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The "Green Revolution" (GR) technology-induced agricultural intensification has transformed India from food scarcity to a food surplus country. However, this has also resulted into several adverse repercussions. Increased application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides with stagnating/declining crop productivity has dovetailed with uncertain market conditions and climate change effects which has resulted in un-remunerative agriculture. Consequently, farmers have fallen into the debt trap due to the rising cost of crop production apart from health hazards due to serious exposure to harmful chemical pesticides. Natural Farming (NF), an agro-ecological approach to farming is believed to be an effective way to counter some of these challenges. The present paper presents field-level farmers' experiences of NF adoption in three states of India—Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra. The study was conducted during February–March 2019 by surveying 295 NF adopted and 170 non-NF adopted farmers. It was found that NF practice has been followed by some farmers for more than 10 years but others have adopted during the recent past. There is variation in the practice followed by the NF farmers. There are farmers who are using Farm Yard Manure (FYM). A solid form of jeevamritha (liquid concoction of microbial inoculants) called as ghanajeevamritha was also found to be used by farmers in Andhra Pradesh. It was observed that non-NF yields are superior to NF yield without FYM. In most crops, however, NF with FYM had a greater yield than NF without FYM and non-NF farms. There has been a decrease in the variable cost and a marginal increase in the market price of NF produce. The study suggests that natural farming may be seen as one of the alternative practices which has potential to rejuvenate the agro-ecosystem, besides cost saving for the individual farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic brought various changes in the manner we work and the teaching-learning profession is not an exception. It is essential to understand the impact which the pandemic has had on the physical and mental well -being of the major stakeholders of the academic ecosystem. OBJECTIVES: This study discusses the condition of educational institutes due to the pandemic and its impact on the mental and physical well-being of the faculty members and students. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: In order to understand the viewpoint of the students and faculty primary data collection was undertaken in graduate and postgraduate colleges in four Indian states namely Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. There are approximately seven to eight thousand colleges in these four states which offer graduate and post-graduate courses. More than 80,000 students' study in these colleges. Due to the pandemic, it was not feasible to collect data from all of the colleges. In total, 25 colleges were contacted from these four states. Hence, the method of convenience sampling was used to collect the data. A structured questionnaire was designed and distributed to 1,750 students. 1,500 undergraduate and post-graduate students completed the questionnaire (85.7% response rate). From the same institutes, around 715 faculty were given a questionnaire to complete about issues faced in shifting to online teaching from offline teaching due to COVID-19. 600 faculty members completed the questionnaire (83.9% response rate). RESULTS: According to the findings, online learning has progressed but is resulting in a rise in loneliness and isolation among students and teachers. When one-on-one communication between instructors and students is disrupted, the majority of students felt isolated, which can lead to poor mental and physical health in pandemics. CONCLUSION: Research outcomes can help institute, university, and policymakers in designing effective mental and physical health policies or developing programs to mitigate the negative effects of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings can help researchers discover that mental health is just as vital as physical health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]