Peak Effect in Superconductors: Absence of Phase Transition and Possibility of Jamming in Vortex Matter

The magnetic field $B$ dependence of the critical current $I_c$ for the vortex phase of a disordered superconductor is studied numerically at zero temperature. The $I_{c}(B)$ increases rapidly near the upper critical field $B_{c2}$ similar to the peak effect (PE) phenomenon observed in many superconductors. The real space configuration across the PE changes continuously from a partially ordered domain (polycrystalline) state into an amorphous state. The topological defect density $n_{d}(B)\sim e^{\alpha B^{k}}$ with $k>1$ for $B\geq 0.4B_{c2}$. There is no evidence of a phase transition in the vicinity of the PE suggesting that an order-disorder transition is not essential for the occurrence of the PE phenomenon. An alternative view is presented wherein the vortex system with high dislocation density undergoes jamming at the onset of the PE.Comment: 8 pages and 5 figure

Micro-agriculture techniques for the sustainable production of live feed organisms in the laboratory

Indian coastal waters harbour diverse groups of microalgae or phytoplankton such as diatoms, dinoflagellates, blue green algae, silicoflagellates and cocolithophores together constituting nearly 95% of primary production in the marine ecosystem. In mariculture, these microalgae form the main live feed organisms during the early developmental stages of commercially important marine finfishes, crustaceans and molluscs. Hence marine hatcheries maintain stock cultures of diatoms and dinoflagellates for producing mass cultures for feeding requirements. The marine hatchery complex at Calicut Research Centre of CMFRI maintains stock cultures of eight species of live feed organism

Coconut sector in India experiencing a new regime of trade and policy environment: A critical analysis

Of late, Indian coconut sector is facing unprecedented crises on account of various macro and micro level factors. The productivity of the crop is constrained by low input use efficiency in conjunction with other biotic and abiotic stresses, which are priority areas of research. The aspect of mechanization also deserves adequate importance, considering the scarcity of skilled labour. Above all, the most important facet is value addition, which should be strengthened to mitigate the issue of low profitability of the sector. The post-World Trade Agreement (WTA) and ASEAN Treaty regime witnessed integration of plantation economies across the globe that resulted in fierce competition among producing countries. This paper addresses the pertinent issues on various facets of coconut economy by employing appropriate economic tools of analysis. The facets covered include trade aspects, global competitiveness, production economics, price analysis, policy level impediments and marketing issues. We have found that as far as the export markets of coconut value added products are concerned, India is comparatively a very small player with paltry export market shares. However, in recent times, Indian export sector has become vibrant with very high growth rate since Coconut Development Board (CDB) has been upgraded to the status of Export Promotion Council (EPC). Indian coconut sector has huge domestic demand, comparatively higher productivity, strong research support and technology delivery systems. In spite of these positive aspects, concerted efforts are lacking to effectively utilize the possible linkages between them for increasing the production and marketing efficiencies and enter the high value global chains. Sustainable coconut economy could only be achieved through integrated development of cultivation and industry coupled with a stable market

Sustainability of Farmer Producer Organisations - The case of producer organisations involved in the production and marketing of ‘neera’ in the coconut sector

Neera-the coconut inflorescence sap has been promoted as a potential value-added non-alcoholic beverage with abundant health benefits. The concerted effort of the stakeholder agencies could liberate the product from the policy regulations on its production under the excise act (known as ‘Abkari act’ in Kerala). Subsequently, the coconut producer federations (CPFs) in the State were granted licenses for ‘neera’ production and marketing. However, the majority of the CPFs discontinued the ‘neera’ enterprise, which they have initiated with greater enthusiasm. The present study is a modest attempt to trace the reasons for setbacks experienced in the ‘neera’ sector and also to provide a refined framework for revamping the sector. The details of licenses granted to the CPFs were sourced from the Department of Excise, Government of Kerala. The sample size of the study was 95 (13 CPFs who are still active and 82 CPFs who have discontinued). It was observed that the ‘neera’ value chain is in the evolving stage, and the withdrawal of the institutional support had detrimentally affected the confidence of the CPFs ventured into it. The availability of ‘neera’ technicians (tappers) and the high wage rates have evoked concerns on the profitability as well as the assurance of continuous supply of the product. The study categorically highlights the need for a restructured value chain of ‘neera’ with specific roles assigned to the stakeholders through the creation of functional linkages

Puzzlements in an evolving commodity chain: The case of tender coconut market in Kerala

Not AvailableThe tender coconut market in the Kasaragod district is a perfect example of multiple market formations at different regions of the district. Apparently there were no entry barriers or price discrimination in the market. We could observe the coexistence of all theoretically possible market behavior patterns, which evidently reflects an evolving commodity market. For instance in Kasaragod, major share of the tender coconut supply was found to be provided by three traders, and on the other hand at certain regions we could observe perfect competition in the supply side which enhanced the bargaining position of the retailer/vendor

Boxicity of graphs on surfaces

The boxicity of a graph $G=(V,E)$ is the least integer $k$ for which there exist $k$ interval graphs $G_i=(V,E_i)$, $1 \le i \le k$, such that $E=E_1 \cap ... \cap E_k$. Scheinerman proved in 1984 that outerplanar graphs have boxicity at most two and Thomassen proved in 1986 that planar graphs have boxicity at most three. In this note we prove that the boxicity of toroidal graphs is at most 7, and that the boxicity of graphs embeddable in a surface $\Sigma$ of genus $g$ is at most $5g+3$. This result yields improved bounds on the dimension of the adjacency poset of graphs on surfaces.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure

Analyzing the trade competitiveness of Indian coconut sector in the liberalization regime

Coconut export sector in India of late gained an outward orientation, especially since the Coconut Development Board was elevated to the status of export promotion council in the year 2009. In the recent period, the growth rate experienced in the coconut based value added products has been stupendous. Since there is an attempt for global value chain up-gradation at the production node of the sector, it is imperative to analyse our strengths in the world market in comparison with the major competitors. We have used the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) methodology to analyse India’s competitiveness in the exports of major coconut value added products traded across the world. The study revealed that, as far as the coconut value added products are concerned, India is comparatively a very small player with paltry export market shares. The analysis of RCA revealed that comparative advantage of India is lower than the major coconut exporting countries like Philippines, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. The Philippines is the dominant player with highest RCA indices in most of the coconut value added product lines. The study suggests the need to formulate plausible strategies to reach the overseas market and capture the optimal share in market segments. Though we have a strong domestic market base, it is an indubitable fact that in the near future due to the evolving trade agreements even in the domestic sector we may confront fierce price competition from the overseas imports. Hence we need to chalk out modalities and execution plans to elevate our export competitiveness and comparative advantage