Nutritional-sensitive and sustainable agricultural development- An overview

Nutrition and Agriculture are interlinked with each other. Sustainable agricultural development is agricultural development that contributes to improving resource efficiency, strengthening resilience and securing social equity/responsibility of agriculture and food systems in order to ensure food security and nutrition for all, now and in the future. While poverty has always been associated with severe forms of acute under-nutrition, it is fact that poverty affects an individual’s health throughout their lifetime. Low access to food and associated levels of malnutrition reduces an individual’s intellectual capability, leading to lower learning levels and work capacity. Such a vicious cycle of poverty and malnutrition ultimately limits an individual’s earning potential throughout a lifetime, increasing vulnerability to serious medical conditions and health inequities. This is one of the vital reasons of farmers’ distress and suicides due to indebtedness. Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy. One of the biggest challenges of nutritional sensitive agriculture and sustainable development is how to secure and provide plentiful, healthy and nutritious food for all. The present study tries to present an overview of the present status and suggests suitable policy initiatives

Nutritional-sensitive and sustainable agricultural development- An overview

Nutrition and Agriculture are interlinked with each other. Sustainable agricultural development is agricultural development that contributes to improving resource efficiency, strengthening resilience and securing social equity/responsibility of agriculture and food systems in order to ensure food security and nutrition for all, now and in the future. While poverty has always been associated with severe forms of acute under-nutrition, it is fact that poverty affects an individual’s health throughout their lifetime. Low access to food and associated levels of malnutrition reduces an individual’s intellectual capability, leading to lower learning levels and work capacity. Such a vicious cycle of poverty and malnutrition ultimately limits an individual’s earning potential throughout a lifetime, increasing vulnerability to serious medical conditions and health inequities. This is one of the vital reasons of farmers’ distress and suicides due to indebtedness. Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy. One of the biggest challenges of nutritional sensitive agriculture and sustainable development is how to secure and provide plentiful, healthy and nutritious food for all. The present study tries to present an overview of the present status and suggests suitable policy initiatives

Diversification and its Determinants: A Search for Alternative Income and Agricultural Development in Eastern India

The eastern region of India, comprising the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Odisha and West Bengal, is one of the most backward regions of the nation. This region occupies about 21.85% of geographical area and supports 34% of the population of the country. Agriculture is the mainstay of economy in the region. About 67% of the cultivators belong to marginal group and over 75% of their earnings are utilized to ensure their food security. Issues related to diversification have been discussed by researchers for a long period and they have been trying to relate diversification to the developmental prospects and various factors responsible for it. Despite this, the eastern region has rich natural resources i.e. fertile land, abundant ground water (145.12 BCM), however, the pace of agricultural development is very slow. In the present study, an attempt has been made to measure diversification using Herfindahl-Hirschman index, known as the most popular method, it was used to measure extent of diversification. The regression model was applied to access the determinants of crop diversification in the region. The study is based on secondary data collected from various published sources from 2001-02 to 2014-15 i.e. for a period of 14 years. The results revealed that in the region, the diversification for the study period was observed very low in almost all the states under study and for the eastern region as a whole. The study pinpointed the fact that despite the rich natural resources, its potential could not be harnessed from the point of view of improving agricultural productivity, poverty alleviation and livelihood improvement. Strengthening of crop diversification depends on market and taking care of production risks through technological support, quality input supply, more insurance coverage and establishment of modern storage-processing centres in the region. Keeping in view the rich natural resources and hidden agricultural development opportunities in the region, government has already taken initiative for Second Green Revolution from the region, however a strong policy push up towards instilling confidence among the farming community is needed in this direction

Diversification and its Determinants: A Search for Alternative Income and Agricultural Development in Eastern India

The eastern region of India, comprising the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Odisha and West Bengal, is one of the most backward regions of the nation. This region occupies about 21.85% of geographical area and supports 34% of the population of the country. Agriculture is the mainstay of economy in the region. About 67% of the cultivators belong to marginal group and over 75% of their earnings are utilized to ensure their food security. Issues related to diversification have been discussed by researchers for a long period and they have been trying to relate diversification to the developmental prospects and various factors responsible for it. Despite this, the eastern region has rich natural resources i.e. fertile land, abundant ground water (145.12 BCM), however, the pace of agricultural development is very slow. In the present study, an attempt has been made to measure diversification using Herfindahl-Hirschman index, known as the most popular method, it was used to measure extent of diversification. The regression model was applied to access the determinants of crop diversification in the region. The study is based on secondary data collected from various published sources from 2001-02 to 2014-15 i.e. for a period of 14 years. The results revealed that in the region, the diversification for the study period was observed very low in almost all the states under study and for the eastern region as a whole. The study pinpointed the fact that despite the rich natural resources, its potential could not be harnessed from the point of view of improving agricultural productivity, poverty alleviation and livelihood improvement. Strengthening of crop diversification depends on market and taking care of production risks through technological support, quality input supply, more insurance coverage and establishment of modern storage-processing centres in the region. Keeping in view the rich natural resources and hidden agricultural development opportunities in the region, government has already taken initiative for Second Green Revolution from the region, however a strong policy push up towards instilling confidence among the farming community is needed in this direction

A comparative clinical evaluation of efficacy of Kati Basti with Prabhanjanam Taila and Moorchita Tila Taila in Gridhrasi w.s.r to Sciatica

Kati Basti included under various external procedures of Ayurveda, having variety of actions like the Bahya Snehana (external oleation), Swedana Chikitsa (fomentation therapy). Kati Basti is indicated in various disorders of spine and back like backache, lumbar spondylosis, sciatica, degenerative disc changes etc. Low back pain is most common complaint with a prevalence of 65 to 90%. Improper sitting postures, traveling, use of two wheeler and sports activities are few important causes of backache. Sciatica often used to describe low back pain that spreads (radiates) through the hip, to the back of the thigh, and down the inside of the leg which closely resembles with Gridhrasi. In Sharanghadhara Samhita use of Prabhanjana Taila in Ghridhrasi Vyadhi has been indicated, hence an attempt was made to compare clinically the efficacy of Kati Basti with Prabhanjanam Taila and Moorchita Tila Taila in Gridhrasi with special reference to sciatica

Informal rural healthcare providers in North and South India.

Rural households in India rely extensively on informal biomedical providers, who lack valid medical qualifications. Their numbers far exceed those of formal providers. Our study reports on the education, knowledge, practices and relationships of informal providers (IPs) in two very different districts: Tehri Garhwal in Uttarakhand (north) and Guntur in Andhra Pradesh (south). We mapped and interviewed IPs in all nine blocks of Tehri and in nine out of 57 blocks in Guntur, and then interviewed a smaller sample in depth (90 IPs in Tehri, 100 in Guntur) about market practices, relationships with the formal sector, and their knowledge of protocol-based management of fever, diarrhoea and respiratory conditions. We evaluated IPs' performance by observing their interactions with three patients per condition; nine patients per provider. IPs in the two districts had very different educational backgrounds-more years of schooling followed by various informal diplomas in Tehri and more apprenticeships in Guntur, yet their knowledge of management of the three conditions was similar and reasonably high (71% Tehri and 73% Guntur). IPs in Tehri were mostly clinic-based and dispensed a blend of allopathic and indigenous drugs. IPs in Guntur mostly provided door-to-door services and prescribed and dispensed mainly allopathic drugs. In Guntur, formal private doctors were important referral providers (with commissions) and source of new knowledge for IPs. At both sites, IPs prescribed inappropriate drugs, but the use of injections and antibiotics was higher in Guntur. Guntur IPs were well organized in state and block level associations that had successfully lobbied for a state government registration and training for themselves. We find that IPs are firmly established in rural India but their role has grown and evolved differently in different market settings. Interventions need to be tailored differently keeping in view these unique features

Wind Energy Conversion System With Permanent Magnetic Synchronous Generator

This paper presents a study on grid-connected WECS with PMSG. The application of non-conventional energy resources develops much rapidly to improve low carbon energy resources in India. Nowadays, we are going to depend on solar, wind for the fulfillment of energy demand. Wind energy applications develop much more rapidly than other renewable resources such as solar, geothermal, and so on in the 21st century. It becomes the third core energy resource following non-conventional fuels as oil and chemical. The electrical energy generated by wind power plants is the best developing and most promising renewable energy source. The wind is a clean, free, and limitless energy source. Wind Energy Generation Systems (WECS) are confronted with increasing demands for power quality and harmonic distortion control. With the advance in power electronics technology, the fast growth of variable speed WECS is now witnessed

Effects of Weeds on the Profitability of Millet (Pennisetum glaucum) and Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) Crops in Mixed Cropping Systems

Samples of 80 respondents were randomly selected from 8 villages in Tambawal and Sabon-Birni Local Governments Areas (LGA) of Sokoto State to examine the cost of controlling weeds in arable farms. The data collected through structured questionnaire were analysed using farmbudgeting technique. The results showed the cultivation of millet/sorghum/cowpea and groundnut/millet/cowpea mixtures as the most widely used biological measures of controlling weeds. Most of the land was zero tilled and manually weeded. For manual control measure, about 77 mandays/ha and 46 man-days/ha were used for weeding sole millet and sole groundnut equivalent respectively, indicating more labour was needed for weeding millet than groundnut crop. The high cost of weeding groundnut farms despite the low amount of man-days used was attributed to drudge nature of its manual weeding method and market prospect of the crop. Average total cost of weeding millet was N11, 057.16/ha and N 17,139.32/ha in groundnut production, representing about 40% of the total cost of production of each crop. Average net-farm income was N27, 258.7/ha and N 67,488.5/ha for millet and groundnut production, respectively. When the cost of weeding was excluded, a net- loss ofN10,822.14/ha and N19,565.72/ha were recorded for millet and groundnut production, respectively. This shows that the cost of weeding increased production cost by 40%, while unchecked weeds depressed farm profit by about 500% and 400% in millet and groundnut production, respectively.Therefore, there is a need to reduce the cost of weeding through  government support services so that the profit of farmers can be increased. This will make farmers enjoy the fruit of their labour better.Keywords: Weeds, Profitability, Millet, Groundnut, Mixed Cropping

Solid state reaction betwen o-toluidine and p-benzoquinone

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Observational study on Barium Meal X-Ray in clinically diagnosed cases of Parinama Shoola

Parinama Shoola is a disease of Annavaha Srotas (GIT) characterized by pain during digestion of food which tormates the process after every meal time and source of constant discomfort. It is a Pitta Pradhana Tridoshaja Vyadhi. Based on subjective features most of the Ayurvedic scholars considered as peptic ulcer, one of the most common digestive system disease rise due to the faulty diet and habits. Hence in the field of gastroenterology diagnosis and management of shoola plays a vital role. The present era is an era of new inventions and the modern medical science has stuck the mind of all by its day to day developments. It is true that modern medical science has grown up considerably; still it has to face a big question mark in so far as some miserable problems are concerned. The problem selected for this work is one among them. Considering the solemnity and incidence of the disease, the present study was aimed to observe barium meal X-ray findings in clinically diagnosed cases of Parinama Shoola to evaluate objective features for Parinama Shoola. It was observed that among 60 patients of Parinama Shoola, 30% were having deformed duodenal bulb, in 25% duodenal cap is deformed with mucosal erosion and 13.3% had duodenal ulcer found with ulcer crater in upper GI barium meal X-ray