Arecanut and Cocoa Production and Marketing Aspects Essay

Arecanut is an important commercial crop in India which plays a prominent role in the religious, social and cultural functions and economic life of people in India. The present production of arecanut in the world is about 0.854 million tons from an area of 0.702 million hectares. India ranks first in both area and production of arecanut Arecanut industry forms the economic backbone of nearly six million people in India and for many of them it is the sole means of livelihood. Both area and production of arecanut in India have increased tremendously during the last three decades. The area under arecanut in India has increased from 0.167 million hectares during 1971 to 0.4 million hectares by the year 2010-11 with an overall growth rate of 2.2%. During the same period the production has increased more than 3 times from 0.141 million tons to 0.478 million tones with a growth rate of 3.2%. As of now, cocoa is one of the important commercial plantation crops in India and it is mainly cultivated in four major southern States viz., Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. India produces 12954 tonnes of cocoa from an area of 46318 ha (DCCD, 2010). The cocoa industry in the country had expanded to a considerable extent in recent years. At present, more than 15 industrial entrepreneurs and firms existing in the field demand nearly 30,000 tonnes of cocoa beans, of which the present domestic availability is only about 40 percent. Considering the market growth in the chocolate segment in India, which is about 20 percent per annum, cocoa, has a great potential to develop in future years. Recent area expansion in Andhra Pradesh (16969 ha) can be taken as a positive response to the demand-supply fissure. We can further, strengthen the Transfer of Technology (ToT) activities to encourage the cocoa cultivation as an intercrop in arecanut and coconut to meet the challenges r egarding supply of cocoa in the future. Economic impact analysis of arecanut based cropping system An impact analysis of arecanut based cropping systems in South Karnataka has been carried out. It was observed that, farmers are predominantly following three cropping systems which were, 1) arecanut + banana 2) arecanut + cocoa and 3) arecanut + banana + pepper. To estimate the economic impact of different cropping systems, we have calculated the average cost per hectare, average yield and the net returns of each system. The quantification of economic impact of each system has been worked out by combining the difference in net returns of each system from the arecanut monocrop, and percentage of adoption of each cropping system. The total economic impact due to adoption of cropping systems in the region was found to be Rs 680 million. Economic impact analysis of improved arecanut varieties The analysis was based on a field survey of 120 arecanut farmers in South Karnataka. To estimate the economic impact of improved varieties we have calculated the weighed average cost per hectare, weighed yield and net returns of the released varieties. The weights are assigned according to the estimated percentage area of each variety in South Karnataka. The total area of arecanut in the district was multiplied with the percentage adoption of improved varieties in the region to arrive at the total area under improved varieties. The difference in net returns will give the additional benefit we would have obtained, had the area been under released varieties. It was observed that 13.6% of total area in southern Karnataka is under released arecanut varieties. The economic impact of released arecanut varieties in monitory terms was found to be rupees 141 million per year. The presence of improved varieties was more prominent in the young plantations. The holding wise observations revealed that the presence of released varieties was more in small holding groups. Cost of production of arecanut and cocoa According to the study conducted by the Institute, the cost of production of one kilogram of arecanut in a well-maintained garden was found to be Rs 104.20 Here we have considered the economic life span of the palm as 35 years and average annual production as 2700 kg/ha The average maintenance cost (from 8th year to 35th year) was calculated at Rs. 168765/ha. The cost of production of cocoa grown in arecanut garden was found to be Rs74.42/kg of dry beans and average annual maintenance cost recorded at Rs 55268/ha. Marketing The chali and the red are the two main varieties of arecanut consumed by the people mostly as a habit. Chali or the white supari is used mainly in the pan or beedas and the red variety is used both in the preparation of pan and value added products like pan masala, ghutka, sweet supari etc. From production to consumption level both private traders and the co-operatives play an important role in India. Here, the share of the cooperative is around 15 per cent and remaining is under the control of the private traders. Among the cooperatives The CAMPCO, a nodal agency has its own purchasing and sales centres throughout the country Disposal pattern: A study in Dakshina Karnataka showed that 80 percent of the farmers, who dispose the produce immediately after harvest, were small cultivators. Remaining 20 per cent who disposed the produce when the prices in the market are favorable, were large farmers. It was observed that indebtedness and lack of proper infrastructure facilities for storage compel the small farmer to dispose the produce at the earliest. The majority of the farmers (63%) sold chali supari to traders, who reportedly paid two rupees extra of the market rate per kg of chali sold. Stagnating market prices and increasing cost of production, especially the skilled labour charges in the recent times have generated livelihood concerns of arecanut farmers in India. Surging imports, which is around 12 percent of the domestic production, certainly has a significant role in price stickiness. Market studies reveal that around 75 percent of the arecanut trade is in the hands of private trades, which has provided ample scope for hoarding and resulted in market imperfections and low price realization. In the case of cocoa the current supply is only around fifty percent of the actual domestic demand and hence, there exist a huge scope for area expansion with the supply of elite seedlings/grafts. Effective dissemination of technologies through trainings, on-farm trials, demonstrations and seminars are being carried out by the Institute. Nevertheless, the price stagnation of the crop for a long period has caused disinterest among arecanut farmers. Therefore, in the case of arecanut a vicious cycle was formed in the pattern of ‘depressed prices + shortage of labour–crop negligence–diseases /pest attack–low yield/production’ and this in turn especially has adversely affected the small and marginal arecanut farmers who are solely dependent on the crop.

Homeostasis and Pain Management in Patient with Multisystem Failure Essay

A. Assessment of Patient The assessment of Mrs. Baker should include vital signs including pulse oximetry. Given her difficulty in breathing, lung sounds should be auscultated. Because she is on two different medications that could affect blood pressure, lisinopril and hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), hypotension could be one cause of her collapsing. In addition to vital signs, decreased peripheral pulses and capillary refill can also be indicators of hypotension. Also, because HCTZ is a diuretic, dehydration should be considered. Since she was in her backyard when she collapsed, it could be that she was doing yard work. Thus, it is important to know what she was doing before she collapsed. The outside temperature and whether Mrs. Baker became overheated or drank enough fluids could be useful factors in assessing her fluid-electrolyte balance. Serum electrolyte levels and vital signs should be taken, and color and skin turgor should be assessed. Dehydration could also contribute to hypotension. Mrs. Baker should be placed on a cardiac monitor and an EKG obtained to rule out any dysrhythmias. Given Mrs. Baker’s respiratory symptoms and her history of hypertension and diabetes (which are the two biggest risk factors for congestive heart failure), a chest x-ray should be done. Arterial blood gases could assist in further assessing her oxygenation, as well as acid-base balance. Also, since Mrs. Baker is a diabetic, a blood glucose level should be done, since hypoglycemia could be a cause of her mental status changes. When Mrs. Baker is alert, pain can be assessed through a verbal â€Å"numbers† scale, or a â€Å"faces† scale if she is mildly confused. When she becomes unresponsive, non-verbal indicators of discomfort should be observed, such as muscle tension, grimace, and grunting. B. Technological Tools A stethoscope is an essential assessment tool. It is needed to assess breath sounds, heart sounds, and perhaps assist in taking the blood pressure. A stethoscope works by amplifying internal sounds through a diaphragm and transmitting them through a hollow tube to the earpieces. (Schunk, p. 1) The sounds can be interpreted by a skilled assessor and used to make a diagnosis and prescribe treatment. In Mrs. Baker’s case, it would be extremely important to listen to her lung sounds to determine if there are changes associated with atelectasis, or more likely, to assess for fluid sounds in the lungs, which would be an indicator of congestive heart failure. If a manual blood pressure measurement is being taken, the stethoscope would also be essential to listening for restored peripheral blood flow as the pressure in the cuff is being released. The benefit of a stethoscope is that it is a simple tool that can be used to easily obtain an initial assessment of a patient’s breath sounds while waiting on more complicated assessments, such as blood gases and chest x-rays. If a manual blood pressure cuff is not available, blood pressure will probably be obtained using an electronic blood pressure device such as a Dinamap. A blood pressure measurement, as well as other vital signs, would be key in determining whether Mrs. Baker was suffering from hypotension related to her new medication, lisinopril. A manual blood pressure cuff has the benefit of being more accurate at extremely high or extremely low pressures, while an electronic device, such as a Dinamap, can be set to automatically check blood pressure at regular intervals. Many cardiac monitors also have blood pressure capabilities built in, so that may be an option for obtaining blood pressure. A cardiac monitor would be used for Mrs. Baker to watch for arrhythmias, which could be caused by lisinopril, or be another sign of congestive heart failure or an acute myocardial infarction. Mrs. Baker has a history of hypertension and diabetes, which are the two greatest risk factors for heart disease. An electrocardiogram (EKG) would be useful for diagnosing heart disease or damage as well. A cardiac monitor is essential in continuous monitoring of the patient, but a 12 lead EKG has the benefit of being able to better pinpoint the specific areas of the heart that are affected or damaged. Blood sugar can be obtained from a drop of blood with a glucometer such as One Touch, or it may be obtained along with the serum chemistry and electrolyte analyses from the lab. A glucometer is a quick and easy way of determining the blood glucose level. Mrs. Baker is a diabetic, and is on an antidiabetic drug, Metformin. Her change in mental status could be due to low blood sugar. This would be easily diagnosed with a glucometer, and easily treated with IV glucose, so it should be one of the first assessments made. A glucometer has the benefit of being a quicker and easier way to obtain a blood sugar level, while a serum glucose may be more accurate at extremely high or low levels. Pulse oximetry can be done with a dedicated pulse oximeter, or it may also be built in to the capabilities of the cardiac monitor. Since Mrs. Baker is suffering from respiratory difficulty, it is essential to find out her blood oxygen saturation level. An arterial blood gas would not only be helpful in giving a more precise measurement of arterial oxygen and carbon dioxide, it would also give useful information about the pH of her blood and the bicarbonate level. Pulse oximetry has the benefit of alerting caregivers to acute changes in blood oxygenation level, while arterial blood gases gives a more detailed picture of the of the state of gas exchange in the lungs Serum electrolytes would be measured by the laboratory. These would be helpful in diagnosing dehydration and/or kidney function. Electrolytes are also essential in cardiac function. In fact, serum electrolytes are a good overall way to assess homeostasis in a patient. A radiographer will use an X-ray machine to obtain the chest x-ray, either in the radiology department, or will use a portable model. A chest x-ray is another way to assess respiratory function. A chest x-ray could show fluid in the lungs, as well as atelectasis or infiltrate. It would also show cardiomegaly, which is another indicator of congestive heart failure. A portable chest x-ray would be beneficial, as it would not require Mrs. Baker to be taken from the emergency department. Finally, if Mrs. Baker has been a patient at this facility before, the Electronic Medical Record can make it easy to find information on her past medical history. This is an improvement over medical records of years past, which usually had to be located in extensive file cabinets or even on microfiche. Sometimes these records were lost or misfiled. Electronic Medical Records are usually easy to locate. C. Data Collection Prioritization Vital signs, pulse oximetry, and a visual assessment should always be the first assessments performed on a patient. The severity of the vital signs will determine whether emergency life-support interventions need to be initiated at once, and will give the caregivers clues to what needs to be looked at next. Since hypoglycemia is an emergency situation, a finger-stick blood sugar should be the next assessment formed. And since Mrs. Baker is having respiratory difficulty, breath sounds should be assessed as soon as possible to determine what measures need to be taken to insure adequate ventilation. Lab work, x-rays, and other tests should be done after the initial assessments, since the results will take longer to obtain. D. Pain Assessment Comparison In alert and oriented patients with no cognitive impairments, the best way to measure pain is to use the â€Å"numbers† scale. Using this scale, you have the patient rate their pain on a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 being no pain, and 10 being the worst pain they can imagine. Pain is subjective, meaning that it can only be judged by the person in pain, and not by an observing party. The numbers scale gives an easy way for a person to tell her nurse the level of her pain, and to judge how much it is relieved by interventions. A geriatric patient who is alert but has mild cognitive impairments may be confused by numbers, but can be given the Wong Baker faces pain scale to help to measure their pain in the same way as the numbers scale. A patient who is not alert or who is unconscious is obviously not going to be able to describe her pain to her caregiver. In this case, the caregiver will have to observe the patient for non-verbal signs of discomfort. These include grimace, muscle tension, increase heart rate, respirations, or blood pressure, and moaning or grunting. E. Pain Management If Mrs. Baker was not alert enough to respond to questions but was showing signs of pain, and given the standing orders of acetaminophen or morphine, I would elect to give the patient morphine. The patient is not alert enough to take any medication by mouth, and an oral medication will take longer to work. Intravenous Morphine works very quickly, and may decrease the work of breathing in patients with congestive heart failure. The caregiver should reassess the patient’s pain after giving any pain medications. In the case of a non-alert patient, the caregiver would look for signs such as stabilization of vital signs and muscle relaxation. I have learned that the geriatric patient has a decrease in physiologic reserve, and therefore there is a shorter time between changes in homeostasis and a state of shock. Because of this, when an elderly patient is showing signs of distress, assessment and interventions should be done quickly to improve outcome. I also learned that an elderly patient may live their everyday life with a certain level of chronic pain, so when they complain of acute pain, it should be taken seriously and treated promptly. F. Team Members Mrs. Elli Baker may have been assessed initially by an EMT or paramedic, if emergency medical services had been called to transport her to the emergency room. Upon arrival, she would have been assessed by a nurse, and at the same time or shortly thereafter, the emergency room physician. The nurse would have obtained vital signs, applied the cardiac monitor, and obtained the finger stick blood sugar, while the physician would have given an initial set of orders. A respiratory therapist would have probably been called, given her respiratory difficulties, and an EKG technician would have been called to do an electrocardiogram. Labs may have been drawn by a phlebotomist or a nurse, and the arterial blood gases would have been obtained by the respiratory therapist or a phlebotomist, depending on the facility’s policy. Finally, a radiology technician would have performed the chest x-ray. When the nurse noticed that Mrs. Baker became unresponsive and started having more difficulty breathing, she would have notified the physician of the changes and called any necessary support staff to assist with Mrs. Baker’s immediate care.

Management accounting and the challenge of strategic focus Essay

Management accounting and the challenge of strategic focus - Essay Example The study made use of qualitative analysis of secondary narrative data on the company subject of the case study. Through qualitative data analysis, the study employed the self-referential, â€Å"autopoietic† theory to explain the role of the firm’s management accounting system in providing control and guidance in relation to the firm’s â€Å"self-production.† The title is short and categorical, sufficient to capture the interest of a student who would be interested in an article on the general topics of either management accounting or strategic management, or the link between them. However, for one who is looking for a particular topic within the scope of either field, the title does not sufficiently convey the specific gist of what the paper is about. Either field is very broad, and the title should properly encapsulate what aspect of the link between the two subjects is discussed. Since the focus of the discussion is on autopoiesis, this single word, coupled with management accounting and strategic management, would have provided the a sufficiently concise yet informative title. The title we would suggest would be: â€Å"Application of Autopoiesis Theory in Organization Strategy† The abstract gives a concise yet informative summary of the study, identifying it immediately as a case study and therefore preparing the reader to address it as such. It also provides the reader with the theoretical underpinning of the work (autopoietic theory) as well as the eventual conclusion, which is beneficial to the reader who wants to know if the further perusal of the study would serve his purposes. Some of its vocabulary appears to be specialized and operational to the study (e.g. â€Å"self-production†), but these need not be explained in the abstract. Actually, the use of such words makes the abstract more effective in capturing the interest of the reader. Upon reading the introduction, one is immediately

African Drum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

African Drum - Essay Example At the core of African music are several handcrafted instruments with very significant importance to the culture, the traditions and the tribe. The drum is one of these instruments. However, more than instruments, the drums are objects of art and they have religious, social and communication functions. Relying on the shape of the drums, we can divide the instruments into three categories: the goblet-shaped drums (usually called the djemb), the hour-glass shaped drums and the kettledrums.The Goblet drum or djemb consists of a membrane (goatskin is the most commonly used to produce this membrane) stretched on top of a wooden base shaped as a goblet (cylinder on top of a conical stem). This drum is so popular that it is commonly referred to as the African drum and it is found in several different countries all around Africa.We can find the earlier origins of the Djemb in the Mali Empire of the 12th century. Among all the different types of African drums, the Djemb has become extremely s ought after in the Western world and is regarded as the most popular of the African drums. It is played only with the hands, and it produces a wide range of sounds, depending on where you hit the membrane and how you hit it i.e. the angle of approach made by the hand.The talking drum or hour-glass shaped drum, with its tensions straps around the drum shell, is considered to be a communication tool as much as a musical instrument. Africans say it is used for "talking" because it reproduces tones of African speech. African drum language is a very specific language - a form of expressing words through instruments - as the drums imitate different tones of voice and they build a rhythmic pattern that can be seen as corresponding to letters. One of the most practical examples of its use as a communication tool is the way the drum calls the dancers and invites them to dance. This communicative use of the drum was especially useful to the African slave population during colonialism because they could communicate safely and at the same time they could preserve their African traditions. Western men did not understand the language of the drum and even more than preserving their African traditions, this very specific use of the drum is one of the aspects that made him so popular in the Western World, trend that we can identify as an equivalent to the Gospel. The kettledrums are usually drums that have two membranes stretched over various shaped and sized kettles. Unlike the Djemb or the talking drum, the kettledrums have carvings on them, usually female or male figures and they are considered to be very important ceremonial objects. The ornaments can connote power, status, they can refer to a deity or ancestors; each type of carved drum has a very specific use in a very specific ritual. The kettledrum, through it shape and its use, can be considered as the most spiritual drum - as the two other ones are rather used for musical or communication purposes. You can see an African drum of any category in celebrations such as weddings, baptism, full moon, harvest time or full moon can be examples of events. The celebration will be conducted through the rhythm of the African drum. As Bishop Sebastian Bakare explains: "In villages throughout the country, the sound and rhythm of the drum express the mood of the people such is the power of the drum to evoke emotions, to touch the souls of those who hear its rhythms, that the earliest Christian missionaries to Africa forbade its use in church services" (Bakare cited by Wheeler, year:2). Communicative, musical, spiritual, the African drum is more than an instrument. It has embodied the

Child Abuse in California Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Child Abuse in California - Research Paper Example Generating greater level of awareness would contribute in encouraging their interests in participating in the research program. The use of the quota sampling method contributes in selecting respondents based on specific quotas from different groups as identified above (Black, 2011). Use of Quota Sampling contributes to the selection of respondents bearing like attributes, which in turn help in generation of related inferences in a speedy fashion. The Quota sampling method operates likewise to Stratified Random Sampling method in that it focuses on selection of respondents pertaining to different groups or strata sets. This feature makes the sample selection activity more scientific in nature thereby helping in generating greater benefits (Bajpai, 2009). The data analysis activity would be based on the use of quantitative techniques. For the ordinal data relating to Hypotheses 1 and 2 the use of pie charts, bar and line graphs would be used to depict the needed inferences. For analyzing the nominal data sets the use of Kruskal Wallis would be used for analyzing the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. It is used in cases where there is an existence of a nominal and measurement variable (Tracy,

DISCUSSION BOARD WEEK 6-1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

DISCUSSION BOARD WEEK 6-1 - Essay Example Qualitative Market Research, 14(4), 430-440. The main aspect of qualitative research method is the definition of research questions (Branthwaite, & Patterson, 2011). Qualitative methods are based on tested variables and hypothesis within the area of interest. Thus, qualitative research is based on a general research question, which can be narrowed down to the preferred research question. In addition, qualitative researchers are interested in exploring patterns that defines different research variables. Identifying patterns that define different research variables is the interesting element of qualitative research. This is because a qualitative researcher is capable of responding to research questions that cannot be addressed through the usual research techniques. This article provides basic guidelines for choosing appropriate design for my research topic. For instance, the article addresses design of research hypothesis and questions. Butler, A. C. (2010). Repeated testing produces s uperior transfer of learning relative to repeated studying. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory & Cognition, 36(5), 1118-1133. According to Butler (2010), qualitative research question are created in neutral and exploratory language. This enables researchers to define several variables through a single research question. ... Qualitative research address question of ‘what’ and ‘how’. These questions explain or explore a certain pattern that is related to social behavior or trend. The article provide a concrete basis for development of research questions. Ring, N., Jepson, R., & Ritchie, K. (2011). Methods of synthesizing qualitative research studies for health technology assessment. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care, 27(4), 384-90. Ring, Jepson, & Ritchie (2011), explores the impacts of technology on research. The researchers explore ways in which information technology can be applied in social research. Although the study is based on health assessments, it provides a general overview of qualitative research and its application. According to the article, qualitative research has the ability to respond to research questions that cannot be answered using alternative research methods. The article examines the role of technology in cubing Medicare fraud. A ccording Ring, Jepson, & Ritchie (2011), application of information technology in healthcare centers and institutions will greatly reduce cases of Medicare fraud. Jacobson, P. D (2001). Regulating Health Care: From Self-Regulation to Self-Regulation?  Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law. 26 (5) 1165–78. Jacobson, P. D (2001) explore the role of the authority in regulating the health sector through appropriate ethical practices. According to the article medical fraud, signify unethical performance within health institutions. The article explores the role of healthcare professional in regulating the health sector. The article defines the different trends that characterize Medicare fraud. This provides a significant aspect

International Issues in Accounting and Audit Essay

International Issues in Accounting and Audit - Essay Example Considering the growing complexity of accounting work, many countries have adopted IFRS as their basis for financial reporting as it is expected that IFRS can significantly improve the quality of information on corporate finance. Although there are numerous potential advantages associated with a common set of global reporting standards, it is difficult to implement IFRS in a way that the benefits of a harmonised reporting system could be achieved. This paper will critically explore and discuss the potential benefits as well as negative impacts/limitations of adopting the IFRS in the United Kingdom. International Financial Reporting Standards, commonly abbreviated as IFRS, are designed as a common global reporting framework for businesses so as to make company accounts well understandable and comparable despite cross-border barriers. The growing international shareholding and trade activities make it necessary to establish a common global language for business affairs with regard to accounting and reporting. Such a common global framework is also particularly important for firms that have a presence in several countries. Today the IFRSs increasingly replace different national accounting standards as multinational corporations wish to keep their accounts easily understandable and comparable across the globe. IFRS are authorised on the ground of historical cost paradigm with the exception of IAS 29 and IFRIC 7, which are authorised on the ground of constant purchasing power paradigm (Legardere, 2007). Although IFRS was initially introduced as a framework to harmonise accounting practices and procedures across the European Union, this concept has progressively become attractive around the world due to the increased value of harmonisation. IFRS are sometimes referred to as the original name of International Accounting Standards (IAS). The International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) issued IAS over the period 1973-2001. On 1st April 2001, the new International Accounting Standards Boards (IASB) undertook the responsibility for setting international accounting standards from the IASC (Value based management.net, n.d.).