Effects of Nipping and Micronutrient Foliar Application on Dry Matter Production, Yield, Agronomic Efficiency and Nutrient Uptake of Short Duration Pigeonpea (Cajanus Cajan L.) Co(Rg)- 7

Background The productivity of pulse crop is low due to cultivation on agriculturally marginal and sub marginal lands under poor management. So, it needs earnest attention in adaption of desirable production technologies to exploit the yield potential of the pulses and it can be possible by application of fertilizers, nipping and foliar application of nutrients.In this view, aresearch was conducted to studyyield maximization, agronomic efficiency and nutrient uptake pattern with nipping and nutrient management practices in irrigated pigeonpea.Methods Field experiment was conducted at farmer’s field, Palacode, Palacode Taluk, Dharmapuri District.The pigeonpea seeds were sown by adapting a spacing of 45 × 30 cm. Entire dose of N, P2O5 and K2O (25: 50: 25 kg)were applied basally and the foliar spraying of 0.5 per cent Micronutrient mixture was done as per treatment schedule on 30th& 45th days after sowing using Knapsack Sprayer with the spray fluid of 500 lit. ha-1.Results The results revealed that the application of T9 (125% RDF + Nipping + Micronutrient) recorded significantly higher dry matter production, yield and nutrient uptake.The least values were recorded under the treatment T1 (Control).

Formulation and Evaluation of Luliconazole Microsponges Loaded Gel for Topical Delivery

Microsponge containing Luliconazole (LCZ) with different proportion of drug:polymer (Ethyl cellulose and Eudragit RS 100) were obtained efficiently using Quasi-emulsion solvent diffusion method. Luliconazole is an anti-fungal drug used for the topical delivery. The purpose of the microsponge formulation is to control the release of LCZ drug to the skin through Microsponge Delivery System (MDS) known to be the novel technique which overcome the maximum concentration of active ingredient, frequency doses, and skin irritation. The prepared microsponges were examined using drug content, % production yield, % entrapment efficiency and in-vitro drug release. The formulation were subjected to in-vitro drug release studies for 6 hr in which it was concluded that Ethyl cellulose microsponges formulated by drug:polymer (1:1) and Eudragit RS 100 microsponges formulated by drug:polymer (1:3) showed maximum controlled release i.e., Increase in drug:polymer ratio (1:1 to 1:9) increased the production yield and entrapment efficiency of microsponges using Ethyl cellulose with no significant effect for Eudragit RS 100.Therefore, both formulation F1 and F2 was dispersed in carbopol gel preparation for controlled delivery of LCZ to the skin. Various physical parameters like pH, spreadability, viscosity and in-vitro drug diffusion studies were evaluated for the prepared gel formulations. Microsponge gel formulation i.e., FG1 showed better results for controlled release of 89.40% as compared to FG2 i.e., 92.18% over the period of 12 hrs which is performed in Franz Diffusion Cell. On basis of in-vitro diffusion studies for LCZ gel formulation, microsponges using Ethyl cellulose (FG1) was found to be best for its controlled release of LCZ for 12 hrs and followed zero order kinetics. Hence, formulated LCZ loaded gel have potential to treat fungal infections i.e., tinea pedis, tinea cruris and tinea corporis.

New Ciders Made by an Exhaustion Method: An Option to Val-Orise Subproducts from the Making of Ice Ciders

Cryo-extraction (pressing of frozen apples), is one of the two freeze-enrichment systems allowed for the making of ice juices. Its ciders are often described as more complex and aromatic, however, the production yield is quite low. The Exhaustion method associated with the previous one proposes the valorisation of the discarded apple juice fractions for the making of new ciders. Three types of apple juices and three species of yeasts (S. bayanus, C6; S. cerevisiae, Levuline-CHP, and T. delbrueckii, Biodiva-TD291) have been used to evaluate the Exhaustion method. The ciders obtained were analysed for chemical and volatile composition as well as sensory characteristics. The yield (%) of the Exhaustion process ranged between 24 and 37%. The yeasts promoted the fermentation at different rates, providing ciders with alcoholic degrees between 9 and 12 (%v/v), and low volatile acidities. The yeast strain significantly influenced most of the parameters analysed, whereas the raw apple juice influenced the perception of the attributes fruity, apple and butter. Although the ciders produced by Exhaustion presented significantly lower concentrations of all the volatile compounds analysed than the corresponding ice ciders obtained by Cryo-extraction, the S. bayanus C6 and T. delbrueckii TD291 gave highly valued ciders from the sensory point of view.

Market weight, slaughter age, and yield grade to determine economic carcass traits and primal cuts yield of Hanwoo beef

ObjectiveThis study was conducted to evaluate the relationship between market weight, slaughter age, yield grade, and primal cut yield in Hanwoo. MethodsA total of 403 Hanwoo (Korean native cattle) was assessed for carcass traits such as carcass cold weight, backfat thickness, ribeye area, dressing percentage, yield index, and marbling score. The production yield of the individual major primal cuts of Hanwoo beef was also measured. FindingsCarcass cold weight, ribeye area, and backfat thickness, which affect meat quality increased with increased market weight (p<0.05). The production yield of the ten major primal cuts also increased with increased market weight (p<0.05). In terms of slaughter age, carcass cold weight, ribeye area, and backfat thickness all increased from 25 months to 28-29 months, and the production yield of all prime cuts also increased with increasing slaughter age. According to the meat yield grade, carcass cold weight and backfat thickness increased from grade A to grade C, although the ribeye area was not affected. The combined findings of the study suggest that slaughtering Hanwoo at the weight of 651-700 kg and 701-750 and age of 28.23 and 29.83 months might be desirable to achieve the best quality and quantity grade of Hanwoo beef. However, the positive correlation of carcass cold weight and backfat thickness, and the negative correlation of the yield index according to primal cuts yield indicated that it is necessary to couple the slaughtering management of cattle with improved genetic and breeding method of Hanwoo to increase the production yield of the major prime cuts of Hanwoo beef.

An Empirical Study on Forecasting Production and Price of Tea in India

Tea is a very indispensable beverage for Indian population as we rank the world’s largest consumer of black tea. Indian tea industry had been facing many downfalls for the past few years in terms of low price, excess supply, losing flavour and all this as a whole had affected the performance of the tea industry in India. With India being the second largest producer of tea globally, the production of tea in India can be subdivided into North India and South India. The current study focuses on the comparative analysis between North India, South India and India in terms of their trends in area, production, yield, export quantity, export price, auction price and auction quantity of tea. Compounded Annual growth rate (CAGR) was the tool used to find the trends of various variables. This study also focuses on the forecasting the production and auction prices of tea in India till 2023using Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model. The results of the present study areindicating that all the variables like area, production, yield, export quantity, export price, auction price and auction quantity of tea had shown a positive trend annually, except for that of North India’s export quantity. Production and auction prices were forecasted till 2023 using different ARIMA models amongst which ARIMA (1,1,0) proved to be the best fit model for study period.

Liquid-Phase Exfoliation of Graphene in Organic Solvents with Addition of Picric Acid

In this work, graphene was produced by liquid-phase exfoliation of graphite in different organic solvents with addition of picric acid. The graphene was easily produced by one step ultra-sonication of graphite powder in the organic solvents. The addition of picric acid has increased the graphene production yield in most of the solvents tested in this work. Picric acid serves as a “molecular wedge” to intercalate into the edge of graphite, which plays a key role during sonication and significantly improves the production yield of graphene. The products were analyzed by microscopic techniques, including atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The AFM images indicate that the exfoliation efficiency and amount of graphene increased by addition of picric acid in organic solvents. Moreover, the AFM images also indicate presence of bilayer graphene. SEM analysis also shows that the addition of picric acid into the organic solvent favors the exfoliation process. The produced graphene was also analyzed by XRD, FTIR, Raman and UV-visible spectroscopy. The XRD results illustrate that exfoliation was best achieved in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) as a solvent. FTIR and Raman results indicate that addition of picric acid has slightly defected the produced graphene surface. The amount of graphene concentration was calculated by using Beer Lambert law, and it was observed that the graphene production yield was increased by using picric acid in most of the solvents. The maximum amount of graphene concentration (0.159 mg/ml) was achieved by adding 30 mg of picric acid in NMP.

Socio-economic Determinants of Rice Production Yield in Benin

This study aims to analyze the determinants of rice production yield in Benin. Data were collected in the central part of Benin, which includes the districts of Bantè, Dassa, Glazoué and Savalou. A total of 300 randomly selected rice producers were surveyed. The results indicate that the contract farming participation, membership in an innovation platform, and the location of the producer are the main determinants of rice yield. The design of policies to improve producer yield should focus primarily on these factors.