Moringa oleifera, native to India, grows in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. It is commonly known as ‘drumstick tree’ or ‘horseradish tree’. Moringa can withstand both severe drought and mild frost conditions and hence widely cultivated across the world. With its high nutritive values, every part of the tree is suitable for either nutritional or commercial purposes. The leaves are rich in minerals, vitamins and other essential phytochemicals. Extracts from the leaves are used to treat malnutrition, augment breast milk in lactating mothers.

The major mosquito vectors of human diseases have co-evolved with humans over a long period of time. However, the rapid growth in human population and the associated expansion in agricultural activity and greater urbanisation have created ecological changes that have had a marked impact on biology of mosquito vectors.

Multi isolate whole genome sequencing (WGS) and typing for outbreak investigations has become a reality in the post-genomics era. We applied this technology to strains from Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreaks. These include isolates from seven North America outbreaks, as well as multiple isolates from the same patient and from different infected individuals in the same household. Customized high-resolution bioinformatics sequence typing strategies were developed to assess the core genome and mobilome plasticity.

Long-distance migration can be seen throughout the animal kingdom and can have large impacts on population dynamics and species distributions. The act of migration itself also affects the evolution of a species, as evolutionary forces select for certain characteristics in animals conducting long-distance migration. Monarch butterflies are best known for their annual migration from Canada and the northern United States to central Mexico, but some populations of monarchs have lost the ability to migrate.

There are certain crop plants that are not cropped but edible, containing high nutrients and medicinal value. These crops also called as hidden harvests are capable of providing essential nutrients to our diets besides contributing to household income.

Original Source

The share of uncultivated foods from the forest has gradually declined in the diets of Paharia tribes in Jharkhand. Initiatives like conservation, preservation, processing of uncultivated foods has helped them regain their position and enhance the dietary diversity of the communities, also addressing the issues of hunger and malnutrition.

Original Source

Yam has several nutritional benefits, yet the crop remains neglected and underutilized. In the absence of national research and extension programmes on yam, LIBIRD’s initiative to promote yam cultivation on terrace walls has caught up with the Chepang communities in Nepal.

Original Source

Tubers, pulses and millets are important for the livelihoods and nutrition of poor farmers, especially in fragile regions. These crops are not only underutilised, but are also underresearched. Ama Sangathan, a women federation consisting of 1200 indigenous women, have revived these crops in two blocks in Odisha, by their vibrant campaigning.

Original Source

Pulse panchayat is an integrated approach in establishing a sustainable production, value addition and marketing system. The initiative implemented by a Farmer Producer Company in Tamil Nadu, is moving towards achieving self sufficiency in pulse production.

Original Source

Antibiotics have been considered emerging pollutants due to their continuous input and persistence in the aquatic ecosystem. The present paper addresses the degradation and removal processes applied to a specific class of micropollutants, the antibiotic tetracycline (TETRA). Photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline in aqueous suspensions of titanium dioxide in the presence of titanium dioxide (TiO2) and ultraviolet (UV) illumination was performed in a vertical circulating photocatalytic reactor. The optimum catalyst concentration was about 0.1g/L.