Dimapur District Research Articles

The Study of Physical Growth and Nutritional Status among the Chakhesang Boys of Sudzulhou Village, Dimapur District, Nagaland

The Study of Physical Growth and Nutritional Status among the Chakhesang Boys of Sudzulhou Village, Dimapur District, Nagaland

Impact and constraints faced by the borrowers of cooperative bank finance in Nagaland

The present study was undertaken on sixty borrowers of cooperative bank during 2009 to 2012 in Dimapur district of Nagaland to examine the impact of loan on borrowers a resource use efficiency on pooled data as well as on different farm size group were fitted, which was found to be significant. As per the client satisfaction index 48.33% were medium satisfied, followed by 23.67% as low satisfied and remaining 25.00% as highly satisfied with the extension services of banks available presently. It was further observed that on rank based quotient the foremost constraints was of amount of loan, followed by preparation of DPR, lack of technical guidance from bank, time of disbursement, subsidiary/rebate on loan, disbursement of loan, credit facilities and miscellaneous, form issued by the bank, knowledge about type of loan, bank interest rate, filling up of loan forms, repayment period etc at the lower scale.

Syphilis infection among female sex workers in Nagaland, Northeast India: Analysing their vulnerability to the infection

This paper describes the sex work characteristics and factors associated with syphilis among female sex workers (FSWs) in Dimapur district of high HIV prevalence Indian state, Nagaland. The study recruited 426 FSWs in 2006 using respondent-driven sampling. The prevalence of syphilis was 21.1% and HIV prevalence was 11.7%. Approximately half were under 25 years of age. Clients were solicited mainly in public places (32.7%), while hotels/lodges/rented rooms were the most common places of entertainment (57.2%). Condom use during the last sex was 36.5% with occasional and 27% with regular clients. Being married, being widowed/divorced/separated, being illiterate or having a history of drug use increased the likelihood of syphilis infection. Entertaining clients in bars/booze joints decreased the probability of syphilis. FSWs who moved between soliciting in public places or bars/booze joints and then entertaining in hotels/lodges/rented rooms had a higher vulnerability to syphilis. In summary, we found that the vulnerability to syphilis among mostly young FSWs in Dimapur varied according to their sex work characteristics, marital and educational status and drug use habits. They may be more vulnerable to HIV and sexually transmitted infections (HIV/STIs) due to the low rate of condom use. The findings have direct implications for HIV/STI prevention programmes in Northeast India.

Ichthyofaunal Diversity of Dhansiri River, Dimapur, Nagaland, India

Northeastern India, one of the Ichthyofaunal hot spot areas of our country, is marked by the presence of varied freshwater fishes,a few adapted to torrential waterflow. River Dhansiri is an important river of Dimapur District of Nagaland, India, which flows through Nagaland –Assam border harbouring rich aquatic flora and fauna. Very little studies have been carried out to document the fish biodiversity of the Dhansiri river till date. In the present study an attempt has been made to access the piscine diversity of this river. The survey results in finding of species of 34 fishes belonging to five (5) orders, thirteen (13) families and twenty four (24) genera. Cyprniformes is the dominant order while Osteoglossiformes is the least common.

Farmers’ vulnerability to climate variability in Dimapur district of Nagaland, India

Certain parts of the State of Nagaland situated in the northeastern region of India have been experiencing rainfall deficit over the past few years leading to severe drought-like conditions, which is likely to be aggravated under a climate change scenario. The state has already incurred considerable losses in the agricultural sector. Regional vulnerability assessments need to be carried out in order to help policy makers and planners formulate and implement effective drought management strategies. The present study uses an ‘index-based approach’ to quantify the climate variability-induced vulnerability of farmers in five villages of Dimapur district, Nagaland. Indicators, which are reflective of the exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity of the farmers to drought, were quantified on the basis of primary data generated through household surveys and participatory rural appraisal supplemented by secondary data in order to calculate a composite vulnerability index. The composite vulnerability index of village New Showba was found to be the least, while Zutovi, the highest. The overall results reveal that biophysical characteristics contribute the most to overall vulnerability. Some potential adaptation strategies were also identified based on observations and discussions with the villagers.

Plant community characteristics and soil status in different land use systems in Dimapur district, Nagaland, India

The main objective of this paper was to evaluate characteristics of plant community and the present status of soil in natural forest, home garden as well as agroforestry and shifting cultivation. We adopted a very well defined standard methodology for assessing various properties of soil. Plant community attributes were determined for different land use systems. The results showed that the importance value index (IVI) was the highest for natural forest, and then for agroforestry system, home garden while shifting cultivation indicated the least value of IVI. The study clearly shows that soil pH, organic matter content, total nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorous under the conditions of the land use systems observed differ significantly from those in natural forest. The changes of topsoil properties and plant characteristics are very distinctive in shifting cultivation (jhuming system, i.e. slash-and-burning farming practice in hilly areas). Thus, the results obtained indicate that once natural forest has been removed, the soil- vegetation system is disrupted significantly. The results of this study reveal that shifting cultivation system has negative impact on environment in the region. Furthermore, the land use study carried out based on remote sensing showed that the area of settlement over natural forest has been increasing for last three decades, which results in many environmental problems such as loss of biodiversity, water and soil as well as air pollution.

Entrepreneurial Characteristics and Attitude of Pineapple Growers

Nagaland, the 16th state of India in order of statehood, is situated between 25° 6' and 27° 4' latitude north and between 93o 20' E and 95o 15' E longitude of equator in the North Eastern part of the India. Endowed with varied topography, soil and agro climatic conditions it is known for its potentiality to grow all most all kinds of horticultural crops. Pineapple being grown since long organically by default is one of the most promising crops of the state with emphasis being laid for commercialization by the government of Nagaland. In light of commercialization, globalization and scope of setting small-scale industries, a research study was undertaken to examine the socio-economic and personal characteristics, entrepreneurial characteristics and attitude of the pineapple growers towards improved package of practices of pineapple cultivation. The study was conducted in Medziphema block of Dimapur district of the Nagaland state of India following ex post facto research design. Ninety pineapple growers were selected from four different villages of Medziphema block based on proportionate random selection procedure. Findings of the study revealed that majority of the respondents had medium level of entrepreneurial characteristics in terms of knowledge level, risk orientation, self confidence, management orientation, farm decision making ability and leadership ability and most of them had favourable attitude towards improved package of practices of pineapple cultivation. The variables age, education, farm size, risk orientation, management orientation and sources of information utilized were found important to influence the attitude of the respondents. The study revealed that favourable attitude and entrepreneurial characteristics of the pineapple cultivators might be harnessed for increased production of pineapple in the state thereby bringing socio economic upliftment of the marginal and small-scale farmers.

Approaches to Inhibit Invasiveness and Metastasis in Prostate Cancer

Traditional medicines have been used for different ailments in the dominant modern healthcare, and also as a complement to it. Though it serves as an important healthcare services but is often underestimated. Therefore, the potential contribution of traditional medicine in healthcare needs to be explored, harnessed and promoted.First, this paper attempts to assess users’ outcome measures of Euroquol 5 Dimension of traditional medicine using paretian classification of health change. Second, to analyze the determinants and interdependence of disease and type of healthcare.Primary data was collected from Dimapur district, Nagaland during March–July 2014 from 540 households and statistical techniques like Bivariate probit analysis was used.Paretian classification of health change found 27% of the respondents has ‘improved’ their health status after using traditional medicine, but 45% had also ‘mix change’ in health status. Bivariate probit analysis shows significant result among older age groups that are more likely to suffer from non-communicable diseases. The longer the duration of disease, the more likely to use traditional medicine and for non-communicable diseases the probability of using traditional medicine was higher as compared to allopathic medicine.Demand for traditional medicine is evident and it does contribute in providing healthcare. Thus, from the stakeholders, efforts for proper conservation, validation and documentation is necessary for promotion and development of indigenous medicine. Hence reducing the burden of healthcare expenditure among the communities and also sustain the rich cultural practices of traditional medicine.