This study was conducted to assess the impact of Foot-and-mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak in cattle and buffaloes on farming community in Kolar district, Karnataka state, India. Primary data were collected using pre-tested schedule from 178 sample farms using multistage random cluster sample technique. The results revealed that 78% of surveyed villages were affected with FMD. The FMD incidence risk was high across the herd sizes, whereas the mortality risk was high in small herds. In indigenous cattle, the highest loss due to FMD was distress sale (208 USD) followed by other losses, whereas, in Crossbred cattle, the highest loss was mortality loss (515 USD) followed by distress sale (490 USD), milk yield loss (327 USD), treatment cost (38 USD) and extra labour engagement expenses for nursing of FMD-affected bovines (30 USD). In local and upgraded buffaloes, the mean total loss per affected animal was 440 USD and 513 USD, respectively. A very high variability in the loss per animal was observed across the type of losses in the Crossbred cattle, and it may be due to differences in age of the FMD-infected animal, value of the animal, milking stage, lactation levels, herd sizes and labour engagement levels, etc. In local and upgraded buffaloes, the mean total loss per animal was 639 USD and 1008 USD, respectively. The sensitivity analysis for 5% change in price revealed that the mean total loss per animal was positively correlated with price. Further, the social impact elicitation revealed that majority of the livestock owners perceived FMD had caused permanent asset loss, which in turn increased psychological stress of the family. The estimated losses and social impact due to FMD signify the importance of the intervention to control the disease and thus socio-economic gain to the farmer and society at large.

Sustainable development is widely practiced by many engineers, academicians and policy makers for making the industries environmental friendly, to obtain sustainability in any industry there are many methods. Resources utilized in an industry should be identified properly in various processes and its utilization is to be optimized to increase the environmental performance of the industry. Ecomapping is a visual, simple and practical tool to analyze, manage, and communicate the environmental performance of industries in developing economies. Ecomapping is creative and helps small SME's to implement environmental management systems like ISO 140001 and EMAS. Ecomap if properly employed will increase the sustainability of the industries and also helps in reducing the resource utilization and enhances the productivity. Even though the Ecomapping can be done manually, using GIS will enhance the productivity, enables clear detailing of resource identification and mapping. This paper provides an insight into Ecomapping, its advantages, preparing ecomap for an industry using GIS.

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Temperature data from 14 stations were used to explore the spatiotemporal variability of temperature and its extremes for the period 1960-2018 in the Cauvery River Delta (CRD) area, an agro-ecological region of Tamil Nadu State, India. This investigation was carried out by using spline interpolation method, linear regression and Mann-Kendall test with a Sen's slope estimator. Results indicated that the spatial patterns and temporal trends of annual and seasonal temperature showed an upward trend in most parts of the CRD region. The spatial changes of mean temperature at annual and seasonal scale were similar and showed an upward trend. Extreme temperature indices showed an increasing trend throughout the area. This investigation was carried out for a period of six decades from the year 1960. The CRD region exhibited a warming trend after the 1980s. Temperature variability over this region was witnessed by the global and regional level climate warming. These variability conditions would influence the growth and life cycle of agricultural crops. The results of this investigation could support decision makers and authorities to activate adequate irrigation and crop-changing strategies in order to protect vulnerable ecosystems and environmental conditions of the CRD region.

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