SUPER-FRUIT: AS A POTENTIAL OPTION TO MITIGATE MALNUTRITION IN INDIAN SUBCONTINENT

Health and wellness are key drivers of new product development, globally. Obesity and excess calories are issues on one extreme and lack of nutrients is an issue at the other extreme. Consumers are also seeking out new kinds of indulgence, driving demand for new ethnic and exotic flavours and authentic regional products. The health benefits of super-fruits have made them successful as ingredients for food companies and as a source of exciting new flavours for consumers. The super-fruits deemed super by nutrition scientists are packed with antioxidants, fibre, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that improve health condition. The importance of super-fruits as a necessary part of the human diet and as cash crops is well recognized. They help to prevent a number of extremely chronic human diseases. In recent years this term - originally used by the food industry to indicate fruit having an exceptional nutrient richness and nutritional qualities, including high concentration of phytochemicals - has been increasingly and generically utilized, mainly for marketing purposes. In, India traditional fruits like bael, aonla, pomegranate, guava, pineapple, coconut, grapefruit, litchi, jackfruit, papaya, grape and so many indigenous minor fruits are rich in above mentioned phyto-chemicals & anti- oxidant compound that include them in the list of super fruit. In this present paper we critically review the extraordinary-therapeutic characteristics of Super-fruit, mainly to aware the common people and to speed-up the super-fruit cultivation. Keywords: Super-fruits, Phyto-chemicals, Antioxidant, Malnutrition, Human healt

Response of growth regulators and micronutrients on yield and physico-chemical quality of Ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk) cv. BAU Kul-1

Ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk.) is an indigenous delicious, nourishing fruit grown widely throughout the India but faces heavy fruit drop due to several biotic and abiotic stress factors resulted in declining trend of ber pro-duction over the year. Keeping these facts in foreground, replicated field experiment was conducted during 2013-14 and 2014-15 at HRS, Mondouri, BCKV, West Bengal with eleven treatments consist two different levels of NAA, GA3, 2,4-D, ZnSO4 and H3BO3 along with a control (water spray). Results of investigation revealed that application of 2,4-D @ 10 mg/l recorded highest fruit set (48.80%). Maximum fruit retention (42.83%) and total no. of fruits/tree (514) were obtained with the application of NAA @ 20 mg/l. Application of GA3 @ 20 mg/l recorded significantly (p?0.05) higher yield (30.67 kg/tree), fruit weight (60.5 g), fruit length (5.8 cm), fruit breadth (5.1 cm), pulp to seed ratio (13.9) and specific gravity (1.104) as well as economic returns over control during both the year of experiment. Among the treatments H3BO3 at 0.4% recorded the highest TSS (11.7°Brix), total sugar (8.33%), reducing sugar (5.21%) and TSS: Acid (107.36) ratio with lowest fruit acidity (0.10 %) whereas highest vitamin-C content of fruit was recorded with GA3 at 20 mg/l (64.68 mg / 100 g) followed by NAA at 20 mg/l. Results suggest that twice spraying of GA3 @ 20 mg/l and H3BO3 at 0.4% is vital for optimizing yield components, yield and quality of ber (cv. BAU Kul-1) in trans-Gangetic plains of West Bengal

Optimisation of machining parameters for hard machining: grey relational theory approach and ANOVA

The present paper deals with experimental investigations carried out for machinability study of hardened steel and to obtain optimum process parameters by grey relational analysis. An orthogonal array, grey relations, grey relational coefficients and analysis of variance (ANOVA) are applied to study the performance characteristics of machining process parameters such as cutting speed, feed, depth of cut and width of cut with consideration of multiple responses, i.e. volume of material removed, surface finish, tool wear and tool life. Tool wear patterns are measured using optical microscope and analysed using scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction technique. Chipping and adhesion are main causes of wear. The optimum process parameters are calculated for rough machining and finish machining using grey theory and results are compared with ANOVA

Force on vertically submerged circular thin plate in shallow water due to oblique wave

411-417 This paper describes a solution of obliquely incident surface wave force on circular plate in shallow water. Small amplitude linear wave theory is used on vertically submerged circular thin plates under three different configurations: (1) a surface-piercing circular thin plate, (2) a submerged circular thin plate and (3) a bottom-standing circular thin plate. Finally Morison’s equation is used for the determination of wave force. The plates are submerged in water near the shore on uniformly sloping bottom. The solution method is confined in a finite domain, which contains the regions of different depth of water and the plate. Employing Laplace equation and boundary value problems in the finite domain, the desired velocity potential for small amplitude linear wave is derived by separation of variables. Horizontal wave force and moment are obtained with respect to the wave amplitude at different incident angles of wave as well as with different depth of water and different wave period. It is observed that these forces and moments are converging with the increase in wave period whereas the steepness of force and moment against wave amplitude are extremely high for small wave period. </smarttagtype

Microscopic Phonosurgery in Benign Vocal Fold Lesions

Abstract Introduction : Although Phonosurgery has been the mainstay of treatment for benign vocal fold lesions for decades, advanced diagnostic modalities improved techniques of voice therapy and vocal hygiene have helped managing them in a more precise and better way. Objective : To study the role of phonomicrosurgery in benign vocal fold lesions. Methods : This prospective study was under taken in a tertiary health care centre for a period of one-year (October 2012) to September 2013, thirty two patients had undergone phonosurgery for vocal fold polyps (n = 14), vocal fold cysts (n=8), vocal fold nodules(n=3), Sulcus vocalis (n=2), vocal fold papilloma (n=l), vocal fold angioma (n=l), keratotic patch (n=2) and vocal fold oedema (n=1). Their average age was 41 years of which 62% werewomenand 69% were smokers. Postoperative voice therapy was given to sixteen patients. Post-operative clinical evaluation was available for data analysis in 30 patients (92%). Voice quality was assessed using the voice handicap index-10 questionaire (VHI-10), direct laryngoscopy was performed pre & post-operatively and self-reported assessment. The median follow-up time was 4 months. Result : Thirty out of 32 patients showed objective improvement in fibreoptic laryngoscopy post treatment. Two patients were noncompliant to voice therapy and showed recurrence of their pathologies.Mean VHI 10 score showed significant improvement from 8 in the preoperative period to 3 in the postoperative period. Conclusion : Phonosurgery is a quick and effective treatment with uncommon and transient post-operative complications. Pre and postoperative voice therapy plays an integral role in combination with phono-micro surgery enhances the outcome in patients with benign vocal fold lesions. Objective assessment of the voice pre- and postoperatively should be used consistently to evaluate the additional impact of pre- and postoperative voice therapy

Taguchi method and ANOVA: An approach for process parameters optimization ofhard machining while machining hardened steel

686-695In this paper, Taguchi method is applied to find optimum process parameters for end milling while hard machining of hardened steel. A L18 array, signal-to-noise ratio and analysis of variance (ANOVA) are applied to study performance characteristics of machining parameters (cutting speed, feed, depth of cut and width of cut) with consideration of surface finish and tool life.Chipping and adhesion are observed to be main causes of wear. Results obtained by Taguchi method match closely with ANOVA and cutting speed is most influencing parameter. Multiple regression equations are formulated for estimating predicted values of surface roughness and tool wear

Weather relation of rice-grass pea crop sequence in Indian Sundarbans

In order to develop weather-based yield prediction models for rice and grass pea in coastal saline zone of West Bengal, the experiments were conducted with rice (cv. CR 1017) and grass pea (cv. Bio L 212) in the rainy and winter seasons, respectively of 2016-17 and 2017-18. Rice was sown in nursery bed on six different dates starting from June 15 to July 19 at weekly interval in both rainy seasons in two different land situations viz. medium upland and medium lowland. Likewise, grass pea was sown on six different dates just before harvesting of rice. It was observed that both early sown rice and grass pea resulted in higher grain yield and took more time to mature under medium lowland situation irrespective of sowing dates. Correlation study revealed that air temperature during sowing to transplanting phase exhibited significant positive correlation with grain of rice in medium upland (Tmax = 0.76**, Tmin = 0.69*) and medium lowland (Tmax = 0.93**, Tmin = 0.81**) situations. On the other hand, maximum temperature and total solar radiation during 100% emergence to 100% flowering stage were negatively associated with the grain yield of grass pea in both medium upland (Tmax = -0.69*, Accumulated solar radiation = -0.73**) and medium lowland (Tmax = -0.74**, Acc. solar radiation = -0.77**) situations. Grain yield of rice and grass pea could be predicted with 94.4% and 87.4% predictability. Pre-harvest forecasting of grain yield was possible with 77.3% for rice and 83.8% for grass pea

Assessing the agroclimatic potentiality in Indian Sundarbans for crop planning by analyzing rainfall time series data

In order to assess the climatological risk in terms of the dry week probabilities and length of the growing period of Indian Sundarbans region for successful crop planning, the present study was conducted using long term rainfall data from 1984 to 2018 received in Gosaba CD (Community Development) block of Indian Sundarbans. The probability of a rainfall events with 25 %, 50%, 75 % probabilities were estimated. Markov Chain model was used to estimate the initial, conditional probabilities of dry and wet weeks along with the probability of two consecutive wet and dry weeks considering 10 mm and 20 mm rainfall thresholds. Length of growing period (LGP) was calculated using Moisture adequacy index computed by the soil water balance method of Thornthwaite and Mather. Weekly rainfall varied from 1.11 mm in 51st Standard Meteorological Week (SMW) with standard deviation of ± 3.41 to 88.49 mm in 29th SMW with standard deviation of ± 58.19.50 % chance of getting more than 20 mm and 10 mm weekly rainfall was observed from 20th (23.37 mm) to 41st SMW (30.64 mm) and 17th (14.63 mm) to 42nd SMW (16.87 mm) respectively. The risk of dry spells was very higher from 42nd to 17th SMW. Average LGP of the study area was 237.4 days with standard deviation of ± 29.88.Probability of a week being stress free growing period and moderately drought period was more than 50 % from 18th to 48th SMW and 49th to 5th SMW respectively. Grass pea, potato with straw mulch and green gram can be included in the rice based cropping system during winter and summer seasons for sustainable intensification of the cropping systems in Indian Sundarbans region

Assessment of Energy Budgeting and Its Indicator for Sustainable Nutrient and Weed Management in a Rice-Maize-Green Gram Cropping System

Sustainability and climate change are the two major challenges to the agricultural production system. The trade-off between them is essential for higher profitability. The energy assessment is essential for judging the sustainability and vulnerability of a production system. Besides, nutrient management and weed management are equally imperative to sustainability. Thus, the present study was executed to assess the energy balance, key energy indicators and profitability of rice–maize–green gram system under different nutrient and weed management practices. Application of Brassicaceous seed meal (BSM) along with mineral fertilizer attributed the highest rice (5.62 t ha−1) and maize (6.48 t ha−1) yield which was 11.6%, 8.3% and 3.7% in maize and 10.0%, 6.2% and 8.7% in rice for the conjoint application with vermicompost, farmyard manure (FYM) and neem cake, respectively. Moreover, BSM recorded the highest net energy gain, energy use efficiency and energy efficiency ratio and the lowest specific energy in all the crops. Application of pre-emergence herbicides followed by hoeing was found to be best in all respects including yield, profitability, energy use efficiency, energy effectiveness, etc. The appropriate combination of integrated nutrient management with BSM and pre-emergence herbicide application followed by hoeing provided an additional advantage not only in terms of yield but also an efficient use of energy, profitability and environmental safety. BSM and neem cake could be the alternative organic manure in the integrated nutrient-cum-weed management module and they could be able to compensate the paucity of FYM and vermicompost in the country