Evaluation of Inhana Rational Farming (IRF) Technology as an Effective Organic Option for Large Scale Paddy Cultivation in Farmer’s Field – A Case Study from Kowgachi-II Gram Panchayat, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal

Comparative study of Chemical (Farmer’s Practice) and Organic (under Inhana Rational Farming Technology developed by visionary scientist, Dr. P. Das Biswas, Founder, Inhana Biosciences, Kolkata) aman paddy (rainfed) cultivation was conducted at farmers’ field under large scale production in Mathurapur village, Kowgachi-II Gram Panchayat, North 24 Parganas of West Bengal during crop year 2012 – 2013. Farmers from the village volunteered in the programme under encouragement from local gram panchyat towards hand on experience regarding effectivity of organic farming system in paddy. Compost was prepared locally using Novcom composting (Developed by Inhana Biosciences) method by the project farmers taking poultry litter as raw material. Well matured compost was prepared (as indicated by brownish colour and earthy smell) within 20 days. Analysis of compost quality as per standard guideline confirmed its high quality. Total nutrient content (NPK) was varied from 3.86 to 4.74 percent (on dry weight basis) with microbial population in the range of 1016 c.f.u per gram moist compost; which was significantly higher than reference value as obtained for poultry compost. CO2 evolution rate (mean 2.74 mgCO2 – C/g OM/day) and phytotoxicity bioassay test value (mean 0.82) tallied with ideal standard range, confirming the maturity and non- phytotoxicity of the compost. Aman (rain fed) Paddy (Oriza sativa) variety Khitish and Minikit -3654 were used for the study. These two varieties were taken considering their common usage by the farmers of the Block. Seeds of Khitish variety were sourced from Gram Panchayat as provided by Government of West Bengal, while Minikit-3654 was sourced as foundation seed developed by Monduri Farm, BCKV, State Agricultural University, West Bengal, India. Agronomic components in terms of numbers of tillers/hill, productive panicles/m2, filled grains/panicle and 1000 grains weight (g) of organically grown paddy was comparatively higher than conventionally grown paddy and its cumulative effect was considered in terms of total yield under two different management systems. In case of paddy variety Minikit- 3654 yield under organic practice (i.e., Inhana Rational Farming Technology) varied from 3375 kg/ha to 4125 kg/ha with average value of 3750 kg/ha while 3000 kg/ha to 3750 kg/ha with mean value of 3563 kg/ha under conventional chemical practice. In case of Khitish variety yield under organic (i.e. under Inhana Rational Farming) was almost at par to chemical farming practice and varied from 3750 kg/ha to 4500 kg/ha with a mean value of 4125 kg/ha. Nutrient Use Efficiency (NUE) in terms of partial factor productivity (PFP) was higher in case of Khitish variety in comparison to Minikit-3654 irrespective of the practice undertaken. However, in both cases, nutrient use efficiency (NUE) was higher under organic practice which may be due to better N mineralization from Novcom compost as well as better N uptake efficiency of the plants under IRF Plant Management Package. This is perhaps significant because the nutrient availability is considered as a limiting factor under organic soil management particularly under waterlogged condition and in the soil which has been applied with synthetic fertilizers for many years. In terms of soil quality development, organic package of practice has shown positive indication towards enhancement of soil quality component like soil pH, available NPK and specially soil microflora enhancement where as under conventional practice no such variations were noted. There is higher net income in case of Minikit variety but as the cost of cultivation under Inhana Rational Farming being is almost similar to chemical farming practice, there is potential for further higher net income if the produce is sold at even 10 percent premium price as organic item. The technology has most convincingly demonstrated its potential to ensure successful organic paddy cultivation in the most cost- effective manner and can definitely bring about economic prosperity among the farming community if adopted on a further larger scale. Significantly all these results were achieved in the very first year of application. The ecological and social cost of industrial agriculture, if considered; then this performance certainly promises clear potential towards sustainable organic cultivation for resource poor and marginal farmers

Evaluation of Inhana Rational Farming (IRF) Technology as a Cost Effective Organic Cultivation Method in Farmer’s Field

Inhana rational farming (IRF) technology was studied as an organic package of practice in farmers’ field using green gram (Samrat: PDM-84-139) as test crop. The study was conducted at Binuria village in Birbhum district of West Bengal during the crop season of 2013–14. The study area lies in 23.66°N and 87.63°E at about 179 ft above MSL, with level to nearly level landscape. The experiment was laid down as per randomized block design (RBD) with seven treatments replicated three times. The treatments included local farming practice with chemical inputs, organic package of practice (Inhana Rational Farming [IRF] Technology developed by Dr. P. Das Biswas, Founder, Inhana Biosciences, Kolkata) as well as integrated farming practice (combination of chemical and organic inputs for both soil and plant management). Compost application was an integral part of soil management under the studied organic package of practice (POP) and the same was produced on farm using Novcom composting method (developed by Dr. P. Das Biswas, Founder, Inhana Biosciences, Kolkata). Evaluation of the biodegradation process along with quality analysis of its end product (Novcom compost) indicated that Novcom composting method could serve as an effective alternative for conversion of agro waste into good quality end product. Highest greengram production was obtained under chemical and organic soil input integration @ 75:25 along with organic plant management (Yield: 715 kg/ha) followed by 100% organic (Yield: 699 kg/ha) and chemical farming practice (Yield: 665 kg/ha). At the same time, gross income under organic POP was higher than that that obtained under conventional farming practice. Comparison of value cost ratio (VCR) under integrated management vis-à-vis chemical practice confirmed better scope for economic sustainability when chemical pesticides/growth parameters were replaced by organic plant management inputs; as compared to application of chemical alone. Post harvest soil analysis showed that the plots receiving Novcom compost showed an overall positive trend in soil quality specially in terms of soil biological parameters. The findings indicated that IRF technology as an organic POP can serve as an economically viable option for large scale adoption in farmers’ field

Adoption of Rational Farming Technology for Development of a Model for Exploring Sustainable Farming Practice in Farmer’s Field

The effectivity of Inhana Rational Farming (IRF) Technology was critically evaluated as a model of Sustainable Farming Practice in farmers’ field using okra (variety : Shakti - F1 hybrid) as test crop. The stusy was conducted at Binuria village in Birbhum District of West Bengal during February to October (2013). The village is in close vicinity of Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan. The study area lies in 23.660 N and 87.630E at about 179 ft. above MSL, with level to nearly level landscape. The experiment was laid down as per randomized block design (RBD) with 7 treatments replicated 3 times. The treatments included local farming practice with chemical inputs, organic farming practice (Inhana Rational Farming (IRF) Technology’ developed by Dr. P. Das Biswas, Founder, Inhana Biosciences, Kolkata) as well as integrated farming practice (combination of chemical and organic inputs for both soil and plant management). The most significant finding was that 100% reduction of chemical pesticide can be economically viable in the very first year with adoption of IRF Organic Package of Practice, under which 13.6% yield increase was recorded as compared to conventional farmer’s practice. Also when IRF was adopted for integrated cultivation model, higher yield as well as higher net income was obtained in comparison to conventional Farmer’s practice. Upto 144.5% higher Nitrogen Utilization efficiency and 32.8 % higher partial factor productivity was recorded under treatments with IRF Package. This higher response might be due to increased uptake and utilization of indigenous nutrients under the influence of high quality Novcom compost containing huge population (in order of 1016 c.f.u per gm moist compost) of self- generated microbes, which led to better nutrient (both macro and micro) mineralization in soil for plant uptake. This was also complimented by IRF Plant Management Package, which perhaps enhanced plant physiological functioning in terms of better N uptake and its utilization within plants

Evaluation of an organic package of practice towards integrated management of Solanum tuberosum and its comparison with conventional farming in terms of yield, quality, energy efficiency and economics

A study was taken up during 2014-16 for evaluating the potential of an organic package of practice towards integrated crop production (green farming) in comparison to conventional farmers’ practice in West Bengal, India. Under green farming, compost was integrated with chemical fertilizer for soil management while organic plant/ pest management was undertaken utilizing Inhana Rational Farming (IRF) Technology. The study indicated higher yield (9.7 %), higher nutrient use efficiency and economic sustainability under green farming irrespective of study area or potato variety. Higher qualitative expression in terms of starch content, pulp pH, vitamin C etc. under green farming might be due to the organic plant management aimed at energization of plant biochemical functions. Soil quality development as noted under green farming might have been influenced by the on-farm produced compost containing rich self- generated micro flora (in order of 1016 per colony forming unit.). The study indicated that green farming may serve as an efficient substitute of conventional farming towards yield sustenance, abatement of food toxicity and quality end product; through higher use of renewable energy and activation of plant physiological functions

Evaluation of Different Organic ‘Packages of Practice’ in Young Tea Plantation: A case study under FAO-CFC-TBI Project at Maud Tea Estate, Assam, India

Maintenance of young tea under organic package of practice is a challenging task and needs a proper intervention. The present study under FAO-CFC-TBI project was done at Maud Tea Estate, Assam, India to find out an effective pathway for growing healthy and productive young tea plants. Seven different organic packages of practice were chosen to evaluate their potential in terms of crop efficiency as well as soil quality rejuvenation. Crop yield was recorded of highest value under Inhana Rational Farming (IRF-2: made tea 807 kgha-1) package of practice. Yield under the treatment was 55.2 percent higher than control and about 25.6 percent higher than the next best performing package of practice i.e. VMI (653 kgha-1). The third highest yield was obtained under IRF-1 and VCO, which recorded almost similar crop (made tea: 619 & 618 kgha-1 resp.) followed by BD (593 kgha-1), Co (567 kgha-1) and MI (556 kgha-1) packages. Value cost ratio (VCR), which is excess revenue generated per unit rupee invested; followed similar trend as observed in case of New Plantation experiment indicating highest economic sustainability under IRF-2 (4.37) followed by IRF-1 (2.33) package. Value cost ratio in case of other organic packages varied between 0.25 and 1.02, indicating economic vulnerability considering that VCR < 2.00 has been indicated by Agricultural economists as the critical mark below which there is no necessary risk coverage against investment towards input cost

Hydroimidazolone Modification of the Conserved Arg12 in Small Heat Shock Proteins: Studies on the Structure and Chaperone Function Using Mutant Mimics

Methylglyoxal (MGO) is an α-dicarbonyl compound present ubiquitously in the human body. MGO reacts with arginine residues in proteins and forms adducts such as hydroimidazolone and argpyrimidine in vivo. Previously, we showed that MGO-mediated modification of αA-crystallin increased its chaperone function. We identified MGO-modified arginine residues in αA-crystallin and found that replacing such arginine residues with alanine residues mimicked the effects of MGO on the chaperone function. Arginine 12 (R12) is a conserved amino acid residue in Hsp27 as well as αA- and αB-crystallin. When treated with MGO at or near physiological concentrations (2–10 µM), R12 was modified to hydroimidazolone in all three small heat shock proteins. In this study, we determined the effect of arginine substitution with alanine at position 12 (R12A to mimic MGO modification) on the structure and chaperone function of these proteins. Among the three proteins, the R12A mutation improved the chaperone function of only αA-crystallin. This enhancement in the chaperone function was accompanied by subtle changes in the tertiary structure, which increased the thermodynamic stability of αA-crystallin. This mutation induced the exposure of additional client protein binding sites on αA-crystallin. Altogether, our data suggest that MGO-modification of the conserved R12 in αA-crystallin to hydroimidazolone may play an important role in reducing protein aggregation in the lens during aging and cataract formation

Genome-wide association analyses identify 143 risk variants and putative regulatory mechanisms for type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a very common disease in humans. Here we conduct a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) with ~16 million genetic variants in 62,892 T2D cases and 596,424 controls of European ancestry. We identify 139 common and 4 rare variants associated with T2D, 42 of which (39 common and 3 rare variants) are independent of the known variants. Integration of the gene expression data from blood (n = 14,115 and 2765) with the GWAS results identifies 33 putative functional genes for T2D, 3 of which were targeted by approved drugs. A further integration of DNA methylation (n = 1980) and epigenomic annotation data highlight 3 genes (CAMK1D, TP53INP1, and ATP5G1) with plausible regulatory mechanisms, whereby a genetic variant exerts an effect on T2D through epigenetic regulation of gene expression. Our study uncovers additional loci, proposes putative genetic regulatory mechanisms for T2D, and provides evidence of purifying selection for T2D-associated variants

Mendelian randomization integrating GWAS and eQTL data reveals genetic determinants of complex and clinical traits

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified thousands of variants associated with complex traits, but their biological interpretation often remains unclear. Most of these variants overlap with expression QTLs, indicating their potential involvement in regulation of gene expression. Here, we propose a transcriptome-wide summary statistics-based Mendelian Randomization approach (TWMR) that uses multiple SNPs as instruments and multiple gene expression traits as exposures, simultaneously. Applied to 43 human phenotypes, it uncovers 3,913 putatively causal gene-trait associations, 36% of which have no genome-wide significant SNP nearby in previous GWAS. Using independent association summary statistics, we find that the majority of these loci were missed by GWAS due to power issues. Noteworthy among these links is educational attainment-associated BSCL2, known to carry mutations leading to a Mendelian form of encephalopathy. We also find pleiotropic causal effects suggestive of mechanistic connections. TWMR better accounts for pleiotropy and has the potential to identify biological mechanisms underlying complex traits

Genetic effects on gene expression across human tissues

Characterization of the molecular function of the human genome and its variation across individuals is essential for identifying the cellular mechanisms that underlie human genetic traits and diseases. The Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project aims to characterize variation in gene expression levels across individuals and diverse tissues of the human body, many of which are not easily accessible. Here we describe genetic effects on gene expression levels across 44 human tissues. We find that local genetic variation affects gene expression levels for the majority of genes, and we further identify inter-chromosomal genetic effects for 93 genes and 112 loci. On the basis of the identified genetic effects, we characterize patterns of tissue specificity, compare local and distal effects, and evaluate the functional properties of the genetic effects. We also demonstrate that multi-tissue, multi-individual data can be used to identify genes and pathways affected by human disease-associated variation, enabling a mechanistic interpretation of gene regulation and the genetic basis of diseas