Does information network affect spread of new crops? A study on the spread of bitter gourd and sunflower cultivation among the farmers of a Sunderbans island in West Bengal, India

Adoption research for many years has considered individual farmer as the basis of analysis, whereas the effect of networks governing a farmer’s decision-making has received limited attention. Moreover, the spread of technology over different generation of adopters has not been addressed adequately. Hence, farmers’ position within the agricultural information networks and their adoption decision, may be studied to formulate some lower order propositions regarding the diffusion of agricultural innovations within information networks. The present study was conducted at Konkondighi Island in Sunderbans region, West Bengal, India, to study the spread of bitter gourd (Momordica Charantia L.) and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) cultivation among the farmers of selected villages. Case study method and focused group discussion were used to track this spread of new crop over different generation of cultivators. Data collected through survey method was analysed by sociometric technique and network score of the farmers in the agricultural information network was computed. The fractional ranking of network scores of farmers was compared with their relative earliness in starting bitter gourd and sunflower cultivation. It was observed that in the process of the spread of bitter gourd and sunflower cultivation, most of the farmers who had higher network scores were earlier adopters of bitter gourd and sunflower cultivation practices; but the opposite was not the same. This indicated relations between farmers’ positions in information networks and their adoption-decision regarding the adoption of new crops.technology transfer, agricultural information network, social network analysis, adoption-decision, India

Validation of Participatory Farming Situation Identification: Case of Rainfed Rice Cultivation in Selected Area of West Bengal, India

Paper Presented at the 4th World Congress on Conservation Agriculture, 2009 at New Delhi, Indiamicro-farming situation, farmers’ classification, validation of indigenous classification, rainfed rice, appropriate technology, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Farm Management, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

A Unified Treatment of the Characters of SU(2) and SU(1,1)

The character problems of SU(2) and SU(1,1) are reexamined from the standpoint of a physicist by employing the Hilbert space method which is shown to yield a completely unified treatment for SU(2) and the discrete series of representations of SU(1,1). For both the groups the problem is reduced to the evaluation of an integral which is invariant under rotation for SU(2) and Lorentz transformation for SU(1,1). The integrals are accordingly evaluated by applying a rotation to a unit position vector in SU(2) and a Lorentz transformation to a unit SO(2,1) vector which is time-like for the elliptic elements and space-like for the hyperbolic elements in SU(1,1). The details of the procedure for the principal series of representations of SU(1,1) differ substantially from those of the discrete series.Comment: 31 pages, RevTeX, typos corrected. To be published in Journal of Mathematical Physic

Application of Social Network Analysis for Livelihood System Study

Social Network Analysis (SNA) has received growing attention among diverse academic fields for studying ‘social relations’ among individuals and institutions. Unfortunately, its application has remained limited in the study of livelihood systems of rural poor. Complexity in rural livelihoods has increased sharply in the face of increased pressure on natural resources and rapid shift in farm-based to non-farm based employments. This poses great challenge to successful livelihood intervention in rural areas. On one hand, rural development/extension needs to cater to diverse information and service need of the rural people; on other hand, rural institutions need to deliver livelihood-sustaining services more efficiently, which often need institutional restructuring at multiple levels. To achieve these challenges, a strong innovative analytical tool is required for understanding the complexity of rural livelihoods and the associated role of rural institutions. SNA provides excellent scope to analyse such complex systems and interactions among their components. This article proposes an outline of using SNA in livelihood system analysis. The analysis can provide answer to many questions of practical importance – Who are the influential actors in a livelihood system? Which are the key institutions contributing towards sustainable livelihoods? How do these actors interact among themselves? This will help rural development administrators to deliver livelihood-supporting services more efficiently through informed targeting and capacity building

Does information network affect spread of new crops? A study on the spread of bitter gourd and sunflower cultivation among the farmers of a Sunderbans island in West Bengal, India

Adoption research for many years has considered individual farmer as the basis of analysis, whereas the effect of networks governing a farmer’s decision-making has received limited attention. Moreover, the spread of technology over different generation of adopters has not been addressed adequately. Hence, farmers’ position within the agricultural information networks and their adoption decision, may be studied to formulate some lower order propositions regarding the diffusion of agricultural innovations within information networks. The present study was conducted at Konkondighi Island in Sunderbans region, West Bengal, India, to study the spread of bitter gourd (Momordica Charantia L.) and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) cultivation among the farmers of selected villages. Case study method and focused group discussion were used to track this spread of new crop over different generation of cultivators. Data collected through survey method was analysed by sociometric technique and network score of the farmers in the agricultural information network was computed. The fractional ranking of network scores of farmers was compared with their relative earliness in starting bitter gourd and sunflower cultivation. It was observed that in the process of the spread of bitter gourd and sunflower cultivation, most of the farmers who had higher network scores were earlier adopters of bitter gourd and sunflower cultivation practices; but the opposite was not the same. This indicated relations between farmers’ positions in information networks and their adoption-decision regarding the adoption of new crops

Effect of zirconia addition on the fatigue behaviour of fine grained alumina Author(s): Basu D; Sarkar BK

The fatigue behaviour of fine grained Al2O3 and ZrO2 toughened Al2O3 (ZTA) compositions with 15 vol% ZrO2 (3 mol% Y2O3 stabilized: 3Y-TZP) have been investigated by using three different techniques, Primarily l-point bending load was employed to generate tension-tension fatigue data under both static and cyclic conditions, The results clear-ly showed that the materials were susceptible to both the static and cyclic fatigue and the time to failure under cyclic loading was considerably shorter than the equivalent static loads. The repeated indentations at the same spot with varying loads showed a typical fatigue behaviour. In addition, both the materials were subjected to the repeated impact cycles at varying subcritical loads simulating impact fatigue, In all the cases typical fatigue curves were obtained having a progressive endurance at subcritical loads having an endurance limit, The fatigue behaviour of Al2O3 was much improved by the addition of 15 vol% 3Y-TZP. having micro-plasticity contributing towards the cyclic fatigue phenomena of these materials

Status of Physical Environment and Land use Pattern in Rabindra Sarobar Lake Area of Kolkata

Abstract The Rabindra Sarobar lake ecosystem is playing a key role in maintaining the oxygen balance of the Kolkata metropolis by generating fresh oxygen. The Physical environment is considered as an essential part of a lacustrine system. Degradation of environment largely affects the physical component. If the physical components are spoiled, then the entire system of the lake will get degraded. Water, air, soil, sound level etc. have been taken as the physical components of the study. Due to cultural activities and improper monitoring system practicised by the lake authority, the physico-chemical properties of Rabindra Sarobar Lake are degrading over time. The total land and water area of Rabindra Sarobar is about 192 acres which is being used for sports, recreational and cultural activities. Holistic measures need to be followed for improvement of the ambient air and the water quality of the lake area