Indian Journal of Agriculture Business

Mycotoxicosis is one of the major havoc to the poultry and pig industry. The modern studies revealed severe toxic potential of mycotoxins including carcinogenic, teratogenic and genotoxicity potential. Among several mycotoxins, Ochratoxin is one of the major public health concern toxicant. Ochratoxins are produced from Aspergillus ochraceus and Penicillium verrucosum. Amongst eight Ochratoxins, Ochratoxin A (OTA) is considered to be most pathogenic. OTA produced nephrotoxicity by oxidative damage and inhibition of protein synthesis. Mitigation of toxicity can be done by following rules and regulations and also by detoxification aiming at biological and chemical methods. Thus it is important to discuss the pathogenic role of the mycotoxins, its mechanism of toxicity, susceptible host, target organ and other epidemiological findings.

Keywords: Ochratoxins; Mitigation; Nephrotoxicity; Carcinogenicity. 

Over the last decade, the area under horticulture grew by about 2.7 per cent per annum and annual production increased by 7.0 per cent. The production of horticultural crops was about 283.5 million tones from an area of 24.2 million hectares (ha)The area under cultivation of fruits stood at 6.35 million hectares. India ranks first in production of Banana (26.2 per cent), Papaya (44.40 per cent), Mango (including mango teens, and guavas) (41.90 per cent). The vast production base offers India tremendous opportunities for export. During 2016-17, India exported fruits worth of 3298.03 crores. Fruit cultivation in India is a prominent business sector for exporting merchandise and thus earning a good amount of international revenue. India being a home for wide variety of fruits holds a unique position in production figures among other countries. The cultivation of fruits in India mainly depends upon the quality of soils, harvest, plantation and a perfect ambience of brilliant minds. India stands second in fruit production in the world.

Keywords: Export; Import; Processing; Cold Storage; Transport. 

Potential health benefits and their scientific evidence have been described in india, and to name a few include: calcium, probiotics, whey proteins and whey peptides, from dairy products; n-3 fatty acids, from fish; conjugated linoleic acid, from some meat; sphingolipids, Lutein and Zeaxanthin from eggs; and, the conditionally-essential nutrients L-carnitine, coenzyme Q10, - lipoic acid, choline and taurine, widely diffused in animal products. There are scientific evidences of functional foods which support the observation that functional foods from animal sources enhance human health. This over-view will lucidly place the status of functional foods in the present context in India.

Keywords: Livestock Products; Functional Food. 

The Maharashtra State has 234 lakh ha of land under cultivation and area under forest is 52.1 lakh ha. Many irrigation projects are being implemented to improve irrigation facilities. A watershed development programme is being implemented to ensure that soil and water conservation measures are implemented speedily in the unirrigated area. The State’s share in livestock and poultry population in India is about 6.3 per cent and 10.7 per cent, respectively. In the current series, i. e from 2011-12 to 2015-16, the GSVA of ‘Agriculture & Allied Activities’ sector has average share of 11.5 per cent in total GSVA (gross state value added)for the State and its average growth at constant (2011-12) basic prices is (-)2.0 per cent. The average share of ‘Agriculture & Allied Activities’ sector in GVA (gross value added) at basic prices is 17.9 per cent and it is growing at an average rate of 1.6 per cent. The agriculture sector has always remained a focal point of our economy. It embodies the three thrust areas viz. promotion of inclusive growth, enhancement in rural income and sustenance of food security. Since 1960, after the ‘Green Revolution’, the country has not witnessed any major technological breakthrough in agriculture except in few crops. The food safety net for the millions of citizens requires enhanced agricultural production and productivity with special attention towards pulses, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables which are essential for nutritional security. Various schemes are being implemented to improve performance in agriculture. Agricultural credit is one of the inputs for improving production & productivity and reducing farmers’ distress. The Government of India is aiming to cover about 50 per cent of farmers in the next two-three years through the ambitious Crop Insurance Scheme viz. ‘Prime Minister Fasal Bima Yojana’. The crop insurance schemes are useful to overcome the uncertainties in agriculture.

Hurdle technology was explored several years ago as a conception to ensure food safety and stability against food pathogens. This technology deliberately combines hurdles which secures the microbial safety and stability as well as retains the organoleptic, nutritional quality and economic viability of food products. It is amiable, accessible and multi-target method of effective preservation with effective applications. This technology is of paramount importance in developing countries like India due to lack of storage facilities and nowadays more or less used in many foods at industrial level. In excess of 50 different hurdles are identified for food industries. Besides the common ones, potentially valuable options can also be applied in any kind of food industries. This technology can boon the food industry which is running successfully with the hope of more scopes to arrive in future.

 The perinatal chick makes the metabolic and physiological transition from nutrition supplied in the egg to feed, and it is functionally ‘programmed’ to adapt to its environment. Early feed access to chicks after hatching had significant impact on the growth and development, increases feed utilization efficiency. Alternative to early feed access in ovo feeding is developed, where essential nutrients are directly injected in to developing embryo. Some critical nutrients in the amnion may be limited because of parental nutrition constraints related to weight control and egg production rate. As the productivity of poultry increased, the demand of embryos for nutrients changed. However, the chemical composition of an egg has remained practically unchanged, and therefore, it began providing the embryos with suitable substances with the help of in ovo technology. The primary focus of the current review is to address effect of different nutrients over the hatchability, growth and development of chicks after in ovo feeding.

Keywords: In Ovo-Nutrition; Growth; Feed Efficiency; Hatchability.

An attempt was made to explore the veterinary students’ attitude towards rural oriented careers and their extent of participation in extracurricular and co-curricular activities in AP. Data was gathered from 150 undergraduate veterinary students through random sampling from three veterinary colleges (50 from each) under Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University. The pretested questionnaire was used as an instrument for data collection, the data was tabulated and statistically analyzed using SPSS version 20. Expost- facto research design was followed in the study. Equal distribution of boys and girls from all the years were selected and findings indicated that majority of the students had expressed more favourable (positive) attitude towards rural oriented careers and showed less inclination to participate in extracurricular and cocurricular activities.

Keywords: Career Preference; Attitude; Under Graduate; Veterinary Students; Career; Rural. 

The present case study reports Clostridium sps. infection in a group of dead lambs. Dead Lambs of age group 4-8 months were brought to the local veterinary dispensary. The farmers reported that lambs were passing coffee coloured urine, no signs of fever but were weak and dull. Later after three days shivering was observed and lambs became recumbent and collapsed to death. The lambs were vaccinated against enterotoxemia and general deworming one month back. On post mortem, the pathognomic lesion found the kidney was very soft with necrotic pale foci all over the surface. Grams staining and biochemical tests were performed with the specimens obtained on post mortem which revealed Gram positive bacilli rods and a positive result was shown for litmus milk test.

Agricultural production and productivity is largely dependent on the number of mandays in a particular cropping season. The monsoon rain deviation hampers the normal agricultural works by reducing the usual man days. The present study is conducted in Ghoragachha village under Saguna gram panchayet, Nadia, West Bengal. The number of respondents were 60 and they were selected randomly.The data were collected trough pilot survey, structured interview and focused group interview.The statistical tools used for data analysis are correlation coefficient, step down regression, path analysis and factor analysis. Cropping intensity (X8), yield of rice (X11), yield of pulses (X12) are some of the variables those have created a significant impact on the number of man days.The variables which were retained after step down regression are family size (X3), homestead land (X5), yield of pulses (X12) that means these are the most important causal variables which affect the consequent variable.

Mobile phones can act as a catalyst to rejuvenate the extension services. Recent advancements in the mobile technology are the mobile apps. Mobile apps as an extension services delivery tool could be the most affordable way for farmers to access useful, relevant information. The quality of mobile apps mainly attribute to effective extension service delivery. Thus, present research was formulated to study the quality of mobile apps to improve services to livestock farmers. The study reveals that majority of the respondents were young with basic education, marginal farmers and had medium herd size with medium innovativeness. The quality of the mobile app was good which was measured on different aspects viz. downloading, user interactivity, attraction, holding the interests, visuals and content. There is a need to focus on improving the quality of the mobile apps so that mobile apps could be better utilized in livestock extension system.

Keywords: Mobile Apps; Quality; Livestock; Extension; Women. 

Background: Nutrition is one of the most important determinants of educational outcomes. Objective: To find relation between nutritional status and academic achievement of school adolescents availing Mid-Day Meal Schemein Chandigarh, India. Material and Methods: A school-based survey consisting 1274 participants from randomly selected 12 government schools of Chandigarh was conducted. Seven schools, three schools and two schools from urban, rural and slums were selected respectively. Thereafter, the school adolescents of 6th, 7th and 8th standard from each school were selected. WHO Anthroplus software was used to find out nutritional status of adolescents. Results: Prevalence of stunting and severe stunting among adolescents was found 313 (25.47%) and 91 (7.40%) respectively. Prevalence of thinness and severe thinness were 279 (22.70%) and 89 (7.24%), respectively. Highest prevalence of stunting was found in lower socio-economic group adolescents i.e. 161 (28.14%) and it decreased with better socioeconomic status. Conclusion: Malnutrition affects educational performance as revealed by poor academic scores, who consumed no Mid-Day Meal or less Mid-Day Meal. Malnutrition is mostly affecting the school adolescents of lower socio-economic group; there is a need to strengthen the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in Chandigarh particular and country in general

Keywords: Malnutrition; BMI; Stunting; Mid-Day Meal; Chandigarh; Academic Achievement.