Sustained economic and income growth, a fast growing urban population, and the increasing integration of global agri-food markets are fuelling rapid growth in demand for high-value food commodities in India. This is an opportunity for farmers, especially smallholder farmers, in India to augment their incomes and use surplus family labour in the production of high-value, labour-intensive food commodities. The transition to high-value agriculture, however, is unlikely to be smooth. One of the major impediments is smallholders' lack of access to markets for high-value commodities. Local rural markets are thin, and trading in distant urban markets is not remunerative owing to high transportation and transaction costs. Besides, they also face problems in gaining access to credit, high quality inputs, improved technology, information, and services. Improving smallholders' access to markets requires close linkages between farmers, processors, traders, and retailers to coordinate supply and demand. The worldwide importance of crop production is undisputed due to its function for basic nutrition of billions of people. Yet, the emergence of global forces implies severe consequences for the organization of market value chains. These forces particularly include processes of liberalization and deregulation, the dominance of large retail groups as well as ever-changing consumer demands, leading to continuous reconfigurations of market value chains. Changes in the global agricultural economy are providing smallholders with new opportunities that also present new constraints. The demand for higher value and processed foods as well as the rise of supermarkets around the world has implications for the entire food marketing system as it alters procurement systems and introduces new quality and safety standards. Marketing systems are undergoing rapid transformation. Traditional marketing channels with ad hoc sales are being replaced by coordinated links between farmers, processors, retailers and others. As incomes increase, food consumption patterns are changing, with a greater emphasis on meat, dairy products and fruits and vegetables. Consumers are becoming more demanding in terms of quality and safety and demographic and income trends are leading to increased demand for convenience foods, together with assurances of product safety. Income growth alone cannot solve the problem of malnutrition and may in fact create problems linked to overweight and obesity. The challenge from the nutrition perspective is how to sustainably improve the quality of diets, as well as other health-nutrition related behaviours, across different populations and age groups? Overall, we could extract three strands of literature on global crop value chains: the integration of smallholders; the role of food standards; and the effect of ‗hidden' dynamics Value chain approaches can provide useful frameworks to examine the food system and the potential to achieve improved nutritional outcomes by leveraging market-based systems. However, understanding the links ...
Cosmetics are widely used by both men and women for beauty enhancement for ages. Herbal plants have been used in cosmetics manufacturing for centuries because they constitute natural ingredients that are harmless. Cosmetics alone are not capable to manage both beauty enhancement and skin care. Hence, herbs are used because they are able to check skin damage and aging due to the presence of natural constituents. Herbal cosmetics have gained immense popularity among the population because they do not show side effects as shown by synthetic cosmetics. The inclusion of herbal extracts in cosmetics can minimize skin damage due to oxidative stress and thus aging process gets delayed. Herbal products improve various functions of skin by boosting collagen growth and thus eradicating harmful effects of free radicals, maintaining the structure of keratin, and keeping skin healthy. A number of herbal plants are naturally accessible and are used in the preparation of herbal cosmetics. These include gingko, neem, coconut, and many more. Herbal cosmetics for daily purposes include lotion, creams, oils, cleansers, etc. Herbal skin cosmetics have multi functionalities like anti-oxidant, anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, and antiseptic properties. The herbal cosmetic industry is rapidly growing with a vast scope of multifold expansion in the future. In this article, we have reviewed various herbal plants used in cosmetics along with the regulatory status and evaluation parameters of herbal cosmetics.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.