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Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa

In the imperial Gazetteer of India 1878, Pusa was recorded as a government estate of about 1350 acres in Darbhanba. It was acquired by East India Company for running a stud farm to supply better breed of horses mainly for the army. Frequent incidence of glanders disease (swelling of glands), mostly affecting the valuable imported bloodstock made the civil veterinary department to shift the entire stock out of Pusa. A British tobacco concern Beg Sutherland & co. got the estate on lease but it also left in 1897 abandoning the government estate of Pusa. Lord Mayo, The Viceroy and Governor General, had been repeatedly trying to get through his proposal for setting up a directorate general of Agriculture that would take care of the soil and its productivity, formulate newer techniques of cultivation, improve the quality of seeds and livestock and also arrange for imparting agricultural education. The government of India had invited a British expert. Dr. J. A. Voelcker who had submitted as report on the development of Indian agriculture. As a follow-up action, three experts in different fields were appointed for the first time during 1885 to 1895 namely, agricultural chemist (Dr. J. W. Leafer), cryptogamic botanist (Dr. R. A. Butler) and entomologist (Dr. H. Maxwell Lefroy) with headquarters at Dehradun (U.P.) in the forest Research Institute complex. Surprisingly, until now Pusa, which was destined to become the centre of agricultural revolution in the country, was lying as before an abandoned government estate. In 1898. Lord Curzon took over as the viceroy. A widely traveled person and an administrator, he salvaged out the earlier proposal and got London’s approval for the appointment of the inspector General of Agriculture to which the first incumbent Mr. J. Mollison (Dy. Director of Agriculture, Bombay) joined in 1901 with headquarters at Nagpur The then government of Bengal had mooted in 1902 a proposal to the centre for setting up a model cattle farm for improving the dilapidated condition of the livestock at Pusa estate where plenty of land, water and feed would be available, and with Mr. Mollison’s support this was accepted in principle. Around Pusa, there were many British planters and also an indigo research centre Dalsing Sarai (near Pusa). Mr. Mollison’s visits to this mini British kingdom and his strong recommendations. In favour of Pusa as the most ideal place for the Bengal government project obviously caught the attention for the viceroy.

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20211
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Subject: Food and Nutrition × Author: ANI,TAGE × End date: 2022 × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    IMPACT OF LOCKDOWN ON OVERALL HEALTH AND NUTRITIONAL STATUS A STUDY ON FAMILIES RESIDING IN ARUNACHAL PRADESH
    (Dr.RPCAU, Pusa, 2021) ANI,TAGE; Sinha, Mukul
    The Covid-19 pandemic has placed a heavy challenge on the overall health and nutrition of the population all over the world. With the pandemic and its subsequent imposed lockdown, access and availability of fresh food had been restricted with limited physical activity. This in turn affected the dietary pattern and intake, food choices and the health status of the population. The present study was undertaken to assess the lockdown impact on the health and nutritional status of the population residing in Ziro valley in Arunachal Pradesh. A total of 60 respondents were selected for the survey and a questionnaire was developed which included all the parameters to complete the objectives of the study. The survey was conducted in an online mode by sending out the questionnaires as google forms and offline mode through personal home visits. The impact of lockdown was assessed in terms of changes in the food consumption pattern, nutrient intake, health status, hygiene practices and adoption of certain immune boosting food sources during the pandemic. The food consumption pattern and the dietary intake of the respondents were assessed with the help of a 24-hour dietary recall method and food frequency questionnaire. The results revealed significant changes in the dietary intake with the pre lockdown nutrient intake seen to be higher than the post lockdown intake due to lesser availability of certain food groups post implementation of the lockdown. A significant impact could be seen in the higher pre lockdown intake of protein and fat among the male respondents and fat intake among the female respondents. Among the food groups, differences in the consumption of only dhal, meat products and seasonal fruits were found since everyone had a kitchen garden and access to other dietary requirements. However, the dietary intakes of the respondents were lower than the recommended value (RDA) except protein, fat and carbohydrate intake. The post lockdown BMI of the male (24.01±3.76) and female (23.45±4.22) respondents was found to be higher than the pre lockdown BMI (23.12±3.46 & 22.25±3.14). Regarding the health status of the respondents, the percentage of anaemic respondents was seen to be higher among the female respondents than the male respondents. The prevalence of mild and moderate anaemia was found to be 6.6 percent and 3.3 percent among male respondents. While among females, 23.3 percent were in mild anaemic category, 13.3 percent in moderate anaemic category and 3.3 percent were in severe anaemic category. The adoption of immune boosting food sources to cope with the pandemic situation could be seen in about 80 percent of the respondents. A positive change was found in the hygiene practices of the respondents with 81.6 percent of the respondents reporting of more hygiene consciousness since the implementation of the lockdown. Educational status showed a significantly positive relation with the nutritional knowledge (r=0.39, p<0.01) and the hygiene practices (r=0.42, p<0.01) of the respondents. Hence, the impact of lockdown was observed on the nutritional status and dietary behaviours of the respondents. The study suggests that good nutrition should be given utmost priority since healthy diet supports the immune system and the overall wellbeing and health of an individual.