Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute

About: Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute is a facility organization based out in New Delhi, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Small area estimation. The organization has 454 authors who have published 870 publications receiving 7987 citations.

Process standardization and storability of calcium fortified potato chips through vacuum impregnation

Abstract: Processed potato products such as potato chips are widely consumed among vulnerable (children and teenager), therefore can be used as an ideal carrier for targeted nutrient’s delivery i.e. macronutrient calcium. The present study was carried out to standardize the process for development of calcium fortified potato chips through vacuum impregnation technique and to explore the acceptability of developed product through storage study of 3 months period at ambient storage conditions (~ 250 °C, 51% RH) in LDPE (low density polyethylene) packaging. Fortification of potato chips was done at 15 mm Hg vacuum pressure with GRAS fortificant of calcium (calcium chloride, E509) using different combinations of blanching time, vacuum time, and restoration time as per Box–Behnken design of response surface methodology. optimization was done on the basis of fortified calcium content as well as hardness of the end product. Results showed optimized process conditions (calcium chloride at 1.05% level, blanching for 1.69 min, vacuum exposure for 14.99 min, and rest time of 15.80 min) can fortify potato chips at 700 mg/100 g of calcium level with acceptable sensory attributes. The standardized product was also evaluated for its structural attributes through surface electron microscopy, flavor (umami) compounds along with shelf life. The developed fortified product has 4.5 and 7.1 times higher calcium content than its control and commercial counterparts respectively. Storage studies parameters (FFA value, PV value, sensory attributes and non enzymatic browning) showed that the fortified potato chips were acceptable up to 60 days of storage at ambient condition. Thus, calcium fortification through vacuum impregnation technique for a widely acceptable potato based snacks can be helpful in changing the perception of consumers for potato based snacks from the category of ‘Junk food to Healthy food’.

Investigating rainfall trend over India using the wavelet technique

Abstract: In this paper, using the wavelet technique we analysed rainfall behaviour in the country across different agro-climatic zones over a century. Findings indicate that at the national level there is no significant trend in rainfall in the long run, but there are pockets of change in the rainfall pattern. There was a significant increase in the rainfall in the arid zone, whereas in the humid, semi-arid tropics and semi-arid temperate zones the trend was downward but insignificant. The behaviour of rainfall was different during this period. Except in the arid zone, we find a similar trend in other zones – increasing initially, tapering off in the middle and then declining but with some difference in time intervals. In the arid zone, the behaviour of rainfall had been erratic. In the short run, the direction of change in trend remains the same as in the long run but the change is statistically significant.

Measuring disaggregate level food insecurity via multivariate small area modelling: evidence from rural districts of Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract: In recent times, India has achieved significant advancement on several health indicators while the state of food security in the country still needs sustained efforts to accelerate attainment. Existing data based on socio-economic surveys conducted by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) produce precise measures of food security status at state and national level. However, these NSSO surveys cannot be used directly to produce reliable district or further smaller domain level estimates because of small sample sizes which lead to high level of sampling variability. As food security is often unevenly distributed among the subsets of relatively small areas, the availability of disaggregate (e.g. district) level statistics for target oriented effective policy planning and monitoring is the need of the hour for decentralized administrative planning system in India. But, due to lack of district level estimates, the mapping and analysis related to food and nutrition security measures are restricted to state and national level. As a result, disaggregate level dissimilarity and variability existing in food and nutrition security are often masked. This article delineates multivariate small area estimation (SAE) technique to obtain reliable and representative model-based estimates of food insecurity indicators at district level for the rural areas of state of Uttar Pradesh in India by combining latest round of available Household Consumer Expenditure Survey 2011–12 data of NSSO and the Indian Population Census 2011. The empirical evidence indicate that the estimates generated by SAE approach are reliable and representative. Spatial maps showing district level inequality in distribution of food insecurity in Uttar Pradesh is also produced. The disaggregate level estimates and spatial maps of food insecurity are directly relevant to sustainable development goal indicator 2.1.2 - severity of food insecurity. The estimates and maps of food insecurity indictors are anticipated to offer irreplaceable information to administrative decision-makers and policy experts for identifying the regions requiring more attention. Government of India has recently launched number of schemes for the benefit of rural population in the country and these estimates will be useful for fund allocation as well as in the monitoring of these schemes.