Effect of dietary supplementation of marigold oleoresin on growth, survival and total muscle carotenoid of Koi carp, Cyprinus carpio L.

The experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary supplementation of carotenoid (marigold oleoresin) on growth, survival and total body carotenoid of Koi carp (Cyprinus carpio). The experiment was carried out in 12 fiber aquarium tanks of size 12"×6"×6"(20l capacity). Each tank was stocked with15 fishes of uniform size. The marigold oleoresin were as dietary supplement at levels 60, 120, 180, 240, 300 ppm/kg of the feed and designated as treatment T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 respectively and diet without marigold oleoresin supplementationserved as a control (T0). The result of the experiment showed that there was significant difference found in absolute growth rate and specific growth rate of the fish (P >0.05). However, 180ppm marigold oleoresin fed fishes showed higher mean weight gain of 3.98±0.22g and lower feed conversion ratio (FCR) of 2.81±0.04 than the other treatment groups. The body coloration and total carotenoid concentration of muscle tissue (30.16±0.60?g/g) was significantly higher in fish fed with 180 ppm marigold oleoresin diet. The study showed that incorporation of 180ppm of marigold oleoresin in diet was found better to enhance the growth and coloration in C. carpio

TIRSPEC : TIFR Near Infrared Spectrometer and Imager

We describe the TIFR Near Infrared Spectrometer and Imager (TIRSPEC) designed and built in collaboration with M/s. Mauna Kea Infrared LLC, Hawaii, USA, now in operation on the side port of the 2-m Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT), Hanle (Ladakh), India at an altitude of 4500 meters above mean sea level. The TIRSPEC provides for various modes of operation which include photometry with broad and narrow band filters, spectrometry in single order mode with long slits of 300" length and different widths, with order sorter filters in the Y, J, H and K bands and a grism as the dispersing element as well as a cross dispersed mode to give a coverage of 1.0 to 2.5 microns at a resolving power R of ~1200. The TIRSPEC uses a Teledyne 1024 x 1024 pixel Hawaii-1 PACE array detector with a cutoff wavelength of 2.5 microns and on HCT, provides a field of view of 307" x 307" with a plate scale of 0.3"/pixel. The TIRSPEC was successfully commissioned in June 2013 and the subsequent characterization and astronomical observations are presented here. The TIRSPEC has been made available to the worldwide astronomical community for science observations from May 2014.Comment: 20 pages, 21 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in Journal of Astronomical Instrumentatio

Vrikshayurveda - A Boon

Ancient India has given us a treasure of Vrikshayurveda which if utilised wisely can be a boon to our society. Looking at the pathetic malpractices of modern agriculture and haphazard use of chemical pesticides and fertilisers it is the need of time today to bring it back as part of good agriculture practises. Vrikshayurveda is a dedicated text written by Surpala signifying the importance of agriculture science. Vrikshayurveda means the science of Plant Life. Indian agriculture and horticulture stands at the crossroads today. Chemical fertilizers and pesticide are petroleum derivatives. But with the depletion of oil reserves all over this planet within next 20-25 years this system of agriculture cannot last. At that time we need to find out alternate cultivation methods and nothing can be better than Vrikshayurveda. Already there is a boom of organic farming nowadays. But organic farming and Vrikshayurveda are totally different aspects of agriculture. Simple experiments can always be done by easily available materials’ mentioned in Vrikshayurveda. Surpala also comes up with a number of impractical suggestions, fanciful ideas that do not please us at times therefore further study and research should go along simultaneously