Institutional Innovations and Models in the Development of Agro-Food Industries in India: Strengths, Weaknesses and Lessons

Agro-industries are given high priority in India particularly because of their great potential for contributing to development. The emphasis on village-based agro-industries was introduced almost a century ago in India by Mahatma Gandhi as an important ideology and corner-stone of the independence movement. The approach has undergone substantial transformation since then, but major challenges to its success in development remain: how to organize sustained production and procurement from large numbers of small farmers, how to ensure adoption of the right technology and practices to generate quantity and quality output at a reasonable cost, how to obtain capital for ensuring good processing technology and meeting the high working capital requirements in a fluctuating business, how to deliver strong marketing efforts to compete and open nascent markets, and how to ensure effective ownership, management and control to ensure performance for its main stakeholders of producers, consumers and investors. To address these challenges, effective institutional frameworks are a must, and a number of innovations and institutional models have emerged in India. These include the HPMC model, the AMUL model, the Pepsi model, the E-choupal model, the Nestle model, the Heritage model, the Suguna model, the Reliance model and more. The paper uses available literature and data to examine the performance of several of these models with respect to the above mentioned challenges. Many findings and lessons emerge which would be useful for business and for guiding supportive policies and practices in developing countries.

High-Value Agriculture in India: Past Trends and Future Prospects

Given the declining share of traditional agricultural commodities in production, consumption and trade, horticulture and other non-traditional high-value agriculture represent an important area of potential income growth in rural areas. The high-value agriculture-led-growth strategy also provides significant scope for achieving greater commercialization of smallholder agriculture. Despite the potential, the contribution of high-value agricultural exports is still small but increasing. This paper examines the past and existing performance and identifies likely challenges and opportunities for high-value-agriculture in the country. The findings of the study reveal a structural shift in consumption pattern away from cereals to high-value agricultural commodities, both in rural and urban areas, in the last two decades. This shift in dietary patterns across states and income classes is also observed. The results reveal a relatively strong and growing demand for livestock products and fruits and vegetables in both rural and urban areas. The average expenditure as well as share of beverages has increased by about six times in both rural and urban areas. Due to shift in demand pattern towards high-value crops, the farmers have also responded to market signals and gradually shifting production-mix to meet the growing demand for high-value commodities. This is reflected in the changing share of high value crops in total value of output from agriculture. The share of high-value commodities/products (fruits and vegetables, livestock products, fisheries) increased from 37.3 percent in Triennium Ending (TE) 1983-84 to 41.3 percent in TE 1993.94 and reached a level of 47.4 percent in TE 2007-08. The trade in high-value products has also increased during the last decade. Overall, fresh fruits and vegetables exports represent a very small share of domestic production and agricultural exports but have increased significantly. During the 2000s, the growth rate in value of exports of rice, sugar, marine products, tea, etc. declined, while high-value exports (fruits and vegetables, floriculture, meat, processed fruit juices) grew by about 18 percent annually. However, Indian exports face many constraints in major importing countries on account of quality and food safety issues. The rising demand for high-value commodities, particularly fruits and vegetables and livestock products has led to an increase in imports of many commodities like fresh fruits. While there is an opportunity for increasing exports of high-value products but there is a huge and increasing domestic demand which needs to be tapped. The study suggests that a future road map for high-value agriculture development should focus on investment in technology development and dissemination, basic infrastructure, improvement of technical capacity of producers and other players in the value chain, institutional support in core functions of production, logistics and marketing through concerted public sector support and active public-private partnerships, and provision of quality inputs, in particular planting materials for fruits and seeds for vegetables.

Ethnobotanical Studies on Plant Resources of Tahsil Multai, District Betul, Madhya Pradesh, India

The present investigation was carried out in Tahsil Multai, a region dominated by the Korku and Gond tribes. A large number of traditional herbal healers exist belonging to the tribal community and are utilizing local plants in ethno-medicinal practices prevalent in the area and resulted in the documentation of 47 medicinal plant species belonging to 29 families and 45 genera. The study thus underlines the potentials of the ethnobotanical research and the need for the documentation of traditional ecological knowledge pertaining to the medicinal plant utilization for the greater benefit of mankind in different regions

Economics and Marketing of Aromatic Rice - A Case Study of Chhattisgarh

In recent years there has been a serious concern among the farmers, scientists, policymakers and environmentalists regarding the continuous erosion of genetic biodiversity of rice cultivars in Chhattisgarh which has traditionally been known as bowl of scented rices in central India. In view of India’s potential competitiveness in aromatic rices in the international market, it is imperative to understand the dynamics of domestic trade in aromatic rice. In this study, marketing and price-spread patterns of aromatic rice in the state of Chhattisgarh have been examined. A few policy interventions have been suggested for promoting aromatic rices in the state.Crop Production/Industries, Marketing,

CHOCOLATE FORMULATION AS DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEM FOR PEDIATRICS

Chocolate  is  highly  sophisticated  and  infinitely  a  versatile food that can be combined to create completely different taste and texture  sensations.   The  objective  of  the  present  study  is  to develop  a  palatable  chocolate  formulation  of  Domperidone  and Cetirizine  for  pediatric  administration  and  to  increase  patient’s desire  to  consume  the  medication.  In  present  investigation chocolate  base  is  prepared  by  use  of  cocoa  powder,  coco  butter, lecithin,  and  pharmaceutical  grade  sugar.  Thereafter  drug  is incorporated  to prepared  chocolate base.  The medicated chocolate prepared  is  evaluated  for  appearance,  moisture  content determination using digital Karl Fischer titrator, blooming test, drug content  determination  &  drug  excipient  interaction  by  differential scanning calorimetry.Key words: Medicated Chocolate, Pediatrics, Chocolate formulatio

Breast lump, a rare presentation of costochondral junction tuberculosis: a case report

The diagnosis of musculoskeletal tuberculosis remains a challenge for clinicians and requires a high index of suspicion. The combination of indolent onset of symptom and signs with histological or cytological features and compatible radiography findings, strongly suggest the diagnosis. Prompt diagnosis and treatment are important to prevent serious bone and joint destruction. Tuberculosis involving ribs and presenting with breast mass is a very rare entity and only a few cases have been reported in the literature previously. We present a case of 30-year-old female having tuberculous involvement of the costochondral junction and presenting as a lump in the lower inner & outer quadrant of right breast. Surgical exploration and histopathological evaluation revealed costochondral junction tuberculosis and secondary abscess formation in the right breast. The lump was located in the breast rather than the usual retromammary location, when arising from chest wall or internal mammary nodes. This unusual manifestation of tuberculosis should be included in differential diagnosis of patients presenting with a breast mass and high risk of tuberculosis

A study of atenolol and nebivolol in prehypertension

Background: Patients with prehypertension have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The coexistence of prehypertension with risk factors increases cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. That’s why it is important to treat pre-hypertensive patients having risk factors. The objective was to evaluate the effect of atenolol and nebivolol in pre-hypertensive patients.Methods: Pre-hypertensive patients having risk factors were selected, and non-pharmacological therapy was advised to all patients. Those patients who were not able to follow strictly non-pharmacological guidelines and remained pre-hypertensive were included in this study. Pre-hypertensive patients were divided into three groups. One group received atenolol 50 mg orally, once daily. Second group received nebivolol 5 mg orally, once daily. Third group received placebo orally, once daily. All groups received treatment for 1 month.Results: In the nebivolol group after 1 month of study, the mean reduction in systolic blood pressure (SBP) was 134.2±3.07-118.26±4.66 and mean reduction in diastolic BP (DBP) was 87.13±1.87-80.73±1.99. Reduction in SBP and DBP in the nebivolol group was significant (p≤0.0001). In the placebo, and atenolol group results were not significant.Conclusion: Nebivolol produces a significant reduction in SBP and DBP in pre-hypertensive patients. Atenolol and placebo did not show beneficial results

EVALUATION OF INDIGENOUS DRUGS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PCOD IN TEENAGE GIRLS

Polycystic ovarian disease is one of the most common gynecological disorders during puberty. This is otherwise known as Stein-Leventhal Syndrome and occurs due to the incorrect set of hypothalamo-pituitary homeostatic during puberty and characterized by oligomenorrhoea / amenorrhoea, delayed periods, hirsutism, hoarseness of voice etc. Based on the clinical features this can be compared with Alpartava /Artavakshaya as per the Ayurvedic classics. In Artavakshaya (deficiency of Artva), Rajasrava (menstruation) do not appear in its appropriate time or is delayed. Often gynecologists keep these patients on combination of estrogen and progesterone therapy. Exogenous hormonal treatment again disturbs the endogenous hormonal pattern and the pathology continues. In the present study an attempt has been made to find out safe alternate therapy to cure PCOD and regularize menstruation with Ayurvedic drugs. For the present study, Ashokarishtam is selected to improve Rajodhatu, Kanchanara guggulu and Varunadi kashayam are selected to regress cysts of the ovary. Study carried out in 52 number of teenage girls, out of which, 21 (42.86%) patients have shown Good Response, 10 (20.41%) cases have shown Fair response, 03 (06.12%) cases have shown Poor response, 15 (32.61%) did not show any response and 03 cases were dropped out from the study. On statistical analysis, efficacy of the trial drugs found highly significant in relieving PCOD (P<0.001)

DEVELOPMENT OF CLARITHROMYCIN GASTRORETENTIVE MICROSPHERES

Gastroretentive microspheres of clarithromycin were prepared on the principle of cation induced gelification using sodium alginate and pectin. These microspheres were investigated for micromeritic properties, drug entrapment, mucoadhesion and drug release properties. Microspheres were found to be discrete, spherical and free flowing. Microspheres were found to adhere to gastric mucosa with high affinity and showed controlled drug release