Synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic application of ZnWO4/ZrO2 nanocomposite towards degradation of methyl orange dye

Visible light active ZnWO4/ZrO2 nanocomposite was prepared via hydrothermal method. The nanocomposite was characterized by UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis-DRS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. The XRD results showed that average particle size of ZrO2, ZnWO4 and ZnWO4/ZrO2 were found to be 29.20 nm, 23.78 nm and 20.14 nm respectively and the phase structure for ZrO2 and ZnWO4 in the composite was Rhombohedral and Monoclinic respectively. The UV–vis absorption spectra of the ZnWO4/ZrO2 nanocomposite noticeably shifted to the visible light region compared to that of the ZrO2. The prepared photocatalyst were composed of plate and spongy sphere with little agglomeration was seen from SEM result. The photocatalytic activities of the prepared nanocomposite was evaluated for the degradation of methyl orange (MO) under visible light irradiations. The effect of operational parameters such as initial dye concentration, pH, catalyst concentration and irradiation time have been investigated in detail. The photocatalytic degradation efficiency of ZnWO4/ZrO2, ZnWO4 and ZrO2 for 95%, 72% and 60 % respevtively. The high photocatalytic activity can be attributed to stronger absorption in the visible light region, a greater specific surface area, smaller crystal sizes, more surface OH groups, and to the effect of ZnWO4 doping, which resulted in a lower band gap energy

A Study on Knowledge Level and Attitude of Farmers towards Organic Farming in Ananthapuramu District, Andhra Pradesh, India

Organic farming is practicing in 187 countries, and 72.3 million hectares of agricultural land were managed organically by at least 3.1 million farmers. India is home to 30% of total organic producers in the world having 2.30 million ha (NCOF, 2021). A study was conducted in ten mandals of Ananthapuramu district with sample size of 100 and farmers were selected randomly. Pearson correlation, frequency, percentage, mean were calculated. From the results it was noticed that farmers have more knowledge related to statements viz., organic farming is a type of farming system in which crops are grown without the use of chemical inputs (85%) and knowledge gap percentage was 15. Farmers have positive attitude on statement I can obtain optimum production level in organic farming if we rear livestock at our farm with score of 244 and attitude gap percentage of 20 followed by organic farming will decrease the production cost by reducing the input purchases score of 243 and attitude gap percentage of 19. Education, extension contact, information seeking behaviour and awareness about organic farming variables were positively significant and highly correlated with attitude of farmers towards organic cultivation. Major constraints faced by the farmers were lack of skill regarding the preparation and usage of organic inputs (80%) followed by complicated methods for production of organic inputs and absence of premium price for organic produce in the local market (71%). Major suggestion were direct procurement of organic produce by government and supply to Midday Meals Scheme and Public Distribution System