Daily Archives: July 9, 2018

CMFRI to promote cage fish farming

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives & Environment, Records, All, Science & Technology
The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute pioneered caged fish farming in India.

Institute plans 500 units with 40% subsidy for farmers

In a major effort to increase the domestic fish production in the State, the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute here will implement a ₹15-crore project helping fish farmers to launch 500 cage farming units. The farmers will be offered subsidy and technical support to carry out the cage culture under the scheme, which is funded by the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), Hyderabad.

According to the programme, 40% of the total expense will be given as subsidy to the farmers who can conduct farming individually or in groups. Women and those from the SC/ST category will get 60% subsidy. The programme will be implemented in coastal districts of the State. Species such as sea bass, pearl spot, cobia, pompano and red snapper will be farmed.

The farmers from the coastal districts can register now at the Mariculture Division of the CMFRI to become part of the scheme. The applicants should be capable of carrying out the farming in water that is at least three metres deep during the low tide. Approval will be given only after a CMFRI team reviews the spot and various conditions of the water resources for farming, including environmental factors.

In addition, three Aqua One Labs will be set up in the State to help farmers for the smooth conduct of cage farming. These labs will provide services such as water quality check, sediment analysis, seed transportation, and disease management. Details of the requirements for setting up the laboratory are available in the CMFRI website (www.cmfri.org.in).

soruce: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / Kochi – July 09th, 2018

Ryots strike gold with passion fruit

Agriculture, Business & Economy

The fruit is suitable for the soil, climatic conditions of high ranges and has good demand in market

Passion fruit is the new passion for farmers of the high ranges here who were facing a crisis following drop in prices of cash crops.

The easy-to-grow fruit now gets good prices and the hill-produce merchants at Kattappana procure the fruit commercially grown by the farmers.

The price per kilogram of the fruit at the Kattappana market is ₹45 and the companies that make juice, jam and syrup collect the fruits on a daily basis. Farmers grow both the yellow and purple varieties with the latter having an edge in the market.

K.V. Francis, a farmer from Kanchiyar, said that he had been growing passion fruit for the past three years.

Compared to other fruits, passion fruit is easy to grow. He cultivates the fruit organically without pesticide or fertilizers. The only requirement is a pandal for the vines to spread.

He said that the soil and climatic conditions of high ranges were most suitable for passion fruit, though its commercial cultivation began in the area only recently. Those with limited land area grew the fruit on the terrace. It not only provided green cover on the terrace, but gave additional income to the family, he said.

Last year, price of passion fruit ranged from ₹20 to ₹25. The high demand this season is said to be due to the increase in the number of firms engaged in manufacturing value-added products.

The fruit can be harvested eight to nine months from sowing the seeds. The harvesting season is from June to August. Unlike other crops, the crop grows in natural conditions and a single vine can produce hundreds of fruits. The hard outer cover protects the fruits from pest attacks.

Krishnakumar, a small-scale farmer, said fruits in his farm were ready for harvest. The fruits that grew in shady areas could be harvested by next week.

Nutritious

Since the fruit was rich in minerals and vitamins and could be grown without pesticides, it had become a favourite of juice manufacturers.

“It can also be used for making wine and its outer cover has demand in pickle units,” said a trader at Kattappana. He said the fruit had good prospects for exports. As per the estimate of traders, more than 10 tonnes of passion fruit is sent from Kattappana to other districts and States. Besides, a Kothamangalam-based company directly procures the fruit from high ranges.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Giji R Raman / Idukki – July 08th, 2018

A wheelchair that finds its own way

Business & Economy, Education, Records, All, Science & Technology
Rajesh Kannan Megalingam, Assistant Professor of Electronics & Communications of Amrita University, who guided final-yeat B.Tech students Chinta Ravi Teja, Sarath Sreekanth, and Akhil Raj to put together the self-navigating wheelchair ‘Self-E.’

3 final-year B.Tech students develop Self-E, a self-navigating wheelchair

Three final-year B.Tech students of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham have developed Self-E, a self-navigating wheelchair that could safely take a user from one point to another avoiding obstacles on the way.

Compared to the imported self-driving wheelchairs that are expensive, the students have managed to produce the prototype at a cost below ₹1 lakh. Chinta Ravi Teja, Sarath Sreekanth, and Akhil Raj, the young students who designed Self-E, have been working for the last two years as junior researchers at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham’s Humanitarian Technology Lab.

“Self-E is unique in the sense that it is the first self-driving wheelchair in India built by the research lab of a university without any collaboration with foreign universities or companies. It now needs to be tested in different environments like hospitals and airports with patients and wheelchair users. The current version is a successful prototype and, with the help of Technology Business Incubator of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, we hope to commercialise the product,” says Rajesh Kannan Megalingam, Asst. Professor of Electronics & Communications and Director of Humanitarian Technology Lab who guided the students.

Self-E uses Robotic Operating System (ROS) for autonomous navigation to create a map of the surrounding space, along with static and dynamic obstacles, using a laser sensor and displays it through a smartphone app. The user could then touch any point on the generated map, and the wheelchair will move to that place automatically without user intervention.

A touch on the map

“If users are able to operate a smartphone, they will be relieved from the continuous use of traditional joystick to steer the wheelchair. With a simple touch on the map displayed on the mobile screen, the wheelchair takes them to the destination. They could have complete control over the wheelchair without anyone’s help. On the other hand, if some patients have a problem in using a smartphone, a friend or family member or assistant could use the Android App to transport them without the need to physically push the wheelchair,” says Chinta.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Navamy Sudhesh / Kollam – July 08th, 2018