A Study on the Economics of Milk Processing in a Dairy Plant in Haryana

The economics of manufacturing of different dairy products, viz. ghee, full-cream milk, standardized milk, toned milk, double-toned milk, skimmed milk and ice-cream (processing only) have been reported. The study has been conducted in an ISO-9002 dairy plant situated in the north-eastern part of Haryana. It has been observed that all the products, except the double-toned milk are being produced above the recommended breakeven level. A comparison of unit manufacturing cost with unit price received by the plant for different products has revealed that ice-cream manufacturing has been the most profitable proposition among different dairy products, and standardized milk has provided the maximum profit margin among the milk pouches manufactured during the study period, 2000-01. The double-toned milk has revealed a loss. Therefore, the study has suggested that the quantity of double-toned milk production should be raised at least equal to the recommended break-even level to avoid losses, if there is a market demand for this product or the resources of this product could be shifted to some other profitable products.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Inheritance of pod colour in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (l.) Walp)

Hybridization experiments were conducted in the screen house to study the pattern of inheritance of pod and pod tip pigmentation in cowpea. Segregating F2 populations were raised along with F1 and parental lines while F3 progenies were raised later for progeny testing. Chi-square test was used to analyze the result obtained with a view to determining the number of genes controlling the traits. Pod pigmentation is digenic while pigmentation in the pod tip followed two patterns of inheritance (monogenicity and digenicity). The investigation revealed that pigmentation is dominant over non-pigmenta Key words: Cowpea, Inheritance, dominant, monogenicity, and digenicity

Exact Solutions of an Incompressible Fluid Flow of Second Order byForced Oscillations on the Porous Boundary

Exact solution of an incompressible fluid of second-order type  by causing forced oscillationsin the liquid of finite depth bounded by a porous bottom has been obtained.  The results presentedare in terms of nondimensional elastico-viscosity parameter () which depends on the non-Newtonian coefficient and the frequency of excitation () of the external disturbance whileconsidering the porosity (K) of the medium. The flow parameters are found to be identical withthat of  Newtonian case as  and K.  It is seen that the effect of  and the porosityof the bounding surface has significant effect on the velocity parameter.  Further, the nature ofthe paths of the fluid particles have also been studied with reference to  and the porosity ofthe bounding surface

Flow of an Elastico-viscous Fluid Past an Infinite Platewith Variable Suction

Unsteady state flow of an incompressible elastico-viscous fluid of second-order type pastan infinite vertical porous flat plate by considering uniform and variable suction normal to theplate has been studied  and an exact solution is obtained for the velocity field. In the presentsituation, only two prescribed boundary conditions are available while the governing equationof motion is of third-order due to the presence of elastico-viscosity parameter.  The conceptfollowing Walters has been used for a much more meaningful solution.  The results for thevelocity distribution and skin friction have been analysed and discussed for different values ofthe parameters encountered in the governing equation of motion and skin friction on the plate.It is found that the effect of elastico-viscosity  and suction has significant contribution on thebackflow at the wal

Covid-19 causes unprecedented Migrant Crisis in India : Assessing the impact of lockdown measures on migrant workers during the first wave of Covid-19

The second wave of Covid-19 is sweeping across India at an immense speed. India recorded the highest number of single-day Covid-19 cases in the world (354,531), surpassing Brazil and the USA (as of 25 April 2021). The Indian government was caught unaware by this sudden surge in new Covid-19 cases, after early stringent lockdown measures had succeed in delaying the first wave of infections. While infection rates during the first wave were considerably lower, the containment measures had a major negative impact especially on millions of migrant workers who suffered the most during this period of lockdown. Many saw their incomes drop significantly and struggled to access sufficient quality food. To support vulnerable populations, the central government put in place a series of packages, but most of these barely reached migrant workers. Existing social safety measures urgently need to be revised to mitigate negative effects of the much more serious second wave

Dual-purpose cowpea for West Africa

Cowpea (Pzgna unguiculata) is grown as an intercrop with cereals in some 9 M ha of West Africa, mostly in the dry savanna. Though grain yields are low (circa 500 kg/ha), it is a nutritious food and dry season fodder. The haulms (leaves and stems) are cut and stored after grain harvest. Cowpea aids soil fertility by fixing soil N and returning N via manure from ruminants fed with haulms. Up to the early 1990s, research had focused on developing high grain yielding varieties. Recognition of farmers' appreciation of multiple uses, in particular the fodder value and the increasing importance of crop residues as feed resources in much of West Africa, where expansion of agricultural land and intensification mean reduced availability of land for planted forages, led to joint research by ILRI and IITA from 1994, which identified "dual purpose" varieties with the potential to provide both good grain yields and quality fodder under farmer conditions. Taking account of the heterogeneity in terms of market access and population density, two factors likely to influence adoption of dual purpose cowpea, this study estimated that, of the 9 M ha of cowpea, dual purpose varieties could be adopted on a consolidated area of 1.4 M ha of West Africa and potentially benefit 9.3 M people. Dual purpose cowpea varieties enable farmers with little land to obtain human food and livestock feed from the same area. Cowpea has also other economic, ecological and social benefits

Effect of feeding crop residues of different cereals and legumes on weight gain of Yankassa rams

Crop residues from maize (Zea mays L.), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench), millet (Pennisetum glaucum), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) and groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) are important livestock feed in the West African savannas particularly during the long dry season. The residues from cereal crops are relatively in abundance, but of low nutritive value compared to the leguminous crop residues, which are normally in short supply. This experiment was conducted to determine the most efficient combinations of feeding crop residues of major cereals and legumes with and without bran supplement to ‘Yankassa’ rams in confinement over a 70-day period and their effect on weight gains. Feeding the residues of cereals alone resulted in a mean weight loss of 14% for sorghum, 16% for maize and 11% for millet, while feeding the residues of cowpea or groundnut alone resulted in the weight gain of about 13 and 12%, respectively. Supplementing the cereals residues with about 300 g of legume residues per ram per day resulted in slight gain in weight. Addition of 300 g wheat bran and 300 g legume residues to the cereals in the daily diets of each ram resulted in about 19% mean weight gain. Thus, bran showed a small but significant additive effect on weight gain. From the 1.5 kg cereals or legumes residues offered per ram per day, the rams ate about 50% of cereals and 82% of the legumes. Thus, the cereals residues are not only less nutritious, but also less consumable compared to the legumes

Geophysical well-logging techniques for environmental problems - a review

Men’s desires for prosperity and better quality of life prelude to more and more domestic and industrial wastes. There is serious waste disposal problems in developed countries, India started experiencing these problems since the onset of waste disposal is to decide the dumping site which must not be detrimental The pith of the above discussion is that if the dumping site underlays with fractured and permeable sediments or rocks, migration of the wastes will contaminate surface and groundwater. In view of serious water pollution in industrial area and also contaminated groundwater due to leaching from the wastes, the selection of appropriate dumping site is an important aspect. Here, geophysical well logging techniques can play an important role. This review paper covers the principles and applications of different well logging techniques for determining porosity, permeability, density and temperature of the underground environment