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The main raw material for manufacture of paper is wood pulp which are mainly obtained from the pulpwood trees like Casuarina, Eucalyptus and Meliadubia. In Tamil Nadu, the cultivation of these pulpwood trees was promoted by two leading paper manufacturing industries viz., Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Paper Limited (TNPL) and Seshasayee Paper and Boards Limited (SPB).This study aims at estimating the cost, returns and financial feasibility of major pulpwood tree species cultivated in Tamil Nadu. The study found that the cost of cultivation of casuarina, eucalyptus and Meliadubia were Rs.1,76,939, Rs.1,60,593 and Rs.1,52,672 and the net income obtained from these trees were Rs.1,58,473, Rs.1,37,028 and Rs.1,33,831 respectively. Among these trees, Casuarina is more profitable and the results of the study concluded that the cultivation of these three major pulpwood trees are profitable and financially viable.

Cotton is a high commercial profile crop serving as a lifebelt crop for millions. It is a predominant crop under cultivation in a large spectrum since the ancient period. Globally it is a significant income earning crop hence aptly termed as White Gold. India is a leading cotton producer, exporter, and consumer in the world. It has surpassed China’s cotton production in 2021 and stands first in world cotton production. But India’s cotton productivity is 466 kg/ha very low than the global average cotton productivity; ranking 42nd in world productivity. Cotton is cultivated in an area of 12.35 million hectares with a production of 5.79 million metric tonnes. The present study aims in estimating the growth rate and the factors influencing cotton acreage and production in India for the last four decades of 1981-82 to 2020-21. The compound growth rate was examined using exponential growth function and instability by Cuddy Della Valle instability index in three different periods i.e Period I 1981-82 to 2001-02 (Pre introduction of Bt), Period II 2002-02 to 2020-21(Post introduction of Bt) and Overall period (1981-82 to 2020-21).The data used in current study is secondary in nature and collected from sources namely Directorate of Economics and statistics, India stat and from FAO. The acreage and supply response was estimated using the Nerlovian double-lagged adjustment model. The findings revealed that a higher growth rate and instability have been witnessed after the introduction of Bt technology in India which symbolizes the magnanimous role of Bt technology in the Indian cotton sector. The responsiveness of cotton area towards the lag cotton area, cotton MSP, rainfall and lagged export price stands significant whereas cotton supply response is highly triggered by lagged cotton production, rainfall and Bt technology.

Rainfed agriculture covers 80 percent of the World’s cropland and produces about 60 percent of the World’s food grains. In India, 55 percent of gross sown area accounts 40 percent of food production. In Tamil Nadu, nearly 48 per cent of gross sown area is under rainfed cultivation which is highly vulnerable to climate change and therefore it requires appropriate climate adaptation strategies. The present study covering 180 sample households to examine the farmers perception on climate change and various adaptation responses practiced in rainfed agriculture in Tamil Nadu, Southern India. The farmers were requested to choose one or more response among the three options namely, change in rainfall pattern, change in temperature and decrease in ground water availability. The results of the analysis indicated that rainfall and ground water availability are major concerns due to climate change were perceive by 84 and 58 percent of farmers. The adaptation responses to climate change are examined and the farmers were requested to indicate the various adaptation strategies viz., changing the cropping pattern, drilling new bore wells, deepening existing wells, introducing water saving irrigation methods and reducing the number of irrigations etc. The change in rainfall and temperature perceived by farmers were followed the reduction in number of irrigations, change in cropping pattern, advancement or delaying of cropping seasons and growing rain-fed crops are the major adaptation strategies to reduce the impact of climate change.

Dairying has been an important auxiliary enterprise and regular source of income to the farmers. Indian dairy industry has grown commendably with the seven-fold rise in milk output since independence; however, the productivity of the milch animals was relatively low owing to inadequate fodder and inefficient input management. This study investigates the factors influencing milk production under enhanced fodder production in Tamil Nadu using the two-stage least square method. Primary data were obtained from 407 dairy farm households during the year 2021-22. Two models using single-cut and multi-cut fodder were employed to assess the factors determining milk production in dairy farms. The findings of the first stage regression of both models show that fertilizers, seeds, area under fodder, herd size, machinery, farming experience and education were the determinants of the fodder production. In the second stage, factors that influence milk production were fodder, concentrates, herd size, dairy experience, and education. Efficient utilization of feed coupled with concentrates will enhance milk production. The adoption of multi-cut fodder will offer succulent nutrient-rich fodder throughout the year to the cattle, even in the lean season and as a result, it improves the productivity of milk in the dairy farms.

Dairy farming is the subsidiary occupation for millions of farmers in India. Due to risks and uncertainties in rainfed areas, crop production alone was not much remunerative. Diversifying dairy with the crop and allied activities would generate better income, nutritional security, and regular employment to the farming community and ensure risk reduction. This study investigates the extent and determinants of income diversification among dairy farm households in Tamil Nadu using the Simpson Index of Diversity (SID) and the Tobit regression model. Primary data were collected from dairy farm households during the year 2021-22. The results show that two-thirds of the total household income was shared by on-farm income and the remaining one-third by off-farm and non-farm activities to the total household income. Simpson Index of Diversity (0.38) indicated that the households were diversified with milch animals, but the degree of the diversification was low since high degree of diversification requires more labour and high cost. Further, education, family size, landholding size, herd size, proximity to agricultural or allied industry, access to credit, and membership in farmer producer organizations were the important determinants of income diversification. This study indicates that farm households should adopt a concentric approach that requires targeted research, information dissemination, infrastructure development, and agricultural technical institution establishments to boost income diversification and livelihood.

Serological surveillance for vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles and rubella, can provide direct measures of population immunity across age groups, identify gaps in immunity, and document changes in immunity over time. Rigorously conducted, representative household serosurveys provide high-quality estimates with minimal bias. However, they can be logistically challenging, expensive, and have higher refusal rates than vaccine coverage surveys. This article shares lessons learned through implementing nine measles and rubella household serosurveys in five districts in India—the challenges faced, the potential impact on results, and recommendations to facilitate the conduct of serosurveys. Specific lessons learned arose from challenges related to community mobilization owing to lack of cooperation in certain settings and populations, limitations of outdated census information, nonresponse due to refusal or unavailability during survey enumeration and enrollment, data collection issues, and specimen collection and handling issues. Although some experiences are specific to serosurveys in India, these lessons are generalizable to other household surveys, particularly vaccination coverage and serosurveys conducted in low- and middle-income settings.

This paper put forward for the segmentation process on the hyperspectral remote sensing satellite scene. The prevailing algorithm, fuzzy c-means, is performed on this scene. Moreover, this algorithm is performed in both inter band as well as intra band clustering (i.e., band reduction and segmentation are performed by this algorithm). Furthermore, a band that has topmost variance is selected from every cluster. This structure diminishes these bands into three bands. This reduced band is de-correlated, and subsequently segmentation is carried out using this fuzzy algorithm.

BACKGROUND: The first national severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) serosurvey in India, done in May-June, 2020, among adults aged 18 years or older from 21 states, found a SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody seroprevalence of 0·73% (95% CI 0·34-1·13). We aimed to assess the more recent nationwide seroprevalence in the general population in India. METHODS: We did a second household serosurvey among individuals aged 10 years or older in the same 700 villages or wards within 70 districts in India that were included in the first serosurvey. Individuals aged younger than 10 years and households that did not respond at the time of survey were excluded. Participants were interviewed to collect information on sociodemographics, symptoms suggestive of COVID-19, exposure history to laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases, and history of COVID-19 illness. 3-5 mL of venous blood was collected from each participant and blood samples were tested using the Abbott SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay. Seroprevalence was estimated after applying the sampling weights and adjusting for clustering and assay characteristics. We randomly selected one adult serum sample from each household to compare the seroprevalence among adults between the two serosurveys. FINDINGS: Between Aug 18 and Sept 20, 2020, we enrolled and collected serum samples from 29 082 individuals from 15 613 households. The weighted and adjusted seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in individuals aged 10 years or older was 6·6% (95% CI 5·8-7·4). Among 15 084 randomly selected adults (one per household), the weighted and adjusted seroprevalence was 7·1% (6·2-8·2). Seroprevalence was similar across age groups, sexes, and occupations. Seroprevalence was highest in urban slum areas followed by urban non-slum and rural areas. We estimated a cumulative 74·3 million infections in the country by Aug 18, 2020, with 26-32 infections for every reported COVID-19 case. INTERPRETATION: Approximately one in 15 individuals aged 10 years or older in India had SARS-CoV-2 infection by Aug 18, 2020. The adult seroprevalence increased approximately tenfold between May and August, 2020. Lower infection-to-case ratio in August than in May reflects a substantial increase in testing across the country. FUNDING: Indian Council of Medical Research.

We conducted a cross-sectional survey to estimate the seroprevalence of IgG against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in Chennai, India. Among 12,405 serum samples tested, weighted seroprevalence was 18.4% (95% CI 14.8%–22.6%). These findings indicate most of the population of Chennai is still susceptible to this virus.

Supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) aim to interrupt measles transmission by reaching susceptible children, including children who have not received the recommended two routine doses of MCV before the SIA. However, both strategies may miss the same children if vaccine doses are highly correlated. How well SIAs reach children missed by routine immunization is a key metric in assessing the added value of SIAs.Children aged 9 months to younger than 5 years were enrolled in cross-sectional household serosurveys conducted in five districts in India following the 2017-2019 measles-rubella (MR) SIA. History of measles containing vaccine (MCV) through routine services or SIA was obtained from documents and verbal recall. Receipt of a first or second MCV dose during the SIA was categorized as "added value" of the SIA in reaching un- and under-vaccinated children.A total of 1,675 children were enrolled in these post-SIA surveys. The percentage of children receiving a 1st or 2nd dose through the SIA ranged from 12.8% in Thiruvananthapuram District to 48.6% in Dibrugarh District. Although the number of zero-dose children prior to the SIA was small in most sites, the proportion reached by the SIA ranged from 45.8% in Thiruvananthapuram District to 94.9% in Dibrugarh District. Fewer than 7% of children remained measles zero-dose after the MR SIA (range: 1.1-6.4%) compared to up to 28% before the SIA (range: 7.3-28.1%).We demonstrated the MR SIA provided considerable added value in terms of measles vaccination coverage, although there was variability across districts due to differences in routine and SIA coverage, and which children were reached by the SIA. Metrics evaluating the added value of an SIA can help to inform the design of vaccination strategies to better reach zero-dose or undervaccinated children.

Background India began COVID-19 vaccination in January 2021, initially targeting healthcare and frontline workers. The vaccination strategy was expanded in a phased manner and currently covers all individuals aged 18 years and above. India experienced a severe second wave of COVID-19 during March–June 2021. We conducted a fourth nationwide serosurvey to estimate prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the general population aged ≥6 years and healthcare workers (HCWs). Methods and findings We did a cross-sectional study between 14 June and 6 July 2021 in the same 70 districts across 20 states and 1 union territory where 3 previous rounds of serosurveys were conducted. From each district, 10 clusters (villages in rural areas and wards in urban areas) were selected by the probability proportional to population size method. From each district, a minimum of 400 individuals aged ≥6 years from the general population (40 individuals from each cluster) and 100 HCWs from the district public health facilities were included. The serum samples were tested for the presence of IgG antibodies against S1-RBD and nucleocapsid protein of SARS-CoV-2 using chemiluminescence immunoassay. We estimated the weighted and test-adjusted seroprevalence of IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, along with 95% CIs, based on the presence of antibodies to S1-RBD and/or nucleocapsid protein. Of the 28,975 individuals who participated in the survey, 2,892 (10%) were aged 6–9 years, 5,798 (20%) were aged 10–17 years, and 20,285 (70%) were aged ≥18 years; 15,160 (52.3%) participants were female, and 21,794 (75.2%) resided in rural areas. The weighted and test-adjusted prevalence of IgG antibodies against S1-RBD and/or nucleocapsid protein among the general population aged ≥6 years was 67.6% (95% CI 66.4% to 68.7%). Seroprevalence increased with age (p < 0.001) and was not different in rural and urban areas (p = 0.822). Compared to unvaccinated adults (62.3%, 95% CI 60.9% to 63.7%), seroprevalence was significantly higher among individuals who had received 1 vaccine dose (81.0%, 95% CI 79.6% to 82.3%, p < 0.001) and 2 vaccine doses (89.8%, 95% CI 88.4% to 91.1%, p < 0.001). The seroprevalence of IgG antibodies among 7,252 HCWs was 85.2% (95% CI 83.5% to 86.7%). Important limitations of the study include the survey design, which was aimed to estimate seroprevalence at the national level and not at a sub-national level, and the non-participation of 19% of eligible individuals in the survey. Conclusions Nearly two-thirds of individuals aged ≥6 years from the general population and 85% of HCWs had antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 by June–July 2021 in India. As one-third of the population is still seronegative, it is necessary to accelerate the coverage of COVID-19 vaccination among adults and continue adherence to non-pharmaceutical interventions., Manoj Murhekar and co-workers report on the seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in India., Author summary Why was this study done? Earlier nationwide COVID-19 serosurveys conducted in India indicated an increase in seroprevalence from 0.73% (95% CI 0.34% to 1.13%) in May–June 2020 to 6.6% (95% CI 5.8% to 7.4%) in September–October 2020 and 24.1% (95% CI 23.0% to 25.3%) in December 2020–January 2021. India began COVID-19 vaccination in January 2021, initially targeting healthcare and frontline workers. The vaccination strategy was expanded in a phased manner and currently covers all individuals aged 18 years and above. India witnessed a severe second wave of COVID-19 in March–June 2021. What did the researchers do and find? The fourth nationwide serosurvey indicated that about two-thirds of India’s population aged ≥6 years had antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 by June–July 2021. Seroprevalence increased with age, but was not different in urban slum, urban non-slum, and rural areas. Seroprevalence was significantly higher among individuals who had received 2 doses of COVID-19 vaccine compared to unvaccinated individuals. About 85% of healthcare workers working in district-level health facilities had antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. What do these findings mean? The substantial seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the Indian population should provide some measure of protection against future waves of COVID-19 in the country. About one-third of the population in India did not have detectable antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 by June–July 2021. It is therefore necessary to accelerate the coverage of COVID-19 vaccination among adults.

Background: Repeated cross-sectional serosurveys in the same geographic area establish the trend of the evolving pandemic. We present the findings of the third round of a national serosurvey to estimate the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among the general population and health care workers of India. Methods: We conducted the third population-based serosurvey between Dec 18, 2020 and Jan 6, 2021 in the same 700 villages or wards from 70 districts in 21 states across India, which were selected for the first and second serosurveys. We enrolled from each district, at least 400 individuals aged ≥ 10 years from general population and 100 HCWs from sub-district level public health facilities. Serum samples from general population were tested for the presence of IgG antibodies against nucleocapsid (N) and spike protein (S1-RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 using the Abbott and Siemens assays respectively, whereas sera from HCWs were tested for anti-S1-RBD. For general population, sera positive for either of the antibodies were considered positive, while sera positive for anti-S1-RBD were considered as positive for HCW. Weighted seroprevalence estimates were adjusted for sensitivity and specificity of respective assays. Findings: Of the 28,598 sera from general population, 4585 (16%) had IgG antibodies against N, 6647 (23.2%) against S1-RBD and 7436 (26%) against either. The weighted and assay characteristic adjusted seroprevalence against either of the antibodies was 24.1 (95%CI: 23.0% to 25.3%). Seroprevalence was lower in rural areas (21.4%, 95% CI: 20.3% to 22.6%) compared to urban non-slum (29.4%, 95% CI: 26.9% - 32.1%) and slum areas (34.6%, 95% CI: 31.0% to 38.3%). Among 7385 HCWs, the seroprevalence of anti-S1-RBD IgG antibodies was 25.6% (95% CI: 23.5% to 27.8%). Interpretation: Nearly one in four individuals aged 10 years or older from general population as well as HCWs were exposed to SARS-CoV-2 by December 2020 amounting to 271 million infections in India. Funding Statement: Indian Council of Medical Research Declaration of Interests: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form at www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf and declare no competing interests Ethics Approval Statement: The project was approved by Institutional Human Ethics Committee at ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology.

Background: The first serosurvey conducted in Chennai, India in July 2020 reported sudden acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) prevalence of 18.4%. The aim of this study was to estimate the seroprevalence in the month of October 2020. Methods: We conducted a survey in 153 streets covering 51 wards and all 15 zones of the city and enrolled from each street 40 individuals >= 10 y of age. We collected 3-5 ml of venous blood and tested for anti-nucleocapsid (N) immunoglobulin (IgG) antibodies using a SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay. We estimated the weighted seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection and adjusted for test characteristics. Results: Of the 6366 sera tested, 2052 were positive for anti-N IgG antibodies. The weighted seroprevalence after adjusting for test characteristics was 30.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] 24.7 to 36.1). There was wide variation in the seroprevalence between wards, ranging from 11.0% (95% CI 5.6 to 16.4) to 48.1% (95% CI 39.5 to 56.7). Conclusions: The seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Chennai nearly doubled between July and October 2020.

Background & objectives: Population-based seroepidemiological studies measure the extent of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a country. We report the findings of the first round of a national serosurvey, conducted to estimate the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among adult population of India. Methods: From May 11 to June 4, 2020, a randomly sampled, community-based survey was conducted in 700 villages/wards, selected from the 70 districts of the 21 States of India, categorized into four strata based on the incidence of reported COVID-19 cases. Four hundred adults per district were enrolled from 10 clusters with one adult per household. Serum samples were tested for IgG antibodies using COVID Kavach ELISA kit. All positive serum samples were re-tested using Euroimmun SARS-CoV-2 ELISA. Adjusting for survey design and serial test performance, weighted seroprevalence, number of infections, infection to case ratio (ICR) and infection fatality ratio (IFR) were calculated. Logistic regression was used to determine the factors associated with IgG positivity. Results: Total of 30,283 households were visited and 28,000 individuals were enrolled. Population-weighted seroprevalence after adjusting for test performance was 0.73 per cent [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.34-1.13]. Males, living in urban slums and occupation with high risk of exposure to potentially infected persons were associated with seropositivity. A cumulative 6,468,388 adult infections (95% CI: 3,829,029-11,199,423) were estimated in India by the early May. The overall ICR was between 81.6 (95% CI: 48.3-141.4) and 130.1 (95% CI: 77.0-225.2) with May 11 and May 3, 2020 as plausible reference points for reported cases. The IFR in the surveyed districts from high stratum, where death reporting was more robust, was 11.72 (95% CI: 7.21-19.19) to 15.04 (9.26-24.62) per 10,000 adults, using May 24 and June 1, 2020 as plausible reference points for reported deaths. Interpretation & conclusions: Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 was low among the adult population in India around the beginning of May 2020. Further national and local serosurveys are recommended to better inform the public health strategy for containment and mitigation of the epidemic in various parts of the country.

Background: The first round of national serosurvey in India was conducted in May-June 2020 among adults from 21 States. The second serosurvey was conducted in August-September 2020 to estimate the nationwide seroprevalence for SARS-CoV-2 infection in the general population aged ten years and above. Methods: The household serosurvey was conducted among individuals aged ten years and above in the same 700 villages and wards from 70 districts selected during the first serosurvey. Blood samples were tested using the Abbott SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay. Seroprevalence was estimated after applying the sampling weights and adjusting for clustering and assay characteristics. In order to compare the adult seroprevalence between the two surveys, we randomly selected one adult serum sample from each household. Findings: The weighted and adjusted prevalence of infection among 29,082 individuals aged ten years and above was 6·6% (95% CI: 5·8% - 7·4%). The seroprevalence among adults was 7·1% (95% CI: 6·2% – 8·2%). Seroprevalence was similar across age groups, sex, and occupation. Seroprevalence was highest in urban slum areas followed by urban non-slum and rural areas. We estimated a cumulative 74·3 million infections in the country, with 26 – 32 infections for every reported COVID-19 case by August 2020. Interpretation: Nearly one in 15 individuals aged ten years and above had SARS-CoV-2 infection by August 2020. The adult seroprevalence increased ten times between May and August 2020. Lower infection to case ratio in August compared to May reflects a substantial increase in testing across the country. Funding: The study was funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi, India. The study sponsor was involved in reviewing the study design, writing of the manuscript and the decision to submit the paper for publication. Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: The authors obtained written informed consent from individuals aged 18 years and older. We obtained assent from children aged between 10–17 years, and written informed consent from their parents or guardians prior to the survey. The Central Ethics Committee of Health Research of Indian Council of Medical Research and the Institutional Human Ethics Committee of ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai approved the study protocol.

Science and technological developments have increased food production thus contributing for easy accessibility to food. However, about 794 million people are undernourished in terms of calorie deficiency; 161 million children under 5 years of age are stunted—an indicator of chronic malnutrition; 51 million children under 5 years of age are wasted—an indicator of acute malnutrition; and micronutrient deficiency, particularly vitamin A, iodine, iron, and zinc, affected two billion people. At the same time, around 1.9 billion people are affected by overweight or obesity problem. Since the eradication of hunger has not been met under Millennium Development Goals, SDG-2 aims to end hunger by fixing targets in 2030 along with food security and sustainable agriculture. The targeted PDS, Integrated Child Development Scheme, Poshan Abhiyaan and Midday Meal Scheme are flagship public programmes directed towards addressing the nutritional outcomes for women and children. Similarly, the government’s flagship programmes such as Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), National Food Security Mission (NFSM) and various other programs related to irrigation and insurance are geared to enhance agricultural productivity. The financial requirement for India to meet its costs for food security is around INR 46 lakh crores (USD 729 billion) from 2015 to 2024. To speed up progress on both reducing all forms of malnutrition by 2025 and achieving zero hunger by 2030, holistic and integrated approach on nutritional programmes, scale up finance and galvanizing Public-Private Partnerships in the nutritional security are recommended.

The present paper examines the rural urban differentials and the factors influencing net change in maternal and child healthcare MCH indicators during the National Family Health Survey NFHS 4 2015 16 and NFHS 3 2005 06 . The National Family Health Survey NFHS collected data from 28,820 ever married women in the age group of 15 49 and 5,317 men age 15 54 NFHS 4 and 5,919 women age 15 49 and 5,696 men age 15 54 NFHS 3 and this paper analyses these data. This paper describes about the trends in MCH indicators by residence, early childhood mortality rates, immunization and anemic status of women and children by using bivariate analysis and chi square test. The analysis reveals that there is a progress in MCH indicators and also there exist negative performance of certain indicators. Overall, there exits rural urban differentials in MCH achievements though government have introduced many government health programs like National Rural Health Mission NRHM , NUHM and NHM etc., The government have to take steps to reduce rural urban differentials in achieving MCH goals and to reduce early childhood mortality rates. V. Saravanakumar | Dr. C. Sivapragasam | Dr. S. Ravichandran "Differentials in Maternal and Child Health Care in Tamil Nadu" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-2 | Issue-3 , April 2018, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd12790.pdf

The paper reports the result of an assessment of career choice among fisheries graduates and skill gap between expectations of employers employees in India. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from the fisheries students (employees) and employers through survey. The results revealed that there are differences between factors influencing career choice of males and females with reference to two factors namely, previous job experience and family status. The employers employees survey revealed that there exists a gap in technical skills which should be given focus to increase competency among employees to match the expectations of the employer. There is an indication of emerging demand for fisheries professionals to cater the needs of employers in fisheries sector.

Background & objectives: India has been reporting the cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) since January 30, 2020. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) formulated and established laboratory surveillance for COVID-19. In this study, an analysis of the surveillance data was done to describe the testing performance and descriptive epidemiology of COVID-19 cases by time, place and person. Methods: The data were extracted from January 22 to April 30, 2020. The frequencies of testing performance were described over time and by place. We described cases by time (epidemic curve by date of specimen collection; seven-day moving average), place (area map) and person (attack rate by age, sex and contact status), and trends were represented along with public health measures and events. Results: Between January 22 and April 30, 2020, a total of 1,021,518 individuals were tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Testing increased from about 250 individuals per day in the beginning of March to 50,000 specimens per day by the end of April 2020. Overall, 40,184 (3.9%) tests were reported positive. The proportion of positive cases was highest among symptomatic and asymptomatic contacts, 2-3-fold higher than among those with severe acute respiratory infection, or those with an international travel history or healthcare workers. The attack rate (per million) by age was highest among those aged 50-69 yr (63.3) and was lowest among those under 10 yr (6.1). The attack rate was higher among males (41.6) than females (24.3). The secondary attack rate was 6.0 per cent. Overall, 99.0 per cent of 736 districts reported testing and 71.1 per cent reported COVID-19 cases. Interpretation & conclusions: The coverage and frequency of ICMR's laboratory surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 improved over time. COVID-19 was reported from most parts of India, and the attack rate was more among men and the elderly and common among close contacts. Analysis of the data indicates that for further insight, additional surveillance tools and strategies at the national and sub-national levels are needed.

Continuous flooding of rice fields, along with the intensive use of water, fertilizers, and pesticides, has generated vast amounts of externalities, including pollution of rice ecosystems, emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs), and depletion of water and soil nutrients. As well as contributing to climate change through GHG emissions, rice production is itself affected by climate change. In light of the critical environmental challenges facing rice ecosystems, this chapter attempts to undertake a broad-based review and synthesis of the ecological impacts of rice production, including analysis of India’s water footprint and GHG emissions from rice production, as well as the impact of climate change on rice production in India. A plausible set of technological and policy recommendations is also provided to ensure sustainable rice production in this increasingly challenging environment.

Introduction Dengue is the most extensively spread mosquito-borne disease; endemic in more than 100 countries. Information about dengue disease burden, its prevalence, incidence and geographic distribution is critical in planning appropriate control measures against dengue fever. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of dengue fever in India Methods We searched for studies published until 2017 reporting the incidence, the prevalence or case fatality of dengue in India. Our primary outcomes were (a) prevalence of laboratory confirmed dengue infection among clinically suspected patients, (b) seroprevalence in the general population and (c) case fatality ratio among laboratory confirmed dengue patients. We used binomial–normal mixed effects regression model to estimate the pooled proportion of dengue infections. Forest plots were used to display pooled estimates. The metafor package of R software was used to conduct meta-analysis. Results Of the 2285 identified articles on dengue, we included 233 in the analysis wherein 180 reported prevalence of laboratory confirmed dengue infection, seven reported seroprevalence as evidenced by IgG or neutralizing antibodies against dengue and 77 reported case fatality. The overall estimate of the prevalence of laboratory confirmed dengue infection among clinically suspected patients was 38.3% (95% CI: 34.8%–41.8%). The pooled estimate of dengue seroprevalence in the general population and CFR among laboratory confirmed patients was 56.9% (95% CI: 37.5–74.4) and 2.6% (95% CI: 2–3.4) respectively. There was significant heterogeneity in reported outcomes (p-values, Author summary Dengue fever, an extensively spread mosquito-borne disease, is endemic in more than 100 countries. Information about dengue disease burden, its prevalence and incidence and geographic distribution is necessary to guide in planning appropriate control measures including the dengue vaccine that has recently been licensed in a few countries. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies in India on dengue. The overall estimate of the prevalence of laboratory confirmed dengue infection based on testing of more than 200,000 clinically suspected patients from 180 Indian studies was 38.3%. The pooled estimate of dengue seroprevalence in the general population and CFR among laboratory confirmed dengue patients was 56.9% and 2.6% respectively. There were no community-based studies reporting incidence of dengue. Our review also identified certain knowledge gaps about dengue epidemiology in the country. Identified gaps in the understanding of dengue epidemiology in India emphasize the need to initiate community-based cohort studies representing different geographic regions to generate reliable estimates of age-specific incidence of dengue and studies to generate dengue seroprevalence data in the country.

The study has examined profitability, sources of productivity improvement and determinants of a new technology-Sustainable Sugarcane Initiative (SSI) —adoption in sugarcane cultivation in Tamil Nadu by collecting primary data from 120 sugarcane farms during 2014–15. Although the cost of cultivation has been found higher in SSI method vis-a-vis conventional method, the cost of production is lower due to 26 per cent more cane yield. The cost and return analysis has indicated that sugarcane cultivation is more profitable under SSI method than under the conventional method. The decomposition analysis has shown that the inputs, viz. fertilizers, micro-nutrients and deployment of labour are the major sources of productivity enhancement in the SSI method. The estimates of logit model have indicated that farmers’ educational level and experience are the major determinants for adoption of SSI method in sugarcane cultivation. The major policy options suggested to improve production and profitability of sugarcane include provision of drip irrigation with subsidy, ensuring timely availability of critical inputs and imparting periodical trainings to farmers on SSI method such as fertigation, wide row spacing, etc.

The study assessed the information needs of farm households related to production and marketing activities ana impact on rice production. The primary data were collected from farmers in the Thiruvarur district of Tamil Nadu dm the year 2011. The majority of the farmers received the agricultural information from the input dealers, extension offu and cooperative societies. The study assessed that the average willingness to pay (WTP) for the agricultural informa service was Rs. 29.22 per month for a message for every day through mobile services. The age of the farmer and the f size were the significant determinants of the WTP for agricultural information. The information use index was found ti one of the important factors, which had a positive impact on the rice production. The study suggests developing appropr policy to disseminate the agricultural information through mobile phones and other ICT tools to improve the produc efficiency of rice farmers.