The sustainability of Suranga irrigation in South Karnataka and northern Kerala, India

This paper reports the preliminary findings from an on-going research project that is exploring the resilience and sustainability of suranga irrigation technology found in the Western Ghats of south Karnataka and northern Kerala, India. The suranga are traditional adit water harvesting systems that tap ground waters. They have been constructed mainly by individual land owners to provide both drinking and irrigation water. This paper compares traditional suranga irrigation technology with that of more modern irrigation technology, first introduced during the green revolution, in terms of their impacts on livelihood strategies and water use efficiency. The paper also describes some of the recent adaptations made by farmers to suranga systems based on response to new crop growing opportunities and the availability of new conveyance and distribution technologies and materials. The paper concludes by exploring the resilience and sustainability of the traditional system from a catchment based perspective as the region faces the duel pressures of population increase and climate change.Submitted Versio

Traditional Design Principles of a Groundwater Irrigation System in the Foothills of the Western Ghats of Southwest India

© 2020 Crook et al. This open access article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Please credit the authors and the full source.This paper presents the traditional design principles of the suranga water harvesting system found in an area of semi-critical groundwater scarcity in the Dakshin Kannada district of Karnataka and Kasaragod district in Kerala. This region is situated in the foothills of the Western Ghats of southern India. Data was derived from a mixed-methods approach that analyzed the structure, technology, governance, organization, and hydrological principles of a little-known and little-understood irrigation system. The main body of this work came from a survey of 215 households that identified 700 suranga over a core area of ~6850 km2. The total number when added to other inventories puts the figure at closer to 3000 suranga overall. The suranga system was identified, relative to other traditional water-harvesting systems in mountains, as a gallery filtration tunnel system that is exclusively constructed in laterite substrate. These laterites have a sound internal structure that does not require support structures. Many suranga are found in cascading hydrological networks on more extensive farm units linked to a storage network of small ponds and check dams. The main sources of water come from either perched or shallow aquifer groundwaters that are variable in their discharge rates, such that some systems are perennial, and others are seasonal. Discharges from suranga range from 0.005 m3/second in the dry season to 0.1 m3/second in the period immediately after monsoon. Organizational principles are simple, and nearly all systems are privately owned. Access to water is usually private with just a few usufruct arrangements prevalent that come in the form of the sharing of water. The immediate future of suranga is under threat from unregulated bore well construction and use.Peer reviewe

The Resilience and Sustainability of Suranga Irrigation in the Western Ghats of India

This study focused on a little known traditional water management system, known as suranga, historically used by marginalised agricultural communities in the remote foothills of the Western Ghats in India to evaluate the resilience and sustainability of the suranga system. A hill irrigation analytical framework was used to provide a pragmatic epistemology. The research methodology was interdisciplinary, incorporating mixed methods taken from both the physical and social sciences to answer five research questions about suranga linked to their history, distribution, design principles, operational characteristics, governance, and organisation. Results suggest that suranga originate from the early 20th century. A field survey, supported by in-depth interviews of suranga users (n=173), found 700 suranga mainly distributed in fourteen villages in the Dakshin Kannada and Kasaragod districts. Data from previous studies, including this study, suggest there are a minimum of ~3000 suranga in the region as a whole. Suranga were defined as a groundwater collection gallery filtration tunnel system sourced from perched aquifers. Key strengths of the system were found to be the basic design principles, flexible excavation approaches, adaptability, clear use boundaries, relatively low construction and maintenance costs, self-regulated discharge, private ownership and management, and ease of access. Weaknesses of the system were a laborious and risky excavation process, limited water yield, non-collaboration, the absence of governance, and low earnings for suranga workers. Suranga were also found to be vulnerable to pollution, forest cover loss, and the impacts of climate change. However, suranga have contributed to a resilient and sustainable community in the past when the population, water demands, and the size of the irrigated area were low, and farm choices were limited. Currently, the suranga system may soon be unable to meet increased water demands because of population increase, intensification and reorientation of agriculture, alternative borewell technology and improved socioeconomic conditions. However, Suranga do retain some humanitarian relevance to farmers in the study area having improved the quality of life for many low-income families, but new emerging endogenous and exogenous pressures may make them vulnerable to changes in the future that cause the collapse of the system unless further adaptation occurs

Geotechnical Damage Due to Bihar Earthquake of August 1988

The Bihar-Nepal earthquake of August 21, 1988 (magnitude 6.6) caused significant loss of life and property. Besides the epicentral area, two distant places (Munger in India and Bhaktapur in Nepal) suffered significantly. This was also the case in the 1934 earthquake (magnitude 8.4) and is due to peculiar geology of the area. Geotechnical damage in the affected area includes liquefaction, cracking and subsidence of embankments, and cracks in bridge abutments and wing walls. Besides, in the hilly regions of Sikkim, landslides and rockfalls disrupted road network significantly. Extensive damage took place in the eastern Nepal also. This paper describes the geotechnical damage to the Indian areas only

Phenotypic (assessment of rice Oryza sativa L.) genotypes for genetic variability and varietal diversity under direct seeded condition

 The study on variability and diversity of 32 genotypes of rice (Oryza sativa L.) under direct seeded condition revealed significant variability at 5% level among the genotypes for all the characters. High level of broad sense heritability was observed for days to 50% flowering (0.986) followed by filled grains (0.8216) and 1000-grain weight (0.7306). Expected genetic advance was highest for yield per hectare (39.639) and filled grains per panicle (51.39). Genetic divergence analysis using Mahalanobis’s D2 statistic grouped the genotypes into 7 clusters. Cluster II had maximum number (16) of genotypes. Maximum inter cluster distance was found between cluster IV and VII (984.82). However, intra cluster distance was maximum in cluster III (363.58). Genotypes from diverse clusters viz.NR 89, PAU 3284, ARIZE SWIFT, RY 248, Varadhan, RYC489, MTU 1010 and RYC 674 could be recommend-ed for inclusion in hybridization programme for breeding under aerobic rice condition

An improved protocol for efficient transformation and regeneration of diverse indica rice cultivars

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Rice genome sequencing projects have generated remarkable amount of information about genes and genome architecture having tremendous potential to be utilized in both basic and applied research. Success in transgenics is paving the way for preparing a road map of functional genomics which is expected to correlate action of a gene to a trait in cellular and organismal context. However, the lack of a simple and efficient method for transformation and regeneration is a major constraint for such studies in this important cereal crop.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the present study, we have developed an easy, rapid and highly efficient transformation and regeneration protocol using mature seeds as explants and found its successful applicability to a choice of elite indica rice genotypes. We have optimized various steps of transformation and standardized different components of the regeneration medium including growth hormones and the gelling agent. The modified regeneration medium triggers production of large number of shoots from smaller number of calli and promotes their faster growth, hence significantly advantageous over the existing protocols where the regeneration step requires maximum time. Using this protocol, significantly higher transformation efficiency (up to 46%) and regeneration frequency (up to 92% for the untransformed calli and 59% for the transformed calli) were achieved for the four tested cultivars. We have used this protocol to produce hundreds of independent transgenic lines of different indica rice genotypes. Upon maturity, these transgenic lines were fertile thereby indicating that faster regeneration during tissue culture did not affect their reproductive potential.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This speedy, yet less labor-intensive, protocol overcomes major limitations associated with genetic manipulation in rice. Moreover, our protocol uses mature seeds as the explant, which can easily be obtained in quantity throughout the year and kept viable for a long time. Such an easy, efficient and generalized protocol has the potential to be a major tool for crop improvement and gene-function studies on the model monocot plant rice.</p

Mucin MUC13 and YAP1 correlate with poor survival in colorectal cancer

Background: Metastatic disease contributes to over 90% of cancer-associated deaths. Colorectal cancer (CRC), the second lethal malignancy, has the greatest incidence and mortality rates in the Southern United States. Over 40-50% of CRC patients acquire metastasis at some point throughout their disease\u27s progression. CRC survival rate drops from 90%-14% when the disease is confined within the colon and therefore “early diagnosis” becomes imperative to determine timely and quality treatments. We have identified that MUC13 protein translocate to nucleus along with transcription factor Yes-Associated Protein 1 (YAP1) during anchorage independent conditions (metastatic phenotype). YAP1 is known to be overexpressed in CRC which promotes proliferation and survival of CRC cells. This study will provide information regarding MUC13 and YAP1 correlation and their role in CRC patient outcomes. Methods: The comparative analysis of MUC13 and YAP1 expression in CRC samples (Tissue Microarrays (TMA) of CRC patients (39 cases and 95 cores)) with Pathology grade, TNM Classification, Clinical stage, and Survival information were investigated using Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining, followed by digital scanning by 3D-Histech scanner, and analysis using QuantCenter image analysis software. Results: IHC analysis revealed increased MUC13 expression in colon adenocarcinoma and metastatic adenocarcinoma compared to normal colon tissues. MUC13 expression was observed in nucleus, cytoplasm and membrane associated with mostly with poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas, while YAP1 was localized in the nucleus. The correlation of MUC13/YAP1 expression with patient outcome is in progress. Conclusion: This study will potentially establish a correlation between MUC13 and YAP1 with CRC patient outcome