Rehabilitation of degraded community lands for sustainable development in Himalaya: a case study in Garhwal Himalaya,India

SUMMARY

An approach to the rehabilitation of degraded community lands built on people's perceptions and traditional knowledge was developed, implemented on a small scale (6 ha plot), and evaluated in terms of economic and ecological costs and benefits over a period of 5 years in a mid-altitude (1200 m) village of Garhwal Himalaya. Rehabilitation comprised establishment of water harvesting tanks, organic management of soil, agroforestry (native multipurpose trees t traditional crops), and decision making by the whole village community. Costs and benefits under irrigated and unirrigated conditions were compared. The total cost of establishing the irrigated agroforestry system was 1.23 fold that of the unirrigated one, whereas the total benefit was 2.09 fold. The average standing above-ground biomass of the 4-year-old plantation in the irrigated agroforestry system was 11.69 t/ha compared to 8.34 t/ha in the unirrigated system. Improvement in soil properties was more pronounced in the irrigated system than in the unirrigated one. Nutrient input, an input derived largely from forest biomass, in the unirrigated system was nearly 3 times higher than that in the irrigated system. It is concluded that, considering the local and national/regional/global interests in an integrated manner, agroforestry incorporating water management would be a more effective option for rehabilitating degraded community lands than the afforestation currently being attempted by the government in the mid-altitudes of Indian Himalaya.     

Isozyme, ISSR and RAPD profiling of genotypes in marvel grass (Dichanthium annulatum)

Genetic analysis of 30 accessions of marvel grass (Dichanthium annulatum Forsk.), a tropical range grass collected from grasslands and open fields of drier regions, was carried out with the objectives of identifying unique materials that could be used in developing the core germplasm for such regions as well as to explore gene (s) for drought tolerance. Five inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) primers [(CA)4, (AGAC), (GACA) 4; 27 random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and four enzyme systems were employed in the present study. In total, ISSR yielded 61 (52 polymorphic), RAPD 269 (253 polymorphic) and enzyme 55 isozymes (44 polymorphic) bands. The average polymorphic information content (PIC) and marker index (MI) across all polymorphic bands of 3 markers systems ranged from 0.419 to 0.480 and 4.34 to 5.25 respectively Dendrogram analysis revealed three main clusters with all three markers. Four enzymes namely esterase (EST), polyphenoloxidase (PPO), peroxidase (PRX) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) revealed 55 alleles from a total of 16 enzyme-coding loci. Of these, 14 loci and 44 alleles were polymorphic. The mean number of alleles per locus was 3.43. Mean heterozygosity observed among the polymorphic loci ranged from 0.406 (SOD) to 0.836 (EST) and accession wise from 0.679 (1G3108) to 0.743 (IGKMD-10). Though there was intermixing of few accessions of one agro-climatic region to another largely groupings of accessions were with their regions of collections. Bootstrap analysis at 1000 iterations also showed large numbers of nodes (11 to 17) having strong clustering (> 50 bootstrap values) in all three marker systems. The accessions of the arid and drier regions forming one cluster are assigned as distinct core collection of Dichanthium and can be targeted for isolation of gene (s) for drought tolerance. Variations in isozyme allele numbers and high PIC (0.48) and MI (4.98) as observed with ISSR markers indicated their usefulness for germplasm characterization.     

Transferability of STS markers in studying genetic relationships of marvel grass (Dichanthium annulatum)

Transferability of sequence-tagged-sites (STS) markers was assessed for genetic relationships study among accessions of marvel grass (Dichanthium annulatum Forsk.). In total, 17 STS primers of Stylosanthes origin were tested for their reactivity with thirty accessions of Dichanthium annulatum. Of these, 14 (82.4%) reacted and a total 106 (84 polymorphic) bands were scored. The number of bands generated by individual primer pairs ranged from 4 to 11 with an average of 7.57 bands, whereas polymorphic bands ranged from 4 to 9 with an average of 6.0 bands accounts to an average polymorphism of 80.1%. Polymorphic information content (PIC) ranged from 0.222 to 0.499 and marker index (MI) from 1.33 to 4.49. Utilizing Dice coefficient of genetic similarity dendrogram was generated through un-weighted pairgroup method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) algorithm. Further, clustering through sequential agglomerative hierarchical and nested (SAHN) method resulted three main clusters constituted all accessions except IGBANG-D-2. Though there was intermixing of few accessions of one agro-climatic region to another, largely groupings of accessions were with their regions of collections. Bootstrap analysis at 1000 scale also showed large number of nodes (11 to 17) having strong clustering (> 50). Thus, results demonstrate the utility of STS markers of Stylosanthes in studying the genetic relationships among accessions of Dichanthium.     

Metal Fractionation Studies in Surfacial and Core Sediments in the Achankovil River Basin in India

The Fractionation of Fe, Zn, Cu, Pb, Mn and Cd in the sediments of the Achankovil River, Western Ghats, India using a sequential extraction method was carried out to understand the metal availability in the basin for biotic and abiotic activities. Spatial distribution of heavy metals has been studied. Sediment grain size has significant control over the heavy metal distribution. The fluctuations in their concentration partly depend upon the lithology of the river basin and partly the anthropogenic activities. The sediments are dominated by sand and are moderately to strongly positively skewed and are very leptokurtotic in nature. The quartzite and feldspars are abundant minerals along with significant amount of mica with low clay content. The core sediments show increasing trend of heavy metal concentration with depth due to the recent addition of anthropogenic sources and post-diagenic activities. Significant amount of Cd (18%) was found in carbonate fraction, which may pose environmental problems due to its toxic nature. Small concentrations of metals, except Cd and Cu, are in exchangeable fraction, which indicate low bio-availability. Enrichment Factor (EF) for individual metals shows the contribution from terrregious and in part from anthropogenic sources. Selective Sequential Extraction (SSE) study shows the variation in specific metal distribution pattern, their distribution in different phases and their bio-availability. Maximum amount of the metals were bound to the non-residual fractions (mainly Fe-oxides). Overall, bio-availability of these micronutrients from sediments seems to be very less. Non-residual phase is the most important phase for majority of heavy metals studied. Among the non-residual fraction, maximum amount of the heavy metals bound to Fe-oxides. The study high lights the need for in-depth study of heavy metals distribution and fractionation in the smaller river basins to get precise information on the behavior and transport of heavy metals in the fluvial environment and their contribution to the world ocean.     

Optimization of Pellet Production from Agro-Industrial By-Products: Effect of Plasticizers on Properties of Pellets and Composite Pots

The present study aimed to optimize the pellets formulation (deoiled rice bran, potato peel powder and plasticizers) for the development of the injection molded pots. The maximum hardness and bulk density (desirable responses) were obtained for pellets having 100 g of deoiled rice bran, 100 g potato peel powder and 14 % of cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) as well as 14 % of glycerol (GL) (on raw material basis). The optimized pellets and the pots developed from them were characterized for their physico-chemical, functional, rheological and morphological properties. Expansion ratio, pellet durability index and hardness of the pellets with 14 % CNSL were found to be 1.097, 98.647 % and 485.551 N, respectively. For pellets with 14 % GL expansion ratio, pellet durability index and hardness were found to be 1.150, 97.747 % and 462.949 N, respectively. The biodegradation analysis of the pots developed from optimized pellets with 14 % CNSL and GL degraded in 11 and 9 weeks, respectively. Porosity, puncture force, density and hardness of ‘AP’ pots were 27.473 %, 495.731 N, 1.549 g/ml and 542.641 N, respectively. However, for ‘BP’ pots, the porosity, puncture force, density and hardness were 32.548 %, 440.149 N, 1.191 g/ml and 507.841 N, respectively. Pots prepared from 14 % CNSL (AP) were better in physical and mechanical properties as compared to pots developed from glycerol.     

Multiresidue analysis of neonicotinoids by solid-phase extraction technique using high-performance liquid chromatography

For routine monitoring of pesticides, a multiresidue analysis through solid-phase extraction technique and using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in cotton seed cake (CSC) has been developed. Extraction of fortified samples was carried out with aqueous acetone under vacuum. The concentrated extract was loaded onto the solid-phase extraction units, preconditioned with acetonitrile. The extraction units were then washed with hexane and finally eluted with acetonitrile. The pesticide residues were determined using a multiresidue method by reversed-phase HPLC. The average percentage recoveries were found to range between 65.47% and 110% at spiking levels of 10 to 40 mg/kg. The method developed shows a healthy rate of recovery and can successfully be utilized for the extraction and screening of neonicotinoid residues in CSC. The detection limits for imidacloprid, acetamiprid, and thiacloprid using this method were found to be 5, 10, and 20 mg/kg, respectively.     

Attenuation of divalent toxic metal ions using natural sericitic pyrophyllite

The present study investigated the effectiveness of an inexpensive and ecofriendly alumino silicate clay mineral, sericitic pyrophyllite, as an adsorbent for the possible application in the removal of some divalent toxic metal cations such as Pb(2+), Cu(2+)and Zn(2+) from aqueous systems. Batch scale equilibrium adsorption studies were carried out for a wide range of initial concentration from 24.1 to 2410mumolL(-1) for lead, 78.65 to 7865mumolL(-1) for copper and 76.45 to 7645mumolL(-1) for zinc solutions. The removal of Pb(2+) was almost complete at low concentration (maximum lead removal capacity, LRC, 32mg of lead/g of pyrophyllite) with 10gL(-1) of adsorbent in a 30min equilibration time. The effects of temperature on adsorption of heavy metal ions were studied. The applicability of the Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich adsorption models in each case of lead, copper and zinc adsorption was examined separately at different temperatures. The adsorption process was found to be endothermic and the Freundlich adsorption model was found to represent the data at different temperatures more suitably.     

Children and the Sphere standard on mental and social aspects of health

Most of the world's children live in resource-poor countries where people are at a relatively high risk of exposure to catastrophic situations arising from conflict and natural disasters.(6) Given the potential social, psychological and psychiatric consequences of exposure to disaster, mental health and psychosocial support programmes are increasingly part of humanitarian aid. A minimum standard on mental and social aspects of health is included in the recently revised Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response (Sphere Handbook) (Sphere Project, 2004). Most recommendations for mental health and psychosocial interventions in guidance documents are based on expert opinion rather than research. Consequently, interventions are being implemented without full understanding of their potential benefit or harm. This paper offers a child-focused review of the evidence for each of the interventions described as indicators for the Sphere standard on mental and social aspects of health. It suggests some, but limited, support for each of them. However, the evidence base needs substantial strengthening.