Valorizing the 'Irulas' traditional knowledge of medicinal plants in the Kodiakkarai Reserve Forest, India

A mounting body of critical research is raising the credibility of Traditional Knowledge (TK) in scientific studies. These studies have gained credibility because their claims are supported by methods that are repeatable and provide data for quantitative analyses that can be used to assess confidence in the results. The theoretical importance of our study is to test consensus (reliability/replicable) of TK within one ancient culture; the Irulas of the Kodiakkarai Reserve Forest (KRF), India. We calculated relative frequency (RF) and consensus factor (Fic) of TK from 120 Irulas informants knowledgeable of medicinal plants. Our research indicates a high consensus of the Irulas TK concerning medicinal plants. The Irulas revealed a diversity of plants that have medicinal and nutritional utility in their culture and specific ethnotaxa used to treat a variety of illnesses and promote general good health in their communities. Throughout history aboriginal people have been the custodians of bio-diversity and have sustained healthy life-styles in an environmentally sustainable manner. However this knowledge has not been transferred to modern society. We suggest this may be due to the asymmetry between scientific and TK, which demands a new approach that considers the assemblage of TK and scientific knowledge. A greater understanding of TK is beginning to emerge based on our research with both the Irulas and Malasars; they believe that a healthy lifestyle is founded on a healthy environment. These aboriginal groups chose to share this knowledge with society-at-large in order to promote a global lifestyle of health and environmental sustainability

Making research collaborations : learning from processes of transdisciplinary engagement in agricultural research

This paper is an attempt to capture the process and outcomes of disciplinary collaborations in two multi-partner transdisciplinary research projects on agriculture. The focus of the projects was building smallholder resilience in semi-arid tropics. The collaborating disciplines fall broadly into natural sciences and social sciences. The farming community and the other actors across the agricultural value chain, being the end users of research were active stakeholders. This paper details the drivers and barriers in transdisciplinary collaboration and articulates the extent of disciplinary integration achieved between the natural sciences, social sciences and the end users of research. The key elements contributing to effectiveness of transdisciplinary research is the conceptual clarity of disciplinary contributions and interfaces, shared knowledge of the expected research outcomes, positioning of the different disciplines within the research framework, openness of the researchers to disciplinary cross fertilization, the transdisciplinary research experience of the partnering institutions and accommodation of the cultural differences between the collaborating partners

Making research collaborations : learning from processes of transdisciplinary engagement in agricultural research

This paper is an attempt to capture the process and outcomes of disciplinary collaborations in two multi-partner transdisciplinary research projects on agriculture. The focus of the projects was building smallholder resilience in semi-arid tropics. The collaborating disciplines fall broadly into natural sciences and social sciences. The farming community and the other actors across the agricultural value chain, being the end users of research were active stakeholders. This paper details the drivers and barriers in transdisciplinary collaboration and articulates the extent of disciplinary integration achieved between the natural sciences, social sciences and the end users of research. The key elements contributing to effectiveness of transdisciplinary research is the conceptual clarity of disciplinary contributions and interfaces, shared knowledge of the expected research outcomes, positioning of the different disciplines within the research framework, openness of the researchers to disciplinary cross fertilization, the transdisciplinary research experience of the partnering institutions and accommodation of the cultural differences between the collaborating partners

EXTRACTION OF EOG ARTIFACT FROM MULTICHANNEL EEG SIGNAL USING MULTICHANNEL SINGULAR SPECTRUM ANALYSIS AND RLS ADAPTIVE NOISE CANCELER

Electroencephalogram (EEG) are the neurological signals which help in the study of various se are diseases. These are contaminated with various artifacts like electrooculogram (EOG). It is difficult to study and analysis of brain signals in the existence of artifact. Usually adaptive filter has been used to remove artifact in biomedical signals. An effective approach is proposed in this paper to remove ocular artifacts from the raw EEG recording. In proposed technique, carried out by multichannel singular spectrum analysis (MSSA) and recursive least square (RLS) adaptive filter. To validate the proposed algorithm some noisy simulated signals are used. The performance of the technique is also examined using synthetic EEG signals. In terms of mean absolute error (MAE) and relative root mean square error (RRMSE)

Ecological stability of genetic diversity among landraces of little millet (Panicum sumatrense) in south India

Risk-prone agriculture by resource-poor tribal farmers in Kolli hills, south India is slowly giving way to commercial exploitation for paltry compensation thus eroding genetic diversity of millets. Cultivation and conservation of millets, particularly, little millet (Panicum sumatrense Roth ex Roem. et Schult.), called samai in the local language, Tamil are on the wane. Whether irregular and sparse cultivation of little millet by tribals has an impact on the current level of genetic divergence is also not clear. Therefore genetic divergence among 7 landraces and 1 check variety was evaluated based on morphometric traits at two sites over two seasons. The seven landraces formed six distinct groups with high inter-group distances. Days to maturity and flowering time contributed the most to genetic differentiation. Principal component analysis confirmed the results of divergence analysis. But a recent molecular analysis of diversity reported that the landraces were all genetically uniform and any observed diversity could be due environmental variation. An analysis of the contradictory results only emphasized the fact that lack of polymorphism need not imply lack of genetic divergence. The findings co evaluated with relevant published work highlight the value of morphometric analysis and reveal sustained genetic divergence in little millet

How do fruit and vegetable markets operate in rural India? A qualitative study of impact of supply and demand on nutrition security

Background:Diets in rural India are cereal based with low intakes of micronutrient-rich foods. The value chains for nutrition approach aims to study supply and demand of such foods. This may aid in development of interventions to improve diets and livelihoods.Objectives:(1) To identify how fruit and vegetables are accessed, (2) to describe and map the structure of value chains for exemplar foods, (3) to understand how foods are priced, and (4) to explore factors that affect decisions about which crops are grown, marketed, and sold.Methods:After stakeholder consultation, we identified 2 fruits (mango and guava) and 2 vegetables (shepu and spinach) as exemplar foods. Criteria for these exemplar foods were that they should be known to participants and there should be variability in intakes. We held 24 interviews with value chain actors including farmers, wholesalers, and vendors of the exemplar foods. Data collection was stopped when no new information emerged. We used inductive thematic coding for our analysis.Results:The value chains for each of the exemplar foods were relatively simple and involved farmers, middlemen, and vendors at either city or village level. The main themes identified as being factors considered when making decisions about which foods to grow and sell were (1) farming resources and assets, (2) quality of produce, (3) environmental conditions, (4) financial factors, (5) transport availability, and (6) consumer demand.Conclusions:There are opportunities to intervene within fruit and vegetable value chains to increase availability, affordability, and access to produce in rural India. Future research is required to determine which interventions will be feasible, effective, and acceptable to the community and other stakeholders

Barriers and facilitators to fruit and vegetable consumption among rural Indian women of reproductive age

Background: Micronutrient insufficiencies are a serious public health problem among women of reproductive age in Low and Middle Income Countries including India, adversely affecting maternal health and economic productivity, and child growth and educational outcomes. Fruit and vegetables are important sources of micronutrients and consumption of these foods is less than recommendations. Objective: To identify perceived barriers and facilitators to fruit and vegetable consumption among women of reproductive age living in rural communities in Eastern Maharashtra, India.Methods: We used qualitative methods and held 9 focus group discussions and 12 one to one interviews. The data collection was stopped when no new information emerged. We used inductive thematic coding to analyse the data. Women aged 18-40 years were recruited from eight villages surrounding the city of Wardha, Maharashtra, India.Results: Women knew that fruit and vegetables were beneficial to health and expressed that they wanted to increase intakes of these foods for themselves and their children. Seven main themes were identified as being barriers or facilitators to fruit and vegetable consumption: 1) Personal factors; 2) Household dynamics; 3) Social and Cultural Norms; 4) Workload; 5) Time pressures; 6) Environmental Factors; 7) Cost. Conclusions: Rural Indian women consumed fruit and vegetables infrequently and said they would like to consume more. Several potentially modifiable factors affecting intakes were identified. Value chain analyses of fruit and vegetables in these communities are important to identify opportunities to intervene to increase consumption. <br/