Livestock in the livelihoods of the underprivileged communities in India: A review

In India underprivileged families account for about one-fourth of the population and contribute a major part of livestock production. Livestock are central to their livelihoods and culture. An extensive review of formal and grey literature addressed the premise that a good understanding by the research and development community of the role of livestock in the livelihoods of the underprivileged and their production and marketing systems are needed to guide effective research and development (R&D) aiming to alleviate poverty. The review covered cattle, buffalo, goat, sheep, pig and poultry and their output, input, risk, asset and social functions when kept by India’s underprivileged families. It examined the factors affecting where and how the livestock were managed. It is concluded that to improve the livelihoods of the underprivileged families through livestock, inter-disciplinary action-oriented research should target communities in contrasting agro-ecozones in central, eastern and north-eastern India with priority given to small-stock, specifically goats, pigs and backyard poultry. The review notes that there is paucity of information and of projects on underprivileged communities and small-stock, particularly in the suggested target regions. It is recommended that the research should start by ensuring a shared understanding between research-for-development teams and the underprivileged communities of the preferences of the communities for specific types of livestock, their perceptions (particularly of the women) about the roles and functions of the livestock in livelihood strategies, and what, from their perspective, constitutes improvement. Subsequently, action-oriented participatory research would identify and address constraints to, and opportunities for, improving livestock-based productivity and profitability and the non-market functions of livestock. The recommended approach will require a change in paradigm from the conventional reductionist, animal-level research to peoplecentred, participatory and holistic methods in iterative research-for-development programmes that are inter-disciplinary, multi-institutional and, ideally, multi-locational to facilitate cross-site lesson learning. Given the increasing demand for livestock products, this is an opportune time for animal scientists to make an impact on the livelihoods of the underprivileged by adopting this change in the research paradigm

Livestock Development From an Non Government Organization Perspective

ABSTRACT: Crop livestock mixed farming is traditional in India Livestock arc not only complimentary and supplementary to crops but are a means of risk coverage and strongly linked with culture. Livestock development is now a major emponciit in rural development programme in India particularly in rainfed underdeveloped areas. The paper describes the approach, perceptions and programmes of the BAIF, a non government organization (N100), involved in rural development since die last 25 years, The BA1F progranuues involve more than half a million fanners from five states. The involvement is mostly in rainfcck underdeveloped areas. Livestock development has served very useful purpose as point of entry in viral areas and for initiation of development activities. The paper discusses experiences in Rajasthan, one of the states Di which BAD? is involved since long. Participatory approach m livestock development necessitated modifications in training and extension programmes. The staff had also to be oriented For taking a systems approach and in gender sensitivity, since women involvement is critical for livestock production. The need to critically study traditional systems, farmer perceptions. indigenous knowledge and farmer wisdom are some of the other aspects discussed and emphasised in the paper The livestock development centres enabled undertaking total farming systems study of the area and in planning future development activities in a participatory manner. A few examples of studies on sonic of the aspects referred ahove are cited and discussed. Key Words Livestock Development, Non Ciovennueut Organization, !Inman Dimension, Rural Development Approac

Urea treatment of straw.

BACKGROUND: Motivation is a critical factor in supporting sustained exercise, which in turn is associated with important health outcomes. Accordingly, research on exercise motivation from the perspective of self-determination theory (SDT) has grown considerably in recent years. Previous reviews have been mostly narrative and theoretical. Aiming at a more comprehensive review of empirical data, this article examines the empirical literature on the relations between key SDT-based constructs and exercise and physical activity behavioral outcomes. METHODS: This systematic review includes 66 empirical studies published up to June 2011, including experimental, cross-sectional, and prospective studies that have measured exercise causality orientations, autonomy/need support and need satisfaction, exercise motives (or goal contents), and exercise self-regulations and motivation. We also studied SDT-based interventions aimed at increasing exercise behavior. In all studies, actual or self-reported exercise/physical activity, including attendance, was analyzed as the dependent variable. Findings are summarized based on quantitative analysis of the evidence. RESULTS: The results show consistent support for a positive relation between more autonomous forms of motivation and exercise, with a trend towards identified regulation predicting initial/short-term adoption more strongly than intrinsic motivation, and intrinsic motivation being more predictive of long-term exercise adherence. The literature is also consistent in that competence satisfaction and more intrinsic motives positively predict exercise participation across a range of samples and settings. Mixed evidence was found concerning the role of other types of motives (e.g., health/fitness and body-related), and also the specific nature and consequences of introjected regulation. The majority of studies have employed descriptive (i.e., non-experimental) designs but similar results are found across cross-sectional, prospective, and experimental designs. CONCLUSION: Overall, the literature provides good evidence for the value of SDT in understanding exercise behavior, demonstrating the importance of autonomous (identified and intrinsic) regulations in fostering physical activity. Nevertheless, there remain some inconsistencies and mixed evidence with regard to the relations between specific SDT constructs and exercise. Particular limitations concerning the different associations explored in the literature are discussed in the context of refining the application of SDT to exercise and physical activity promotion, and integrating these with avenues for future research

Open data from the third observing run of LIGO, Virgo, KAGRA, and GEO

The global network of gravitational-wave observatories now includes five detectors, namely LIGO Hanford, LIGO Livingston, Virgo, KAGRA, and GEO 600. These detectors collected data during their third observing run, O3, composed of three phases: O3a starting in 2019 April and lasting six months, O3b starting in 2019 November and lasting five months, and O3GK starting in 2020 April and lasting two weeks. In this paper we describe these data and various other science products that can be freely accessed through the Gravitational Wave Open Science Center at https://gwosc.org. The main data set, consisting of the gravitational-wave strain time series that contains the astrophysical signals, is released together with supporting data useful for their analysis and documentation, tutorials, as well as analysis software packages