Incidence of non-target pest species and validation of IPM strategies in Bt cotton hybrids deployed with different events of cry genes

Cotton cultivars incorporated with different events of Cry proteins were evaluated for the incidence of sucking insect pests and abundance of predators under unprotected conditions during the years, 2009 and 2010. Among the sucking pests, whitefly, leafhopper and thrip were the major pests and there was no difference in the abundance of sucking pests among different hybrids. An integrated pest management (IPM) module based on use of eco-friendly strategies was developed and evaluated for transgenic cotton cultivars carrying different events including non-Bt cotton during 2010 and 2011 and was compared with the recommended regional package of practices (RPP) involving use of selective insecticides for sucking insect pests and bollworms. Results indicated low population of leafhopper, thrips and whitefly in IPM as compared to RPP. In addition, the cotton hybrids managed by IPM practices supported higher abundance of natural enemies. The incidence of cotton leaf curl disease (CLCuD) was also less in IPM as compared to RPP module. No bollworm incidence was recorded in any of transgenic cotton hybrid in either of the modules; however IPM and RPP with non-Bt hybrid showed rosette flowers and green boll damage due to pink bollworm, which was less in IPM as compared to RPP. IPM module resulted in low cost of insecticidal sprays and increase in C: B ratio compared to RPP. Furthermore, as the hybrids carrying different events did not differ significantly for the incidence of sucking pests, the IPM module developed was found effective for all hybrids including non Bt cotton hybrid with some revision in the light of bollworm incidence

Knowledge and Awareness Level of COVID-19 among the Farm Women and Its Impact on Agricultural Operation in Sikar District of Rajasthan

In India, agriculture and related industries constitute the most important source of income. Around 120 million small-scale farmers play an important role in the country's food supply system. People's knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding any contagious disease, such as COVID-19, all play a role in determining a society's willingness to accept behavioural change strategies aimed at disease prevention. The majority of respondents (35.00 percent) are between the ages of 35 to 45, with 77 of the total respondents belonging to the OBC categories. The majority of respondents' educational levels were indicated as high school (49.17 percent). The findings of this study revealed that there was a high level of awareness, particularly among farm women, about the nature of disease, its symptoms, and the preventive actions that should be followed to prevent disease transmission. COVID-19 is a contagious disease caused by a virus, according to the majority of respondents (79.17%), and respiratory droplets are the virus's primary method of transmission, according to 75.00 percent of respondents. Farmers should bring their own food and water from home to their agricultural field, as well as soap and water, according to all of the respondents (81.67 percent). Besides, 73.34 percent of respondents believe that wearing a mask and maintaining social distance are necessary during agricultural tasks. COVID- 19 has also had an impact on agriculture. Farm women faced many constraints during this period. Out of which it is difficult to get agricultural inputs, animal feed and vaccines, lack of outside traders for product procurement, lack of technical experts to fix the problem in time, ignorance about government programs during the lockdown

Pollinators: Their Relevance in Conservation and Sustainable Agro-Ecosystem

Survival and reproduction of several wild plants and crops is mostly by insects pollinator, their recognition and importance have been increased in this climatic changing scenario, which affects the various aspects of their life cycle. According to an estimate, approximately 30,000 species of bees are known in entomology, and about 190 species of bees have been reported to be associated with pollination. There can be an established link between seed production and pollinator diversity, for the plants with a generalist pollination system. The increasing of human habitation affects insect pollinators in various ways, i.e. of habitat destruction, results in low availability of food sources, nesting, oviposition, resting, and mating sites. Pollinator availability restraints the geographical distribution of plant species, i.e. to develop an ecological niche of certain plant species. Failure of pollinator- plant interaction mutualism results in lower seed production and sometimes extirpation of plant population has been recorded. The declining pollinators’ population strengthens existing plant-pollinator interaction or allows new pant pollinator interaction to form. Maintaining the commercial and wild pollinator populations and preventing future shortages of pollination services, therefore, is extremely significant

A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN B-MODE WITH COLOR DOPPLER SONOGRAPHY AND ELASTOGRAPHY IN DIFFERENTIATING BENIGN AND MALIGNANT CERVICAL LYMPHADENOPATHY

Objectives- The purpose of this study was to determine the usefulness of ultrasound elastography in the evaluation of enlarged cervical lymph nodes in comparison with B-mode and color Doppler sonography. Methods-A total of 230 lymph nodes in 164 consecutive patients referred for sonography of the neck were included. B-mode sonograms were evaluated according to short-axis diameter, long-to-short-axis ratio, hilum, echogenicity, and microcalcication. Five different patterns were dened according to vascularity for color doppler sonography. Elastography patterns of the lymph nodes were categorized to 5 main types. The strain index values were calculated for all lymph nodes. Histopathologic ndings were used as reference standards for the diagnosis of benign and malignant lymph nodes. Results-Of the 230 lymph nodes, 62.6% were diagnosed as benign, and 37.4% were diagnosed as malignant. The sensitivity, specicity, and accuracy of B-mode sonography with color Doppler were 76.7%, 81.9%, and 80.0%, respectively; the values were 82.6%, 56.6%, and 66.9% for strain elastography sonography. The strain index cutoff value for the differentiation of benign and malignant lymph nodes was accepted as 1.7. Conclusions-Combination of B-mode sonographic features and vascular pattern of the lymph nodes is best imaging modality in differentiating between malignant and benign cervical lymphadenopathy. Ultrasound elastography adds no additional value to combined B- mode and color Doppler sonography for differentiation of benign and malignant cervical lymph nodes.</jats:p

A STUDY ON ROLE OF ULTRASOUND IN ANTENATAL FETAL WEIGHT ASSESEMENT AND CORRELATION WITH POSTNATAL WEIGHT

Background: The assessment of fetal growth is a critical component of prenatal care, enabling identication of fetuses at risk of perinatal morbidities and mortality. The fetal weight determination using ultrasound is one of the best indicators of fetal growth, however its accuracy is still questionable as it is affected by multiple anthropometric and genetic factors. Very little information is available regarding the effectiveness of the currently used western population-based models in calculation of fetal weight in Indian scenario. Our study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of Aim: prenatal ultrasound in calculation of estimated fetal weight in third trimester using pre-natal ultrasound at a tertiary care center in Rajasthan, India. Materials and Methods: Descriptive type of observational study was done at a tertiary care hospital in Rajasthan. 73 pregnant females were evaluated with estimated fetal weight (EFW) calculation using Hadlock 2 (AC, BPD, FL) formula and compared with actual birth weight. Results: Positive correlation existed between EFW and ABW with spearman's rho coefcient=0.615, p value &lt;0.001. This difference in weight by ultrasound and actual weight was found to be statistically signicant (t=3.094, Df=144, p value&lt;0.002). Our study was one of the very Conclusion: few studies which demonstrated that statistically signicant differences existed between the estimated fetal weight on USG and the actual birth weight on the basis of the currently used fetal weight estimation formulas which are based on foreign populations. High percentage error was noted in the calculation of fetal weight which may be due to a lot of factors like- fetal head position in pelvis , machine quality, maternal obesity, maternal restlessness during scan, excess fetal movements, subjective variations etc.</jats:p

An Economic Analysis of Cabbage Marketing in Rajasthan

This study analyzes the marketing cost, margin and price spread of cabbage crops in Rajasthan state using multistage random sampling design. The study covered 120 cabbage cultivators from Nagaur and Sikar districts of Rajasthan State. For marketing aspects, five functionaries from each category of cabbage marketing were randomly selected from kuchaman city and Sikar markets. The total marketed surplus of cabbage was observed at 1610.56 quintals. Out of this, a major share of 44.18 percent was sold through wholesalers- cum commissions agents, followed by wholesalers (28.01 per cent), retailers (20.62 per cent) and village traders (7.19 per cent) to cabbage growers. Among the different marketing costs borne by the grower, transportation cost ranked first and commission charges was highest for wholesalers cum commission agents. Among the various costs borne by the retailer, the maximum share was observed for spoilage. The total margin was higher at a retailer’s level than at the wholesale level, representing 11.41 per cent and 2.73 per cent of the consumer price, respectively. Marketing cost incurred by various functionaries was to Rs.210.18 per quintal of cabbage, which represented 25.49 per cent of the consumer price. The producer's share was 60.36 per cent of the price paid by cabbage consumers. It was proposed to sell cabbage to direct consumer, malls, catering etc. to have higher share in consumer rupees

Edible Insects a Novel Food Processing Industry: An Overview

Humans are consuming roughly 40 per cent of the biomass that the land and the coastal seas produce is an alarming phase. The rate at which the population is increasing and demand of food reserves to provide nutritional food from the conventional protein production sources i.e. livestock, poultry and fish unable to keep up the supply. A concept behind edible insect farming has its roots from some of character i.e. high feed conversion efficiency, much less water and land requirement and less proven to diseases and higher portion to be utilizable (lack of bones) make insects a suitable source. Rearing and harvesting of the insect is a low tech, low-capital investment option even to poorest section of society, such as women and landless workers. Insects farming provide proteins at lowest cost of 40-75 g per 100 g of dry weight of insects. </jats:p

Knowledge and Awareness Level of COVID-19 among the Farm Women and Its Impact on Agricultural Operation in Sikar District of Rajasthan

In India, agriculture and related industries constitute the most important source of income. Around 120 million small-scale farmers play an important role in the country's food supply system. People's knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding any contagious disease, such as COVID-19, all play a role in determining a society's willingness to accept behavioural change strategies aimed at disease prevention. The majority of respondents (35.00 percent) are between the ages of 35 to 45, with 77 of the total respondents belonging to the OBC categories. The majority of respondents' educational levels were indicated as high school (49.17 percent). The findings of this study revealed that there was a high level of awareness, particularly among farm women, about the nature of disease, its symptoms, and the preventive actions that should be followed to prevent disease transmission. COVID-19 is a contagious disease caused by a virus, according to the majority of respondents (79.17%), and respiratory droplets are the virus's primary method of transmission, according to 75.00 percent of respondents. Farmers should bring their own food and water from home to their agricultural field, as well as soap and water, according to all of the respondents (81.67 percent). Besides, 73.34 percent of respondents believe that wearing a mask and maintaining social distance are necessary during agricultural tasks. COVID- 19 has also had an impact on agriculture. Farm women faced many constraints during this period. Out of which it is difficult to get agricultural inputs, animal feed and vaccines, lack of outside traders for product procurement, lack of technical experts to fix the problem in time, ignorance about government programs during the lockdown.</jats:p

Air Quality effects Along with Potential Agricultural Solution to Amid COVID-19

Life forms and their health status are highly dependent on the surrounding environment especially on the air quality as air and its constituents are the basic requirements for life sustenance on earth. Booming population and their dependency on machineries such as vehicles for their mass transportation has tortured the mother earth with polluted environment. This has affected the quality of air that we breathe and in turn affects our health status. Some of the notable air pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, CO, NO, SO2, O3 NH3 and Pb) serve as the means to determine the air quality index. This article outlines the impact of air quality on humans and plants as well as the effect of lockdown due to novel Corona virus (COVID-19) on air quality globally. In order to intervene the communal spread of COVID-19 governments across different continents have imposed restrictions on public movement and gathering which has reduced the mass transportation and usage of vehicles. This has benefited the air quality by reducing the pollutants in atmosphere and it is needless to say this is a blessing in disguise amid COVID-19 pandemic.</jats:p