Journal articleIFPRI3; ISI; CRP2DGO; PIMPRCGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM

Spiraling prices of onions in India undermine the sustainability of current economic growth process and raised the question of price integration among the spatially separated markets. Co-integration test has been used to identify whether onion markets in India share a common linear deterministic trend and the law of one price holds true in view of rising prices in the recent past. The study sourced the wholesale daily prices of major onion markets across the country from January 2010 to March 2011. Augmented Dickey Fuller test statistic has been used to check the presence of a unit root in the time series data. Empirical results indicated the presence of unit root and a strong spatial integration between major markets. The study also confirms the law of one price in Indian onions.

This paper has assessed the diversification scenario of agriculture at the national level and its reflection at farm level situation alongside. It has been observed that concentration ratio (CR 4) for four major agricultural sub-sectors has declined from 73.6 per cent to 69.6 per cent for the study period, 1999-00 to 2013-14. It clearly indicates a shift in Indian agriculture from cereals-based production pattern to other high-value based production pattern. However, Simpson Index for Diversification (SID) indicates that the average national SID for all agricultural enterprises is 0.83 which spans from 0.60 for Punjab to 0.89 for Karnataka. Relating it to farm level situation, the primary survey in Banka and Bhagalpur districts of Bihar has been carried out in 2016-17 to find out the impact of agricultural diversification on farm income with two-stage least square technique (2SLS). Empirical analysis has suggested that diversification of farm by adopting ancillary, horticulture and other HVE like mushroom, etc. will increase farm income.

Background/Objective SARS-CoV-2 continues to spread widely in the US and worldwide. Pregnant women are more likely to develop severe or critical illness than their non-pregnant counterparts. Known risk factors for severe and critical disease outside of pregnancy, such as asthma, diabetes, and obesity have not been well-studied in pregnancy. We aimed to determine which clinical and pregnancy-related factors were associated with severe and critical COVID illness in pregnancy. Study design This was a retrospective cohort study of women with confirmed intrauterine pregnancy and positive nasopharyngeal swab for SARS-CoV-2 who presented to an academic medical center in New York City from 1 March 2020 to 1 July 2020. Severe and critical COVID-19 disease was defined by World Health Organization criteria. Women with severe/critical disease were compared to women with asymptomatic/mild disease. Continuous variables were compared with Mann–Whitney or t -test and categorical variables were compared using chi-square and Fisher’s exact. Statistical significance was set at p < .05. Multivariable logistic regression was performed including variables that were significantly different between groups. Results Two hundred and thirty-three patients were included, 186 (79.8%) with asymptomatic/mild disease and 47 (20.2%) with severe/critical disease. Women with asymptomatic/mild disease were compared to those with severe/critical disease. Women with severe/critical disease were more likely to have a history of current or former smoking (19.6 vs. 5.4%, p = .004), COVID-19 diagnosis in the 2nd trimester (42.6 vs. 11.8%, p = .001), and asthma or other respiratory condition (21.3 vs. 7.0%, p = .01). Women with severe/critical disease were more likely to have cesarean delivery (35.5 vs. 15.6%, p < .01) and preterm delivery <37 weeks (25.8 vs. 3.8%, p < .01). After adjustment, history of smoking remained significantly predictive of severe/critical disease [aOR 3.84 (95% CI, 1.25–11.82)]. Conclusion Pregnant women with a history of smoking, asthma, or other respiratory condition, and COVID-19 diagnosis in the second trimester of pregnancy were more likely to develop severe/critical disease. These findings may be useful in counseling women on their individual risk of developing the severe or critical disease in pregnancy and may help determine which women are good candidates for vaccination during pregnancy.

This study has examined (i) the food production and consumption diversity across the states, (ii) trends in food consumption and nutritional intake and changes in related socioeconomic characteristics, and (iii) relationship between consumption diversity and production diversity along with other major determinants. The data on production, consumption, and other socioeconomic factors have been collected from various government published sources for the past two decades (1990-2010). The study has revealed that percapita consumption has decreased in cereals and is stagnant in pulses, and has doubled in edible oils, vegetables, eggs, fish and meat during 1993-94 to 2011-12. It has reflected the nutritional intake wherein calorie and protein intake has declined, fat intake has increased during this period. Simultaneously, a significant growth has been observed in per-capita income and availability of food commodities along with rapid urbanization. The multivariate regression analysis of 28 states has suggested that dietary diversity significantly increases with production diversity and per-capita income and is significantly higher in other states visa -vis northeastern states. A significant non-linear relationship has been observed between dietary diversity and literacy. The study has highlighted a significant impact of local production diversity on consumption pattern and therefore, policies should target the diversification of agricultural production, particularly in the northeastern states to bring out dietary diversity and desired nutritional outcome.