Informatics Publishing Limited

V. K. Bahuguna , R. Das , Sanjay Singh

Abstract

Integrated land development model adopted in 10 forest fringe villages in tribal dominated areas of Jharkhand under a UNDP sponsored project has achieved remarkable success in sustainable livelihood promotion and conservation of natural resources, checking migration of rural mass to outside state for employment and disassociating young people from Maoist and naxal activities. The rural folk revived the traditional practice of lac cultivation with scientific and technical support of the Institute to reap substantial benefits in tune of 70,000-90,000 per family annually. Apart from growing lac on its well known host trees such as palash, kusum and ber, initiative has been taken on large scale lac cultivation on new host plant Flemingia semialta in farmers' fields. The intervention reduces the gestation period to 1 year and facilitates intensive management for enhanced crop yield.

Keywords

Land development, Livelihood, Natural Resources, Conservation, Lac cultivation.

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D. Chakraborti ¹, B. K. Biswas ¹, G. K. Basu ¹, U. K. Chowdhury ¹, T. Roy Chowdhury ¹, D. Lodh ¹, C. R. Chanda ¹, B. K. Mandal ¹, G. Samanta ¹, A. K. Chakraborti ¹, M. M. Rahman ¹, K. Paul ¹, S. Roy ², S. Kabir ², B. Ahmed ², R. Das ², M. Salim ², Q. Quamruzzaman ²

Affiliations
1 School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University, Calcutta - 700 032, IN
2 Dhaka Community Hospital, Bara Magh Bazar, Dhaka - 1217, BD

Abstract

The groundwater arsenic contamination in Bangladesh is a phenomenon of surface ero- sion, transportation and deposition in the form of Delta and ∼lood Plain. While dealing with such geomorphological units like Tableland, Flood Plain, Delta and Hill Tract in Bangladesh, we have found the possibility of having huge arsenic contaminattion free groundwater reservoir in selected areas in Bangladesh. The results presented are the outcome of our last 5 years, field survey analysing for arsenic of water of twentyfive thousand eight hundred ninetyseven hand tubewells in sixtyfour districts of Bangladesh comprising four existing geomorphological regions (a) Deltaic region (including coastal region), (b) Flood Plain, (c) Tableland and (d) Hill Tract. In this report, we will highlight (1) the area in Bangladesh where groundwater is not arsenic contaminated and the' possibility to use shallow hand tubewells as potential groundwater resource for drinking purpose and (2) arsenic contaminations scenario of deep tubewells (above 100 meters) all over Bangladesh and suitable depth in arsenic contaminated area to get safe water.

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T. K. Biswal ¹, S. K. Jena ¹, S. Datta ¹, R. Das ¹, K. Khan ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Powai, Mumbai, 400 076, IN

Abstract

The terrane boundary between Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt and the Bastar Craton in Balangir and Kalahandi Districts of Orissa is distinctly marked by nearly two kilometer wide southeasterly dipping ductile shear zone, designated as the Lakhna shear zone. The shear zone has largely developed in the craton, but for a narrow width within the Fastern Ghats. It is dominated by quartzofcldspathic mylonites characterised by S-C fabric, asymmetric winged porphyroclasts, quartz ribbons and intragranuhr faults. These structures have been effectively utilized in deducing the sense of shear and evaluating the amount of strain. The results show thrusting of the Eastern Ghats over the Bastar Craton. The minimum amount of throw along the thrust has becn estimated to be around 2.5 to 4.7 km assuming a dominant simple shear deformation.

Keywords

Terrane Boundary, Lakhna Shear Zone, Strain Evaluation, Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt, Bastar Craton, Orissa.

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R. Das ¹

Affiliations
1 The Oriental Chemical Works (P) Ltd, Calcutta-700 027, IN

Abstract

The recent concept of quality evaluation, plant maintenance and production engineering is art and science of feed back information on design, performance, inspection awareness and finally cost consciousness. Appropriate non destructive testing evaluation and merit rating can be computed only with the healthy production facilities through properly trained personnel not only in operational control but also in quality control.

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A. Patro ¹, R. Das ¹, S. Sahoo ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Agriculture, MIPS, Rayagada (Odisha), IN
2 Department of Horticulture and Farmer’s Empowerment, Government of Odisha, IN

Abstract

It is a notion that sustainable agriculture is the ischolar_main of solutions for eradication of malnutrition for long run. In these contemporary years, several strategies are taken up for reduction or elimination of this hidden hunger. The resolution initiated for this crucial subject involves number of measures which include dietary diversification, supplementation, and industrial fortification of food products and most importantly biofortification. Though all of the above strategies have been successful in some parts of the world but it requires continuous investment and extensive infrastructure for limiting their effectiveness in reaching the most vulnerable groups. Out of all strategies, biofortification is considered as a lead agricultural approach focused to target micronutrient malnutrition worldwide. Once implemented, biofortification will lower the number of micronutrient deficient people which requires more costly interventions dependent on supplementation and fortification programmes. Although micronutrients are required in very trace amount but the magnitude of micronutrient under nutrition is immense. It has been observed that nearly 2 billion people suffer from various health disorders due to) iron) deficiency, inadequate zinc intakes and high deficiency of Vitamin A. Unlike the cases with insufficient energy intakes, micronutrient malnutrition has no such manifestation except in extreme cases and for this very reason; it is termed as “hidden hunger”.

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J. Goswami ¹, D. K. Gogoi ², N. Rasid ¹, B. K. Handique ¹, G. Subrahmanyam ², P. P. Bora ², R. Das ², P. L. N. Raju ¹

Affiliations
1 North Eastern Space Applications Centre, Department of Space, Umiam 793 103, IN
2 Central Muga Eri Research and Training Institute, Central Silk Board, Lahdoigarh, Jorhat 785 700, IN

Abstract

Flacherie is a major bacterial disease causing >40% loss during Muga summer crops. For finding the ischolar_main causes of the diseases, relationships were established between rearing and production data corresponding to land use/land cover, land surface temperature and meteorological parameters. Adverse affects were found in farms associated with anthropogenic activities, in contrast to forest cover which shows a negative trend. Muga disease early warning system, a mobile-based application and dashboard has been developed to predict rate of flacherie infestation at least 5–10 days in advance, for proper precautionary measures by the farmers to avoid disease outbreak and crop loss

Keywords

Crop Loss, Early Warning System, Flacherie Disease, Mobile-Based Service, Muga Silkworm, Remote Sensing. Muga Silkworm.

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