Search

The digital landscape is evolving rapidly, with people spending an average of 7 hours per day on internet-connected screens. For children under five, screen time ranges from 0.9 to 3.5 hours per day, with potential negative effects on health and development. The World Health Organization recommends that children under five should not spend more than one hour per day on digital devices. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of behavior-changing techniques on the duration of screen time among preschoolers and the level of satisfaction. Among their parents at a selected school in Kanniyakumari District, Tamil Nadu, India. A quasi-experimental one-group pre-test post-test design was used, involving 60 preschool children and their parents recruited through convenience sampling. This study found the pretest mean screen time score was 32.31 (± 3.63), indicating 2 hours of screen time per day, while the post-test mean score was 23.73 (± 2.82), reflecting 1 hour per day. This demonstrates a significant reduction in screen time among preschoolers following the intervention (P < 0.01). The behavior-changing techniques effectively reduced preschoolers' screen time by approximately 1 hour. Therefore, limiting screen time for young children and actively promoting offline experiences is imperative.

Background: Pulses play an important role in Indian agriculture for sustainable production, improvement in soil health and environmental safety. They are a cheaper source of protein to overcome malnutrition among vegetarians due to the presence of a high percentage of quality protein which is nearly three times more than that of cereals. They are more responsive to organic manures but indiscriminate and continuous use of chemical fertilizers has venomous effects on soil physical, chemical and biological properties thereby affecting the sustainability of crop production, besides causing environmental pollution. Methods: The experiment consists of 12 treatments comprising organic amendments laid out in RCBD (completely randomized block design) with three replications. The black gram variety TAU-1 was sown with a spacing of 45 cm x 10 cm. The recommended dose of phosphorus for black gram was supplemented with different combinations of soil organic manures with equal proportions based on their P content. The required quantity of organic manures viz., Farmyard manure, vermicompost, Ghanajeevamrutha were uniformly incorporated into the soil as per the treatment three weeks before sowing. The organic manures to be applied were quantified equivalent to RDF (20 kg N + 50 kg P2O5 + 0 kg K2O ha-1). Result: The studies showed that application of vermicompost+ghanajeevamrutha based on 100% RDP (Recommended dose of phosphorus)+Rhizobium+PSB (Phosphorus Solubilizing bacteria) recorded significantly higher plant height (87.67 cm), number of branches per plant (6.33), relative chlorophyll content (48.11) and dry matter (2740.00 kg ha-1) with higher concomitant seed quality parameters like seed index (10.25 g) and protein content (22.7%) as compared to others. This study has demonstrated the importance of the usage of organics for improving the growth and seed quality parameters in black gram. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cucurbits, vital for global economy, confront myriad stresses impacting yield and quality. Rootstocks offer vital stress tolerance, enhancing crop performance. The present review explores rootstock diversity in cucurbit cultivation, different grafting methods and various rootstock-scion combinations, assessing their roles in stress mitigation and quality improvement across cucurbits. Assessing diverse stressors like drought and diseases reveals rootstocks with genetic variability, providing viable solutions. Crucial for sustainable production, these rootstocks improve crop vigour, yield stability and fruit quality. Future research should delve into rootstock-mediated stress tolerance mechanisms to optimize agricultural benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was conducted on the phytochemical properties in Fig cultivars viz., Afghan, Deanna and Brown Turkey. The highest fruit weight (49.97 g) was recorded in the fig cv. Brown Turkey followed by Deanna (43.53 g). Total soluble solids were higher in Brown Turkey (18.2oBrix). The total phenols were found to be higher in Brown Turkey (172 mg GAE/100 g) followed by Afghan (130.75 mg GAE/100 g). The highest total flavonoids (16.25 mg/100 g) were recorded in Brown Turkey. Afghan recorded high total tannins (6.55 mg CE/g). The highest antioxidant inhibition of 50.36% was recorded in Afghan as compared to Brown Turkey (20.43%). The total anthocyanin content was high in Brown Turkey (5.29 mg C3G/100 g). The experimental results showed that Brown Turkey fig recorded with higher values for phenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins and antioxidants compared to Afghan and Deanna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Biomimicry" is an acronym used to describe how people looked at nature for inspiration to tackle a variety of problems. The modern problems of fastincreasing urbanization, land degradation, climate change, pandemics, loss of biodiversity, and widespread use of pesticides and fertilizers seriously threaten our food supply chain. There is a growing consumer demand for nutrient-dense, flavourful plant-based cuisine with minimal environmental impact. Moreover, a considerable portion of food roughly 24% is lost before it reaches consumers, partly as a result of poor quality and protracted supply chains. Researching new methods of producing food is essential since, by 2050, there will be more than 9.7 billion people on the planet, 70% of whom will reside in cities. Vertical farming (VF), which relieves pressure on conventional agricultural land by using vertical space instead of horizontal expansion, is growing in popularity as a solution to these problems. Because VF incorporates soil-less growth techniques, it is well-suited for urban environments. This strategy may help to produce more premium products, such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, and herbs. It may also help to produce cosmetics and medications made from plants. Vertical farming, is becoming more favoured as an alternative to traditional agriculture, and provides avenues for enhancing sustainable food production given the growing challenges of climate change and population growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acalypha indicais an important medicinal plant and traditionally used as throat infections, wound healing, arthritis, ulcer and diabetes mellitus. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) the present study showed separation of two deep violet colour spots with RF values 0.31 and 0.72 which may represent the presence of alkaloids. Infra-Red (IR) spectral analysis of Acalypha indica showed C-H, -C=C-, N-H bend, C-C, C-H rock, O-H bend and C-C1 stretchings which may be attributed to the presence of functional groups like alcohol, alkenes, primary amines, alphatic amines and alkylhalides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India is one of the world's leading fruit and vegetable producers after China owing to its diverse agro-climatic conditions. However, the 20-30 percent of the produce is wasted because of its perishability. The processed form of fruits is the most convenient for storage and export owing to its demand in foreign countries. Hence, this study analyzed the growth and instability of different processed fruit exports in India from 2001-02 to 2022-23. The Compound Annual Growth rates showed that exports increased overall growth rate, with a higher growth rate for jam, jelly and marmalades at 12 percent, followed by dried fruits (9 percent) and mango pulp (0.08 percent) in quantity exported. The instability was calculated using the Cuddy-Della Index for processed fruits' export values (MT). It was realized from the result that the mango pulp category showed high instability in the overall export with Cuddy-Della Index value of 26.16 percent. In contrast, jam, jelly, marmalades, and dried fruits showed instability of 23.86 percent and 24.8 percent, respectively. This study concluded that proper infrastructure, cold chain, and supply chain for horticultural commodities should be developed for destination-specific production of processed fruits, as this could lead India to compete with global exporters and explore new alternate markets for the produce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tomato represents an extensively cultivated crop within tropical and subtropical regions of the world for their fresh market and processing attribute. However, its production frequently encounters substantial setbacks due to notable losses associated with diseases such as Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus (TyLCV). To address this challenge, the current study aimed to assess the resistance or susceptibility of selected 25 tomato breeding lines for TyLCV under natural field screenings to mimic real-world scenarios in accordance with the disease reaction score of Banerjee and Kalloo (1987). The field screening results showed that, the check Arka Vishes line demonstrated high resistance (HR) to TLCV, with reduced PDS, PDI values and a low coefÏcient of infection (CI). Several lines, including CBE SL 101, CBE SL 105, CBE SL 108, CBE SL 110, and CBE SL 114, exhibited a resistant (R) reaction, while others, such as CBE SL 102, CBE SL 107, CBE SL 112, CBE SL 120, and Arka Rakshak, displayed moderate resistance (MR). Conversely, lines CBE SL 103, CBE SL 104, CBE SL 106, CBE SL 109, CBE SL 111, CBE SL 115, CBE SL 117, and CBE SL 123 showed moderate susceptibility (MS), and the remaining lines, namely CBE SL 113, CBE SL 116, CBE SL 118, CBE SL 119, CBE SL 121, and CBE SL 122, were deemed susceptible to TLCV. The varying disease responses observed across these lines provide valuable insights into the complex dynamics of host-pathogen interactions in tomato plants, informing strategies for disease management and breeding efforts aimed at enhancing resistance to TLCV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]