Marketing Efficiency of Green Peas under Different Supply Chains in Punjab

During the year 2007-08, the area under green peas in Punjab was 18.45 thousand hectares with a production of 1.11 lakh tonnes. The total consumption at the farm level being just 2.54 per cent, the marketed surplus was 97.46 per cent. The maximum quantity of green peas was sold by the growers in the wholesale market (about 89%) and the rest was sold at the farm, in the village and in Apni Mandi. The marketing of green peas has been studied by three supply chains, viz. I: Producer → wholesaler (through commission agent) → retailer → consumer; II: Producer → retailer (through commission agent) → consumer; III: Producer → consumer. The net price received by the producer was 67 per cent, 69 per cent and 94 per cent in supply chains I, II and III respectively in the Hoshiarpur market in January, 2009. The producer’s share in supply chain III was the maximum because of direct sale by the producer to the consumer. The supply chain III has been found most efficient because its marketing efficiency was 14.83 as compared to 2.70 in supply chain II and 2.38 in supply chain I. The low marketing efficiency in supply chain I was on account of a higher number of market intermediaries in this chain. The functional analysis of the factors affecting the marketing efficiency has revealed that with one per cent increase in marketing margins and costs, the marketing efficiency declined by 0.45 per cent and 0.44 per cent, respectively. The modern market infrastructure may be built up with the public-private partnership to bring efficiency in the marketing of green peas.Marketing efficiency, Green peas, Supply chains, Punjab, Price spread, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q13, Q12,

Sources, Replacement and Management of Paddy Seed by Farmers in Punjab

The study has reported different sources of paddy seed, seed replacement rate of paddy growers, and management of paddy seed by the farmers in two selected districts of Punjab. Amongst different sources of paddy seed, the share of private seed dealers has been found maximum (H†48 per cent), followed by authorized seed dealer (H†19 per cent), self-retained (11.5 per cent) and commission agents (H†11 per cent).The share of other sources like fellow farmers, relatives and friends, PAU, village shopkeeper, state agriculture department, etc. has been found only 1-2 per cent each. The overall seed replacement rate has been found to be about 24 per cent. The farm category-wise analysis has revealed a direct relationship between seed replacement rate and farm size. The seed rate has been found almost equal to the recommended level in the Ludhiana district while in Patiala district, it is much below the recommended value. Amongst determinants of quality of seeds, experience of the farmers has been reported at the first place, followed by advice of fellow farmers, reputation of institute, etc. Regarding linkages, the large farmers have more contacts with different seed agencies. The study has suggested that extension agencies should educate the farmers about the usefulness of quality seeds and their replacement with the seed procured form reliable sources like PAU, PUNSEED, Department of Agriculture, etc.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Rural Employment and Income: The Inter-household Variations in Punjab

The employment pattern and income sources have been reported in the rural areas of Punjab, based on the primary data collected from 315 rural households. The results have revealed a negative relationship between employment diversification and size of landholding. Distress nature of the rural labour markets has induced casualization of work in the absence of land for cultivation. A majority of the households have been found dependent on multiple sources of income, further confirming the distress nature of these income sources. The dependence on non-farm sector as a major source of income has revealed a negative relationship with the land-size. More than two-thirds (66.9%) of the non-cultivating households have non-farm sector as the major source of their income. The results have further revealed the inability of an average non-cultivating and marginal or small cultivating household to achieve the overall average income of a rural household. The rural household income has been found to follow a highly skewed distribution. The incomes from crops and dairying have been observed highly unequally distributed, perhaps due to their strong association with the size of landholding. On the other hand, rural non-farm income distribution seems to be least skewed.Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Broiler Production in Punjab — An Economic Analysis

The cost and return analysis of different sizes of broiler farms in the Punjab state has been carried out based on the primary data collected from 140 broiler farmers for the period March 2008 to February 2009 in three districts, viz. Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur and Muktsar. The study has shown that the total fixed investments per bird have been highest on small farms, followed by medium and large farms. The total variable cost per bird has been reported highest on small farms, followed by medium and large farms. The total cost of meat production per bird has been found highest on small broiler farms, followed by medium and large farms. The net returns per bird over the variable costs have been recorded highest on large farms and economies of scale prevail on these farms. The meat-feed price ratio and benefit-cost ratio have been found to increase with increase in farm-size of broiler farms, which indicates better utilization of inputs on large farms. On the basis of net present value, benefit-cost ratio and internal rate of return, investment in broiler farming has been found profitable in all farm-sizes, it being most profitable on large farms, followed by medium and small farms. The small broiler farms have been observed highly sensitive to increase in costs and decrease in net returns. The study has observed that broiler farming is a profitable venture and has a bright future in the Punjab agriculture for improving economic status of the farming communityAgricultural and Food Policy,

Technical Efficiency in Crop Production: A Region-wise Analysis

The technical efficiency in crop production has been reported in different regions as well as in the state of Punjab to show how different regions have adopted the latest technology. Technical efficiency of individual farms has been estimated through stochastic frontier production function analysis. The production function estimates have pointed towards the presence of disguised unemployment in the sub-mountainous region of the Punjab state. The technical efficiency has shown a wide variation across regions. The average technical efficiency has been found maximum in the central region (90 per cent), followed by south-western and sub-mountainous regions. The main drivers of inefficiency have been identified as experience in agriculture and age of a farmer. The policy intervention to improve technical efficiency being not the same for all the regions, the study has observed that the state would benefit more if policy interventions are developed at the local level.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Does reverse mentoring work in the NHS: a feasibility study of clinicians in practice

Objective To assess the risks and benefits of reverse mentoring of consultants by junior doctors. Design A feasibility study divided into two phases: first a semistructured interview where performance of participating consultants was assessed by junior doctors and then a second phase allowing for feedback to be given on a one-to-one basis. Data collected through questionnaires with free text questions and Likert scores. Setting Tertiary teaching hospital in the UK. Participants Six junior doctors (66.6% male, age range 31–40 years) and five consultants (80% male, age range 35–65 years and consultants for 5–20 years). Intervention Reverse mentoring session. Main outcome measure The concerns and/or benefits of the process of reverse mentoring. Confidence was assessed in 7 domains: clinical practice, approach to juniors, approachability, use of technology, time management, strengths and areas for improvement using Likert scales giving a total out of 35. Results The most common concerns cited were overcoming the hierarchical difference and a selection bias in both mentors and mentees. However, no participant experienced this hierarchical difference through the reverse mentoring process and no relationships were negatively affected. Mentors became more confident in feeding back to seniors (23 vs 29 out of 35, p=0.04) most evident in clinical practice and areas to improve (3 vs 4 out of 5, p=0.041 and 3 vs 5 out of 5, p=0.041, respectively). Conclusion We present the first study of reverse mentoring in an NHS clinical setting. Initial concerns with regard to damaged relationships and hierarchical gradients were not experienced and all participants perceived that they benefited from the process. Reverse mentoring can play a role in engaging and training future leaders at junior stages and provide a means for consultants to receive valuable feedback from junior colleagues

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio

Observation of a new chi_b state in radiative transitions to Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) at ATLAS

The chi_b(nP) quarkonium states are produced in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4 fb^-1, these states are reconstructed through their radiative decays to Upsilon(1S,2S) with Upsilon->mu+mu-. In addition to the mass peaks corresponding to the decay modes chi_b(1P,2P)->Upsilon(1S)gamma, a new structure centered at a mass of 10.530+/-0.005 (stat.)+/-0.009 (syst.) GeV is also observed, in both the Upsilon(1S)gamma and Upsilon(2S)gamma decay modes. This is interpreted as the chi_b(3P) system.Comment: 5 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 1 table, corrected author list, matches final version in Physical Review Letter

Search for displaced vertices arising from decays of new heavy particles in 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

We present the results of a search for new, heavy particles that decay at a significant distance from their production point into a final state containing charged hadrons in association with a high-momentum muon. The search is conducted in a pp-collision data sample with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 33 pb^-1 collected in 2010 by the ATLAS detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. Production of such particles is expected in various scenarios of physics beyond the standard model. We observe no signal and place limits on the production cross-section of supersymmetric particles in an R-parity-violating scenario as a function of the neutralino lifetime. Limits are presented for different squark and neutralino masses, enabling extension of the limits to a variety of other models.Comment: 8 pages plus author list (20 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version to appear in Physics Letters