Entrepreneurial behavior of large cardamom growers: A case study in Lamjung district of Nepal

Study on entrepreneurial behavior of large cardamom growers in Lamjung District, Nepal was conducted from December 2017 to June 2018 in Marshyangdi Rural Municipality of Lamjung district. The Rural Municipality was selected purposely for the study due to the recent establishment of Cardamom Zone under the Prime Minister Agriculture Modernization Project in the Municipality focusing on large cardamom development. Altogether 80 large cardamom growers were selected randomly from 454 large cardamom growers of the study site. Data were collected through household surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, personal observations, and other secondary sources. Results showed that a greater proportion of large cardamom growers were found to have medium level of innovativeness (45%), decision-making ability (51.2%), information-seeking ability (48.8%), risk orientation (46.2%), leadership ability (43.8%), achievement motivation (46.2%) and low management orientation (56.3%) which contributed to the overall medium entrepreneurial behavior (47.5%) of large cardamom growers in the study area. About 35 percent of farmers were belonging to the low entrepreneurial behavior and only a few numbers of farmers (17.5%) were under the high entrepreneurial behavior category. The high number of farmers with low and medium entrepreneurial behavior and a low number of farmers with high entrepreneurial behavior has resulted in poor commercialization of large cardamom in the study area. Educational status, landholding, extension participation, economic motivation, experience in large cardamom farming, and area of large cardamom cultivation were found to have a significant correlation with the entrepreneurial behavior of large cardamom farmers while age had a negative and significant effect. There is still scope to increase the number of large cardamom farmers with high entrepreneur behavior for commercializing large cardamom in the study area but programs should be designed and implemented accordingly

Targeted Informal Education Promotes Improved Well-Being, Innovation, and Climate-Change Adaptation among Residents in Bajura District, Nepal

Western Nepal is a remote region home to a wide variety of traditional small farm and livestock production systems. Communities here lack direct access to a suitable road infrastructure and thus are isolated from the modern world. Farm families are often poverty stricken. Western Nepal is also enduring significant climate change, resulting in warmer and drier conditions that negatively affect crop and livestock productivity. Here we report findings from a novel, quasi-experimental approach where the residents of two communities were provided with an intervention package and their perceptions of change over a 16-month period were contrasted with those from residents of two paired “control” communities that lacked the interventions. The goal was to assess the impact of interventions in promoting well-being, agricultural innovation, and climate-change adaptation. Research efforts included baseline surveys conducted in December, 2013, as well as endline surveys conducted during May, 2015. During the interim period a series of informal, educational inputs and technical demonstrations was implemented based on needs assessments from Participatory Rural Appraisals and expert input. Results indicated that the educational interventions had a very positive impact on nearly all of the 24 attributes that were assessed. The implications are that a concentrated and relatively low-cost educational effort—based on community felt needs—can enhance well-being, innovation, and adaptive capacity of the rural poor in a relatively short period of tim

Feeding Response of Tree Fodder Bhimal (Grewia Optiva) on Growth Performance of Castrated Male Goats

Bhimal (Grewia optiva) is a fodder tree mostly found in mid hills of mid and far western region of Nepal. Bhimal could constitutes one of the main livestock green fodders, especially for goats when fresh green fodder become limited during the winter dry season. However, the feeding value of Bhimal leaves on growth performance of castrated goats probably has not been evaluated so far. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of Bhimal leaves feeding on growth performance of castrated male goats for 90 days. Altogether 16 growing castrated male goats of same breed, age and body weight were selected and equally divided into four treatments T1, T2, T3 and T4 with four replications by using Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Four types of experimental diets were prepared having various levels (0 to 100%) of Bhimal leaves as fodder. Experimental animals of Treatment 1 were fed with seasonal fodder + 100 g concentrate mixture, Treatment 2 with 100% Bhimal fodder + 100 g concentrate mixture, Treatment 3with 75% Bhimal fodder + 25% seasonal fodder + 100 g concentrate mixture, while Treatment 4 with 50% Bhimal fodder + 50% season fodder + 100 g concentrate mixture. All diets were fed ad-lib and experimental animals had free access to drinking water. The diets offered and refusal was measured daily and weight change was observed fortnightly. The result showed that fodder intake (g/d/animal) and total dry matter intake (TDMI g/kg live weight) of goats differed significantly (P<0.01), but concentrate intake was not differed significantly (P<0.01) among treatments. The highest dry matter intake per animal /day was in Treatment 2 (52.75 g/kg live weight) followed by Treatment 4, Treatment 3 and Treatment 1 (51.7, 48.56 and 32.69 g/kg live weight, respectively).The average daily gain in body weight was observed highest in Treatment 2 (66.66 g/d) followed by Treatment 3 (31.66 g/d) and Treatment 4 (30.83 g). The growth rate was significantly (P<0.01) different among diet groups (P<0.05, P<0.01 and P<0.01 for 60, 75 and 90 days, respectively). In case of the feed conversion ratio, Treatment 2 had best ratio (8.79:1) than Treatment 1 (14.21:1), T3 (17.03:1) and Treatment 4 (18.59:1). The present response study showed that body weight in castrated male goats can be increased significantly (P<0.05) implying that in winter season when other green forages are poorly available goat farming can be supported by Bhimal fodder tree.Journal of Nepal Agricultural Research Council Vol.3 2017: 1-1

Post-harvest practices and loss assessment in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) in Kathmandu, Nepal

Postharvest loss is one of the major problems in tomato production. This study was conducted to assess the post-harvest practices and losses of tomato at the farmers’ fields in three districts namely Kathmandu (Kavresthali), Lalitpur (Lubhoo, and Lamatar), and Bhaktapur (Tathali and Kaushaltar). By using a simple random sampling method, the sample size of 60 respondents was chosen. A pre-tested questionnaire, group conversation, and key-informant survey were applied in this study. The results revealed that 10.3% of the respondents produced the tomato on a small scale whereas 58.8% of respondents produced on large scale. 10% of total losses were found from harvesting to marketing. In the field, during harvesting and packaging, there was a 2% loss. The tomato loss was negligible during grading and washing. 4% loss was found during the transportation of tomato and 2% of the loss during the storage of tomato. To the producer level, the insufficient knowledge about the storage, packaging, transportation, and random harvesting led to the maximum loss of tomato. In the study area, the producers played important role in reducing the postharvest loss of tomato, therefore, public awareness should be increased through mass media about the proper harvesting and storing of tomato. &nbsp

Human casualties from human-elephant conflict around Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal

We studied human casualties in the buffer zone of Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve to gain insights into the factors responsible for elephant attacks on humans. We interviewed victims' families for those that got killed and victims that got injured, over the past six years. Human behaviour was responsible for more casualties than elephant behaviour. Casualties were mainly caused by people's negligence of threats and confrontation of elephants. Providing awareness about elephant ecology and training people about deterrents and methods for avoiding conflict, along with regular patrolling and maintenance of electric fences is required to ensure the safety of both people and elephants

Switching behaviors of graphene-boron nitride nanotube heterojunctions

High electron mobility of graphene has enabled their application in high-frequency analogue devices but their gapless nature has hindered their use in digital switches. In contrast, the structural analogous, h-BN sheets and BN nanotubes (BNNTs) are wide band gap insulators. Here we show that the growth of electrically insulating BNNTs on graphene can enable the use of graphene as effective digital switches. These graphene-BNNT heterojunctions were characterized at room temperature by four-probe scanning tunneling microscopy (4-probe STM) under real-time monitoring of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A switching ratio as high as 105 at a turn-on voltage as low as 0.5 V were recorded. Simulation by density functional theory (DFT) suggests that mismatch of the density of states (DOS) is responsible for these novel switching behaviors

Surface modification of polyamide by 50 Hz dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) produced in air at atmospheric pressure

Industrial applications of the dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) have a long tradition. However, lack of understanding in some of its fundamental issues, such as stochastic behaviors, is still a challenge for DBD researchers. The work was carried out at line frequency, 15 kV, and at atmospheric pressure. This work focuses on the study of the electrical and optical characteristics of DBD at atmospheric pressure to determine a suitable condition for utilization of the device for surface modification of polyamides (PA) (Nylon 6/6). In this work, films were treated by dielectric barrier discharge and the effects on the morphology and chemistry of the material were studied. Surface characteristics were examined via contact angle measurements and SEM. The wettability tests revealed the improvement of the hydrophilic character of the surface of polyamide films as the water contact angle measured after the plasma treatments significantly decreased. The corresponding changes of the total surface energy revealed a significant increase in its polar component. The improvement of the wettability of PA strongly depends on the treatment time. The outcomes of the experiments proved that the modification of surface properties via plasma treatment reach its saturation point after a certain treatment time thus reducing the necessity of further treatment. BIBECHANA 18 (1) (2021) 19-2

Surface modification of polyamide by 50 Hz dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) produced in air at atmospheric pressure

Industrial applications of the dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) have a long tradition. However, lack of understanding in some of its fundamental issues, such as stochastic behaviors, is still a challenge for DBD researchers. The work was carried out at line frequency, 15 kV, and at atmospheric pressure. This work focuses on the study of the electrical and optical characteristics of DBD at atmospheric pressure to determine a suitable condition for utilization of the device for surface modification of polyamides (PA) (Nylon 6/6). In this work, films were treated by dielectric barrier discharge and the effects on the morphology and chemistry of the material were studied. Surface characteristics were examined via contact angle measurements and SEM. The wettability tests revealed the improvement of the hydrophilic character of the surface of polyamide films as the water contact angle measured after the plasma treatments significantly decreased. The corresponding changes of the total surface energy revealed a significant increase in its polar component. The improvement of the wettability of PA strongly depends on the treatment time. The outcomes of the experiments proved that the modification of surface properties via plasma treatment reach its saturation point after a certain treatment time thus reducing the necessity of further treatment. BIBECHANA 18 (1) (2021) 19-2

Utilization of fungal biocontrol agents against rice sheath blight disease provides insight into their role in plant defense responses

Biotic and abiotic factors have an effect on rice production all around the world. Diseases are regarded as major restrictions among the biotic stressors, and rice sheath blight (Rhizoctonia solani Kühn) is one of the most calamitous diseases that significantly damage the crop. Lately, biocontrol of fungal plant pathogens has appeared as an appealing approach. The present investigation was undertaken to evaluate different biocontrol agents like Talaromyces flavus, Chaetomium globosum, Pseudomonas fluorescens and Aspergillus niger against sheath blight disease. Prior to sowing, seeds were bioprimed with each isolate and sown in the nursery. After 21 days, seedlings were transplanted in-vivo and were inoculated with a virulent isolate of Rhizoctonia solani at maximum tillering stage. Observations on biochemical parameters and gene expression studies were carried out at 24, 48, 72, and 96 hpi. Enzymatic activity viz., chitinase, β-1,3-glucanase, catalase, and PAL was observed  maximum in Chaetomium globosum. PR-genes viz., IPT, BrD, HmPr, AMP, AldD, NIC and LisH showed up-regulation at 96 hpi. Chaetomium globosum had the highest yield, maximum number of tillers with least RLH% as compared to other treatments. However, results indicated biocontrol agents are helpful and they induce multitude of defence responses against R. solani in rice