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The paper reviews a range of global aquaculture health and safety literature to inform and contribute to the development of a socio-economic profile of Indian shrimp farm workers including the occupational hazards and injuries they face. In addition, 60 shrimp farm workers were interviewed from each of the states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. The study revealed that all shrimp farm workers were male, 58% were migrants, and ages ranged from 23 to 53 years with work experience of 5 to 24 years. Few workers (14%) had no formal schooling and many had secondary-level education. Reported physical hazards were high (93%) followed by biological (82%), chemical (77%), ergonomic (71%) and psycho-social (71%) hazards. The majority of physical injuries reported related to slips, falls and cuts (51%), electric shocks (44%), sunburn (41%), dehydration/ headaches (40%) and fractures (27%). Approximately 30%-39% had some chemical injury with skin infections/breathing problems. Indian shrimp farm workers face similar occupational hazards and injuries to shrimp farm workers in other countries. The occupational health and safety of shrimp farm workers should be integrated into the concept of 'One Health' to ensure aquaculture sustainability and safe, meaningful and good quality employment to workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the authors present their comments on the article "Status Knowledge and Innovation," by researchers John W. Gartrell and C.D. Gartrell, published in the journal "Rural Sociology." Gartrell and Gartrell discussed the adoption of "green revolution" technology in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. They indicate that the problem of central interest to their research is "the rate at which knowledge is translated into behavior under different conditions." The main condition that is considered is variation in "social status or resources." The criticisms lie with the fundamental assumptions that the Gartrells appear to have made regarding the agricultural innovations available to cultivators in Andhra Pradesh and the research design and procedures that follow from these assumptions. To adequately examine these relationships, the researchers require situations in which cultivators receive innovative knowledge potentially suitable for behavior in their particular setting. Two aspects of the research design used by the Gartrells suggest that the condition of technology suitable for the entire spectrum of farming environments surveyed was not achieved.