Current scenario of livestock development and potential interventions for livelihood improvement: Case of Jharkhand, India

This background paper identifies the poor communities engaged in livestock husbandry in Jharkhand, problems faced by them and scope for growth of this sector. The performance of the livestock sector has not been optimum due to lack of critical inputs and services and poor linkage with the market. As the farmers do not adopt improved breeding, feeding and management practices, the productivity of large and small ruminants is poor. Use of balanced compounded feed is negligible and health care is mainly dependent on traditional medicines and ultimately, fate of the animals. However, as the investment level and out-of pocket expenses are almost negligible, farmers continue to rear livestock. Poor infrastructural facilities for delivery of livestock support services is another serious constraint. The small size of landholding with low production potential also limits the scope for growing green fodder on agricultural holdings. Hence, the animals depend on common property resources which are not systematically managed and the quality of feed and fodder from common lands is also inferior. Livestock rearing can become an economic enterprise if development initiatives strengthen the entire value chain and the activity is self-sustainable. Farmers can be motivated to adopt technically sound and economically viable improved livestock farming practices only if they are assured of goat markets and quality input services. Follow up on supervision, monitoring, a system of performance-linked incentives and accountability is critical for the success of any development initiative in Jharkhand. The livestock improvement programme in Jharkhand should focus on indigenous cattle, goat, pigs and poultry. The rural poor require a selective cattle breed improvement programme which can serve their requirement for draught animal power and increase the milk yield. In the periurban areas and among the resource-rich farmers, crossbred animals can become instruments of dairy development. Goat rearing needs to be promoted to provide meat and milk. Investment initiatives can also be taken up for promoting small-scale enterprises in rural areas to process the livestock produce. Based on the incidence of poverty, geographical representation of the state and demographic characteristics, the study suggests targetting a few districts for livestock development in the first phase

Current scenario of livestock development and potential interventions for livelihood improvement: The cases of Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram

This background paper on ‘current scenario of livestock development and potential interventions for livelihood improvement’ prepared jointly by Dr Smita Sirohi and Dr AK Chauhan of NDRI, Karnal will be useful in formulating a suitable livestock investment strategy for Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram based on the existing situation. The draft of this study report was presented in stakeholder workshops in Itanagar and Aizawl and the feedback given by the workshop participants is incorporated while finalizing this report

A Study on the Economics of Milk Processing in a Dairy Plant in Haryana

The economics of manufacturing of different dairy products, viz. ghee, full-cream milk, standardized milk, toned milk, double-toned milk, skimmed milk and ice-cream (processing only) have been reported. The study has been conducted in an ISO-9002 dairy plant situated in the north-eastern part of Haryana. It has been observed that all the products, except the double-toned milk are being produced above the recommended breakeven level. A comparison of unit manufacturing cost with unit price received by the plant for different products has revealed that ice-cream manufacturing has been the most profitable proposition among different dairy products, and standardized milk has provided the maximum profit margin among the milk pouches manufactured during the study period, 2000-01. The double-toned milk has revealed a loss. Therefore, the study has suggested that the quantity of double-toned milk production should be raised at least equal to the recommended break-even level to avoid losses, if there is a market demand for this product or the resources of this product could be shifted to some other profitable products.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Synthesis, characterization and antimicrobial activities of hydroxytriazenes and their Co(II) complexes

The present paper describes synthesis of flouro chlorosubstituted hydroxytriazenes and their Co(II) complexes.Further these compounds along with their Co(II) complexes have been duly characterized by CHN, IR, 1H NMR and Mass spectral analysis. Complex composition has been determined by Mole ratio and Job’s method. A tetrahedral geometry has been suggested for all the complexes. The compounds have been used for biological activity studies against 4 bacteria and 6 fungal strains. The MIC (Minimum inhibitory concentration) values varied between 25 μg/mL to 50 μg/mL

Absence Of Adamts13 On A Vwf Deficient Background Is No Longer Prothrombotic In A Murine Model Of Arterial Thrombosis

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106148/1/jth00411.pd

Comparative assessment of phytoremediation feasibility of water caltrop (Trapa natans L.) and water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes Solms.) using pulp and paper mill effluent

Experiments for the comparative assessment of phytoremediation feasibility of water caltrop (Trapa natans L.) and water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes Solms.) using paper mill effluent were carried out for 60 days. The results revealed that the pulp and paper mill effluent was varied in characteristics and highly loaded with TDS, EC, BOD5, COD, TKN, PO4 3- , Na+ , K+ , Ca2+, Mg2+, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn, SPC and MPN. It was observed that and both the plant species T. natansand E. crassipes significantly (P<0.05/P<0.01/P<0.001) reduced the contents of TDS, EC, BOD, COD, TKN, PO4 3- , Na+ , K+ , Ca2+, Mg2+, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn, SPC and MPN of pulp and paper mill effluent after phytoremediation experiments. Albeit, the maximum removal of these parameters were obtained at 60 days of the phytoremediation experiments but the removal rate of these parameters were gradually increased from 15 days to 45 days and it was decreased at 60 days. The most contents of Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn was translocated in the leaves of T. natans and E. crassipes during the phytoremediation experiments whereas, the least contents of Cr, Ni and Pb was translocated in the leaves of T. natans and E. crassipes. Among both the macrophytic species (i.e. T. natans and E. crassipes) used for the phytoremediation, E. crassipes was found to be more effective for the removal of different parameters of pulp and paper mill effluent in comparison to T. natans. Therefore, T. natans and E. crassipes can be used effectively to reduce the pollution load of pulp and paper mill effluent

Pre-main-sequence population in NGC 1893 region

In this paper we continued our efforts to understand the star formation scenario in and around the young cluster NGC 1893. We used a sample of the young stellar sources (YSOs) identified on the basis of multiwavelength data (optical, near-infrared (NIR), mid-infrared (MIR) and X-ray) to study the nature of YSOs associated with the region. The identified YSOs show an age spread of ~ 5 Myr. The YSOs located near the nebulae at the periphery of the cluster are relatively younger in comparison to those located within the cluster region. The present results are in accordance with those obtained by us in previous studies. Other main results from the present study are: 1) the fraction of disk bearing stars increases towards the periphery of the cluster; 2) there is an evidence supporting the notion that the mechanisms for disk dispersal operate less efficiently for low-mass stars; 3) the sample of Class II sources is found to be relatively older in comparison to that of Class III sources. A comparison of various properties of YSOs in the NGC 1893 region with those in the Tr 37/ IC 1396 region is also discussed.Comment: Accepted for publication in New Astronom

High Pressure phase transitions in BaWO4

Using in-situ angle dispersive x-ray diffraction, we have shown that barium tungstate, which exists in scheelite phase at ambient conditions, transforms to a new phase about seven giga pascal. Analysis of our data based on Le bail refinement suggests that this phase could be fergusonite and not mercuric molybdate type, which was proposed earlier from the Raman investigations. Beyond fourteen giga pascal this compound undergoes another phase transformation to a significantly disordered structure. Both the phase transitions are found to be reversible.Comment: 14 pages with 4 figures and 1 tabl

Computer vision based traffic monitoring system for multi-track freeways

Nowadays, development is synonymous with construction of infrastructure. Such road infrastructure needs constant attention in terms of traffic monitoring as even a single disaster on a major artery will disrupt the way of life. Humans cannot be expected to monitor these massive infrastructures over 24/7 and computer vision is increasingly being used to develop automated strategies to notify the human observers of any impending slowdowns and traffic bottlenecks. However, due to extreme costs associated with the current state of the art computer vision based networked monitoring systems, innovative computer vision based systems can be developed which are standalone and efficient in analyzing the traffic flow and tracking vehicles for speed detection. In this article, a traffic monitoring system is suggested that counts vehicles and tracks their speeds in realtime for multi-track freeways in Australia. Proposed algorithm uses Gaussian mixture model for detection of foreground and is capable of tracking the vehicle trajectory and extracts the useful traffic information for vehicle counting. This stationary surveillance system uses a fixed position overhead camera to monitor traffic