Production Economics of Strawberry in Haryana, India

The present study was conducted in Hisar and Bhiwani districts of Haryana which was selected purposively on the basis of highest area and production of Strawberry cultivation in the state. One block from each district and two villages from each block were selected. Saharwa and Satrod (Hisar-1) and Chanana and Siwani (Siwani) were selected purposively since they have the highest number of strawberry growers in the district. 120 growers were selected from which 43, 30, 30, and 17 farmers were from Satrod, Saharwa, Chanana and Siwani, respectively depending upon the availability of strawberry growers in the region. On the basis of the nature of the data, simple tabular analysis was carried out. The cost concept namely cost A, cost B and cost C and various economic tools were used for the estimation of per ha cost of strawberry cultivation. The overall average cost of strawberry production in both districts of Haryana was found to be ` 937.18 thousand per hectare. The total cost of cultivation was highest in case of large category growers followed by medium and small category. The overall net return earned by strawberry growers was ` 1174.80 thousand per hectare. Cost of production of per kg of Strawberry was highest in large ` 78.57per kg, followed by medium ` 74.33 per kg. and small ` 71.34 per kg. Benefit-Cost ratio of Strawberry cultivation calculated under cost A was 2.79, Cost B was 2.56 and Cost C was 2.25

ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY AND POTENCY OF CASSIA ABBREVIATA OLIV STEM BARK EXTRACTS

Objective: To evaluate the potential antimicrobial activity and relative potency of aqueous and organic extracts of Cassia abbreviata Oliv stem bark against clinical isolates of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA), Klebsiella pneumoniae (KP) and Candida albicans (CA).Methods: Six extracts of Cassia abbreviata Oliv stem bark were prepared as follows: Four extracts were prepared following Soxhlet extraction procedure using ethanol, water, trichloromethane (TCM) and dichloromethane (DCM)+ethanol (1:1) as solvents, respectively. Two extracts were prepared by soaking the powdered stem bark in ethanol and water, respectively, and subjected to mechanical shaking for 8 hours. Antimicrobial activities and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of extracts were evaluated in-vitro using agar well diffusion assay.Results: All extracts except TCM were active against NG and PA with an average MIC of 78.8 µg/ml. The cold aqueous extract had a lowest MIC (46.88 µg/ml) against PA, whereas both hot and cold ethanol extracts had a lowest MIC of 46.88 µg/ml against NG. Only hot extracts (ethanol, DCM+ethanol and TCM) were active against KP with a lowest MIC of 46.88 µg/ml of TCM extract. Both extracts of cold ethanol and DCM+ethanol were active against CA with cold ethanol extract having a lower MIC of 93.75 µg/ml compared with DCM+ethanol.Conclusion: There were variations in in-vitro antimicrobial activities (microbial growth inhibition) of Cassia abbreviata Oliv stem bark extracts which depended on the solvent used. Organic extracts were more potent against NG, PA, KP and CA compared with aqueous extracts.Â

In situ electron beam irradiated rapid growth of bismuth nanoparticles in bismuth-based glass dielectrics at room temperature

In this study, in situ control growth of bismuth nanoparticles (Bi(0) NPs) was demonstrated in bismuth-based glass dielectrics under an electron beam (EB) irradiation at room temperature. The effects of EB irradiation were investigated in situ using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected-area electron diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The EB irradiation for 2-8 min enhanced the construction of bismuth nanoparticles with a rhombohedral structure and diameter of 4-9 nm. The average particle size was found to increase with the irradiation time. Bismuth metal has a melting point of 271 A degrees C and this low melting temperature makes easy the progress of energy induced structural changes during in situ TEM observations. This is a very useful technique in nano-patterning for integrated optics and other applications

Single-Step Synthesis and Surface Plasmons of Bismuth-Coated Spherical to Hexagonal Silver Nanoparticles in Dichroic Ag:Bismuth Glass Nanocomposites

Here, we report for the first time the synthesis of bismuth-coated silver nanoparticles in dichroic bismuth glass nanocomposites by a novel and simple one-step melt quench technique without using any external reducing agent. The metallic silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were generated first, and subsequently, metallic bismuth was deposited on the Ag NPs and formed a thick layer. The reduction of Bi(3+) to Bi(o) and subsequently its deposition on the Ag NPs (which were formed earlier than Bi(o)) in the K(2)O-Bi(2)O(3)-B(2)O(3) (KBB) glass system have been explained by their standard reduction potentials. The UV-vis absorption spectra show a prominent surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption band at 575 nm at lower concentrations (up to 0.01 wt%); three bands at 569, 624 and 780 nm at medium concentration (0.02-0.03 wt%); and two weak bands at 619 and 817 nm at highest concentration (0.06 wt%) of silver. They have been explained by the electrodynamics theories. TEM images reveal the conversion of spheroidal (5-15 nm) to hexagonal (10-35 nm) shaped Ag NPs with the increase in concentration of silver (up to 0.06 wt%). SAED pattern confirms the crystalline planes of rhombohedral bismuth and cubic silver. Thermal treatment at 360 A degrees C, which is the glass transformation temperature (T (g)) of the sample containing lower concentration of silver (0.007 wt%), shows red-shifted SPR band due to increase in size of NPs. Whereas the sample containing higher concentration (0.06 wt%) of silver under similar treatment exhibited changes in SPR spectral profile happened due to conversion to spherical NPs from hexagonal shape and reduction in size (10-20 nm) of NPs after heat treatment for 65 h. HRTEM images corroborate the different orientations of the NPs. FESEM images reveal hexagonal disk like structure having different orientations. Dichroic nature of the nanocomposites has been explained with the size and shape of Ag nanoparticles. We believe that this work will create new avenues in the area of nanometal-glass hybrid nanocomposites and the materials have significant applications in the field of optoelectronics and nanophotonics

Photoluminescence enhancement of Eu(3+) by energy transfer from Bi(2+) to Eu(3+) in bismuth glass nanocomposites

Bi(2+)-enhanced photoluminescence of Eu(3+) doped Bi(0)-bismuth glass nanocomposites are demonstrated here. The generation of bismuth nanoparticles (NPs) and its typical surface plasmon resonance at 460 nm are controlled by the oxidative method instead of the conventional reduction technique during melt-quench processing. TEM images evidence the presence of spherical Bi(0) NPs of 10-15 nm sizes and SAED pattern reveals their crystalline rhombohedral phase formation. The enhanced photoluminescence of Eu(3+) is found to occur at 613 and 703 nm due to (5)D(0 ->)(7)F(2) and (5)D(0)->(7)F(4) transitions respectively. We believe that it has happened due to energy transfer from Bi(2+) to Eu(3+)