Technical efficiency of resource conserving technologies in rice wheat system: case of Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh in India

Poster prepared for presentation at the conferenceThis study aimed to evaluate the technical efficiency of farmers engaged in rice-wheat cropping systems in India using Resource Conserving Technologies (RCTs) such as zero-tillage and direct seeding, under the intervention of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project primarily funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The goal of the project is to alleviate hunger and malnutrition as well as increase income and food security for poor farmers living in South Asia. The Resource Conserving Technologies (RCTs) are being promoted as part of conservation agriculture supported by the project. These technologies are designed to reduce the strain agricultural production has on two critical natural resources: water and soil. The RCT technologies are being promoted by the CSISA project in several locations in India, and the main ones are direct seeded rice, reduced-tillage, and zero-tillage. The farmers participating in the study are part of the CSISA project and are located in Eastern Uttar-Pradesh and Bihar in Northeastern India. The data used in this study was derived from a socio-economic survey conducted in these two regions during the Kharif season of 2009 and Rabi season of 2010. A Stochastic frontier Analysis, using the Cobb-Douglas or Translog function form, was performed to investigate and compare the determinants of technical efficiency among farmers receiving intervention and those who are not. Farmers receiving intervention from the CSISA project tend to be more technically efficient than those without intervention.Tien Dung Khong, Valerien O. Pede, Zenaida M. Sumalde, Justin D. McKinley, Samarendu Mohant

Peningkatan Aktivitas Belajar Peserta Didik Menggunakan Model Kerja Kelompok pada Pembelajaran Ilmu Pengetahuan Sosial Kelas IV di Sekolah Dasar Negeri 09 Toho

This research aims to improve the activity of the learners using the learning model of group work in the Social Sciences (Social Sciences) Elementary School fourth grade 09 Toho. This study deskripitf shaped form with a data collection tool questionnaire. Subjects in this study amounted to 25 fourth grade students of State Elementary School 09 Toho. The draft Implementation of Learning (RPP) in class III IPS has been designed in accordance with the Education Unit Level Curriculum (SBC) is applicable, and the syllabus and learning scenarios based on Chewing number 41 in 2005. Social sciences learning process takes place smoothly, in addition to referring to the lesson plan (RPP) and Permen No. 41 in 2005, a contextual-based learning where students are actively learning to seek and find, process, solve the problems faced in the classroom. Shows a dynamic learning activities, dialogic, democratic and fun students. Observations that have been made are great penigkatan from baseline to cycle that has been done is the average baseline was 32??%, increasing to 64% in the first cycle and increased to 84% in the second cycle

Gender Differences in Climate Change Perception and Adaptation Strategies: The Case of Three Provinces in Vietnam’s Mekong River Delta

The Policy Information and Response Platform on Climate Change and Rice in ASEAN and its Member Countries Project (PIRCCA) is one of the trial projects funded under Flagship 4. PIRCCA has an overarching goal to enable policymakers in ASEAN countries to make informed decisions on (1) food security policies focusing on the supply and availability of rice, (2) climate change adaptation policies, and (3) gender action plans

Presymptomatic geographical distribution of ALS patients suggests the involvement of environmental factors in the disease pathogenesis

BackgroundGiven that the pathogenetic process of ALS begins many years prior to its clinical onset, examining patients' residential histories may offer insights on the disease risk factors. Here, we analyzed the spatial distribution of a large ALS cohort in the 50 years preceding the disease onset.MethodsData from the PARALS register were used. A spatial cluster analysis was performed at the time of disease onset and at 1-year intervals up to 50 years prior to that.ResultsA total of 1124 patients were included. The analysis revealed a higher-incidence cluster in a large area (435,000 inhabitants) west of Turin. From 9 to 2 years before their onset, 105 cases were expected and 150 were observed, resulting in a relative risk of 1.49 (P = 0.04). We also found a surprising high number of patients pairs (51) and trios (3) who lived in the same dwelling while not being related. Noticeably, these occurrences were not observed in large dwellings as we would have expected. The probability of this occurring in smaller buildings only by chance was very low (P = 0.01 and P = 0.04 for pairs and trios, respectively).ConclusionsWe identified a higher-incidence ALS cluster in the years preceding the disease onset. The cluster area being densely populated, many exposures could have contributed to the high incidence ALS cluster, while we could not find a shared exposure among the dwellings where multiple patients had lived. However, these findings support that exogenous factors are likely involved in the ALS pathogenesis