Improved production technology in rainfed groundnut helps reap rich benefits by resource-poor farmers of Andhra Pradesh.

Thirty on-farm trials were conducted during the rainy seasons of 2002 and 2003 in the drought-prone districts of Andhra Pradesh, India, to demonstrate the beneficial effects of improved groundnut production technologies. Improved production technologies gave higher yields at all the locations. The pod yield was 1.22 t/ha in 2002 and 1.64 t/ha in 2003 compared to 0.77 t/ha and 1.02 t/ha, respectively, with farmers' practice. The additional mean cost incurred in the improved package was US$25 (1 US$=Rs 45) compared to an increased mean income of US$158 with a benefit-cost ratio of 1.6

Participatory selection of groundnut genotypes under rainfed conditions in Kurnool District of Andhra Pradesh.

The performance of 3 drought-tolerant groundnut cultivars (ICGS 11, ICGS 76 and ICGV 86590) and TMV 2 as control was evaluated under rainfed conditions in on-farm participatory trials conducted in Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh, India, during the rainy season of 2002. The pod yields of the improved cultivars (1.8-2.4 t/ha) were higher by 40-85% than the pod yield of TMV 2 (1.3 t/ha). Among the improved cultivars, ICGS 76 had the highest pod yield (2.4 t/ha), harvest index (0.46), 100-seed weight (39.2 g) and number of developed pods per plant (18.8). This cultivar was the most preferred by farmers based on drought tolerance and high yield potential, followed by ICGS 11

Optimized Metal Deficiency-Induced Operando Phase Transformation Enhances Charge Polarization Promoting Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Electrochemical water reduction is one of the cleanest ways to produce hydrogen efficiently. Non-noble metal-based intermetallic compounds, particularly Ni-based ones, can be projected as potential water electrocatalysts because of Ni’s low cost and high abundance. In this work, Ni’s crystal structure and electronic properties have been tuned by introducing Sn metal followed by operando structural transformation. The synthetically tuned deficiency of Ni in Ni$_{2–x}$Sn (x = 0.35, 0.50, and 0.63) and operando-induced phase transformation of the room temperature orthorhombic Cmcm space group (Ni$_{2–x}$Sn_RT) to the high-temperature hexagonal P6$_3$/mmc space group (Ni$_{2–x}$Sn_HT) enhance the hydrogen evolution. Several controlled synthesis and electrochemical measurements indicate that Ni$_{1.5}$Sn_HT is the most active and stable HER catalyst because of its unique crystallographic structure and high charge transfer kinetics. The phase Ni$_{1.5}$Sn_RT was electrochemically transformed to the HT phase during the HER process and found to be extremely stable (150 h) in the chronoamperometric study

Optimized Metal Deficiency-Induced Operando Phase Transformation Enhances Charge Polarization Promoting Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Electrochemical water reduction is one of the cleanest ways to produce hydrogen efficiently. Non-noble metal-based intermetallic compounds, particularly Ni-based ones, can be projected as potential water electrocatalysts because of Ni’s low cost and high abundance. In this work, Ni’s crystal structure and electronic properties have been tuned by introducing Sn metal followed by operando structural transformation. The synthetically tuned deficiency of Ni in Ni2–xSn (x = 0.35, 0.50, and 0.63) and operando-induced phase transformation of the room temperature orthorhombic Cmcm space group (Ni2–xSn_RT) to the high-temperature hexagonal P63/mmc space group (Ni2–xSn_HT) enhance the hydrogen evolution. Several controlled synthesis and electrochemical measurements indicate that Ni1.5Sn_HT is the most active and stable HER catalyst because of its unique crystallographic structure and high charge transfer kinetics. The phase Ni1.5Sn_RT was electrochemically transformed to the HT phase during the HER process and found to be extremely stable (150 h) in the chronoamperometric study