Indoor air pollution resulting from combustion of biomass fuels in rural households of developing countries is now recognized as a major contributor to the global burden of disease. Accurate estimation of health risks has been hampered by a paucity of quantitative exposure information. In this study we quantified exposures to respirable particulate matter from biomass-fuel combustion in 436 rural homes selected through stratified random sampling from four districts of Tamil Nadu, India. The study households are a subset of a larger sample of 5,028 households from the same districts in which socioeconomic and health information has been collected. Results of measurements for personal exposures to respirable particulate matter during cooking were reported earlier. This has been extended to calculation of 24-hr exposures with the aid of additional measurements during noncooking times and the collection of time-activity records. Concentrations of respirable particulate matter ranged from 500 to 2,000 micro g/m(3) during cooking in biomass-using households, and average 24-hr exposures ranged from 90 +/- 21 micro g/m(3) for those not involved in cooking to 231 +/- 109 micro g/m(3) for those who cooked. The 24-hr exposures were around 82 +/- 39 micro g/m(3) for those in households using clean fuels (with similar exposures across household subgroups). Fuel type, type and location of the kitchen, and the time spent near the kitchen while cooking were the most important determinants of exposure across these households among other parameters examined, including stove type, cooking duration, and smoke from neighborhood cooking. These estimates could be used to build a regional exposure database and facilitate health risk assessments.

HighlightsHome production of targeted crops for nutrients intake and nutritional outcomes.Homestead gardens for improved diet diversity.Diversification of agriculture for improved diet diversity and nutritional outcomes.No conclusive evidence of impact of irrigation on diet diversity.Empowerment of women crucial for improving nutritional status.

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Increasing the production of pulses (grain legumes) and ensuring their affordability for consumers have been major concerns of policymakers in India in recent decades. Accordingly, we sought to understand the constraints to farmer expansion of pulse production and the consumption coping strategies of rural households in response to increased prices of pulses. This paper presents a study of the responses of rural households, conducted through focus group discussions, in the states of Bihar and Odisha in eastern India. Responses were analysed by a qualitative clustering method. We found that the availability of certified quality seeds and efficient and effective extension services are needed to encourage farmers to increase pulse production. Additionally, the gap between farm harvest price and the market price needs to be reduced by increasing the support price, assured procurement, and efficient local markets. With respect to people's behaviour following an increase in the price of pulses, households belonging to historically disadvantaged groups and the landless were the most vulnerable and they resorted to the most severe consumption coping strategies. Landowners generally substituted pulses with foods of higher or equal nutritive value, whereas the landless substituted with food of lower nutritive value. These findings show an urgent need to include pulses in the public distribution system and to create new avenues for non farm income to shield consumption of pulses against increases in their prices in India.

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