Policies to reduce levels of traffic congestion and pollution in major urban areas often focus strongly on the concept of a sustainable transport system, but to achieve this vision a significant modal shift from private car to public transport will be required. This paper reports on a recent research study which provides a framework within which to model the behavioral responses of travelers following the implementation of strong bus priority measures (where road capacity is deliberately removed from general traffic and given to buses). A summary of the different behavioral responses which can be expected is given and results from a practical implementation of the framework which has been based on two commercial transport modeling packages (CONTRAM and TRIPS) are discussed. These results suggest firstly that the effect of implementing such strong bus priority measures is as dependent on the characteristics of the local travelers as on the scheme itself and secondly that implementing too strong a scheme may not benefit public transport overall.
Postharvest loss is one of the major problems in tomato production. This study was conducted to assess the post-harvest practices and losses of tomato at the farmers’ fields in three districts namely Kathmandu (Kavresthali), Lalitpur (Lubhoo, and Lamatar), and Bhaktapur (Tathali and Kaushaltar). By using a simple random sampling method, the sample size of 60 respondents was chosen. A pre-tested questionnaire, group conversation, and key-informant survey were applied in this study. The results revealed that 10.3% of the respondents produced the tomato on a small scale whereas 58.8% of respondents produced on large scale. 10% of total losses were found from harvesting to marketing. In the field, during harvesting and packaging, there was a 2% loss. The tomato loss was negligible during grading and washing. 4% loss was found during the transportation of tomato and 2% of the loss during the storage of tomato. To the producer level, the insufficient knowledge about the storage, packaging, transportation, and random harvesting led to the maximum loss of tomato. In the study area, the producers played important role in reducing the postharvest loss of tomato, therefore, public awareness should be increased through mass media about the proper harvesting and storing of tomato.
Green lacewing, Chrysoperla carnea Stephens (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) is the most effective polyphagous predator of different species of aphids and is commonly known as "aphid lion" . The experiment on feeding efficiency of green lacewing was studied in the laboratory of Entomology Division, NARC, Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Nepal from 21 st , December 2015 to 26 th , March 2016. The known number of predatory larva of green lacewings were fed with known number of seven different species of live aphid and frozen Corcyra eggs representing each treatment. The treatments were replicated four times. The predatory efficiency was calculated by counting the number of consumed host per day. The result revealed that the predatory efficiency of C. carnea larvae were increased from first to third instar and third instar were more voracious as compare to first two instars. It consumed significantly the highest rice moth, Corcyra cephalonica followed by Aphis craccivora and others aphid species, respectively. From this experiment, it is evident that the green lacewing is potent bio-agent against different aphid species and hence further research is required simultaneously in the farmer's field conditions.
Binayak Rajbhandari looks at why, despite all the promises, we are not making more progress towards sustaining the livelihoods of the poor. He draws on the success stories of alternative innovations at the micro level to suggest that there can be a positive response to today's failures to ensure food security. Development (2002) 45, 86–89. doi:10.1057/palgrave.development.1110385
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