Tillage Options for Productivity and Profitability of Food Forage Based Production System in Indo Gangetic Plains of India

Food – Forage based systems are the pre-requisite for sustainable rural development mainly as they provide support to small and marginal farmers by adjusting a substantial part of their land exclusively for forage production in grain crop based rotations (Kumar and Faruqui, 2009). In addition, the high cost of cultivation of intensive cropping systems is a major bottleneck in sustainable and profitable crop production. Presently, new innovations in tillage has revolutionized agriculture worldwide mainly due to reducing cost of cultivation, bulk density of soil and trafficabiltiy and also improving soil organic carbon resulting into high soil fertility. In addition, zero tillage provides extra benefit of time saving so that one short duration crop may be included in the crop rotation and increase cropping intensity. Therefore, the reduced tillage and zero tillage both have special attention among farming communities. Considering the increasing popularity about reduced and zero tillage, the present study was undertaken to assess the impact of tillage options in quality forage production in Indo-Gangetic plains of India Will the objectives. 1. To find out the suitable tillage options for forage production, 2. To study the effect of tillage options on productivity and profitability of forage production, and 3. To assess the impact of tillage options on soil fertility

Challenges of Stray Cattle on Integrated Crop-Forage Resources in India

Field survey was conducted covering 1000 residents of district Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand states of India in January 2022 including farmers, school teachers, students and residents of town and cities to study the ‘challenges and threats of stray animals on crop-forage resources in India. The survey indicated that 97.5, 75.6, 60.0, 77.8%, and 68.9 respondents had strong opinion that stray cattle were the serious threat to crops-forage resources, biodiversity, road accidents, transmitting harmful diseases and human-wildlife conflict, respectively, while 85.5, 67.7, 62.7,76.2 and 70.5% respondents gave their consent to solve stray cattle by opening of cowsheds, strict government policies, mass awareness, renewal of grassland/forage resources and penalty to dairymen for abandoning dry cows and male heifer, respectively. It is also pertinent to evolve new policies and strategies to make waste to wealth for efficient management of stray cattle in future

Optimizing Production Technology for Sustainable Organic Fodder Production and Soil Health in Indo-Gangetic Plains of India

Field experiment was carried at Instructional Dairy Farm, G B Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar (India) during 2020-21 and 2021-22 to optimize the production technology for sustainable organic fodder production and soil health in Indo-Gangetic plains of India. Among the organic production systems, application of vermicompost @ 5 t/ha gave the highest fodder yield, gross return and net return but the B:C ratio was derived highest from zero budget natural farming. Among the Kharif crops grown in different cropping systems, BN hybrid intercropped with cowpea gave the significant higher green and dry fodder yield, gross return, net return as well as B:C ratio. Therefore the BN hybrid intercropped with cowpea may be grown under zero budget natural farming for higher fodder productivity and B:C ratio in whole Indo Gangetic plains of India and may be replicated in similar ecologies

Kinetics of Chlorella protothecoides microalgal oil using base catalyst

AbstractDue to continuous diminishing of fossil fuel resources and emission of greenhouse gases, the search for alternative fuels such as biodiesel and bioethanol has become inevitable. Biodiesel, also known as fatty acid methyl or ethyl ester, has emerged as a substitute for diesel because of similar fuel properties. Presently, biodiesel is produced from edible, non-edible and microalgal oil. Chlorella protothecoides (lipid content 14.6–57.8%) is being investigated as the potential microalgae species owing to high oil content, less land area required for cultivation and faster growth rate. The present investigation shows the results of the kinetics of transesterification of C. protothecoides microalgal oil carried out at optimum conditions of catalyst concentration, reaction temperature, molar ratio and reaction time. The percentage of methyl ester yield is the only parameter chosen to carry out the optimum parameter and the kinetics of transesterification. The reaction rate constant was to be 0.0618min−1. Furthermore, microalgal biodiesel is characterized for physico-chemical properties that are found to meet American (ASTM D6751) and Indian (IS 15607) standards, especially in cold flow properties and stability of conventional biodiesel

Transfer of Development Rights (TDRs) as a Tool in Conservation of Heritage Structures in the Precincts of Amritsar city

  Heritage structures play an important role in defining the essence of a city, possessing immense historical value that necessitates conservation. These heritage structures in the historic precincts are at risk of being demolished in developing countries undergoing rapid urbanization. Current legislative measures appear insufficient to prevent the destruction of such structures in the precincts. This vulnerability can be attributed to a general lack of understanding of their significance to the stakeholders, the absence of conservation incentives, and the limited development options available to heritage property owners. This paper examines into the concept of Transfer of Development Rights (TDRs), a potential incentive mechanism that could aid in the preservation of these architectural structures and precincts. The TDRs initiative is proposed as a viable option for heritage property owners, striking a balance between economic interests and preservation

Effect on serum potassium level in patients of diabetic nephropathy on spironolactone and ramipril over follow up period

Background: The study was conducted to evaluate the change in serum potassium level over follow up period in patients of diabetic nephropathy on spironolactone (25 mg) and ramipril (5 mg) and compare the results with diabetic nephropathy patients on Spironolactone (25 mg) alone.Methods: A comparative, prospective, non-randomized, non-blinded experimental study was conducted on 56 patients (30-70 yr.) of diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus showing proteinuria. Total duration of study was about one year from October 2017 to October 2018. Inclusion criteria followed in study were Age 30-70 years, diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus, serum potassium level <5 meq/l, estimated GFR >30 ml/min/1.73m2 and HbA1c <10%. Exclusion criteria were type 1 diabetes mellitus, impaired glucose tolerance secondary to endocrine disease, exocrine pancreatic disease, SBP >180 mmHg DBP >110 mmHg, UTI, hematuria, acute febrile illness, vigorous exercise, short-term pronounced hyperglycemia, obstructive uropathy, confirmed or suspected renal artery disease by USG doppler study, Serum potassium level >5.5 meq/l. Patients were divided in two groups, group A (n= 28, spironolactone 25 mg and ramipril 5 mg) and group B (n=27, spironolactone 25 mg). Subjects were followed over 12 weeks and baseline and 12-week serum potassium being compared. Other baseline base line laboratory investigation such as serum lipid profile, HbA1c, eGFR, fundus examination, ultrasonography (KUB), serum urea, serum creatinine, hemoglobin, were taken at the starting point.Results: Both the group after receiving respective drug were followed for 3-month duration and serum potassium level measured at end of 3 months. Mean values of baseline and follow up serum potassium for group A and group B were 4.24±0.59, 4.07±0.61 and 4.35±0.55, 4.16±0.61 respectively, p value found to be >0.05 at 95% CI.Conclusions: In the study it was concluded that p value found to be >0.05 at 95% C.I denoting that there is no significant difference between mean value of base line and follow up serum potassium value in both group. None of patients in either group had experienced hyperkalaemia over follow up period though serum potassium level were slightly higher in group A, but this difference was statistically not significant. Follow up period of study should be long enough to comment on safety profile of combining spironolactone and ACE inhibitors in diabetic nephropathy patients

An Overview : Natural Bio-enhancer’s in Formulation Development

Bioenhancers are chemical entities that are obtained from synthetic as well as natural sources. They are mainly used in formulation development to enhance the bioavailability of poorly solubilized drug molecule. The ideal characteristic of bioenhancers includes inertness, nontoxic, cost effective and decrease the dose of active constituents. There are lots of natural bioenhancers available such as piperine quercetin niaziridin, genistein, glycrrhyzin, curcumin. The review focus on plant based bioenhancers and their active principle that produces those effects. There is a need of extensive study on natural bioenhancers which can be utilized in formulation development. Keywords: bioenhancer, bioavailability, piperine, curcumi

Physicochemical Characterisation of Commercially Available Prussian Blue Insoluble Samples and Its Comparison with Radiogardase Cs

The physicochemical properties of insoluble Prussian blue (PB) play an important role in its thallium binding ability. Therefore, the present study aimed to characterise various physicochemical parameters of PB available commercially and compare them with the USFDA-approved Radiogardase ® -Cs. In addition, PB was synthesised by indirect and direct methods. PB samples and Radiogardase®-Cs were analysed for various parameters like particle size, moisture content, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and correlated with its Maximum Binding Capacity (MBC) for thallium. Radiogardase ® -Cs showed the highest MBC of 238 mg/g for thallium with D 90 of 785 μm and moisture content of 23.24 %. The MBC of other PB samples was found to be significantly lower than Radiogardase ® -Cs which was found to be directly proportional to the moisture content. However, other parameters like particle size, and iron content vary significantly but no correlation was observed with MBC for thallium. This finding suggests that moisture content and MBC are extremely important parameters for optimising the PB to achieve desirable pharmacological efficacy for removing thallium in vivo

Development of higher order particle discretization scheme for analysis of failure phenomena

This paper presents the higher order extension of Particle Discretization Scheme (PDS) and its implementation in FEM framework (PDS-FEM) to solve boundary value problems of linear elastic solids, including brittle cracks. Higher order PDS defines an approximation fd(x) of a function f(x), defined over domain Ω, as the union of local polynomial approximation of f(x) over each Voronoi tessellation elements of Ω. The support of the local polynomial bases being confined to the domain of each Voronoi element, fd(x) consists of discontinuities along each Voronoi boundaries. Considering local polynomial approximations over elements of Delaunay tessellation, PDS define bounded derivatives for this discontinuous fd(x). Utilizing the inherent discontinuities in fd(x), PDS-FEM proposes a numerically efficient treatment for modeling cracks. This novel use of local polynomial approximations in FEM is verified with a set of linear elastic problems, including mode-I crack tip stress field