Suchergebnisse

This paper presents results of a 1995 survey of 864 maize-growing households in six states that account for more than 70% of India's maize area: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. The current adoption of improved open-pollinated maize varieties (OPV) and hybrids is quantified, the relationship between adoption of improved germplasm and use of improved crop management practices is examinated, the economic impacts of adoption are estimated, farmers' seed procurement and management practices are described, and implications for maize research and development policy are discussed. On the whole, the survey results confirm that India's national maize seed industry is expanding rapidly. Since seed policy reforms were introduced in the late 1980s, the area planted to improved OPVs and hybrids has grown rapidly, and adoption of improved germplasm has fueled important changes in farmers' crop management practices. However, special policy measures may be needed to ensure that the benefits of improved germplasm are widely shared, such as the introduction of targeted input subsidies designed to reduce the cost of adopting improved seed and complementary inputs, government investment in irrigation infrastructure to reduce production risk in drought-prone environments, and market developmet initiatives to provide small-scale producers with access to stable and reliable outlets where they can sell surplus grain.

This paper assesses the relative strengths and weaknesses of India's public and private maize seed industries and examines future options for maize seed industry policies. By 1992, nearly as many maize researchers worked for private seed companies as for public breeding programs - a significant departure from earlier years, when public organizations conducted virtually all maize research in India. Private companies have concentrated almost exclusively on developing hybrids, which perform best in the favorable environments where most commercial maize production takes place, whereas public breeding programs have produced a somewhat wider range of materials, including a number of open-pollinating varieties (OPVs) developed specifically for environments where maize production potential is low. Seed production in the public sector and especially in the private sector appears to be reasonably efficient, judging by the level of reported seed production costs. However, seed certification procedures are sometimes ineffective, and a significant proportion of the maize seed produced in India escapes rigorous quality controls. Growth in sales of proprietary hybrids produced by private companies has been much more rapid than growth in sales of public OPVs and hybrids, indicating that private companies deliver seed to farmers more effectively than public agencies. Government involvement in seed production and distribution seems destined to decrease, with responsibility for those functions gradually shifting to the private sector. Even so, private companies will require continuing support from the public sector. There will always be a need for the public sector to participate in the maize seed industry, particularly in supporting basic germplasm improvement research and research targeted at marginal production environments.

This paper assesses the relative strengths and weaknesses of India's public and private maize seed industries and examines future options for maize seed industry policies. By 1992, nearly as many maize researchers worked for private seed companies as for public breeding programs - a significant departure from earlier years, when public organizations conducted virtually all maize research in India. Private companies have concentrated almost exclusively on developing hybrids, which perform best in the favorable environments where most commercial maize production takes place, whereas public breeding programs have produced a somewhat wider range of materials, including a number of open-pollinating varieties (OPVs) developed specifically for environments where maize production potential is low. Seed production in the public sector and especially in the private sector appears to be reasonably efficient, judging by the level of reported seed production costs. However, seed certification procedures are sometimes ineffective, and a significant proportion of the maize seed produced in India escapes rigorous quality controls. Growth in sales of proprietary hybrids produced by private companies has been much more rapid than growth in sales of public OPVs and hybrids, indicating that private companies deliver seed to farmers more effectively than public agencies. Government involvement in seed production and distribution seems destined to decrease, with responsibility for those functions gradually shifting to the private sector. Even so, private companies will require continuing support from the public sector. There will always be a need for the public sector to participate in the maize seed industry, particularly in supporting basic germplasm improvement research and research targeted at marginal production environments.

Cultural Geography per se is one of the marginal sub-disciplines of Geography in India and contributed mainly by practitioners from other disciplines like Anthropology, Sociology, Cultural Studies, Architecture, etc. Due to this reason, the sub-fields of Cultural Geography did not grow in this land of rich cultural heritage and traditions. One such field is the Geography of Music. The objective of this brief editorial note is to demonstrate the potential of folk music as a source of knowing the changing trends and patterns in society, culture, and economy and their spatiality. The examples cited are mainly from the Middle Ganga Valley, a region in which Bhojpuri is the language of the common populace, in which the author is currently based.

This article tells the success story of the Fine Gael Party in the 2011 general elections in Ireland, while including it in the broader context of e-democracy trends. After briefly describing the challenging political and economic situation of Ireland prior to elections, it looks into detail at the digital strategy used by Fine Gael to win these elections. Special attention and numerous examples are given to highlight the role of new media and social networks in reaching and engaging voters and winning votes. The authors conclude with lessons that can be learned from the Irish case and the advantages of embracing state-of-the-art e-democracy tools.

Machine tool small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in India have been a major contributor to the manufacturing sector from last many decades. It has ensured that the Indian machinery market is self-sufficed. In the globalized and modern market, Indian machine tool SMEs is facing competition not only from local players but also from global competitors. Timely delivery of good quality, low cost products is the main challenge for Indian machine tool SMEs. The study focuses and identifies the challenges for Indian machine tool SMEs by the critical review of the literature and tries to prioritize challenges and factors using Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) by taking guidance from experts both of academic & industry. The paper also segregates the challenging factors based on their driving/dependence power. It is observed that top management competency, government and regulatory compliance, financial stringency, fragile local/globalized market demand and modern innovation technology are main driving powers and weakly dependent on other factors. Competition from the global market, job precision and automation, Supply Chain disruption, logistics management, better marketing strategy and export policy are weak drivers but are strongly dependent on other factors.

There are considerable and swelling numbers of police robots performing many different roles throughout the world in countries such as China, Russia, USA, UK, Israel, Japan, India, Canada, Australia, South Africa and South Korea. They perform tasks ranging from assisting in hostage release to providing protection for tourists. Some are armed with lethal weapons and several have non-lethal weapons like Tasers, water cannon, pepper spays and nets. Many are used for surveillance. Some have autonomous or semi-autonomous function while others are under tight human control. There are more and more reports on a daily basis of the police use of robots and new robots being added to the repertoire all the time.