Humanity has witnessed diseases and illnesses since the ancient days. These diseases and illnesses resulted in days of suffering leading to disabilities or deaths of many people within communities and are termed as epidemics. As the society progressed, widespread trade increased the interactions between human, animals and ecosystems, thereby increasing the occurrence of these epidemics, often named as pandemics. Several pandemics have afflicted the world throughout history, be it malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy, influenza, smallpox, plagues or HIV/AIDS or the recent incidence of Novel Coronavirus. Diseases affect the supply chain of farm produce and agriculture. Consequently, it may impact food security. It is assumed that pandemic affects the buying behaviour of farmers and it has the capacity to alter the buying behaviour of paddy farmers in India. In this study, an attempt is made to investigate the effect of certain factors on farmers purchase behaviour during pandemic situation among rice farmers in Chhattisgarh, India. The studied sample included 120 farmers in Dhamtari, Raipur, India, selected randomly. Narratives were collected from the farmers and were analysed using qualitative data analysis software. From the qualitative data analysis, the implication for marketers is that itinerant trainers should be sent to villages to train the farmers, especially the bigger farmers (who have secondary influence), on the new technologies in agricultural inputs. The farmers also influence each other, and some amount of training coverage may eventually reach all farmers. The local dealers and the village headmen should also be influenced. An attempt should be made to marry the new technologies with the traditional methods, as much as possible.
Purpose The present study aims to understand small retailers' current use of various low-cost technologies and the factors responsible for small retailers' adoption. Furthermore, these factors of adoption were mapped back to beliefs within the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), and an attempt was made to understand if some of the beliefs dominated over the others and their implications. Design/methodology/approach The study takes a qualitative approach comprising in-depth semi-structured interviews and direct observation. The qualitative data were analysed through a thematic analysis to identify technology adoption factors. Findings Amongst the various technologies (mobile apps), payment and procurement apps were the most widely used. The authors identified eight factors influencing technology adoption: the top being customer demand for payment apps and convenience and cost-saving for procurement apps. The study also highlights the role of the dominant beliefs in technology adoption, which managers could use to improve adoption rates. Research limitations/implications The current study is a cross-sectional study and the sample was predominantly of grocery retailers, limiting the generalisability of the results. Social implications Small retailers face stiff competition from organised retail and e-commerce platforms which threatens small retailers' existence. Small retailers' survival is vital as many people depend on the small retail sector for livelihood. Increased use of technology seems the only way for them to stay competitive and increase profitability. The study's outcome could help increase technology adoption amongst small retailers and increase small retailers' competitiveness. Originality/value Despite the widespread presence of small retailers in emerging economies, few studies have examined technology adoption amongst them. This study is also the first to use the TPB theory in the small retailer technology adoption context.
The chemical business in India is under pressure from both internal rivalry and the prospect of inexpensive imports. In the context of the chemical sector in India, the current study focuses on understanding the underlying focus on innovation in the intrinsic organizational design strategy to resist extrinsic transformation agents. It also intends to investigate the impact of innovation strategy on the performance of Indian chemical companies. A poll of executives from chemical companies was conducted. To assess the impact of the antecedents of innovation (combined as the Innovativeness Index) on the performance of chemical manufacturing businesses, a structural equation modelling approach is used. It is possible to argue that as a chemical firm's relative distinctiveness from its rivals grows, so does its performance, as measured by its capital turnover ratio. The chemical firm's capital turnover ratio (performance) is also influenced by its relative uncertainty measure-that is, the lower the environmental uncertainty, the more successful the chemical firm is. The relative integration of a chemical company also has a beneficial impact on its performance. The degree to which a chemical business may separate itself from its rivals (relative differentiation), as well as its relative integration with the industry, is influenced by the relative uncertainty of its environment. These inferences may help chemical companies become more successful.
Introduction: Anaemia is a major health problem in India. Various studies mention poor nutrition knowledge and education as main factors of malnutrition. Aim: This study aims at assessing the effect of nutritional education on iron among school children. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional interventional study to improve nutrition literacy in schools was undertaken from April 2018 to February 2019. The outreach platform used was Eat Right School program by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). A study tool employed was data collection using self-developed questionnaire for pre and post-intervention knowledge assessment. School children from Delhi NCR and Mumbai participated in this study. Knowledge intervention was done on 5 key elements related to iron including role, sources, iron deficiency anaemia, iron absorption and knowledge of fortification. Chi-squared test (α=0.05) was applied for comparison. Results: It was found that 54% (n=18,626) of school children studied were in the age group 11-14 years. From 27355 participants who reported the gender, 58.1% (n=15899) were boys and 41.9% (n=11456) girls. Comparison of pre and post-intervention assessment revealed that percentage of students knowing importance/role of iron increased from 27.30% to 59.50%, iron deficiency anaemia from 34.03% to 59.85%, sources of iron from 25.20% to 51.70%, iron absorption from 36.00% to 61.2% and knowledge of fortification from 55.4% to 76.9%. Thus, significant shift (p≤0.001) in all the parameters was observed; improvement in scores ranged from 21.5% to 32.20% with highest increase seen in understanding the role of iron. Conclusion: Results of the study reject the null hypothesis leading to acceptance of alternate hypothesis. The alternate hypothesis highlights the role of nutrition education in improving the nutritional literacy of school children in the area of iron and iron deficiency anaemia. Results of the current study increased the knowledge of children on all parameters related to iron education module. Thus, nutritional literacy is imperative in improving nutritional status and adolescent age-group is the window of opportunity to correct it.
Farmers constitute a major portion of the subaltern population in agrarian economies like India. Sustainable agricultural practices are claimed to be the key to the social and economic advancement of subaltern farmers in India. The district of Murshidabad, in the state of West Bengal, India, is significant because of its crop variety, favorable agro-climatic situation, and its soil conditions. But surprisingly, more than thirty percent of its population lives below the poverty line. This indicates that the general agricultural conditions, which exist in this district, are not utilized optimally for the socioeconomic development of the farmers. The imbalanced use of fertilizers, coupled with a relatively lesser application of organics, has progressively degraded soil health, causing multi-nutrient deficiencies, as well as declining productivity. The present experiment is based on the All India Soil Rejuvenation and Crop Productivity Enhancement Project, a specific project under the aegis of the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), in the Murshidabad district. Since the present study was intended as an experiment, a control group of farmers in five neighboring villages, the ones where no project interventions were made, were also interviewed. While the analysis was done on the experimental group, results of the corresponding analysis using the control are also mentioned in the ensuing discussions. It is aimed at presenting and analyzing the impact of the aforementioned project on the sustainable socioeconomic development of the target groups within the selected blocks of the district. Three factors, namely technology branding (F1), value perceptions (F2), and distribution network (F3), have emerged as the important antecedents that lead to a significant financial improvement in the farmers which, in turn, ensures inclusive growth.
