Quantifying Economic Losses due to Milk Fever in Dairy Farms

Milk fever, a metabolic disease, affects dairy animals usually within one or two days after calving, resulting in a huge reduction in milk production and thus becomes economically most important. This study, conducted in five milkshed districts of Tamil Nadu, has estimated the economic losses arising from milk fever, based on the data collected from a random sample of 557 milk fever affected bovines (516 cows and 41 she buffaloes) during 2005-08. For assessing economic losses caused by milk fever, cost of medicines, veterinarian’s fee, cost of additional labour utilized, loss due to reduction in milk output, cost of animals dead and culled have been considered. The prevalence of milk fever has been found 13.67 per cent in cows and 11.99 per cent in buffaloes across the study districts. The total loss has been found as Rs 1,068 per affected cow and Rs 665 per buffalo. Taking into account the observed prevalence of milk fever, the population of milch cows and buffaloes and the per animal loss due to milk fever has been estimated to be of Rs 40.62 crore in the state, which is a substantial damage to the dairy farming community. Some suggestions for prevention and management of milk fever have been given in the study.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Quality Improvements in Public Livestock Services Delivery: Are Farmers Ready to Pay? An Inquiry in South India

Farmers Willingness To Pay (WTP) for improving the quality of public livestock services delivery, in terms of Service Provider and Farmer Relationship (SPFR), chance of recovery from ailments and chance of conception following Artificial Insemination (AI), was assessed through Contingent Valuation (CV) in southern peninsular state of India, the Tamil Nadu State. The districts of the state were categorized as '˜Livestock Developed' (LD) and 'Livestock Under Developed' (LUD) based on initial base line developed. Contingent Valuation (CV) approach and Tobit regressions were used to assess variations in the stated Willingness To Pay (WTP) values, and the probability of stating a positive WTP value for respondents who declared that they were not willing to pay. Overall, the respondents in the study area were willing to pay INR 3.91 for improving the SPFR attribute of the public veterinary centre, while they were ready to pay INR 5.84 for augmenting the chances of recovery from illness by the services of public veterinary centres. In order to benefit from improved chance of conception of their bovines after AI, the farmers were willing to pay INR 11.71. An absolute concordance on the levels of attributes and the variations in the stated positive WTP values for quality improvements was noticed. Tobit regression analyses on the improvements of all above attributes indicated that the farmers who were at disadvantaged levels of an attribute were willing to pay more compared to those at an advantaged level.

ISOLATION OF TAXOL PRODUCING FUSICOCCUM SPECIES FROM CURRY LEAF AND ITS RANDOM AMPLIFIED POLYMORPHIC DNA ANALYSIS

ABSTRACTObjective: The potential compound of taxol has been used treatment of cancer in the medical field. This study is focused on the extraction of taxolfrom Fusicoccum sp.Methods: The pathogenic strain was grown in MID medium for the taxol production and extracted from the Fusicoccum culture filtrate and processedto the ultraviolet (UV)-spectroscopy analysis as well as infrared (IR) spectra analysis was done, and the sample was performed to the high-performancecolumn chromatography and further processed to the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis of specific primer is PGFO1, PGFO2 areperformed.Results: UV-visible spectral analysis showed maximum value for 273 nm. The result of IR-spectrum analysis to find out the functional groups presentin sample and characteristic peak to conform the existences of OH group. The presence of taxol was confirmed using column chromatography.An analysis of taxol production was on the external standard of authentic taxol. The column chromatography process shows the amount of taxolproduction by Fusicoccum spp. 325 µg/L. RAPD analysis indicates the genetic relation among all isolates of fungus was analyzed by two randomprimers PGF01 and PGF02.Conclusion: The present investigation revealed that the taxol production from biological source was a significant effect, and the presence of taxolamount is analysis in Fusicoccum sp. 325 µg/L. The RAPD analysis of genetic stability of in vitro grown fungus and genotypic with two differentprimers shows that five fungus species with corresponding primer efficiency was amplified.Keywords: Taxol production, Fusicoccum sp., Ultraviolet-spectroscopy, Infrared, Spectrum analysis, Scanning electron microscopy

Formulation of Novel Nano Transdermal using Effective Combination of Acyclovir and Omeprazole for Enhanced Anti-Viral Activity

The ƛ max Acyclovir and Omeprazole were confirmed by UV spectrometer at range 251 nm and 305 nm. Standard graph was determined by various concentration of Acyclovir and Omeprazole The present study demonstrated that Acyclovir and Omeprazole nanogel were successfully developed by solvent diffusion method . pH was determined various formulation F1-F9 in that F9 have suitable for gel preparation. Drug content was determined by UV-spectroscopic method. The prepared nanogel was opaque, without any lumps, particle and aggregates. So, all the formulations are homogenous. Spreadability diameter study F9 shown the nanogel is having good Spreadability. Nanogel formulations shown viscosity range from 3268-3528 cps. It concluded that they are stable in nature. In-vitro dissolution study was performed and showed that F9 have good dissolution rate. The particle size, PDI and zeta potential to find out the F9 formulation. The particle size, PDI and zeta potential was found to be in 687.4, 0.842 and -43.7 respectively. TEM image was confirmed the shape of spherical and smooth surface of particles at range 650 nm. Comparing F9 nanogel formulation with acyclovir marketed formulation (MF) by in-vitro release study. According to result formulated Acyclovir and omeprazole nanogel is more efficient than the marketed acyclovir ointment. Hence from our study the acyclovir and omeprazole nanogel (F9) showed that sustain drug release than the marketed formulation, so it is evident that formulating into nanogel results increase the anti –viral activity. CONCLUSION : It can be concluded that the experimental study carried out that the formulation of a Nanogel containing anti-viral drug and anti-ulcer drug yields a formulation with spherical and smooth surface, nano in size range. The prepared nanogel was opaque, without any lumps, particle and aggregates. So, all the formulations are homogenous. Based on all the factors the nanogel drug delivery system F9 shows good drug content compare to other. The particle size of the nanogel formulation is optimum and it is less than 1000 nm. So, it concluded that the particles are in tiny and nano in size range. All nanogel formulations shows pH in the range of 6.1 to 6.9. Formulation F9 shows highest pH of 6.9. Because the pH range of nanogel were 1 to 7 pH. Based on the Spreadability diameter study it shown the nanogel is having good Spreadability. Nanogel formulations shown viscosity range from 3268-3528 cps. It concluded that they are stable in nature. Formulation F9 shows highest percentage of drug release compare to other formulations. In-vitro diffusion studies show F9 formulation shows controlled release pattern of drug from the formulation. The formulation was found to be stable in short term stability studies. Here we have selected F9 has an optimized formulation which shown good morphological features, drug content efficiency and controlled drug release. Hence the F9 formulation is efficient than the marketed formulation of acyclovir ointment (ACIVIR)

Determinants of Willingness-to-Pay A Premium Price for Integrated Pest Management Produced Fruits and Vegetables in Trinidad

Overuse of pesticide in crop production poses enormous challenges to the health of farm families, consumers, and the environment. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an ecosystem approach to crop production that combines different management strategies and practices to grow healthy crops and minimize the use of pesticides. As a result of increasing awareness, education and per capita income, there is an increasing concern for food safety and demand for safe products among consumers of high-income countries. Consequently, this study was conducted among 266 randomly surveyed consumers of an affluent Caribbean country, Trinidad to ascertain the factors influencing consumers Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) a premium price for IPM grown-fruits and vegetables. The consumers responses for the dichotomous question, Would you be Willing to Pay an additional cost of 10% for the IPM produces from the current market prices? were analysed using Binary logit regression model. Results indicated that females ageing over 26 years and having children, those with higher annual income and higher level of education were all most likely to pay a premium to obtain IPM grown fruits and vegetables. Willingness-to-purchase IPM produce was found to increase with income, education and age. The findings of this study are promising to those developing marketing strategies, besides enabling the producers to understand that producing fruits and vegetables through IPM would fetch them premium

Methyl 9-(4-bromo­phen­yl)-8a,9,9a,10,11,12,13,14a-octa­hydro-8H-benzo[f]chromeno[3,4-b]indolizine-8a-car­box­ylate

In the title compound, C27H26BrNO3, the mean plane of the naphthalene ring system makes a dihedral angle of 22.0 (1)° with the bromo-substituted benzene ring. The pyrrolidine and piperidine rings exhibit envelope and chair conformations, respectively. An inter­molecular C—H⋯Br inter­action is observed

Homogeneous cobalt-catalyzed reductive amination for synthesis of functionalized primary amines

The development of earth abundant 3d metal-based catalysts continues to be an important goal of chemical research. In particular, the design of base metal complexes for reductive amination to produce primary amines remains as challenging. Here, we report the combination of cobalt and linear-triphos (bis(2-diphenylphosphinoethyl)phenylphosphine) as the molecularly-defined non-noble metal catalyst for the synthesis of linear and branched benzylic, heterocyclic and aliphatic primary amines from carbonyl compounds, gaseous ammonia and hydrogen in good to excellent yields. Noteworthy, this cobalt catalyst exhibits high selectivity and as a result the -NH2 moiety is introduced in functionalized and structurally diverse molecules. An inner-sphere mechanism on the basis of the mono-cationic [triphos-CoH]+ complex as active catalyst is proposed and supported with density functional theory computation on the doublet state potential free energy surface and H2 metathesis is found as the rate-determining step

Internet of Things and Machine Learning Applications for Smart Precision Agriculture

Agriculture forms the major part of our Indian economy. In the current world, agriculture and irrigation are the essential and foremost sectors. It is a mandatory need to apply information and communication technology in our agricultural industries to aid agriculturalists and farmers to improve vice all stages of crop cultivation and post-harvest. It helps to enhance the country’s G.D.P. Agriculture needs to be assisted by modern automation to produce the maximum yield. The recent development in technology has a significant impact on agriculture. The evolutions of Machine Learning (ML) and the Internet of Things (IoT) have supported researchers to implement this automation in agriculture to support farmers. ML allows farmers to improve yield make use of effective land utilisation, the fruitfulness of the soil, level of water, mineral insufficiencies control pest, trim development and horticulture. Application of remote sensors like temperature, humidity, soil moisture, water level sensors and pH value will provide an idea to on active farming, which will show accuracy as well as practical agriculture to deal with challenges in the field. This advancement could empower agricultural management systems to handle farm data in an orchestrated manner and increase the agribusiness by formulating effective strategies. This paper highlights contribute to an overview of the modern technologies deployed to agriculture and suggests an outline of the current and potential applications, and discusses the challenges and possible solutions and implementations. Besides, it elucidates the problems, specific potential solutions, and future directions for the agriculture sector using Machine Learning and the Internet of things