Chronic inflammation is a key player in pathogenesis. The inflammatory cytokine, tumor necrosis factor-alpha is a well known inflammatory protein, and has been a therapeutic target for the treatment of diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis and Crohn's Disease. Obesity is a well known risk factor for developing non-insulin dependent diabetes melitus. Adipose tissue has been shown to produce tumor necrosis factor-alpha, which has the ability to reduce insulin secretion and induce insulin resistance.

An ecological study was carried out to determine the quantitative and qualitative community structure and population of spiders in Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea Linn.) crop fields.

Rajasthan is one of the major groundnut producing states of the country. Groundnut is the principal oilseed crop of the kharif season of the state. The productivity of this crop is very low in this agro-climatic zone as compared to the state average productivity. This has been basically due to non-adoption of improved package of practices of groundnut cultivation by majority of the farmers.

The Government of India have introduced a comprehensive scheme of crop insurance throughout the country from Kharif 1985 season covering major crops viz., cereals, oilseeds and pulses. The impact of crop insurance scheme is more pertinent in the state like Gujarat as it alone accounts for almost 43 per cent of total claims.

This paper attempts to analyse the determinants and impact of adoption of IPM practices in groundnut. This study is a part of a project "Assessment of Adoption and Impact of IPM in Rainfed Crops" funded by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

The Farmer Field School (FFS) approach has become wellknown after the positive experiences seen in Indonesia and other Asian countries. In this article we describe how the "conventional' IPM Farmer Field School approach has been modified in the South Indian dryland agriculture context, in order to suit the needs and problems of farmers in this area. Dec 2007