Economics of Rice Production in Pyuthan District of Nepal

A research was conducted at Pyuthan district in order to access the profitability of rice production in Pyuthan during the summer season of 2018-2019. Altogether of 70 respondents were selected randomly and surveyed with semi-structured interview schedule. The results revealed that the average land holding was 0.45 hectare, and the average rice cultivation area was 0.34 hectare. On the basis of average rice cultivation area, farmers were categorized as small (39) and large (31). The cost and return was calculated among both the category. t- test was used to compare the mean costs of inputs between small and large farmers. Cost for agronomic operations was found far higher (more than 70%) in both the category in compared to the cost of inputs. Contribution of rice grains and straw to overall return was 72.65% and 27.35% respectively. Benefit Cost ratio was found greater among large farmers. The average B:C ratio was 1.51, which was fairly higher than 1.14 in Dang district indicating the investment of rice production is expected to deliver a positive net return to the farmers of the study area. In a nutshell, rice cultivation is an important enterprise that should be encouraged, considering the fact that it is a major staple crop

Economics of rice production in Pyuthan district of Nepal

A research was conducted at Pyuthan district in order to access the profitability of rice production in Pyuthan during the summer season of 2018-2019. Altogether of 70 respondents were selected randomly and surveyed with semi-structured interview schedule. The results revealed that the average land holding was 0.45 hectare, and the average rice cultivation area was 0.34 hectare. On the basis of average rice cultivation area, farmers were categorized as small (39) and large (31). The cost and return was calculated among both the category. t- test was used to compare the mean costs of inputs between small and large farmers. Cost for agronomic operations was found far higher (more than 70%) in both the category in compared to the cost of inputs. Contribution of rice grains and straw to overall return was 72.65% and 27.35% respectively. Benefit Cost ratio was found greater among large farmers. The average B:C ratio was 1.51, which was fairly higher than 1.14 in Dang district indicating the investment of rice production is expected to deliver a positive net return to the farmers of the study area. In a nutshell, rice cultivation is an important enterprise that should be encouraged, considering the fact that it is a major staple crop

Compendium of Climate-smart Agriculture Technologies and Practices

Nepal is a vulnerable country to the impacts of climate change. The adverse effects of climate change have decreased agricultural production and productivity. Therefore, technologies and strategies to develop resilience agriculture and increased agriculture productivity are urgently needed to create climate-smart technologies and help the existing technologies to adapt to climate change. This compendium presents climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technologies and interventions for enhancing food security with adaptation and mitigation as co-benefits. CSA involves smart farming practices and strategies that help develop resilience agriculture, increase crop and livestock productivity, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and enhance food security goals. This compendium has been developed for extension workers to support up-scaling climate-smart technologies and build climate resilience villages that enhance food, nutrition, and income, mainly for marginal communities striving in marginal areas

The COVID‐19 Pandemic Not Only Poses Challenges, but Also Opens Opportunities for Sustainable Transformation

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted social, economic, and environmental systems worldwide, slowing down and reversing the progress made in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDGs belong to the 2030 Agenda to transform our world by tackling humankind's challenges to ensure well-being, economic prosperity, and environmental protection. We explore the potential impacts of the pandemic on SDGs for Nepal. We followed a knowledge co-creation process with experts from various professional backgrounds, involving five steps: online survey, online workshop, assessment of expert's opinions, review and validation, and revision and synthesis. The pandemic has negatively impacted most SDGs in the short term. Particularly, the targets of SDG 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 13 have and will continue to have weakly to moderately restricting impacts. However, a few targets of SDG 2, 3, 6, and 11 could also have weakly promoting impacts. The negative impacts have resulted from impeding factors linked to the pandemic. Many of the negative impacts may subside in the medium and long terms. The key five impeding factors are lockdowns, underemployment and unemployment, closure of institutions and facilities, diluted focus and funds for non-COVID-19-related issues, and anticipated reduction in support from development partners. The pandemic has also opened a window of opportunity for sustainable transformation, which is short-lived and narrow. These opportunities are lessons learned for planning and action, socio-economic recovery plan, use of information and communication technologies and the digital economy, reverse migration and “brain gain,” and local governments' exercising authorities

Investigating Structural and Biochemical Characteristics of a Peptidase Required for Staphylococcus Aureus Virulence

Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic Gram-positive pathogen that transiently colonizes 30% of the population at any given time. Upon breaching host skin or mucosal barriers, S. aureus can infect and cause disease in nearly all host tissues. Once inside the host, S. aureus expresses a plethora of virulence factors, mostly regulated by the Accessory Gene Regulatory (Agr) quorum sensing system, which facilitates the evasion of immune responses or directly promotes pathogenesis. The S. aureus Agr system relies on the production of a small peptide known as an auto-inducing peptide (AIP) to control virulence gene expression in response to cell density. AIP is generated from a precursor peptide that is cleaved at its C-terminus by a protease known as AgrB. Recent work from our lab and others identified an additional protease known as the Membrane Regulator of Agr Quorum Sensing (MroQ) that was recently shown to be a critical component for Agr system activity. MroQ cleaves the N-terminal leader peptide of the AIP precursor, resulting in the full maturation of AIP. Despite the critical role MroQ plays in S. aureus pathogenesis and quorum sensing, much of MroQ and its biochemical properties remain elusive. To facilitate our study of MroQ, I explored its topology in the S. aureus membrane. Using the substituted cysteine accessibility method (SCAM), I labeled engineered cysteines that were introduced at several positions along the length of the MroQ protein in order to assign locations of individual residues to the extracellular or intracellular face of the membrane. My research findings provided insight into the overall topology of MroQ, where I have shown that the C-terminus of the MroQ is positioned on the extracellular side of the cell, and identified residues at several periodic positions across the length of the protein that are also positioned on the extracellular face of the cell. My experimental results largely align with one of the two computational models of MroQ topology. Altogether, my data refine our knowledge of the MroQ structure and support predicted topology that includes seven transmembrane passes with the N-terminus of the protein located in the intracellular compartment and C-terminus located in the extracellular region. These results refine our overall understanding of MroQ protein and its function as well as its possible role in other cellular functions

Bimatoprost versus clobetasol propionate in scalp alopecia areata: A prospective non-randomized open-label clinical trial

Background: Alopecia areata (AA) is one of the most common forms of alopecia presenting to the dermatology out patient department (OPD) worldwide as well as in Nepal. It is mostly diagnosed clinically. Treatment depends on the extent, location, and severity of the condition. Various treatment options available are topical, intralesional, and oral medications. Bimatoprost is a relatively newer treatment modality in AA. Aim and Objective: To compare the efficacy and safety of topical bimatoprost 0.01% solution versus clobetasol propionate 0.05% cream in scalp AA. Materials and Methods: A total of 50 patients attending the dermatology OPD of a tertiary hospital between March 2018 and February 2019 were included in this prospective non-randomized open-label clinical trial. Patients were divided into two groups i.e., Group A- topical bimatoprost solution 0.01% and Group B- topical clobetasol propionate cream 0.05%, and followed up at weeks 4, 8, and 12. The improvement was analyzed subjectively by hair regrowth and objectively by Severity of Alopecia Tool (SALT) score. Side effects, nature of terminal hair and onset of initial response were also recorded. Results: Out of 50 patients, 27 were males and 23 were females with a mean age of 28.5 ± 9.34 years and mean duration of disease of 18.67 ± 46.1 weeks. Hair regrowth rate and reduction in SALT score from baseline were seen more in clobetasol group compared to bimatoprost (p = 0.282 and P = 0.246, respectively). Side effects were seen more in the clobetasol group compared to bimatoprost group (p = 0.002). Onset of cosmetically acceptable hair regrowth was seen earlier in the bimatoprost group (p = 0.017) and also the nature of regrown hairs was more pigmented in bimatoprost group (p = 0.024). Conclusions: There is no significant difference in hair regrowth between clobetasol and bimatoprost in the treatment of AA on scalp at the end of 12 weeks, although bimatoprost has an advantage of lesser side effects, more rapid response and growth of more pigmented hairs

Water as “Time-Substance” : The Hydrosocialities of Climate Change in Nepal

This article develops a novel theoretical framework to explain how water's situatedness relates to its political agency. Recent posthuman scholarship emphasizes these qualities but, surprisingly, no sustained analysis has been undertaken of this interrelation. Here we do so by theorizing water as a “time-substance” to reposition human hydrological struggles (including those exacerbated by climate change) around the topologies and temporalities rather than the spatialities of water. This innovative approach opens up new areas of geographical enquiry based on hydrosocial forms, hydrosocial transformations, and hydrosocial information (collectively referred to here as hydrosocialities). We contend that hydrosocialities enable the tracing of human–water relations that transcend times and scales and the matricial categories of subject and object to overcome the situated–agential binary of water. Drawing on two years of fieldwork in Mustang, Nepal, this conceptual framework is deployed to examine hydrosocialities in two remote mountain communities. We show hydrosocialities that comprise diverse water knowledge practices constituted from multiple points of proximity between the social and the hydrological in space and time. In turn, this conceptual framework underscores the importance of boundary objects in mediating water's situated–agential qualities. The article concludes that consequently boundary objects can play a crucial role in producing new practical hydrosocial politics of climate change mitigation and adaptation.</p