060 bearing palms for productivity estimation. The average number of nuts per palm across all age groups for the district as a whole was 98 nuts. The average productivity for Karnataka which was much below to all India average before 2010-11 saw sudden surge post 2011-12. Questions arise as to what are the underlying factors for such sudden spikes. Across many, data capture, estimation and reporting are critical which go on to determine the decision making process on development and growth of the sector. Decisions are formulated on fixation of prices, trade, planning and execution of welfare schemes and policy making. Hence, scientific estimation initiated by Coconut Development Board on production and productivity augurs well for the sector

Cost Effectiveness of Rainwater Harvesting for Groundwater Recharge in Micro-Watersheds of Kolar District of India: The Case Study of Thotli Micro-Watershed

This study has estimated the supply augmentation of groundwater recharge due to creation of water harvesting structures and has assessed the cost-effectiveness of rainwater harvesting for groundwater recharge on watershed basis in one of the sub-watersheds of the Kolar district, Peninsular India — a typically hard-rock area. The study is based on the primary data for the year 2008-09 collected from a sample of 90 farmers having irrigation bore-wells in the selected watershed named Thotli. The study has indicated that the annual draft of irrigation water exceeds the annual recharge, causing a negative balance. On an average, the returns per rupee investment have been found to be ` 1.80 on farm pond, ` 1.78 on recharge pit and ` 1.39 on field bund. The cost incurred to impound a metre cube of water has been found as ` 3.01 in the case of field bund, where estimated recharge benefit is 5.6 m3, ` 1.67 /m3 in the case of recharge pit (with an estimated recharge benefit of 720 m3), and ` 1.33 /m3 in the case of farm pond (recharge benefit of 1350 m3). The discounted cost-benefit analysis of the investment on water harvesting structures has indicated that the investment on water harvesting structures is cost-effective and financially-viable.Rainwater harvesting, Economic feasibility, Groundwater recharge, Watershed, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q15, Q25,

The comparisons of the efficacy of two fixed dose combinations, i.e. Salmeterol and Fluticasone vs. Formoterol and Tiotropium bromide in moderate to severe COPD patients

Background: Bronchodilators are essential for symptomatic management of all stages of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). For patients whose COPD is not sufficiently controlled by monotherapy, combining a ß2-agonist with either inhaled steroid or anticholinergic drug is a convenient way of delivering treatment. Currently, there is no documentation to say that one drug is superior to other or the contrary, but a combination of two drugs is more effective than giving single drug alone in patients suffering from COPD.Methods: The study was prospective, open labelled, randomized, comparative interventional clinical study conducted by the Departments of Pharmacology and Medicine, Basaveshwara Medical College and Hospital, Chitradurga in 60 moderates to severe COPD patients.Results: Both the treatments i.e. Salmeterol/Fluticasone and Tiotropium/Formoterol were equally effective as far as the improvement of the lung functions and Borg dyspnoea score are concerned. The difference in improvement with the combination of Salmeterol/Fluticasone was not statistically significant (p>0.05) compared to the combination of Tiotropium/Formoterol. However, Salmeterol/Fluticasone was found to be better than Tiotropium/Formoterol in improving the lung function of moderate to severe COPD patients.Conclusions: Salmeterol/Fluticasone is efficacious and better than Tiotropium /Formoterol combination for maintenance therapy in moderate to severe COPD patients

Impacts and Implications of MGNREGA on Labour Supply and Income Generation for Agriculture in Central Dry Zone of Karnataka

This study has evaluated the impact of MGNREGA on income generation and labour supply in agriculture in one of the districts in central dry zone of Karnataka. Results have shown that the number of days worked in a year with the implementation of MGNREGA programme has significantly increased to 201 days, reflecting 16 per cent increase. Regression analysis has revealed that gender, education and family size of the workers are the significant factors influencing the worker’s employment under the Program. The increase in income is to the tune of 9.04 per cent due to additional employment generated from MGNERGA. In the total income, the contribution of agriculture is the highest (63%), followed by non-agricultural income (29%) and MGNREGA income (8%). Implementation of MGNERGA works has led to labour scarcity to the tune of 53 per cent and 30 per cent for agriculture operations like weeding and sowing, respectively. There has been a decline in area for labour-intensive crops like tomato and ragi to the extent of 30 per cent due to MGNERGA implementation.MGNREGA, Labour supply, Labour scarcity, Income generation, Employment, Agricultural and Food Policy, J21, J22, J31,

Tuning cracks by exploiting the shape of particles and external magnetic field

Drying of a colloidal dispersion usually leads to the formation of particulate film with random cracks. The cracks in particulate film can have periodic arrangement with tuneable spacing and are known to be useful for practical applications such as for fabrication of lithographic templates and nano-channels. Various methodology has been adopted to generate the parallel and ordered cracks, the common one is via applying an external field such as magnetic field or electric field. We report here the controlled manipulation of crack orientation for colloidal films consisting of magnetically active particle (hematite ellipsoids), using an external magnetic field. Drying sessile drop experiments are performed in the presence and absence of magnetic field and a coffee ring like particle deposits are observed. The dried region consists of circular cracks in the absence of field while linear cracks (along the chord of the ring) in the presence of field. Moreover, we found that the crack orientations can be systematically altered by tuning magnetic field strength. We conjecture that the competition between the hydrodynamic torque and magnetic torque experienced by the particles during the drying of colloidal dispersion decides the final orientation of the particles and the cracks. The alteration of crack direction by controlling the orientation of ellipsoids in the particulate films by application of magnetic field is presented in detail. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

An edge texture features based methodology for bulk paddy variety recognition

The paper presents a method for recognition of paddy varieties from their bulk grain sample edge images based on Haralick texture features extracted from grey level co-occurrence matrices. The edge images were obtained using Canny and maximum gradient edge detection methods. The average paddy variety recognition performances of the two categories of edge images were evaluated and compared. A feature set of thirteen texture features was considered and the feature set was reduced based on contribution of each feature to the paddy variety recognition accuracy. The average paddy variety recognition accuracy of 87.80% was obtained for the reduced eight texture features extracted from maximum gradient edge images. The work is useful in developing a machine vision system for agriculture produce market and developing multimedia applications in agriculture sciences

Stabilization of Pickering Emulsions with Oppositely Charged Latex Particles: Influence of Various Parameters and Particle Arrangement around Droplets

© 2015 American Chemical Society. In this study we explore the fundamental aspects of Pickering emulsions stabilized by oppositely charged particles. Using oppositely charged latex particles as a model system, Pickering emulsions with good long-term stability can be obtained without the need for any electrolyte. The effects of parameters like oil to water ratio, mixed particle composition, and pH on emulsion type and stability are explored and linked to the behavior of the aqueous particle dispersion prior to emulsification. The particle composition is found to affect the formation of emulsions, viz., stable emulsions were obtained close to a particle number ratio of 1:1, and no emulsion was formed with either positively or negatively charged particles alone. The emulsions in particle mixtures exhibited phase inversion from oil-in-water to water-in-oil beyond an oil volume fraction of 0.8. Morphological features of emulsion droplets in terms of particle arrangement on the droplets are discussed

Union Catalog of Serials in International Agricultural Research Centers (IARCs) Volume II

Staff of ICRISAT Library and Documentation Services have compi led this union catalog of serials of 14 international agricultural research centers in response to the recommendations of the CGI A R Documentation and Informat ion Services meeting held in 1987 at the International Potato Center (OP ) , L ima . The modi f ied version of the software already in use at ICRISAT for the production of a catalog of serials was used for this compi lat ion. For bibliographic description and codification of language, frequency, and count ry, the guidelines and rules provided by the International Serials Data System (1SDS) were used. The serial titles were indexed using the C A B International thesaurus. The catalog contains 5 401 entries f rom AVRDC, CIAT, C IMMY T , CIP, I C A R D A , ICIPE, ICRISAT ( including ICRISAT Sahelian Center), IFPRI , I IMI , I LCA, I L R A D , IRRI , ISNAR, and the Secretariat of the Consultative Group on International Agr icul tural Research. A micro CDS/ ISIS database has also been developed using the catalog data. This hard copy version, as wel l as the database, are available for use in participating IARCs and other interested institutions

Status and prospects of millet utilization in India and global scenario

Sorghum and millets are important cereals that play a significant role in the food and nutrition security of developing countries. Together, they account for 10% of Asia's coarse grain production. India is the largest-producer of sorghum and millets, accounting for over 80% of Asia's production. However, the yield levels in India are relatively low despite the adoption of improved cultivars and hybrids. The pattern of utilization for both sorghum and millets varies across countries/regions. In countries of Africa these crops are used primarily as food grain and form the staple particularly for the poor. In recent years the use of sorghum and millet grain for beer manufacturing is gaining in importance in Africa. In Asia In the last two decades their importance as food staples, particularly in Asia, has been declining due to various factors that include rising incomes, growing urbanization and government policies favouring the production and consumption of fine cereals like rice and wheat. However, the same factors are driving the demand for these crops in alternative uses like feed (cattle and poultry) and alcohol. For both the crops more than 50% of the production is now finding its way to alternative uses as opposed to its consumption only as a staple. The demand.for Value added / processed food products (being promoted as health foods) from sorghum and millets from urban consumers is also increasing albeit from a very low base. In the developed countries sorghum is used largely as a feed grain and millets are used as bird feed. Here too the demand for sorghum is closely linked to maize prices. Globally, sorghum prices generally track maize prices and are 15 -20% lower than maize prices historically. This paper highlights the utilization patterns of sorghum and millets globally with special emphasis on their use in India and future prospects to sustain their utilization particularly in Asia. The first section highlights the utilization pattern .of sorghum followed by millets in section 2. Conclusions and way forward are discussed in section 3..

Regional Analysis of Household Consumption of Sorghum in Major Sorghum-Producing and Consuming States in India-Working Paper Series no. 28.

In the past, studies that have analyzed household consumption data of the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) show a long term declining trend in per capita consumption of nutritious cereals such as sorghum and pearl millet both at National and State levels. However, a true picture can be drawn by looking at the household consumption data at a disaggregated regional level. Regional disaggregation of sorghum consumption shows that sorghum is still important in the consumption basket particularly in rural regions of central, eastern and western Maharashtra, and northern Karnataka. The NSSO data used for this analysis does not separate consumption by kharif (rainy season) and rabi (postrainy season) sorghum. The bulk of rabi sorghum is used for food consumption due to its superior grain quality, while only 40-50% of kharif sorghum is used for direct food use. The finding thus suggests that an increase in rabi sorghum production through productivity increase would help to bring down the prices of rabi sorghum and make its consumption affordable for low income consumers