A sink host allows a specialist herbivore to persist in a seasonal source

In seasonal environments, sinks that are more persistent than sources may serve as temporal stepping stones for specialists. However, this possibility has to our knowledge, not been demonstrated to date, as such environments are thought to select for generalists, and the role of sinks, both in the field and in the laboratory, is difficult to document. Here, we used laboratory experiments to show that herbivorous arthropods associated with seasonally absent main (source) habitats can endure on a suboptimal (sink) host for several generations, albeit with a negative growth rate. Additionally, they dispersed towards this host less often than towards the main host and accepted it less often than the main host. Finally, repeated experimental evolution attempts revealed no adaptation to the suboptimal host. Nevertheless, field observations showed that arthropods are found in suboptimal habitats when the main habitat is unavailable. Together, these results show that evolutionary rescue in the suboptimal habitat is not possible. Instead, the sink habitat functions as a temporal stepping stone, allowing for the persistence of a specialist when the source habitat is gone.

Growth and Export Potential of Horticultural Crops from India: An Overview

Cultivation of horticultural crops is the best alternative for Indian agriculture as a farmer can achieve a higher return by exporting the produce. So the topic has been selected to analyze the trend in export performance of horticultural crops of India and to identify the major destinations of India for exporting fruits and vegetables. Data was entirely based on secondary sources, and the major analytical techniques like CAGR and CV were used to achieve the study’s objective. The trend in export of fresh fruit and vegetables both by quantity and value shows that walnuts have negative growth rate. Fresh mangoes have shown a negative growth rate (-4.50%) in terms of quantity. In the case of export of processed fruits and vegetables by quantity, Cucumber and Gherkins (Prepared & Preserved) have shown a negative growth rate (-2.21%) along with mango pulp (-5.48%). ’India’s primary market for fresh fruit and vegetables is United Arab Emirates. For processed fruit and vegetables, the major market are USA, Netherland, Saudi Arabia, and China. To emerge as a major exporting nation, India needs to produce surplus by cultivating high-value horticultural crops, improving cultivation practices, pre and post harvest management, storage, etc.

Micropropagation of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) var. Atlantic on various culture media composition

Potato is included in one of the three most important crops globally after paddy andwheat because it contributes to staple food for humans around the world. In Indonesia, potatoprioritizes its development because of non-rice carbohydrate sources and potential in fooddiversification programs. In Lampung, potato productivity decreased significantly from 2017to 2018, resulting in a negative growth rate (-33%). One of the factors that cause the lowproductivity of potatoes is the limited availability of superior seeds. Micropropagation can bean alternative to solve this problem. This research aimed to investigate the growth response ofpotato var Atlantic on various culture media and obtain the most appropriate culture media forpotato shoots induction and multiplication. This research was conducted at the Plant TissueCulture Laboratory, Politeknik Negeri Lampung, from June—September 2020. Treatmentswere single arranged in a completely randomized design with three replications, and eachreplication consisted of three culture bottles containing one explant. Data analysis usingANOVA and HSD test in 5 % alpha. Based on the result of this research, it can be concludedthat the potato var Atlantic culture showed different responses on the various components ofculture media, and MS media with 0.5 mg l2-iP is the most appropriate culture media forpotato micropropagation.

Identification of Stable and High Yielding Dual Season Genotypes in Blackgram [Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper]

Background: The production of pulses recorded a negative growth rate due to stagnation in expansion of pulse growing area and very slow progress in the improvement of productivity of important pulses. Therefore, there is urgent need to increase the area under pulse crops by promoting them into new areas and seasons. Blackgram [Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper] is third most important pulse crop both in acreage and production in India and hence, identification of high yielding dual season (kharif and summer) stable blackgram genotypes is very crucial for horizontal expansion of crop, which in turn leading to increased production. The present study was thus envisaged to identify stable, high yielding dual season (kharif and summer) genotypes. Methods: Twenty-five blackgram genotypes were evaluated at three different locations during kharif and summer seasons to identify high yielding, stable and suitable for dual season. The data obtained from six environments was subjected to stability analysis as per Eberhart and Russell (1966).Result: Analysis of variance for stability revealed that variance due to genotypes, environment and environment + (genotype × environment) were highly significant for all the characters. The genotypes viz., TRCRU-136, BDU-20, BDU-18, AKU-15 and TRCRU-22 were found early maturing with wider adaptability to unfavourable environments. While, BDU-18 and LBG-465 were found stable in expression with high mean performance across the six environments for 100-seed weight. From the present study, six promising stable genotypes viz., BDU-17, TRCRU-22, BDU-18, TRCRU-339, TRCRU-18 and IC 436778 were identified for cultivation during kharif as well as summer seasons.

Dynamics of Area Change in Vegetable Production in Karnataka

Area under production of vegetables is increasing over the years despite the gradual fall in total cultivable area in India. Nonetheless, growth in area is not same for all the vegetables. To the assess growth in area and address its disparity, the present study was carried out for the state of Karnataka for the period 1998-99 to 2017-18. About forty percent increase in area of vegetables has been observed over the period of two decades. Among the vegetables potato, and leafy vegetables recorded negative growth rate. Inequality between districts has also been observed for growth in area under vegetables. Markov chain analysis was employed to obtain transitional probability matrix of area under different vegetables. Projection for area of individual vegetable/vegetable groups for period of eight years has been made by simulating the transition probabilities. Tomato, gourds, cole crops and other vegetables group show positive trend of area over the study period. However, onion and leafy vegetables would have more or less constant area over the projected period. The unbalanced growth within the vegetable group could impact to the economy either by affecting dietary diversity or increasing import dependency for vegetables.

Technical efficiency of Indian farmers in sugarcane production- A panel stochastic frontier approach

Aim: To estimate the technical inefficiency of Indian farmers in sugarcane production. Methodology: Although various stochastic frontier models for panel data are available, six of them were considered for the study, which is frequently applied in empirical research. Based on the log likelihood ratio, results are interpreted only for kumbhakar, lien and hardaker (KLH) model. Results: Indian farm?s overall technical efficiency ranged from minimum 0.11 to maximum 0.93 with a mean value of 0.70, it means that with same resource based average sugarcane growers can increase their yield up to 23% and most technical inefficient grower can increase their yield up to 82% in order to achieve overall technical efficiency level (93%) of efficient fellow grower in study area. Though, Tamil Nadu has the highest overall technical efficiency score in sugarcane production (0.76), the negative growth rate indicates its decline in technical efficiency. Haryana has a negative growth rate in persistent, residual and overall technical efficiency in sugarcane production. Interpretation: Among the seven states, Uttaranchal showed the highest scope of improving the sugarcane yield with 36%, followed by Uttar Pradesh (34%), Haryana (33%), Maharashtra (30%), Karnataka (30%), Andhra Pradesh (25%) and Tamil Nadu (24%). Results of parameter estimates confirmed that area in hectare, machine usage in hours, seed quantity in kilograms, manure usage in quintals and total fertilizer usage in kilograms are significant and positively influence the sugarcane production. The coefficients of dummy for farm size reveals that medium and large sugarcane farms are less efficient compared to small farms. Similarly, the share of own machine-hours has a negative impact on sugarcane production. Based on the empirical results appropriate policy is suggested for the study.

Gender-related trends in key epidemiological indicators of lung cancer in the Republic of Kazakhstan, 2014-2018

Relevance: Over the past decades, lung cancer (LC) incidence worldwide is adding about 1.5% each year. The risk of LC development increases 4-5 times with age. The mortality-to-incidence ratio (MIR) in LC is the most unfavorable – up to 95.6% of patients die. The purpose of this study was to analyze the epidemiological situation with lung cancer in the Republic of Kazakhstan over the past five years, with the assessment of key epidemiological indicators by gender. Results: In the previous five years (2014-2018), the men to women ratio among LC patients was equal to 4.2:1 and remained stable. A gradual decline in mortality (16‰ in 2014 to 12.9‰ in 2018) correlated with the MIR dynamic pattern (67.5% in 2014 to 60.0% in 2018). The standardized LC incidence in men was declining steadily (46.8‰ in 2014 to 43.0‰ in 2018). A more evident decrease in male mortality from LC (32.0‰ in 2014 to 24.2‰ in 2018) was due to the progress recently achieved in LC diagnostics and treatment in the Republic of Kazakhstan. On the contrary, the LC incidence in women increased by 2.6% a year (7.6‰ in 2014 to 7.8‰ in 2018). The female mortality from LC was declining steadily (4.6‰ in 2014 to 3.5‰ in 2018), with a negative growth rate of minus 31.4%. Conclusion: The analysis of epidemiologic indicators for LC in the Republic of Kazakhstan showed a general downward trend in incidence and mortality regardless of gender. However, we can expect an increase in the female incidence of LC in sync with the global trend. The study period has witnessed the improvement in both the primary diagnostics (due to the renewal of diagnostic equipment in the country) and treatment of LC (through the introduction in the Republic of methods of molecular genetic studies which are the basis for the state-financed personalized drug therapy with targeted agents).

RECENT TREND OF CHANGE OF FERTILITY IN NEPAL

Fertility is one of the most predominant demographic factors of population dynamics. This article tries to analyze the trend of fertility of Nepal comparing with Global trend and the trends of other SAARC countries. This paper follows the quantitative analysis. The entire scope of discussion in this study is based on secondary sources of data. The results show that both ASFR and TFR have been continuously decreasing since 1990s. The decreasing rate is seen more in between 1998-2005s. Now the TFR is 2.3, so Nepal is in nearer to the replacement level of fertility rate. The marriage in early age is not still reduced remarkably that's why the fertility rate of this age group is not decreased as comparison to other age groups in Nepal. In the beginning, the TFRs of all SAARC countries were more than that of world. But in between past sixty decades, the TFR of this region is remarkably reduced and now it is similar to the world's figure except the Pakistan's. The TFR of Pakistan is still high in comparison to its neighbors. Fertility decline in Nepal has been occurring for several decades to till now. The reduction of fertility is beneficial in many domains, as it opens up completely for new employment and educational prospects for young women. It also creates new manpower for job market which helps to boost the economic growth. But continuous declination of fertility rate below the replacement level is not a good scenario in demography because it causes the negative growth rate of population and increase the dependency ratio.Researcher: A Research Journal of Culture and SocietyVol. 3, No. 3, January 2018, Page: 72-80

Macroeconomic Instability Index and Malaysia Economic Performance

The economic performance of Malaysia was affected by a series of financial crises that had induced macroeconomic instability in the country, which in turn had immensely dampened the nation’s economic growth rate. No doubt Malaysia needs an indicator to monitor the nation’s economic performance from time to time. This study attempts to construct such indicator known as Macroeconomic Instability Index (MII). The constructed MII shows two significant spikes at 1998 and 2008, which correspond to the Asian Financial Crisis and US Subprime Mortgage respectively, that had resulted in negative growth rate for GDP of Malaysia in 1999 and 2010. Results obtained from further analysis by the ARDL technique show that MII has negative and significance effects on economic performance. Moreover, MII has predictive power against economic performance as early as two periods in advance. The constructed MII could serve as end-product for policy purposes or intermediate-product for other economic and finance studies.

Why Pharmaceutical Exports from India to Europe Grew During Economic Crisis?

This article looks into the export trends of pharmaceuticals from India to selected destinations in Europe during the time period 2005–2014. Ten countries of Europe have been selected and divided into two groups—those that are more affected by the crisis beginning in 2008, and those that are less affected. The first group maintained a negative growth rate of GDP more consistently than the second group during the period of study. We found that India’s pharmaceutical exports to European countries, which are relatively more affected by economic crisis, in the time period of study, have increased despite falling income and falling per capita pharmaceutical expenditure. This article investigates the reasons for such trends in exports. Health care and pharmaceutical expenditures in the selected European destinations are largely publicly provided and have been subject to cost-containment policies. The austerity measures in Europe, as they were carried out in health care provision, India’s cost advantage in pharmaceuticals and its advantage as a generic producer and exporter are likely positive contributors to this growth.