Marketing and Socioeconomics Aspects of Large Cardamom Production in Tehrathum, Nepal

A survey was conducted in November 2015 in one of the pocket area of large cardamom production in Teharthum District, eastern Nepal with aim to investigate the status of cardamom enterprises. The parameters used were cardamom production area, type of manure used, drying facilities, technical skills of farmers, market channels and variable cost etc. We purposively selected 30 cardamom producers and stakeholders for interview pre-designed questionnaires. The result showed that average area, production and productivity of large cardamom per household were 0.86 ha, 200 kg and 232 kg.ha-1, respectively, with the average farming experience of 22 years. It was revealed that 13% farmers used farmyard organic manure, the use of 1.5 kg/plant farmyard manure might produce 28.5% higher yield cardamom compared to without using any manure or fertilizers. It was also revealed among the responded only 7% had received improved drying machine from District Agriculture Development Office (DADO) at 50% subsidy, while only 23% of farmers received training and technical services from DADO. The study showed that per hectare average total cost of large cardamom production, selling price and gross revenue were NRs. 2,36,705 ($2255), NRs. 5,50,305 ($5240) and NRs. 3,13,600 ($2985), respectively, with benefit/cost (B/C) ratio of 2 after the completion of gestation period of 4 years. Our survey showed that predominant marketing approach was by direct sell to the traders located at district headquarter. The productivity of large cardamom was influenced by various factors, such as nearly 75.2% of the variation in productivity was explained by the number of active family members, farming period, area, intercultural operations, variable cost and depreciated fixed cost

Geochemistry of K/T boundaries in India and contributions of Deccan volcanism

Three possible Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary sections in the Indian subcontinent were studied for their geochemical and fossil characteristics. These include two marine sections of Meghalaya and Zanskar and one continental section of Nagpur. The Um Sohryngkew river section of Meghalaya shows a high iridium, osmium, iron, cobalt, nickel and chromium concentration in a 1.5 cm thick limonitic layer about 30 cm below the planktonic Cretaceous-Palaeocene boundary identified by the characteristic fossils. The Bottaccione and Contessa sections at Gubbio were also analyzed for these elements. The geochemical pattern at the boundary at the Um Sohryngkew river and Gubbio sections are similar but the peak concentrations and the enrichment factors are different. The biological boundary is not as sharp as the geochemical boundary and the extinction appears to be a prolonged process. The Zanskar section shows, in general, similar concentration of the siderophile, lithophile and rare earth elements but no evidence of enrichment of siderophiles has so far been observed. The Takli section is a shallow inter-trappean deposit within the Deccan province, sandwiched between flow 1 and flow 2. The geochemical stratigraphy of the inter-trappeans is presented. The various horizons of ash, clay and marl show concentration of Fe and Co, generally lower than the adjacent basalts. Two horizons of slight enrichment of iridium are found within the ash layers, one near the contact of flow 1 and other near the contact of flow 2, where iridium occurs at 170 and 260 pg/g. These levels are lower by a factor of 30 compared to Ir concentration in the K/T boundary in Meghalaya section. If the enhanced level of some elements in a few horizons of the ash layer are considered as volcanic contribution by some fractionation processes than the only elements for which it occurs are REE, Ir and possibly Cr

Chandrayaan-1: science goals

The primary objectives of the Chandrayaan-1 mission are simultaneous chemical, mineralogical and topographic mapping of the lunar surface at high spatial resolution. These data should enable us to understand compositional variation of major elements, which in turn, should lead to a better understanding of the stratigraphic relationships between various litho units occurring on the lunar surface. The major element distribution will be determined using an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (LEX), sensitive in the energy range of 1-10 keV where Mg, Al, Si, Ca and Fe give their Ka lines. A solar X-ray monitor (SXM) to measure the energy spectrum of solar X-rays, which are responsible for the fluorescent X-rays, is included. Radioactive elements like Th will be measured by its 238.6 keV line using a low energy gamma-ray spectrometer (HEX) operating in the 20-250 keV region. The mineral composition will be determined by a hyper-spectral imaging spectrometer (HySI) sensitive in the 400-920 πm range. The wavelength range is further extended to 2600 πm where some spectral features of the abundant lunar minerals and water occur, by using a near-infrared spectrometer (SIR-2), similar to that used on the Smart-1 mission, in collaboration with ESA. A terrain mapping camera (TMC) in the panchromatic band will provide a three-dimensional map of the lunar surface with a spatial resolution of about 5 m. Aided by a laser altimeter (LLRI) to determine the altitude of the lunar craft, to correct for spatial coverage by various instruments, TMC should enable us to prepare an elevation map with an accuracy of about 10 m. Four additional instruments under international collaboration are being considered. These are: a Miniature Imaging Radar Instrument (mini-SAR), Sub Atomic Reflecting Analyser (SARA), the Moon Mineral Mapper (M3) and a Radiation Monitor (RADOM). Apart from these scientific payloads, certain technology experiments have been proposed, which may include an impactor which will be released to land on the Moon during the mission. Salient features of the mission are described here. The ensemble of instruments onboard Chandrayaan-1 should enable us to accomplish the science goals defined for this mission

Terrestrial ages of the Antarctic meteorites based on thermoluminescence levels in their fusion crust

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Capture of interplanetary bodies in geocentric orbits and early lunar evolution

During the accretion of planets such as Earth, which are formed by collisional accretion of plan-etesimals, the probability of capture of interplanetary bodies in planetocentric orbits is calculated following the approach of Hills (1973) and the π -body simulation, using simplectic integration method. The simulation, taking an input mass equal to about 50% of the present mass of the inner planets, distributed over a large number of planetoids, starting at 4 M γ after the formation of solar system, yielded four inner planets within a period of 30 M γ. None of these seed bodies, out of which the planets formed, remained at this time and almost 40% mass was transferred beyond 100 AU. Based on these calculations, we conclude that ≈ 1.4 times the mass of the present inner planets was needed to accumulate them. The probability of capture of planetoids in geocentric orbits is found to be negligible. The result emphasizes the computational difficulty in 'probability of capture' of planetesimals around the Earth before the giant impact. This conclusion, however, is in contradiction to the recent observations of asteroids being frequently captured in transient orbits around the Earth, even when the current population of such interplanetary bodies is smaller by several orders of magnitude compared to the planetary accumulation era