Karaikal agri institute plans to offer soil health testing to local farmers
The ₹43.5 lakh MP-AES machine, inaugurated in August 2023, is being used by students to assess nutrient levels in soil, food, crops, and fertilizers. The institution now plans to allow nearby farmers to access this facility and gain scientific insights into their soil conditions.
'We have the most advanced equipment of this kind in the Puducherry Union Territory. Even nearby districts such as Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur lack such infrastructure,' said Dean A. Pouchepparadjou. 'Our students benefit from it already, and we now plan to help local farmers analyse their soil for better crop outcomes.'
K. Coumaravel, Associate Professor of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, said misuse or overuse of fertilisers has contributed to ongoing soil degradation. 'Most farmers rely on informal advice. Scientific testing is crucial,' he said.
The MP-AES identifies key micronutrients such as zinc, copper, manganese, and iron. 'By detecting what is deficient or in excess, farmers can adopt targeted nutrient management practices,' Dr. Coumaravel added.
He emphasised that routine soil testing before cultivation can improve yields and promote sustainable farming.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
21-07-2025
- Indian Express
Has Chandipura changed its pattern? ICMR teams visit Gujarat as samples of all 14 deceased children test negative for virus
With samples of children, who died of suspected Chandipura virus over the last few weeks, testing negative for the infection, teams of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) visited Gujarat earlier in July in a bid to study the 'changing pattern' of the viral encephalitis. The teams collected samples of sandflies, domestic animals and residents from villages where suspected Chandipura deaths among children have been reported since June this year. the ICMR teams camped in four districts of the state – Panchmahal, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Valsad – and studied the pattern of the virus. According to officials in Panchmahal, the ICMR team visited the district last week to gather samples of sandflies, ticks, mosquitoes and other vectors along with the that of domesticated animals and cattle, rats and human beings from the areas where four deaths have been reported. Panchmahal Chief District Health Officer Dr Vipul Gamit told The Indian Express, 'The ICMR team has gathered samples of those in the vicinity of the family that witnessed a death in the last month. They will be studied for antibodies — IgM and IgG — to understand the spread of the virus. There is a changing pattern in the virus… the same case with Japanese encephalitis, which in the recent past, has not been detected positive in laboratory tests.' Dr Gamit said that much like 2024, the Chandipura suspected cases —that later turned out to be negative after tests in Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre (GBRC) — emerged sporadically from villages that were unrelated to one another. 'In one case, of a five-year-old boy from Panchmahal who died, and later tested negative, the other two children living in the same house — his cousins aged 7 and 8 — did not have any symptoms and are doing well,' Dr Gamit said, adding that the symptoms include high-grade fever, convulsions, followed by diarrhoea with 'little or no time' for medical response. 'Once the respiratory organs are involved, the children cannot be saved,' he added. Teams of ICMR also visited Bhavnagar, Valsad and Rajkot to collect samples of the vectors and other residents in close proximity to the deceased. Officials of the Gujarat government's medical department said that the ICMR will take the samples to its laboratory in Puducherry to check if the pattern of the virus has changed in the current season. An official said, 'The sudden increase in the number of negative cases of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES), which are not showing a positive report, has prompted the ICMR to send across a team this year to study the pattern of the virus. Specific villages in certain areas where the cases have been high have been selected by the ICMR teams for the study.' Vadodara's SSG hospital has recorded 14 deaths out of the 24 cases, including a 1.5 year old infant from Dahod, of suspected Chandipura reported this year. In-charge Medical Superintendent and Dean of Baroda Medical College, Dr Ranjan Aiyer, said, 'Every year, around June, in the month of monsoon, Chandipura cases occur due to vectors and sandflies, especially among people living in mud houses in rural areas… This year, we received unknown virulent cases of around 24 children, who presented similar symptoms, particularly in areas of Panchmahal-Dahod and even Madhya Pradesh. They deteriorated very rapidly despite a paediatric team treating them.. However, all samples have tested negative for Chandipura.' What is Chandipura virus? Chandipura virus belongs to the Rhabdoviridae family, which includes rabies. It is transmitted by sandflies and mosquitoes, including Aedes aegypti, which is also a vector for dengue. The virus resides in the salivary glands of these insects and can be transmitted to humans or domestic animals through bites. The infection can lead to encephalitis and inflammation of the brain's active tissues. The symptoms include high-grade fever, convulsions, followed by diarrhoea with 'little or no time' for medical response, according to Panchmahal Chief District Health Officer Dr Vipul Gamit. The Chandipura virus was discovered in 1965, in the blood of two individuals suffering from febrile sickness, in a hamlet of the same name near Nagpur, Maharashtra.
The Hindu
17-07-2025
- The Hindu
Scrub typhus is now the most common infectious cause of acute encephalitis syndrome in southern India
A large multicentre study of 587 children with acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu has revealed that scrub typhus, a bacterial infection, is now the most common infectious cause of AES in southern India. The study by a team of researchers from NIMHANS, Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, and St. John's Medical College Hospital has been recently published in The Lancet Regional Health - Southeast Asia. Global challenge AES, characterised by acute onset fever and altered mental status and/or new seizures, presents a significant global public health challenge. It has an incidence of 3.5 to 13.8 cases per 1,00,000 patient-years, disproportionately affects children, and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. In India, over 10,000 cases of AES are reported annually to the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP). Historically, surveillance efforts have prioritised Japanese encephalitis (JE), even as its incidence has significantly declined due to widespread vaccination. Moreover, recent studies reveal a dynamic, region-specific, and evolving aetiology of AES in India. Scrub typhus (caused by bacterium Orientia tsutsugamushi), an under-recognised cause of AES, has been increasingly reported in certain regions. Aimed at systematically investigating infectious aetiologies of AES in children from southern India and developing clinical prediction models for diagnosing scrub typhus, the study found that the bacterial infection is now the most common infectious cause (44%) of AES in southern India, far exceeding Japanese encephalitis virus (11%). Scrub typhus and other doxycycline-treatable infections are significant contributors of AES in India. However, limited surveillance in southern India has hindered their recognition and the inclusion of doxycycline in treatment protocols. From tertiary care hospitals The prospective study enrolled children aged above 28 days to 18 years with AES presenting to three tertiary care hospitals in Bengaluru - Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, Vani Vilas, and St. John Medical College Hospital. Primary outcomes were microbiological diagnosis of AES and clinical prediction models for diagnosing scrub typhus and identifying patients with doxycycline-treatable causes. Models were developed using multivariable logistic regression, internally validated, and simplified into point-scoring systems. Between March 2020 and February 2023, 714 children were screened, of whom 587 were included. Of these, 315 (54%) had a microbiological diagnosis. Scrub typhus accounted for 138/315 (44%), and doxycycline-treatable causes were diagnosed in 193/315 (61%) of these cases. Key predictors associated with both scrub typhus and doxycycline-treatable causes were age, illness duration, lymphadenopathy, oedema, hepatomegaly, lymphocyte count, platelet count, and serum albumin levels, said Tina Damodar, clinical virologist and DBT-Welcome Trust fellow, Department of Neurovirology at NIMHANS, who is the lead author of the study. 'Among the 315 children with an identified infectious cause, dengue (10%), leptospira (5%), and chikungunya (5%) were also notable. Other detected pathogens included herpes viruses, enteroviruses, pneumococcus, tuberculosis, and measles, reflecting a diverse and region-specific AES landscape. These findings highlight the need to update AES surveillance and treatment protocols,' Dr. Damodar told The Hindu on Thursday. 'The study found that over 60% of microbiologically confirmed AES cases were caused by doxycycline-treatable infections, primarily scrub typhus. Despite this, doxycycline is not routinely included in empirical AES treatment in many parts of India,' she said. Recommendation Another author Reeta S. Mani, head of Neurovirology at NIMHANS, said that based on the results, the study recommends including doxycycline or azithromycin in the initial treatment of children with AES or acute febrile illness (AFI) in southern India - a change already implemented at the participating referral tertiary care hospitals. 'Timely treatment is critical. Among the 138 children with scrub typhus, nearly 40% either died or developed neurological complications, largely due to delayed diagnosis. To address this, the study calls for wider availability of scrub typhus diagnostic tests (IgM ELISA or PCR) at primary and secondary care levels,' the doctor said. The researchers have also developed a clinical prediction model - a simple point-based tool that can help frontline clinicians identify children likely to benefit from doxycycline, even before lab confirmation is available.
The Hindu
19-06-2025
- The Hindu
Doctors, students attend seminar ahead of Yoga Day in Puducherry
A seminar on 'Therapeutic Yoga for Non-Communicable Diseases – Dissemination of Translational Research' was recently organised as part of the run-up to International Day of Yoga (IDY) 2025 scheduled for Saturday, June 21. As a part of the IDY 2025 celebrations, marking the 11th anniversary of the global initiative, the Union Government, has planned 10 signature events, one of which is 'Samyogam'. According to a press note, the seminar was held in line with this, under the auspices of the Siddha Regional Research Institute (SRRI), as per the directions of N.J. Muthukumar, Director General, Central Council for Research in Siddha. The event was jointly hosted by Department of Physiology, Indira Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute (IGMC&RI), Department of Physiology, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (Jipmer), and Directorate of AYUSH, Puducherry. G. K. Pal, Professor (Senior Scale), Department of Physiology, Jipmer, delivered a keynote address on yoga therapy for psychophysical health. S. Shunmugaram, Research Officer (S) Scientist – II, SRRI led a live demonstration of the Common Yoga Protocol (CYP) for the students at IGMC&RI. The session aimed to boost awareness of yoga's everyday benefits and encourage students to incorporate the practice into their daily routines. P. Thenmozhi, Research Officer (S), Scientist – II, SRRI, Puducherry highlighted the scientific literature establishing the importance of yoga and its therapeutic effects in Siddha system of medicine. A. Lavanya, Research Officer (S) Scientist – II, SRRI, and B Rajalakshmi, Medical Officer (Siddha), Directorate of Ayush, shared the synergistic effects of Yoga and Siddha in the hormonal disorder Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus respectively. Nithya, Assistant Professor IGMC & RI, presented the outcomes of her study on the effects of adjuvant Yoga Therapy in breast cancer survivors. Umadevi S. V., Professor and Head, Department of Physiology, IGMC&RI, Pravati Pal, and S. Velkumary, Physiology Professors from Jipmer, S. Indhira, Director In-charge, Directorate of AYUSH, and P. Sathyarajeswaran, Assistant Director (S), Scientist-IV, SRRI, also addressed the event. Around 300 doctors, staff and students took part in the seminar.
