Three Essays on Food Demand, Land Use Intensity, and Food Crop Portfolio Choice under Weather Risk

Food security and adaptation to climate change has been an important research and development agenda in most of the development organizations and in the national policy of developing countries. The most vulnerable population from climate change and food security problems are rural and agricultural households in the developing and low income countries. Weather and climatic factors and food security has a direct link with poverty because a large majority of poor live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. The primary focus of this dissertation is to analyze consumption and production aspects of the rural agricultural households. On one hand, demand for total food is increasing with increases in population. Failing to meet the demand for food, rural households face malnutrition and chronic hunger. On the other hand, production agriculture is highly affected by weather and climatic factors. In the absence of well-developed irrigation and infrastructures and insurance mechanisms, agricultural households in the rural areas of developing countries need to respond to higher weather risk and combat it through different adaptation strategies. The first essay of this dissertation studies an influence of income, relative prices, and relevant socioeconomic factors on food purchasing behavior, in total and by primary food categories, among rural Indian households with projections being made on future demand. The second essay investigates how intensity of land use and cropping is affected by an increase in weather risk. It analyzes farmers’ short- and long- run responses towards weather risk through land utilization for crops while controlling for changes in irrigation and infrastructure, introduction of high yielding varieties, and increased literacy in rural areas. The final essay focuses on farmers’ adjustment through risk-based food crop choice combinations when they are subject to higher weather risk in the area

Adoption of breeding technologies in the U.S. dairy industry and their influences on farm profitability

Current trends in the U. S. dairy industry show an increase in milk cows per farm and milk production per cow, though the total number of milk cows in the industry is declining. This increase in productivity is attributed to advancements and adoption of modern dairy technologies. Breeding technologies are one of the important components of this structural change. This study analyzed the factors affecting the adoption of modern breeding technologies such as artificial insemination, embryo transplants, and sexed semen, and the impact of these technologies on farm productivity and profitability. Results of a bivariate probit model with selection showed that the adoption decision is affected by different farm and farmer attributes such as age, education, off-farm work, farm size, and specialization. The embryo transplants and/or sexed semen technology adoption decision was also influenced by the farmer’s planning horizon. Farm impact was assessed by estimating net returns and cost measures using ordinary least squares methods. Endogeneity and self-selection bias issues were also tested and corrected for in the impact models. Both artificial insemination (AI) and embryo transplants and/or sexed semen (ETSS) technologies are found to have significant and positive influences on net returns over total and net returns over operating costs per hundredweight of milk produced. Results also suggest that a higher allocated cost is associated with ETSS adoption. Relatively younger, more highly educated farmers and larger and more specialized farms received higher net returns. Since some part of the costs involved in ETSS may be for conducting artificial insemination, larger farms that had already adopted AI may consider ETSS adoption. Adoption decisions on a farm, however, would be based on the added advantages of ETSS adoption versus the additional costs of adopting these

Understanding the Coupling Mechanism of Gold Nanostructures by Finite-Difference Time-Domain Method

Gold nanoparticle assemblies show a strong plasmonic response due to the combined effects of the plasmon modes of the individual nanoparticles. Increasing the number of nanoparticles in a structured assemblies lead to significant shifts in the optical and physical properties. We use Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) simulations to analyze the electromagnetic response of structurally ordered gold nanorods in monomer and dimer configurations. The plasmonic coupling between nanorods in monomers or dimers configurations provides a unique technique for tuning the spectrum intensity, spatial distribution, and polarization of local electric fields within and around the nanostructures. Our study shows that an exponential coupling behavior when two gold nanorods are assembled in end-to-end and side-by-side dimer configurations with a small separation distance. The maximum electric field in the hot spots in between adjacent nanoparticles in end-to-end dimer configuration describes of a higher enhancement factor relative to the individual gold nanorod. Our FDTD simulation on dimer in end-to-end assembly for small separation distance up to ~ 40 nm can well explain the observed experimental growth dynamics of gold nanorods.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figure

Learning to serve: a analysis of English language training in call centres of India

Thomas Macaulay’s design to create “a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect” is taking a new turn. We are learning English not only to serve the colonial intent within our nation, but now, also to meet the requirement of the fast globalizing world. The nature of the global political economy demands further learning, or relearning, to serve and survive. In this paper, we present an analysis of English-learning for international call centres. This paper is based on a study of data generated from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with call centre agents and employers across twenty-six call centres located in the environs of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The fieldwork for the paper was first conducted in 2005. A follow-up was done in 2011 to examine the issues involved in detail. Notes from interview transcripts were used to groom the discussion. All the call centres studied are outsourcing centres for businesses in Europe, Australia and the United States of America

Power Generation through Hybrid Micro wind Turbine Generator & Solar Module using Tracking Mechanism

In advancement of solar & wind power sector there are different types of research has been done in both large & small scale for power generation. In this paper we have focused on power generation to charge the battery of capacity 26Ah 12V, so we need 10% (2.6A) rated current to the battery and we are charging the battery through hybrid solar-wind system at micro level using tracking mechanism to capture more power from solar and wind. This experiment consist of 24 micro windmill with 6 bladed fan which consist of 3-3 dynamos each connected in series firstly and then output of 24 groups of series connected dynamos i.e. output of 72 dynamos taken in parallel finally and there are 10 solar panel of 3 watt each connected in series-parallel combination which are mounted on the top of panel structure also at the slope angle of 280 and tracking of solar started from 10 am to 3 pm & after 3 pm solar panel kept at home position or wind panel kept in west direction, after power generation from hybrid micro solar-wind system we store the energy in battery of 26Ah 12V using MPPT charger and lastly we compared the average efficiencies of hybrid solar-wind system separately i.e. with & without tracking mechanism and battery charging time also and found that the average efficiency of hybrid micro solar-wind system is higher and less charging time of battery in tracking mechanism in compare to without tracking mechanism

Collision Avoidance for Autonomous Surface Vessels using Novel Artificial Potential Fields

As the demand for transportation through waterways continues to rise, the number of vessels plying the waters has correspondingly increased. This has resulted in a greater number of accidents and collisions between ships, some of which lead to significant loss of life and financial losses. Research has shown that human error is a major factor responsible for such incidents. The maritime industry is constantly exploring newer approaches to autonomy to mitigate this issue. This study presents the use of novel Artificial Potential Fields (APFs) to perform obstacle and collision avoidance in marine environments. This study highlights the advantage of harmonic functions over traditional functions in modeling potential fields. With a modification, the method is extended to effectively avoid dynamic obstacles while adhering to COLREGs. Improved performance is observed as compared to the traditional potential fields and also against the popular velocity obstacle approach. A comprehensive statistical analysis is also performed through Monte Carlo simulations in different congested environments that emulate real traffic conditions to demonstrate robustness of the approach.Comment: 28 pages, 30 figure

Kinetics of Ce(IV) Oxidation of Monothioglycerol in Carbonate Medium

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Establishing Colonial Hegemony through Science: A Study of British India and Robinson’s Mars Trilogy

Science and technology have always been used as powerful tools, and technologically advanced countries like the USA are consequently more powerful. In the modern context, power can be seen in the hands of transnationals or multinationals that control society through science. Looking at the historical use of science as power the example of the British is prominent as they used science and technology as effective instruments to establish and consolidate their control over India. For this purpose, they established scientific universities in India, constructed Railways in 1837 for easy and fast transportation of resources and introduced postal and telegraphic services. It is interesting that this strategy of using science and technology is found across the globe in the hands of those who want to establish their hegemony. The science fiction Mars Trilogy, which is very futuristic and imaginative, uses this motif. In the novel the transnationals, using science and technology, start shifting the inhabitants of Earth to Mars for the extraction of its resources and to establish hegemony over the new colony. Mars Trilogy is an excellent depiction of how colonial powers use science, and it contains an implicit warning for the future