ABSTRACT
The year 2020 was the most challenging period due to the havoc caused by the outbreak of novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Scientists and researchers all around the world have endeav-ored every possible approach to find solutions in context to therapeutics and vaccines to control the spread of this life-threatening virus. The acceleration instigated by the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 and its mutated strains has leveraged the use of numerous platform technologies for the development of vaccines against this unfathomable disease. Vaccines could play an important role in miti-gating the effects of COVID-19 and reducing the ongoing health crisis. Various innovative plat-forms like proteins, nucleic acids, viruses, and viral vectors have been exploited to fabricate vaccines depicting almost 90% of efficacy like BNT162b2, AZD1222, Ad5-nCoV, etc. Some of these vaccines are multipotent and have shown potent activity against newly emerged malicious strains of SARS-CoV-2 like B.1.351 and B.1.1.7. In this review article, we have gathered key findings from various sources of recently popularized vaccine candidates, which will provide an overview of potential vaccine candidates against this virus and will help the researchers to investi-gate possible ways to annihilate this menace and design new moieties.Copyright © 2022 Bentham Science Publishers.
ABSTRACT
Seed is an essential input for the potato crop. Much of the efforts and investment would be infructuous if the farmers did not get the quality seeds. Only the seed with assured purity-genetic and physical can be expected to respond to fertilizers and other inputs in a respected manner. The present study attempted to analyze the source, SRR of potato seed and assess the effect on potato crop yield by using certified seed in the Jalandhar district of Punjab. The current study was conducted on primary data collected from 120 farmers during the 2020-21 agricultural year. The data were analyzed using simple tabular analysis and other suitable statistical techniques. The study found that the most preferred source of seed was the self-retained seed which came out to be 48 per cent, the second most preferred source was private seed dealers, as 17 per cent procured seed from these dealers. The high use of self-retained seed was due to the high cost of purchased seed, and the other reason was that farmers had more confidence in the self-retained seed. The study found that large farmers’ Seed Replacement Rate (SRR) was higher. It was 11.2 per cent for small farmers, 19.5 per cent for medium farmers and 27.5 per cent for large farmers. The yield of potato crop using certified seed was higher than non-certified seed. The per cent difference in yield of potato grown by certified and non-certified seed among small and medium farmers was 17 per cent, 11 per cent among large farmers and 15 per cent overall in the Jalandhar district of Punjab. The study highlighted that the primary constraint faced by potato seed growers were high prices of certified seed (69.1 per cent), high cost of pesticides and insecticides (65.8 per cent), fluctuations in the price of potato seed (55 per cent), lack of public procurement at MSP (53.3 per cent), covid related restrictions (52.5 per cent) and lack of extension facilities (48.3 per cent). The study suggested that the government should provide certified seed to the farmers at the lowest cost to increase the seed replacement rate. Awareness regarding the use of certified seed should be given to farmers through extension services. Government institutes like Central Potato Research Station (CPRS) (ICAR), the Centre of Excellence (Dogri) and the Department of Horticulture should expand the production of certified seeds as only 18 per cent of potato growers purchased seeds from these agencies in the study area. The minimum support price of potatoes should be fixed to promote the production of potatoes in the state. © 2022, Indian Potato Association. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The ongoing outbreak of the cOviD-19 is a significant threat to global health and the economy. This disease is a highly contagious pathogenic disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (sARs-cov-2). The virus has a high reproduction rate, due to that it is highly transmittable and has turned into a catastrophe. scientists and researchers worldwide are exaggerating every possible approach to limit the spread of this malicious disease. An abrupt rise has been reported in the number of cases due to newly mutated strains like sARs-cov-2 vUi 2020/12/01. to date, no specific drug is effective in the complete eradication of this dangerous disease but, some broad-spectrum antivirals such as Remdesivir and lopinavir are being used in the management of this ailment. Also, every possible effort has been made in the development of vaccines for preventing the outbreak of this deadly virus. The BNt162b2 by Pfizer and m-RNA-1273 by Moderna have been recently launched into the market, which have shown undesirable effects in geriatrics leading to mortality. in this review, we have tried to highlight important aspects of the cOviD-19 that will aid in global awareness and will help the researchers to investigate possible ways to eradicate this menace and design new moieties for its effectual management. © 2021 Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ankara (FABAD). All rights reserved.