Role of Mobile Phone Technology in Improving Small Farm Productivity

Telecommunication, especially mobile phones have the potential to provide solution to the existing information asymmetry in various lagging sectors like agriculture. India’s agricultural sector suffers from low growth rates and low productivity. Issues in access to information are weak points at every stage of the agri-supply chain. For small farmer-based economy like India, access to information can possibly enable better incomes and productivity to the farmers. This paper through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with farmers, has tried to find answers to the use and impact of mobile phones and mobile-enabled services on agricultural productivity. The answers to these questions are of relevance to develop better policy environment conducive for small and medium farmers and have implications for mobile phone operators, information service providers, and policymakers. The study has shown that although, mobile phones can act as catalyst to improving farm productivity and rural incomes, the quality of information, timeliness of information and trustworthiness of information are the three important aspects that have to be delivered to the farmers to meet their needs and expectations. There exist critical binding constraints that restrict the ability of the farming community to realize full-potential gains and it is more so for small than large farmers.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Impact On Small Farmers and Fishermen Through Use Of Mobiles in India

Telecommunication and more specially mobile phones have the potential to provide solution to the existing information asymmetry in various lagging sectors like Agriculture. India’s agricultural sector suffers from low growth rates and low productivity. Issues in access to information is a week point at every stage of the agrisupply chain. For small farmers base economy like India, access to information can possible enable better incomes and productivity to the farmers. This paper through focus group discussions and in-depth interview with farmers in villages of India, has tried to find answers to the use and impact of mobile and mobile enabled services on agricultural productivity. The answers to these questions are of relevance to develop better policy environment conducive for the small and medium farmers and has implications for mobile operators, for information service providers, and for policy-makers. The results show that although, mobiles can act as catalyst to improving productivity and rural incomes, the quality of the information, the timeliness of the information and trustworthiness of the information are the three important aspects that has to be delivered to the farmers, to meet there needs and expectations. There exist critical binding constraints that restricts the ability of the farming community to realise gains at full potential and this is more for the small than to large farmers.Mobile and Agriculture, India, Productivity, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Marketing, Production Economics, Q13, Q16, Q18,

Development Strategy for the Hill Districts of Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand, in spite of being a small state, has certain key features that make it distinct from other states of the country and highlights its potential for development. However, development has predominantly been in the plains, and the hill districts have been left behind. All the hill districts have subsistence farming as their main economic activity. Due to subsistence livelihood, migration and a remittance economy operate in the hill districts. They are land-locked with huge distances between the markets and resources. Because of these constraints, traditional agriculture cannot be the lead sector for development. Thus the state faces the challenge of promoting livelihoods to minimize migration through local employment and income generation, and to enhance the quality of life of people living in villages. The positive features of these hill districts are that they have enormous potential for tourism, a suitable climate for high-value agriculture, and a pleasant environment due to 60 pert cent forest cover. These have to be harnessed for a development strategy. The development strategy for Uttarakhand hills should be based on developing brand equity under the name of Organic Green State and an Uttarakhand Brand Equity Fund should be set up. This can be achieved by working towards this common goal through infrastructure development, tourism promotion, agriculture diversification, poultry- and wool-based livelihoods, and SMEs based on the above that capture linkages with industry and tourism.Uttarakhand, Development Strategy, Organic Green State

MalDet-Malware Detection Using Deep Learning and LSTM based Approach to Classify Malware

Computer security requires malware detection. Recent research manually uncovers hazardous features using machine learning-based techniques. MalDet, a cutting-edge malware detection method, is recommended in this paper. MalDet classifies malware using a stacking ensemble and learns from grayscale images and opcode sequences using CNN and LSTM networks. According to the evaluation, MalDet's malware detection validation accuracy is 99.89%. MalDet outperforms other previous research with 99.36% detection accuracy and a significant detection speedup on the Microsoft malware dataset. We classified nine malware families for MalDet

A study on chromium accumulation in Labeo rohita in the river Yamuna ecosystem in Mathura-Agra region in Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract: The present study revealed the chromium toxicity and its health measures in L. rohita from the Yamuna river at Mathura- Agra region. Samples were taken in triplicate from both sites i.e. Vrindavan (Bihar ghat) and Agra (Renuka Ghat). The study was carried out on Four different organs (i.e. gills, muscles, liver, and kidney) of the fish sample. The sampling was done from Oct 2018 to January 2020. Chromium concentration in different organs of the fish was analyzed by Atomic absorption spectrophotometer(AAS). The average Cr concentration in gills was highest (9.64  mg/l) at the Mathura site followed byAgra sites (7.78 mg/l) for the month of April 2019. The concentration of Cr was highest in samples taken in the month of April 2019 and it was lowest in October 2018. The significantly high Cr concentration values were observed in the Mathura region than the Agra region for both seasons. In all samples, Cr concentration was above the standards stated by WHO except in the Kidney. In the present study, the bioaccumulation factor showed the chromium concentration in the tissues followed the order of gill > liver > muscle > kidney. HPI, MQI, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient analysis were also done in which HPI was observed very high and there was a positive correlation between all the samples.   Keywords:  Chromium, BCF, HPI, MQI, AAS, Fish Organ

Quantifying Spatio Temporal Changes in Coastal Buit-up area of South Goa based on Landsat Imageries using Google Earth Engine

Urban flooding has become a significant concern across many towns and cities in the Asia Pacific. Vulnerabilityand its components must be understood in order to minimize flood risks. Rapid urban growth occurs in developing countries,resulting from unplanned settlements growing along the rivers, and coastlines are at greater risk. On average, a total of 40%of the world’s population lives in narrow coastal belts that take up 7% of the total world land area. Coastal areas areurbanizing at an unprecedented rate that is posing a common threat to humans and ecosystems. Low-lying coastal areas areespecially susceptible to climate change related coastal hazards such as; sea level rise, storm surge, coastal flooding, landsubsidence etc.This study has been carriedoutacross four talukas of South Goa district, India's smallest state, locatedalong the Arabian sea. The low-lying coastal belt of South Goa district is dotted with world famous sandy beaches ofPalolem, Agonda, Colva etc. which attract millions of tourists every year. The present study has assessed the spatio-temporalgrowth of built-up land in low-lying coastal areas (Marmugao, Salcette, Quepem and Canacona) of South goa district.GoogleEarthEngineplatformwasusedtoestimateNormalizedDifferenceBuildIndex(NDBI)basedonLandsatETM+/OLI imageries for 2009, 2015 and 2020 to determine and map spatio-temporal changes in the total built-up area. Theresult revealed that there had been a rapid built-up area increment in South goa coastal belt by 24.94 Sq. Km between 2009(88.46 Sq. Km) and 2015 (113.40 Sq. Km) and by 15.14 Sq. Km between 2015 (113.40 Sq. Km) and 2020 (128.54 Sq. Km).The main driving force behind this phenomenon is the extensive land use changes for haphazard tourism development (inSalcetteandCanacona)andimmigration(inMarmugao).However,theconversionoftraditionalpaddyfieldsandmodification of natural drainage systemtoincrease built-up areas cansignificantly increase the physical andsocialvulnerability in low lying areas of Salcette and Canacona against the coastal hazards. This study may help urban planners/authoritiestolettheregiondevelopin sustainablemanne

ASSESSMENT OF MICROALBUMINURIA IN ESSENTIAL HYPERTENSIVES AND ITS RESPONSE TO ANGIOTENSIN-CONVERTING ENZYME INHIBITOR THERAPY

ABSTRACTObjective: Objective is to study the prevalence of microalbuminuria among patients suffering from essential hypertension and also to evaluate theresponse of microalbuminuria to angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors therapy.Methods: The study conducted at Santosh Medical College and Hospital, Ghaziabad, on 300 patients with essential hypertension. After attainingbaseline parameters in all patients, those newly diagnosed essential hypertensives with microalbuminuria not on any treatment were started on anACE inhibitor (ramipril), for 8 weeks, after which all parameters were reassessed and comparison and statistical analysis were done to establish theprevalence of microalbuminuria and its response to therapy.Results: In our study, mean microalbuminuria excretion was 101.79 mcg/mg creatinine at the beginning of the study and 80.20 mcg/mg creatinineafter 8 weeks of ACE inhibitor therapy, with 21.2% fall rate.Conclusion: Microalbuminuria is an independent risk factor for the development or worsening of hypertensive nephropathy and endothelialdysfunction, thereby increasing the risk of micro- and macro-vascular complications.Keywords: Microalbuminuria, Essential hypertension, Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor therapy

Effect of methane supplementation on the performance, vibration and emissions characteristics of methane-diesel dual fuel engine

The increasing energy demands, especially in transportation sector, and the challenges of excess pollution and environmental degradation caused due to the conventional fuels, as well as their limited availability has highlighted the need to look for alternative fuels to sustain future needs. Methane is capable of catering to these demands due to its wide availability, both in renewable and non-renewable energy sources. The present work explores the effect of methane supplementation on the performance and emission characteristics as well as the vibrations in internal combustion engines. A four-stroke compression ignition engine is modified to run as a methane-diesel dual fuel engine where methane is inducted through intake manifold and diesel is directly injected into cylinder. Tests are performed by varying engine load and methane energy levels up to 75%. Our study shows that the participation of methane at lower load conditions is weak due to its higher auto ignition temperature and higher calorific value. The emissions, particularly CO and NO, are observably higher at 75% load conditions due to the efficient combustion and higher temperature at higher load conditions. The vibration studies on the dual fuel combustion indicates that the introduction of methane also suppresses the frequency spectrum of combustion noise and reduces the ringing intensity level of vibration for complete spectrum of engine loads, with the effect being prominent at higher loads. Overall, our results suggests that combustion of methane in dual fuel diesel engine shows distinct characteristics at contrasting load conditions

Economic analysis and resource use efficiency of carrot production in Chitwan district, Nepal

A study was conducted from February to May 2020 to analyze the cost-benefit economics analysis and resource use efficiency of carrot production in Chitwan, Nepal. Altogether 70 households producing carrot were selected randomly and surveyed through the pre-tested semi-structured interview-based schedule. Data was entered and coded using SPSS 25 and analyzed using STATA 12.1. The study revealed that the total variable cost per hectare for carrot production was US $1803.1 and a benefit-cost ratio of 1.81 was estimated. Cobb-Douglas production function models the relationship between production output and production inputs . Production function analysis including seven explanatory variables, showed a significant positive effect of seed cost, tractor cost and human labor cost (P<0.01), fertilizer and manure cost (P<0.05) on gross return but herbicide cost, packaging cost, vitamin and micronutrients cost were found insignificant. The return to scale was found to be 1.42. According to estimated allocative efficiency indices, it is suggested to increase the seed, fertilizer and manure, tractor labor and  human labor costs by approximately 45%, 74%, 67%, and 79% respectively and reduce the herbicide and packaging costs approximately by 116% and 246% respectively. The adoption of modern technologies with adjustments to resource use should be suggested to maximize the productivity and profit from carrot production