Rejuvenation of Tea Gardens of Himachal through R&D Activities - A Report*

78-85Most of the tea gardens in Himachal Pradesh (India) were in dilapidated state due to negligence since decades. In 1983, with the establishment of this lab of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Palampur, the activities of rejuvenation of the tea industry in Kangra valley were initiated on the basis of intensive extension work and research. As a sequel, the tea production in this state increased by about 2.5 times during the past 15 years. The quality of the tea of this region also distinctly improved along with production. This paper presents a report on the strategies and status of development in these tea gardens

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Not AvailableHansen and Hurwitz (1946) technique based estimator of population total is proposed using the calibration approach under the assumption that the auxiliary variable is negatively correlated with the study variable. The variance estimation is also considered. The two-phase sampling case is also explored. The theoretical results are demonstrated through empirical studies using both generated and real population data. The proposed estimator of population total outperforms the existing estimators in terms of the criteria of relative bias and relative root mean square error.Not Availabl

A survey of abandoned and neglected Tea Plantations in Sikkim for assessing the possibility of their Rejuvenation and Extension

25-29Sikkim is one of the hilly states in India where tea is cultivated. The developed as well as abandoned and neglected tea plantations exist in the state. A survey of the abandoned and neglected tea plantations in the state revealed that the soil and weather parameters suit the requirements for tea cultivation, and such plantations could be revived by adopting the rejuvenation technology package developed for tea gardens in hills at Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology which has been successfully implemented for development of such type of plantations in Himachal Pradesh

Effect of Methods and Systems of Plucking on Productivity and Quality of China Hybrid Tea

146-150A study was conducted for 5 years during 1988-92 to evaluate the performance of different methods and systems of plucking involving four types of hand plucking (standard plucking, black plucking, fish leaf plucking and mother leaf plucking) and two types of machine plucking (hand shears and one man power operated Japanese machine). The study revealed that in comparison to standard plucking, black plucking and fish plucking resulted in on an average 21 and 14% higher yield, respectively. Hand shears and power operated machine though resulted in 27-28% higher yield but caused reduction (about 50%) in crop quality in terms of its fineness. Average labour requirement with the Japanese machine and hand shears was found to be 17% (range 9-23%) and 59% (range 36-75%), respectively of the standard plucking

Field hyperspectral data analysis for discriminating spectral behavior of tea plantations under various management practices

The quality and yield of tea depends upon management of tea plantations, which takes into account the factors like type, age of plantation, growth stage, pruning status, light conditions, and disease incidence. Recognizing the importance of hyperspectral data in detecting minute spectral variations in vegetation, the present study was conducted to explore applicability of such data in evaluating these factors. Also stepwise discriminant analysis and principal component analysis were conducted to identify the appropriate bands for accessing the above mentioned factors. The Green region followed by NIR region was found as most appropriate best band for discriminating different types of tea plants, and the tea in sunlit and shade condition. For discriminating age of plantation, growth stage of tea, and diseased and healthy bush, Blue region was most appropriate. The Red and NIR regions were best bands to discriminate pruned and unpruned tea. The study concluded that field hyperspectral data can be efficiently used to know the plantation that need special care and may be an indicator of tea productivity. The spectral signature of these characteristics of tea plantations may also be used to classify the hyperspectral satellite data to derive these parameters at regional scale

The Staphylococcus aureus Network Adaptive Platform Trial Protocol: New Tools for an Old Foe

Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream (SAB) infection is a common and severe infectious disease, with a 90-day mortality of 15%–30%. Despite this, <3000 people have been randomized into clinical trials of treatments for SAB infection. The limited evidence base partly results from clinical trials for SAB infections being difficult to complete at scale using traditional clinical trial methods. Here we provide the rationale and framework for an adaptive platform trial applied to SAB infections. We detail the design features of the Staphylococcus aureus Network Adaptive Platform (SNAP) trial that will enable multiple questions to be answered as efficiently as possible. The SNAP trial commenced enrolling patients across multiple countries in 2022 with an estimated target sample size of 7000 participants. This approach may serve as an exemplar to increase efficiency of clinical trials for other infectious disease syndromes