39 research outputs found
EVALUATION OF CYTOTOXIC ACTIVITY OF ETHYL ACETATE EXTRACT OF PIGMENT FROM PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA
Objective: Bacterial pigments have promising applications in food, cosmetics, textile, and therapeutics. Pigments from microbial origin are stable, safer, cost effective, easy production, and extraction and thus preferred over other natural sources. Under this backdrop, isolation and characterization of pigment-producing bacteria and analysis of bioactivity of the pigment were the aim of the study. From the literature studies, the pigment production was found to be influenced by various physical factors which directed the study toward optimization of physical parameters for pigment production.
Methods: Isolation of pigment-producing bacteria from water sample, cultural, and microscopic identification was done as per the standard protocol. Extraction of pigment by solvent extraction was carried out and its antibacterial and cytotoxic activity was assayed.
Results: Molecular characterization of the bacteria resembled the query sequence of the isolate to 99% with Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain. Extraction of pigment by solvent extraction method resulted in crude pigment extract with antibacterial activity against Gram-negative bacteria (17 mm zone of inhibition) at 100 ΞΌg/ml concentration. Pigment showed dose-dependent inhibition on proliferation of HeLa cells at the concentration of 345.83 ΞΌg/mL.
Conclusion: From the above results, it was evident that the pigment extracted from the bacterial isolate Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain JBT18N was therapeutically potential
Status of organic forming in agro ecosystems in India
Organic farming is the form of crop growing that relies on techniques like crop rotation, green compost, manure and biological pest control. This study was an initial attempt to know the status of organic farming in pesticide use predominant 28 districts in 12 Indian states. Doctors, pesticide vendors and agricultural officers of regions were interviewed to study the status of organic farming in the selected areas. Data were collected through pre-tested schedules by trained field investigators. A total of 1577 samples from 290 randomly selected villages were keyed in to Visual Basic front end in MS Access data base. In this study only 3% of the respondents across the country reported that they had practiced organic farming only, whereas 51% of respondents practiced chemical farming and 46% of respondents had taken up both organic and chemical farming. Appropriate research and extension services need to be developed to make available to farmers all the relevant information on organic farming
Research and Higher Education Scenario in Select Indian State Universities: An Analysis
This article presents results of an analysis of higher education and research scenario in ten state universities of India during 2000 to 2006. Calcutta University ranked first in terms of published research articles, on an average 664 articles in a year in peer reviewed national and international journals. Similarly Madras, Panjab, Rajasthan, Mysore, Gauhati, Pune, Mumbai, Patna and Sikkim Manipal Universities published 600, 582, 538, 328.33, 221, 184.33, 112.5, 47 and 5 articles respectively. The ratio of number of faculty to research publication varied from 1:0.05 to 1:1.9 in the selected universities. University of Madras, Panjab, Rajasthan and Calcutta have ratio more than 1:1. University of Madras received the maximum research funds of 41.46 crore rupees and ranked first among the selected ten universities. Considering the overall performance of universities in our analysis, Calcutta University and Madras University captured the first two places respectively
Farmer's health externalities in pesticide use predominant regions in India.
The use of pesticides in Indian agriculture, though beneficial in reducing crop loss both before and after harvest, has
been associated with threats to human health often due to the misuse of these chemicals. This study was an initial
attempt to explore health externalities of farmers and agricultural labourers in pesticide use predominant 28 districts
in 12 Indian states. Doctors, pesticide vendors and agricultural officers of regions were interviewed to study the
health externalities related to pesticide use. Data were collected through pre-tested schedules by trained field
investigators. From a total sample size of 1577 and analysed. The results revealed a steady decrease in overall
consumption of pesticides since 1990. About 19.4% of the respondents had experienced negative side effects on
health after handling pesticides. The symptoms include headache, weakness, dizziness, fever, blurred vision, and
nausea/vomiting. Most of the respondents are aware of pesticide-related symptoms and possible routes of
absorption, during application of pesticides. Farmers make only short-term assessments of pesticides and spray these
chemicals without taking proper protective clothing. Records on serious pesticide poisoning cases were available
only in a few government hospitals, but such details were not even accessible from private hospitals as pesticide
poisoning incidences are subjected to medico-legal cases. Training for agriculture and health workers in safety
measures, recognition, and management of pesticide-related ill health is a matter of exigency. There is a tremendous
scope for agricultural extension activity through which pesticide stewardship can be achieved in India
Innovations that Shaped Indian Agriculture-then and now
There are myriad innovations that have been part of agricultural transformation in India. This paper discusses various innovations and technological breakthroughs that took place in Indian agriculture during the British period and afterwards. Some of the innovations occurred inadvertently that are believed to have had higher impact on food production and livelihood security. Food security being Indiaβs major concern under changing climatic scenario, the reasons for slow down in food grain production in recent past have been looked into with a major emphasis on rice and wheat crops and the possible solutions for overcoming this slow down have been discussed
Reading the agricultural landscape in a river basin: Integrating agro-ecological and social perspectives.
Agricultural landscape of a river basin is constituted by interlinkages between resources used and social relations, both within
the basin and linking the basin to the non-basin areas. Expanding scarcities of land and water resources, and the human
response to these scarcities, make it imperative to freshly examine these concepts of resource interrelationships, basin unity
and stewardship concerns in an agrarian landscape of a river basin from an integrated agroecological and social perspective.
The trajectories of change in agricultural resource use at the river basin is conceptualized as influenced by and carried out
within multilevel networks of social relations that exchange resources and engage in reciprocal interactions within and outside
the river basin
Farmersβ education and perception on pesticide use and crop economies in Indian agriculture
Intensive survey involving 1039 farmers belonging to 28 districts in
12 Indian states was carried out in pesticide use predominant
regions to study the influence of farmerβs awareness, education and
practices related to pesticide use as well as Integrated Pest
Management (IPM) measures. Data were collected through pretested
schedules by trained field investigators and the data were
analysed by suitable statistical package (SPSS). The results revealed
that though overall consumption of pesticide decreased, the
expenditure incurred on pesticides remained high. Most of the
respondents in the surveyed area followed their own spraying
schedules and pesticide doses to manage ever increasing insect
pests and disease problems. More than 50 % of the respondents
applied both single and cocktail pesticides to manage their crop
pests. Greater number of the literate farmers had strong perception
on the negative impacts of pesticides on soil, water, air and
beneficial organisms. Only 20 % of the respondents obtained their
information on plant protection aspect from the agricultural
extension officer and the rest of 80% of the farmers used unreliable
information in crop production of surveyed areas. The respondents
in the study regions were of the opinion that chemical methods of
pest control are very effective in combating serious pest infestation.
In the study area it was observed that only 3 % of the respondents
followed organic farming in a successful way. The total area under
organic farming in India is negligible. There is a tremendous scope
for agricultural extension activity through which stewardship can be
achieved in these pesticide predominant regions. Nevertheless, costs
on ever increasing safety measures for pesticide applicators would
be an additional burden which is to be considered seriously under
resource poor small and medium holding systems in India
Occurrence and activity of cardamom pests and honeybees as affected by pest management and climate change
It has been conjectured that global warming will increase the prevalence of insect pests in most agroecosystems.
The variability and possible trends in the occurrence and management of cardamom pests climatic variables and
productivity were analyzed for cardamom agroforestry system. Analysis showed a general trend of decreasing
temperature for temperature maximum since 2000. Year to year variation was noticeable for all parameters
analyzed including relative humidity and soil temperatures (15 cm top soil layer) during 2000-2007. Contrary to
the general agreement that recent warming had increased the prevalence of insect pests in majority of the
agroecosystems, our results showed decreasing incidence of insect pests in cardamom agroforestry system
because of calendar-based pesticide spraying. A decrease in natural enemy populations was observed. There has
been an increase in number of pesticide sprays by at least one with the passage of each year. The reason for
increased rounds of pesticides could be assigned to more prevalence and altered population dynamics of thrips and
capsule borers during the study period. This situation has led to higher use of pesticides in cardamom
agroecosystem
Prebiotic and Probiotic Fortified Milk in Prevention of Morbidities among Children: Community-Based, Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Trial
HN019 to milk, in preventing diarrhea, respiratory infections and severe illnesses, in children aged 1β4 years as part of a four group study design, running two studies simultaneously. HN019 (PP; nβ=β312). Children were followed up for 1 year providing data for 1β4 years. Biweekly household surveillance was conducted to gather information on compliance and morbidity. Both study groups were comparable at baseline; compliance to intervention was similar. Overall, there was no effect of prebiotic and probiotic on diarrhea (6% reduction, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: β1 to 12%; pβ=β0.08). Incidence of dysentery episodes was reduced by 21% (95% CI: 0 to 38%; pβ=β0.05). Incidence of pneumonia was reduced by 24% (95% CI: 0 to 42%; pβ=β0.05) and severe acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) by 35% (95% CI: 0 to 58%; pβ=β0.05). Compared to children in Co group, children in PP group had 16% (95% CI: 5 to 26%, pβ=β0.004) and 5% (95% CI: 0 to 10%; pβ=β0.05) reduction in days with severe illness and high fever respectively.Milk can be a good medium for delivery of prebiotic and probiotic and resulted in significant reduction of dysentery, respiratory morbidity and febrile illness. Overall, impact of diarrhea was not significant. These findings need confirmation in other settings