Maternal Health in Gujarat, India: A Case Study

Gujarat state of India has come a long way in improving the health indicators since independence, but progress in reducing maternal mortality has been slow and largely unmeasured or documented. This case study identified several challenges for reducing the maternal mortality ratio, including lack of the managerial capacity, shortage of skilled human resources, non-availability of blood in rural areas, and infrastructural and supply bottlenecks. The Gujarat Government has taken several initiatives to improve maternal health services, such as partnership with private obstetricians to provide delivery care to poor women, a relatively-short training of medical officers and nurses to provide emergency obstetric care (EmOC), and an improved emergency transport system. However, several challenges still remain. Recommendations are made for expanding the management capacity for maternal health, operationalization of health facilities, and ensuring EmOC on 24/7 (24 hours a day, seven days a week) basis by posting nurse-midwives and trained medical officers for skilled care, ensuring availability of blood, and improving the registration and auditing of all maternal deaths. However, all these interventions can only take place if there are substantially- increased political will and social awareness

Management of Insect Pest Resistance while Using Transgenic Plants

Pest resistance is a serious global problem. Over 600 pests (insects, weeds, pathogens) are reported to have developed resistance to chemical pesticides. Several important pests have overcome, or have the potential to develop resistance to, plant defensive mechanisms through conventional plant breeding and biotechnology. Durability of plant defense mechanisms is especially critical in the rapidly advancing area of plant genetic transformation which is primarily focusing on the use of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) genes to impart pest resistance in several important crops. Several major private and public sector organizations are now focusing on creating transgenic plants with the engineered d-endotoxin from Bt. There are now reports of resistance to Bt in both laboratory and field strains of various insect pests. The broad application of Bt technology has a very high potential to accelerate the instances of resistance to Bt and radically reduce its utility. Strategies to delay the development of resistance while using Bt engineered plants are many and would need to be experimented under the different agro-ecosystems of developing countries. A brief description of the various strategies available for experimentation is discussed

Management of Insect Pest Resistance while Using Transgenic Plants

Pest resistance is a serious global problem. Over 600 pests (insects, weeds, pathogens) are reported to have developed resistance to chemical pesticides. Several important pests have overcome, or have the potential to develop resistance to, plant defensive mechanisms through conventional plant breeding and biotechnology. Durability of plant defense mechanisms is especially critical in the rapidly advancing area of plant genetic transformation which is primarily focusing on the use of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) genes to impart pest resistance in several important crops. Several major private and public sector organizations are now focusing on creating transgenic plants with the engineered d-endotoxin from Bt. There are now reports of resistance to Bt in both laboratory and field strains of various insect pests. The broad application of Bt technology has a very high potential to accelerate the instances of resistance to Bt and radically reduce its utility. Strategies to delay the development of resistance while using Bt engineered plants are many and would need to be experimented under the different agro-ecosystems of developing countries. A brief description of the various strategies available for experimentation is discussed

ADVANCES IN SWEET POTATO AND POTATO RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS IN CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

Considerable advances in sweet potato technology are apparent in several crop aspects which are relevant to the Region. Research results in genetic resource preservation, breeding for higher yields and non-sweet types, pathogen-tested cultivar availability and in vitro preservation through the collaborative efforts of the International Potato Center and National and Regional Programs and entities will be presented and discussed. For potatoes, research developments in breeding for adaptation to hot climates, seed production, true potato seed technology and virology will be discussed. Insect pests damaging potatoes and sweet potatoes in Tropical America will be identified and discussed. Insect pests like the potato tuber moth, Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller), and the sweet potato weevil, Cylas formicarius (Fabricius) have been known to cause yield losses of more than 40%. In ah endeavour to address the challenging task of developing appropriate and sustainable pest management strategies, the International Potato Center (CIP) has followed, from its inception, an advanced multidisciplinary research and training approach on a collaborative basis. This approach has been intensified in the last ten years. During this period, CIP's research efforts have yielded useful technology, the application of which promises to have definite impact on management of potato and sweet potato pests of economic importance in Tropical America. CIP's integrated pest management (IPM) program, over the last several years, has based its research effort on the use of host plant resistance (HPR) to insect pests, sex-pheromones, cultural practices and biological control of key insect pests. Status of research and development work on these control components and their use in national programs in Tropical America will be discussed

STRATEGIES TO DEVELOP AN INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT PROGRAM FOR SWEET POTATO WEEVIL COMPLEX IN THE CARIBBEAN

The most serious insect pests damaging sweet potatoes in the Caribbean region are a complex of weevils, commonly called «Sweet Potato Weevils» which attack the stems and storage roots. Losses due to sweet potato weevils usually range from 50-80 %, depending on the time during which the crop remains in the ground. Several weevil species are reported to damage sweet potato roots and stems ; in the Caribbean two species, +12*Cylas formicarius elegantulus and Euscepes posfasciatus are significant in terms of their damage over wide areas. Recently, the International Potato Center (CIP), in collaboration with national programs of the Caribbean Region have identified research priorities for integrated pest management (IPM) of sweet potato weevils. These include farmer interviews, testing germplasmfor resistance utilizing sex pheromones Z3-1,2 : E2 Butenoate for monitoring and mass trapping ; biological control using entomophilic nematodes and the use of agronomic practices. Dominican Republic has taken a lead in testing these control components. Brief details of these projects and the implementation of projects related to IPM of sweet potato weevils in other countries of Caribbean are discussed. ----- Les ravageurs les plus importants sont des charançons qui s'attaquent aux tiges et aux tubercules stockés. Les pertes causées par ces insectes atteignent 50 à 80 % et sont fonction du temps passé par le légume dans le sol. Plusieurs espèces ont été recensées comme dommageable dont deux dans les Caraïbes : Cylas formicarius eiegantuluset Euscepespostfaciatus.. Récemment, le CIP (International Potato Center) a dégagé des priorités de recherche en lutte intégrée, en collaboration avec les programmes nationaux de la zone Caraïbe. Ces priorités sont les suivantes : tests précoces de résistance ; piégeage de masse et avertissement agricole par l'utilisation de la phéromone sexuelle (Z3-1,2 : E2 Butenoate) ; lutte biologique à l'aide de nématodes entomoparasites ; techniques culturales. La République Domicaine est engagée dans ces différents programmes. Le détail de ces projets ainsi que leurs relations avec les programmes de lutte intégrée contre les charançons de la patate douce dans les autres pays de la Caraïbe sont discutés dans ce travail

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Not AvailableTree itself is assumed to be a better indicator of water stress. Sensing of plant behavior in relation to leaf physiology, plant water status and canopy reflectance are the major factors indicating the water need of the trees. In this study, different response factors (leaf physiological parameters, leaf nutrients, leaf water content and canopy reflectance) of citrus tree have been observed under differential water stress condition by supplying deficit irrigation and fruit yield has been forecasted based on these factors. For the first year a yield response model has been formulated employing principal component regression (PCR) methodology and the model has been validated for second year data. Among different factors, leaf-N, leaf-K, stem water potential stress index, stomatal conductance and water band index have been found as the best predictors for yield and resulted higher accuracy ( ) in yield prediction of citrus tree. Overall, the study reveals that sensing tree is one of the better options to quantify water stress for efficient irrigation scheduling and to get target yield from orchards.Not Availabl