Wayanad District Of Kerala Research Articles

An Outbreak Investigation of a Cluster of Gastroenteritis Following a Marriage Function in Wayanad District, Kerala, India

Foodborne diseases are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality, especially in low-resource settings. This paper describes the investigation conducted in response to a cluster of acute gastroenteritis outbreak in the Wayanad district of Kerala. House-to-house visits were undertaken to identify the case patients, along with laboratory and environmental investigations. The attack rate was 41.2% among those who consumed chicken biriyani compared to 6.9% among those who consumed vegetarian meals. The risk difference (95% CI) was 34.34 % (22.8-45.6), and the risk ratio (95% CI) was 6 (1.6-23) for chicken biriyani compared to vegetarian meals. The attributable fraction (95% CI) among those who ate chicken biriyani was 83.3% (35.6-95.6), and the population attributable fraction was 81.2%. We recommend strengthening of laboratory capacity for detecting foodborne pathogens and active surveillance of all food handlers and food preparation areas with the coordination of food safety, health and local self government departments.

Study on marketing pattern among the tribal livestock farmers of Wayanad district in Kerala

An ex post facto research was conducted among the tribal livestock farmers in Wayanad district of Kerala state to identify the marketing pattern existing among them. Official approval for conducting the study was obtained from the Directorate of Schedule Tribe Development Department as well as from The Integrated Tribal Development Project, Government of Kerala. Thirty tribal livestock farmers each from Vythiri, Sulthan Bathery and Manathavadi taluks were selected using random sampling method. A structured interview schedule was used as a tool to collect the information from the respondents. The result of the study inferred that all the farmers sold their milk to co-operative societies and more than one-half of the respondents did not prefer to sell the heifers. Male calves were sold through middlemen by two-thirds of the respondents. Nearly one-thirds of the respondents sold the manure directly whereas two-fifths of the respondents did not sell. None of the respondents sold the meat directly. In total, nearly two-thirds of the tribal goat farmers did not prefer selling the goats for breeding purpose, but the remaining one-thirds preferred the direct sale of goats for breeding purpose. In the live animal market of transacting goats for meat purpose, middlemen acted a very important role as it was evident in this study that nearly threefifths of the respondents utilised both direct channels as well as middlemen to sell their goats.

Analysis of lactic acid bacteria present in raw samples of milk in Wayanad district of Kerala

Analysis of lactic acid bacteria present in raw samples of milk in Wayanad district of Kerala

FINANCIAL INCLUSION OF TRIBES OF KERALA – AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

In India, the vulnerable weaker section includes scheduled tribes. On many points, tribes are a marginalized group in our society. They are small in number and also weak in socio-economic aspects. Our constitution, Government authorities, and Non-Government bodies are taking several preventive and corrective measures in this regard and brought some changes in their lifestyle and economic aspects even though they are still defied with some issues. Comparatively, tribal women contribute and lead their families. But their income is limited. Financial status plays a vital part in portraying and determining individuals' lifestyles, the standard of living, and behavior. The economic situation depends upon the question of whether they are financially inserted or not. Therefore, it is imperative to check whether an individual is economically included or excluded in our society. This paper is Primary data-based and conducted a personal interview with a pre-structured schedule among tribes of Wayanad district in Kerala. This study measures the level of financial inclusion of tribes of Kerala and discusses their banking penetration, banking availability, and usage of banking service aspects. The IFI value shows an average level, and hence it is found that tribes of Kerala are in a moderate level of economic insertion only. The lack of availability of adequate bank branches is the element that dragged the IFI value to this medium level. The banking penetration dimension index is fair and reasonable because financial insertion can be viewed as parallel to having a bank account.

Prevalence of malnutrition in under five age group of the tribals in Wayanad district of Kerala, South India: a community based cross-sectional study

Background: Malnutrition is one of the major causes for childhood mortality among under-five children in India. The tribal community accounts for 8.6% of India's population. In India, nutritional as well as socio-economic inequalities are most intensely experienced by the tribal population when compared with the rest of the population. The objective of the study is to estimate the prevalence of malnourishment among tribal children (0-59 months) in the Wayanad district of Kerala.Methods: A community-based cross-sectional survey was conducted among 319 tribal children (0-59 months) of Noolpuzha panchayat, Wayanad district using a semi-structured, pretested questionnaire to collect the socio-demographic profile (age, gender, education, occupation, type of tribe, type of house, type of family) from mother/caretaker and anthropometric measurements (height, weight, and mid-arm circumference) was recorded and compared with WHO growth standards. Quantitative variables were summarized using the Mean (SD). Children below -2SD are considered malnourished in terms of being underweight, stunted, and wasted. Results: The mean age of the children were 29 months±16 SD of which 168 (52.7%) were male, and 151 (47.3%) were females. The prevalence of underweight, stunting, and wasting was 175 (54.8%), 165 (51.7%) and 99 (31%) respectively of which 111 (34.7%) were severely underweight, 88 (27.6%) were severely stunted and 57 (17.8%) were severely wasted.Conclusions: Malnourishment in the form of stunting, wasting, and underweight is very high among under-five tribal children of Noolpuzha panchayat resulting in the need for a multidisciplinary approach to identifying the reasons for malnourishment existing among these marginalized communities.

Scale to Measure Attitude of Tribal Rice Farmers towards the Sustainability of Rice Farming

The present article summarizes the development of a scale to measure the attitude of tribal rice farmers towards the sustainability of rice farming in Wayanad district of Kerala. The scale was developed using Likert’s summated ratings method. The study describes the development of scale in a stepwise manner including collection of statements, item analysis, editing, validity, reliability and final selection. The calculated value of reliability coefficient for whole test was 0.806, which was quite reliable. The thumb rule of rejecting item with‘t-value’ less than 1.89 at 0.05 level of significance was followed. As per the thumb rule total of 25 statements were selected giving the due consideration to include both positive and negative statements in more or less equal proportion. The respondents were grouped into three categories like, less favourable attitude, favourable attitude and highly favourable attitude on the basis of their attitude towards the sustainability of rice farming by using mean and standard deviation. It is contended that the scale would prove useful in measuring the attitude of tribal rice farmers towards the sustainability of rice farming.

Information and Communication Technologies for Marketing of Horticultural Crops in India

In most developing countries, including India, agriculture is moving away from traditional self sufficiency goals (subsistence) to commercialization. In this changing scenario, an efficient marketing system is central to future growth of the sector. Horticultural crops are highly vulnerable to market fluctuations. Problems due to perishable nature of the crop are compounded by lack of storage facilities, weak infrastructure, and poor transport. This often leads to market glut and distress sale at low paying outlets. In the context of developing countries, it has been suggested that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can play a significant positive role by improving arbitrage and reducing information asymmetries. The Market Information Centre (MIC) in Kerala was established to provide vital market information to the state’s fruit and vegetable cultivators. This paper describes the use of price information provided by MIC to banana cultivators for making market transactions. The study was conducted in Wayanad district of Kerala, India. Data was collected using structured schedule and in depth interviews. Information on price realized by the farmers was collected from both users and non users of information provided by MIC centres.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Education of Adivasi Communities in Kerala

The Kerala government launched its ambitious virtual learning programme, with the help of Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE), targeting 4.5 million students in the state from 1 June 2020. The step was both challenging and progressive, condiering the digital divide in the state. This article examines the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the education of Adivasi communities in the Wayanad district of Kerala. The district has the largest Adivasi population in Kerala, constituting around 18.76% of its total population. While measures have been taken to ensure digital facilities to the marginalised communities to attend the virtual classes, it is argued that these actions would not yield the desired outcome unless the most basic sociocultural, economic and geographical barriers are addressed. This article is based on an ongoing ethnographic study since February 2018 in three Adivasi communities in Noolpuzha Panchayath of Wayanad district in Kerala.

Probiotic characterisation of Enterococcus faecalis strain isolated from a household dahi sample of Wayanad district, Kerala

Household dahi sample with good organoleptic properties from Wayanad district of Kerala was screened for lactic acid bacteria. Gram positive cocci exhibiting potential to ferment lactose was further characterised biochemically and later identified by 16srRNA sequencing as Enterococcus faecalis. The isolate was evaluated for its physiological and probiotic properties like temperature tolerance, salt tolerance and proteolytic activity. Probiotic properties like acid tolerance, bile tolerance, adhesion potential and antimicrobial activity against clinical isolate of E. coli were evaluated. Virulence based on haemolysis in blood agar was also done. The isolate was able to survive both 4o C and 45o C as well as salt concentration of 2 to 8 per cent. This remarkably proteolytic isolate was able to survive at pH 2 and 3 for 3 h and could tolerate bile concentration of 0.3 per cent for 3 h and 0.6 per cent for 1 h. Cell surface hydrophobicity was found to be 19.6 per cent and auto aggregation 80.39 per cent. The isolate could inhibit the growth of pathogenic E.coli by producing a zone of clearance of 19mm. Antibiogram revealed resistance to Ceftriaxone, Cefotaxime, Cefazolin and Vancomycin. The isolate produced alpha haemolysis in blood agar. Study revealed that detail biochemical and molecular level characterization is required for assessing probiotic potential of lactic acid bacteria from naturally fermented products.

Kyasanur forest disease and climatic attributes in India.

In India, Kyasanur Forest Disease has been reported from the states of Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, and Maharashtra. The relationship between climatic factors and transmission of KFD remains untouched, therefore, the present study was undertaken. Based on the occurrence of cases, Shivamogga district (Karnataka) and Wayanad district in Kerala and northern Goa (Goa state) were selected for the study. Data on the incidence of KFD and climate factors were collected from concerned authorities. To determine the relationship between dependent and independent variables, spearman's correlation was calculated for monthly as well as with lag months. KFD cases and temperature (°C) were found significantly correlated up to 1 months' lag period (p<0.05) while with precipitation relationship was found negatively significant for 0-3 months' lag. The range of suitable temperature for KFD in Shivamogga, Goa and Wayanad was found as 20-31°C, 25-29°C and 27-31°C respectively. The cumulative precipitation during transmission months (November-May) ranged from <150-500mm, while in non-transmission months (June-October) from >1100-2400mm. The analysis of three sites revealed that with the increase in temperature, the intensity of KFD transmission decreases as corroborated by the seasonal fluctuations in Shivamogga, Goa and Wayanad. High precipitation from June to October rovides suitable ecology to tick vector and sets in transmission season from November to May when cumulative precipitation is <500 mm.

Identification and detection of virulence genes among Pseudomonasspp isolated from Wayanad

A study was conducted to identify virulence genes of Pseudomonas spp. from 20 cases of canine otitis externa in Wayanad district of Kerala. The samples were collected aseptically and bacterial isolates were identified using culture and biochemistry. The nine identified Pseudomonas isolates were selected and further confirmed by PCR, targeting Opr I gene at genus level. Presence of virulence genes viz. Las A, Las B, Lec A, Lec B and Apr were examined in the confirmed isolates. All the samples were positive for Las B and Apr. Five among the isolates were having Lec A gene. None of the isolates possessed Lec B and Las A gene. Presence of Las B and Apr gene indicate biofilm forming ability of the isolated Pseudomonas organisms.

Weather based pest forewarning models for mealybug infestation in Robusta coffee (Coffea canephora)

&#x0D; An investigation was carried out to study the effect of weather parameters on mealybug infestation in Robusta coffee and to develop forewarning model using 39 years (1977 to 2015) pest data on mealy bug damage in coffee plantations collected at Regional Coffee Research Station, Chundale, Wayanad district of Kerala were recorded at fortnightly intervals during 1977 to 2015 (39 years). The results revealed that mealybug infestation was found to vary with season and also year to year. Fruit setting and budding stages of coffee were severely damaged by mealy bug. Analysis indicated that annually, average damage due to mealy bug was 6.4 per cent and ranged between 5.4 per cent in 1984 to 9.7 per cent in 2011. The mealybug damage was maximum during summer season and lowest during South-West Monsoon (June-September) season. Season wise regression models were developed using data up to 2013 for forewarning per cent damage of mealy bug and validated for 2014 and 2015. The model for summer season mealybug damage has maximum R2=0.79 which can be used for operational forecasting of mealy bug damage.&#x0D;

Biotic indicators as weather predictors in Wayanad district of Kerala

Biotic indicators as weather predictors in Wayanad district of Kerala

Factors Affecting Landslide Susceptibility Mapping: Assessing the Influence of Different Machine Learning Approaches, Sampling Strategies and Data Splitting

Data driven methods are widely used for the development of Landslide Susceptibility Mapping (LSM). The results of these methods are sensitive to different factors, such as the quality of input data, choice of algorithm, sampling strategies, and data splitting ratios. In this study, five different Machine Learning (ML) algorithms are used for LSM for the Wayanad district in Kerala, India, using two different sampling strategies and nine different train to test ratios in cross validation. The results show that Random Forest (RF), K Nearest Neighbors (KNN), and Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithms provide better results than Naïve Bayes (NB) and Logistic Regression (LR) for the study area. NB and LR algorithms are less sensitive to the sampling strategy and data splitting, while the performance of the other three algorithms is considerably influenced by the sampling strategy. From the results, both the choice of algorithm and sampling strategy are critical in obtaining the best suited landslide susceptibility map for a region. The accuracies of KNN, RF, and SVM algorithms have increased by 10.51%, 10.02%, and 4.98% with the use of polygon landslide inventory data, while for NB and LR algorithms, the performance was slightly reduced with the use of polygon data. Thus, the sampling strategy and data splitting ratio are less consequential with NB and algorithms, while more data points provide better results for KNN, RF, and SVM algorithms.

Tobacco use and clinical leukoplakia lesions among south Indian tribes.

Leukoplakia is a white mucosal thickening and perhaps undermining change in the oral mucosa transcendently found in tobacco users. Since the tobacco utilization is extensively higher with the indigenous groups in the Asia Pacific locale, the current examination implicated the prevalence of tobacco consumption and leukoplakial lesions and the relationship between the two. This cross-sectional study was conducted through six tribal hamlets of Chithalayath Forest range at Wayanad district of Kerala, South India. Leukoplakia screening was led by a senior consultant on the basis of a visual investigation and pathological evaluation was not done. An organized questionnaire was utilized to gather data on demographic details and tobacco usage status and frequency. The prevalence of clinical oral lesions among tobacco users and non users was determined using statistical analysis. Clinical oral leukoplakia was diagnosed in 27 (8.5%) subjects among the 317 individuals screened. The prevalence of lesions was considerably higher among tobacco consumers in comparison with non users (11 vs. 3.7%). Also, the tobacco chewers group had a higher percentage of leukoplakia. Another significant finding of this study is that the incidence of provisional leukoplakia was observed to be comparatively high among the most frequent tobacco consumers 15 (65.2%) in comparison with 8 (34.8%) in the frequent and nonfrequent users. Prevalence of abusive habits and clinical oral leukoplakial was substantial among the tribes. The cause and effect relationship and dose-response were also shown to have a significant association.

Ecosystem valuation and eco-compensation for conservation of traditional paddy ecosystems and varieties in Kerala, India

Etymologically ‘the land of paddy fields’, Wayanad district in Kerala, India, is a hub of numerous traditional paddy varieties. These varieties are less-input intensive and highly adaptive to changing climate and stresses. However, shifting cropping patterns in the district led to massive conversions of traditional paddy ecosystems posing threats to agrobiodiversity and ecological stability. Using market price, replacement cost and benefit transfer methods, it was estimated that Wayanad paddy ecosystem generates US$8,391 ha−1 worth of ecosystem services annually, of which 77% is non-marketed. The potential of eco-compensation in incentivizing agrobiodiversity conservation was assessed using single bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation. The analysis found that farmers were willing to accept a mean compensation of US$106 ha−1 as incentive to cultivate traditional paddy varieties, which was lower than the Government’s incentive under ‘Wayanad package scheme’. But these amounts are very low in comparison to the annual value of ecosystem services. Hence, the value of ecosystem services needs to be accounted for in eco-compensation framework and farmers should be duly recognized and paid for the invisible fruits of their toil.

TUDI- A Saga of Educational Empowerment

Education is one of the most important means of upward mobility for the tribals. This is a research narrative on how an NGO, named TUDI (Tribal Unity for Development Initiative) achieved phenomenal results in a period of two decades among the group of tribals called the Paniyars in the Wayanad district of Kerala, India. The systematic and consistent efforts of TUDI at the integral development of the tribals, with great emphasis on empowering them through education, have born rich dividends. This study explores how TUDI was instrumental in bringing out many graduates, post graduates and government and other employees in just 20 years from a community whose children hardly progressed beyond the primary school level two decades ago.

The species distribution of ticks & the prevalence of Kyasanur forest disease virus in questing nymphal ticks from Western Ghats of Kerala, South India.

Background & objectives:Kyasanur forest disease (KFD) is a zoonotic tick-borne disease across the Western Ghats of India. With the discovery of a cluster of human KFD cases in the Wayanad district of Kerala, the present study was focused on detecting KFD virus (KFDV) in tick populations. To manage this disease, it is necessary to understand the diversity of the tick species and factors influencing the distribution, abundance and prevalence of infected ticks in Wayanad district.Methods:Surveys were conducted from November 2016 to May 2018 in four forest ranges of Wayanad district. Ticks were collected by the dragging method and were identified to species level and assayed for virus detection using real-time polymerase chain reaction.Results:A total of 25,169 ticks were collected from 64 sites. Of the identified species, Haemaphysalis spinigera was the most abundant (56.64%), followed by H. turturis 9047 (35.94%), H. bispinosa 999 (3.96%), Amblyomma integrum 691 (2.74%), H. kyasanurensis (0.55%), Rhipicephalus sanguineus (0.08%), Hyalomma marginatum (0.02%), H. cuspidata (0.01%), R.microplus (0.01%) and Dermacentor auratus (0.003%). The nymphal stage was predominant from December to February having peak activity in January. A total of 572 pools were screened for the presence of KFDV, of which 21 pools were positive. The infection rates in H. spinigera and H. turturis tick were 2.62 and 1.04 per cent, respectively.Interpretation & conclusions:The circulation of KFDV was detected and its correlation with the prevalence in ticks near the fragmented forest and teak plantation areas of Wayanad district. Residents and visitors of these regions may become vulnerable to tick bites and to an increased risk of KFD as the distribution of established, infected tick populations continues to expand.

Causative factors of landslides 2019: case study in Malappuram and Wayanad districts of Kerala, India

Several landslides and floods were triggered by unprecedented, incessant heavy monsoon rainfall from 4 August 2019 to 8 August 2019, along the northern slopes, at Kavalappara, in the Malappuram district and Puthumala, in the Wayanad district of Kerala, India. The geological and geomorphological field settings were analyzed within the sub-basin wide catchment areas, for a preliminary evaluation of the causative factors of the landslides. This paper provides insights into the causative factors of landslides, together with suggestions on appropriate land use planning and deployment of real-time flood and landslide monitoring systems, besides building an adaptable community resilience model in high landslide-prone areas. The structurally disturbed weakened bedrocks and generally incompetent residual alteration products, exacerbated by nonchalant human interventions, reduction of cohesive strength, on super-saturation of underlying earth material, were inferred to be the primary causes of major landslides, triggered during 5 days of excessively heavy rainfall (400% over the normal average). Additionally, massive toe erosion was observed by streams gushing with course clastic sediments and debris. The destructive nature of such multi-hazards was evoked by unscientific modifications of slopes, mismanagement of water drainage, unplanned residential developments, across the channel courses and within active floodplain of rivers, and lack of early warning schemes for landslide.

Constraints Faced By the Farmers in the Production and Marketing of Tea: A Study in Wayanad District of Kerala

Constraints Faced By the Farmers in the Production and Marketing of Tea: A Study in Wayanad District of Kerala