Spectrophotometric Study of the Complexes of Fe(III) with Salicylhydroxamic Acid & Its Substituted Derivatives

753-75

PaCTS 1.0: A Crowdsourced Reporting Standard for Paleoclimate Data

The progress of science is tied to the standardization of measurements, instruments, and data. This is especially true in the Big Data age, where analyzing large data volumes critically hinges on the data being standardized. Accordingly, the lack of community-sanctioned data standards in paleoclimatology has largely precluded the benefits of Big Data advances in the field. Building upon recent efforts to standardize the format and terminology of paleoclimate data, this article describes the Paleoclimate Community reporTing Standard (PaCTS), a crowdsourced reporting standard for such data. PaCTS captures which information should be included when reporting paleoclimate data, with the goal of maximizing the reuse value of paleoclimate data sets, particularly for synthesis work and comparison to climate model simulations. Initiated by the LinkedEarth project, the process to elicit a reporting standard involved an international workshop in 2016, various forms of digital community engagement over the next few years, and grassroots working groups. Participants in this process identified important properties across paleoclimate archives, in addition to the reporting of uncertainties and chronologies; they also identified archive-specific properties and distinguished reporting standards for new versus legacy data sets. This work shows that at least 135 respondents overwhelmingly support a drastic increase in the amount of metadata accompanying paleoclimate data sets. Since such goals are at odds with present practices, we discuss a transparent path toward implementing or revising these recommendations in the near future, using both bottom-up and top-down approaches

PaCTS 1.0: A Crowdsourced Reporting Standard for Paleoclimate Data

The progress of science is tied to the standardization of measurements, instruments, and data. This is especially true in the Big Data age, where analyzing large data volumes critically hinges on the data being standardized. Accordingly, the lack of community-sanctioned data standards in paleoclimatology has largely precluded the benefits of Big Data advances in the field. Building upon recent efforts to standardize the format and terminology of paleoclimate data, this article describes the Paleoclimate Community reporTing Standard (PaCTS), a crowdsourced reporting standard for such data. PaCTS captures which information should be included when reporting paleoclimate data, with the goal of maximizing the reuse value of paleoclimate data sets, particularly for synthesis work and comparison to climate model simulations. Initiated by the LinkedEarth project, the process to elicit a reporting standard involved an international workshop in 2016, various forms of digital community engagement over the next few years, and grassroots working groups. Participants in this process identified important properties across paleoclimate archives, in addition to the reporting of uncertainties and chronologies; they also identified archive-specific properties and distinguished reporting standards for new versus legacy data sets. This work shows that at least 135 respondents overwhelmingly support a drastic increase in the amount of metadata accompanying paleoclimate data sets. Since such goals are at odds with present practices, we discuss a transparent path toward implementing or revising these recommendations in the near future, using both bottom-up and top-down approaches

Building human capital of small scale farmers: a Coalition approach

Small and marginal farmers benefited from the coalition approach in accessing some of the resources such as technology, credit and markets. Improvement in their livelihood through enhanced production and higher margins in bulking, storing and selling their produce solely depended on the strength of collective action

Farmer Enabled Village Seed Banks as the Edifice of Integrated Seed System for Improved Access, Production and Supply of Groundnut Seed in India - A Case Study

Seed is an important basic input for the enhancing the productivity of any crop species. The availability of quality seed of improved cultivar is the foundation for food production security. A goal perceived by many governments in the semi-arid tropics (SAT ) of Andhra Pradesh was to meet the groundnut seed requirements of small-scale farmers, but was never met successfully to meet their requirements. National agricultural research institutes and International research centers have worked together to develop new, stress tolerant varieties that are well adapted to smallholder farmers conditions, especially open pollinated varieties. Private seed sector is reluctant to produce open pollinated varieties and market the varieties of groundnut crop because, varieties do not fetch good price and it is not feasible for commercial sector. Even if they produce, it may not reach to small farmers in the remote rural areas. The baseline studies in the project area have identified key problems related to groundnut seed supply system. These' encompass timely availability of good quality seeds of high-yielding varieties, lack of storage facilities, problem of pod borer (storage pest), and farmers believe that using their own seed repeatedly year after year is detrimental and that repeated use of their own saved seed

Village Seed Banks:An integrated seed system for improved seed production and supply – A case study

Quality seed of improved varieties is an important basic input for enhancing productivity of any crop species. Existing mechanisms to meet the groundnut seed requirements of small-scale farmers are not adequate and have serious limitations. Private seed sector is reluctant to produce and market seed of open pollinated varieties/ self pollinated crops such as groundnut for economic consideration. A joint venture project between the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the Department of Rural Development (DRD), Government of Andhra Pradesh was launched in Mahbubnagar district in 2009 with the objective to improve access to and availability of good quality seed of farmer-preferred improved groundnut varieties particularly to smallholder farmers at affordable prices and at the right time to enhance crop productivity income and household food security. Efforts to improve the performance of the agricultural sector should include seed production, storage and delivery system at village level rather than in urban centers. The baseline studies in the project area identified key problems related to groundnut seed supply system. Lack of timely availability of good quality seeds of high-yielding varieties is one of the major constraints contributing to stagnant yields of groundnut crop in the project area where it is grown in postrainy season under irrigated conditions. The other constrains include lack of proper storage facilities at farm/household level, storage insect pests, and farmers’ perception of better performance of seed obtained from outside over locally produced seed. The project devised alternate seed systems, which ensure availability of quality seed of improved varieties at local level and integration of informal seed enterprises and farmers in the seed production and supply systems to enable timely availability of quality seed at the door-step of farmers. The concept of village seed banks was promoted and successfully validated in the project villages in Mahbubnagar district in Andhra Pradesh. It not only ensured timely availability of quality seed of farmer-preferred varieties at affordable price at local level but also enhanced crop productivity and local seed enterprises leading to higher incomes to farmers. The village seed model can be replicated elsewhere and to other crops as well