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2009 - 200912010 - 20161
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Storage and shelf life study of paddy straw mushroom (Volvariella volvacea)
    (Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2009) Balwinder Kaur
    Volvariella volvacea commonly known as the straw mushroom, paddy straw mushroom or Chinese mushroom. It is very a popular inhabitant of the tropics and subtropics regions. It is a fast growing fungus to fruit within two weeks of sowing. Volvariella volvacea strain Vv-5 was grown indoor on paddy straw under natural climatic conditions to harvest 9.0 kg of fresh mushrooms per quintal dry paddy straw with an average weight of a fruit body recorded as 8.9 g. The mushrooms were harvested and subjected to storage and shelf life study through packaging, washing, blanching, steeping and drying. Washing of mushrooms in potassium metabisulphite, citric acid and sodium chloride indicated the best quality in terms of colour texture, odour and consumability when treated with 0.1% potassium metabisulphite followed by washing with citric acid. Packaging of fresh mushrooms in perforated polypropylene, polyethylene and paper bags indicated that mushrooms can be stored upto 48 hours in paper bag followed by polypropylene, polyethylene bags punched with 10 holes in each bag containing mushrooms washed with citric acid. Blanching and steeping of paddy straw mushrooms was not upto the mark even upto five days of storage. The mushrooms were dried in the sun, in the cabinet dryer and in the microwave oven and packed in air tight (sealed) polypropylene bags. The cabinet dried mushrooms showed 89.6-92.3 percent moisture loss with maximum when washed with KMS 0.2%. During storage upto 6 months the weight loss was statistically non significant. The observations made on colour, optical density, texture, consumability, dehydration ratio, rehydration ratio had indicated that in cabinet drying citric acid 0.3% was the best treatment which was at par with unwashed dried mushrooms. In sun drying KMS 0.1% was the best and at par with the unwashed dried mushrooms. However, in microwave oven all treatments were overall acceptable which were at par with unwashed dried mushrooms. The experiment on mushroom drying indicated that mushrooms can be best dried in the microwave oven followed by cabinet drying and the sun drying.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Impact assessment of MGNREGA consistent to its operational parameters in transforming quality of life of rural poor
    (Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2016) Balwinder Kaur; Randhawa, Varinder
    The study aimed at assessing impact of MGNREGA on the quality of life of its beneficiaries belonging to all three socio-cultural regions i.e. Majha, Malwa and Doaba of Punjab state. A total of 11 districts were selected for the study (7 from Malwa, 2 from Doaba and 2 from Majha region) through probability proportionate to size sampling procedure. Two blocks per district, two villages per block and nine beneficiaries per village were further selected to complete a sample of 396 beneficiaries and 44 functionaries for the study. Interview schedule in five parts was prepared to elicit information regarding socio-personal profile, implementation procedure, awareness of beneficiaries and functionaries, wage employment, wage differential and impact of the scheme improving quality of life. The major findings revealed some irregularity in implementation of MGNREGA such as late payments to workers, lack of worksite facilities, non-maintenance of work and complaint registers and nonconductance of social audit. Workers got maximum 40-45 days of work which was much below the prescribed 100 days of employment.Overall, the beneficiaries had medium level of awareness about the provisions of right to employment (X= 0.83), gram panchayat responsibilities (X= 0.98), work procedure and wage rates (X=0.75), wage disbursement information (X=1.06). Whereas, low level of awareness was observed for indicators such as implementation procedure (X=0.50) and social audit (X=0.32). Beneficiaries were found seldom not aware of the basic guidelines regarding wage structures and other legal entitlements such as unemployment allowance, reimbursement of medical bills, basic facilities etc. On the contrary, the functionaries were found highly aware about all the provisions under the act. Major activities undertaken in MGNREGA were tree plantation, land leveling and flood protection and there was no wage differential observed in the different districts of Punjab. The impact was mainly by way of acquiring material possessions, food consumption and housing and sanitary conditions. Non-significant impact was found as far as expenditure on education, clothing and social life aspects were concerned. To make the scheme successful in improving quality of life of rural poor, it is very necessary that they should regularly participate in programme and share their difficulties and complaints regarding implementation of scheme. So, it can therefore be concluded that awareness needs to be generated amongst the beneficiaries through mass media and other campaigns for effective implementation and success of the scheme.