Category Archives: Agriculture

Urban Governance and Infrastructure – Part 11

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Elets – A platform for disseminating creative ideas on ICT

Elets Technomedia is a technology media and research company that focuses on ICT in government, education, healthcare, agriculture and rural development sectors. Our mandate is to provide effective information on latest development in different ICT tools, techniques and their applications across our verticals through premier print publications, online portals and premier events, seminars, conferences and summits. Elets has created a name for itself as a technology media and research vendor of choice.

Strategies

To strengthen and facilitate knowledge sharing platforms engaging with partners across the globe through International conferences to provide cross-cultural grounding to stakeholders and participants To provide stakeholders with a platform to share models of best practice, knowledge and experience on a range of issues in the domain of ICT in Governance, Education, Health, security, Urban and Rural Development To mobilise the communities towards creating a digitally informed knowledge society based on shared understanding

Elets Focus Areas

Elets provides an unmatched versatility for working with multiple partners and consultants to mutually share knowledge. With a vision to provide effective information on latest development in different ICT tools, techniques and their applications across various verticals with focused reference to governance, education and health, we

a) bring niche monthly publications;

b) provide knowledge exchange fora and

c) conduct research projects, primarily through Events & Conferences

Hidden Wonders Of The Algarve, Portugal

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The Algarve meaning ‘the west’ is the sunny, warm coastal region along the south of Portugal. In the years since the 1960’s tourism has overtaken agriculture and fishing as the main industry and a lot of the Algarve’s charm has gone with the bleak apartment blocks and sprawling villa complexes. Even so, with a little knowledge there are certain areas that remain wild, untouched and oozing with culture and history.

Most tourists are shuttled off to the central Algarve leaving the most beautiful and unspoiled areas in the east and the west for independent tourists. In the back country only miles from the tourist destinations many villages and towns remain untouched with little known rural walks in the spring flowers and shady woods.

Most notable in the eastern Algarve is the historic city of Tavira with it’s multitude of churches and a central castle. This area is close to the Ria Formosa natural park offering miles of lagoons and barrier islands where flamingos and numerous aquatic birds live and bread. The beach at the ilha de Tavira can be reached in summer using a ferry from the centre of town or alternatively take the 20m minute walk out of town towards the island and hop on a boat that will take you across to the island. This stretch of sand is very popular with the Portuguese but continues for miles allowing for solitude even in the busy summer season.

In the west the city of Lagos is a popular destination and with good reason. The city has an important history as it is was from here that the Portuguese began their expeditions along the coast of Africa in the age of discovery. Lagos now has a completely pedestrianised centre within the old town that is surrounded by the castle walls. There are many shops, excellent restaurants serving fish and in the night Lagos is notorious for its bar scene. Don’t miss the market on Saturday mornings where you can purchase regional specialities and freshly harvested fruit and vegetables before heading down to the fish market for the days catch. Walk along the cliffs out to the Ponta da Piedade (Mercy Point) with it’s lighthouse or go swimming on the little known nudist beach at Praia do Carnavial.

The mountains of Monchique are easily reached by car from anywhere in the western Algarve. The Caldes de Monchique are therapeutic thermal baths and the area is ideal for a stroll in the wooded hills or down by the bubbleing stream. Drive out to the village of Marmallate or climb to the top of the mountain where you can take in views of the whole of the Algarve coastline and enjoy the refreshing cool mountain air. Many local shops offer locally produced hams and varieties of ‘Medronho’ (a brandy made from the Arbutus fruit that symbolises frienship) as well as hand made craft items. Restaurants either side of the main road offer up freshly grilled chicken, Piri Piri style.

After Lagos the Algarve coastline continues west towards Sages and the region once called “the end of the world” as little was known of what lay beyond the waves. Resort towns such as Praia da Luz with it’s arced bay and black rock headland give way to the natural park of Costa Vincentina where many more secret beaches can be discovered especially along dirt tracks west of Vila do Bispo. Atlantic rollers meet a wild landscape of immense natural beauty. Popular with surfers the beaches at low tide have waves that collapse on themselves again and again and sitting on the beach on a sunny afternoon undisturbed by the modern world listening to the roar in the background while looking out into the abyss one can see how sailors were captivated to venture forth to discover what lay beyond.

Rural Connectivity – Part 3

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Elets – A platform for disseminating creative ideas on ICT

Elets Technomedia is a technology media and research company that focuses on ICT in government, education, healthcare, agriculture and rural development sectors. Our mandate is to provide effective information on latest development in different ICT tools, techniques and their applications across our verticals through premier print publications, online portals and premier events, seminars, conferences and summits. Elets has created a name for itself as a technology media and research vendor of choice.

Strategies

To strengthen and facilitate knowledge sharing platforms engaging with partners across the globe through International conferences to provide cross-cultural grounding to stakeholders and participants To provide stakeholders with a platform to share models of best practice, knowledge and experience on a range of issues in the domain of ICT in Governance, Education, Health, security, Urban and Rural Development To mobilise the communities towards creating a digitally informed knowledge society based on shared understanding

Elets Focus Areas

Elets provides an unmatched versatility for working with multiple partners and consultants to mutually share knowledge. With a vision to provide effective information on latest development in different ICT tools, techniques and their applications across various verticals with focused reference to governance, education and health, we

a) bring niche monthly publications;

b) provide knowledge exchange fora and

c) conduct research projects, primarily through Events & Conferences

Adhd Symptoms And Magnesium Deficiency

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Magnesium deficiency may bring about ADD and ADHDsymptoms. The reasons for this involve understanding what Magnesium is and how it works in our bodies.

Magnesium is a mineral. It is the 4th most abundant element in your body. ADHD studies have shown that Inadequacies in magnesium can bring on a host of problems and symptoms are among the symptoms that have been linked to nutritional Inadequacies of this mineral.

The majority of teen age children in this country have, according to Scientific studies performed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Unites State Department of Agriculture, significant magnesium Inadequacies.

Magnesium is necessary for hundreds of chemical reactions in the body. Our muscle and nerve function depends on magnesium as do our skeletal system and our immune system. Magnesium is needed to maintain normal blood sugar levels and a normal blood pressure. Perhaps the most significant role that magnesium plays is in protein synthesis and energy metabolism.

Magnesium works with calcium to power the cells in our body but according to the 2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and published in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, What We Eat in America, 2006-2007 Report, most of our kids have magnesium Inadequacies. Many younger young kids and adults do as well but the statistics are most alarming for teens. Eighty-nine percent of boys and seventy percent of girls aged 14-18 have inadequate dietary intake of Magnesium.

Research Studies have found that magnesium can be used to improve a host of conditions including anxiety and depression. There is some scientific evidence that magnesium may be able to regulate neurotransmitter function. Deficiencies in magnesium, which can caused by excess perspiration or by decreased diet intake will worsen these conditions.

These Inadequacies may result in faulty neurotransmission as well as anxiety, depression, migraine headaches, mood disorders, hyperactivity and decreased concentration. Low magnesium has also been linked to sudden cardiac death, mitral valve prolapsed, diabetes and hypertension.

Several Research Studies have shown that supplementation with 80 mg to 200 mg of magnesium daily improves anxiety, depression and ADD and ADHD symptoms.

Most multivitamins have between 20mg to 50 mg of magnesium. This may be plenty of supplementation if you, or your children, are eating foods that are rich in magnesium such as green leafy vegetables, lot of whole grains, walnuts, cashews, and peanuts, beans, fish, pumpkin, bananas, avocados, raisins, milk products and tomato paste but is likely not enough if you are not and if this is the case then supplementation is required.

Magnesium is an essential nutritional element that may be deficient in the diet of most Americans. High schoolers in particular, are likely to have magnesium Inadequacies. Magnesium is lost through respiration and sweating and active people are more at risk for having borderline low magnesium levels than people who are sedentary. Eating foods high in magnesium or supplementing your diet with a magnesium vitamin is essential to avoid the poor health outcomes that result from low magnesium levels.

Check your multivitamin to insure that you and your children are getting enough magnesium. Those of us, who like hot chocolate and coffee, have yet another reason to drink more of these beverages. It turns out that cocoa and caffeine both contain a fair amount of magnesium. Some of the mood lifting effects of chocolate and coffee could be attributed to these magnesium levels.

The Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disordercommunity has been quick to recommend fatty acid supplementation to improve the behavioral symptoms that bring on problems in people with Attention Deficit Disorder. The research community is only now learning that nutritional substances such as calcium, magnesium and zinc also play a role in moderating our mood and our behavior.

By supplementing our diets with magnesium we may avoid worsening the symptoms of ADHD and may, in the process not only improve our overall health but also diminish the incidence of developing conditions such as depression and anxiety that often accompany a diagnosis of ADHD.

Horticulture Expert The Growth Driver Of Indian Agriculture Sector

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The horticulture sector, with a wide array of crops ranging from fruits and vegetables to orchids and nuts, mushrooms and honey – has been a driving force in the stimulating a healthy growth trend in Indian agriculture. India is currently producing 257.2 million tonnes of horticulture produce from an area of 23 million ha. What is significant is that over the last decade, the area under horticulture grew by about 3.8%per annum but production rose by 7.4% per annum. Given the increasing pressure on land, the focus of growth strategy is on raising productivity by supporting high density plantations, protected cultivation, micro irrigation, quality planting material, rejuvenation of senile orchards and focus on post harvest management to ensure that farmers do not lose their produce in transit from farm gate to the consumers plate.

Fruits:

With a production of 76.4 million tonnes, fruits accounts for about 30 per cent of the total production of horticulture crops. The area under fruit crops during 2011-12 was 6.6 million ha, which is almost 29 per cent of area under horticulture in India. The area under fruit crops has increased from 4.0 million ha in 201-02 to 6.7 million ha in 2011-12 with corresponding increase in production from 43.0 to 76.4 million tonnes. A large variety of fruits are grown in India. Of these, banana, mango, citrus, papaya, guava, grape, sapota, pomegranate, pineapple, aonla, litchi, pear, plum, walnut, etc are important. India accounts for 13 percent of the total world production of fruits and leads the world in the production of mango, banana, papaya, sapota, pomegranate, acid lime and aonla.

The leading fruit growing states are Maharashtra which accounts for 16.0 per cent of production followed by Andhra Pradesh (13.0%), Gujarat (10.0%), Karnataka (9.0%), Uttar Pradesh (8.0%), Tamil Nadu (7.0%) and Bihar (5.0%) altogether contributes for about 68.0 percent of the total fruit production in the country. Banana is the major fruit accounting for 35 per cent of total production followed by mango (4.0%), citrus (11.0%), papaya (6.0%), others (17.7%) in the country. It may also be mentioned that in the Himalayan states of Himachal and J&K the GDP from apples, plums, pears and stone fruits exceeds that of GDP from cereal crops.

Vegetables:

Vegetables are also an important constituent in horticulture sector which are mostly low gestation and high income generating crops. Many vegetables are now grown under protected cultivation like green houses and shade nut houses with a scope for off season production, which fetches remunerative prices.
Vegetables occupied an area of 8.9 million ha during 2011-12 with a total production of 155.9 million tonnes having average productivity of 17.4 tonnes/ha.

Vegetable production registered a quantum jump of 77 per cent between 2001-02 and 2011-12.

More than 40 kinds of vegetables belonging to different groups are grown in India in tropical, sub tropical and temperate regions. Important vegetable crops grown in the country are potato, tomato, onion, brinjal, cabbage, cauliflower, peas, okra, chilies, beans, melons, etc. The leading vegetables growing states are West Bengal which accounts for 15% of production followed by Uttar Pradesh (12%), Bihar (10.0%), Andhra Pradesh (8.0%), Madhya Pradesh (6.5%), Gujarat (6.4%), Tamil Nadu (5.8%), Maharashtra (5.7%), Karnataka (5.0%) and Haryana (3.0%) altogether contributes about 83.4% of the total vegetable production in the country. Among vegetables, potato is the major vegetable accounting for 27.0% followed by tomato (12%), onion (11.0%), brinjal (8.0%), cabbage (5.4%), cauliflower (4.7%), okra (4.0%), peas (2.5%) and others (25.4%) in the country. India is the second largest producer of vegetables after China and is a leader in production of vegetables like peas and okra. Besides, India occupies the second position in production of brinjal, cabbage, cauliflower and onion and third in potato and tomato in the world. Vegetables such as potato, tomato, okra and cucurbits are produced abundantly in the country.

Spices:

India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices and spice products in the world. Over 100 plant species are known to yield spices and spice products among which around 50 are grown in India. India is known as the home of spices producing a wide variety of spices like black pepper, chilies, ginger, turmeric, garlic, cardamom and variety of tree and seed spices. Major spice producing states are Andhra Pradesh (19.0%), Gujarat (15.0%), Rajasthan (14.7%), Karnataka (8.0%), Madhya Pradesh (7.7%) and Tamil Nadu (7.0%). The spice production in India is currently estimated at 5.95 million tonnes from an area of about 3.21milion ha.

The production of spices in the country has registered a substantial increase over the last ten years with average annual growth of 5.8%. Chili is the major spice crop occupying about 25% of area under cultivation and contributing 22% of total spice production in the country. Garlic accounts for 8.0% of area with 21.0% share in production, while turmeric accounts for 6.8% of area with 19.6% share in production.

Flowers:

India has made noticeable advance in the production of flowers, particularly cut flowers, which have a good potential for exports. During 2011-12, floriculture covered an area of 0.32 million ha with a production of 2.6 million tonnes of loose flowers and 75066 million numbers of cut flowers. This sector is generating higher income and employment opportunities especially for women.

While India has been known for growing traditional flowers such as jasmine, marigold, chrysanthemum, tuberose and aster, the commercial cultivation of cut flowers like roses, orchids, gladiolus, carnation, gerbera, anthurium and lilium has become popular in recent times. The important flower growing states are West Bengal, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, North East, etc. Major area is devoted to production of marigold, jasmine, roses, chrysanthemum, tuberose, etc. The area under cut flowers having stems has increased manifold. Orchids, anthurium, lilium, gerbera and seasonal bulbous flowers are increasingly being grown both for domestic and export markets.
Growth in Exports:

Not only have these impressive production figures ensured a steady supply for the domestic market, they have also made Indian horticulture exports globally competitive. Over the last decade, there has been a significant improvement in export earnings in horticulture.
The horticulture division is working closely with APEDA and state governments to ensure that infrastructure and institutional support for export is available to ensure that farmers can leverage export markets for higher incomes.