Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from November, 2012

Mechanisms of Controlling Body Temperature in Animals

Major M echanisms that A nimals use to C ontrol B ody T emperature (Thermoregulatory Mechanisms in Animals) by Yadav Sharma Bajagai Major Impacts of climate change on animals are due to thermal stress resulting from increased ambient temperature. This article has been posted to illustrate how animals control their body temperature. This will help to find/design adaptation methods against climate change effects.  The first line of defense animal use to maintain body temperature in unfavorable ambient temperature is behavioral response to manage heat loss or gain [ 1 ] . Seeking shelter in hot day or sun in cold day and altering body posture according to temperature to minimize or maximize relative body surface area to alter heat loss or gain are major behavioral response to maintain body temperature by cattle [ 1 ] . Animals can maintain its body temperature within narrow range irrespective of ambient temperature due to metabolic heat production [ 2 , 3 ] . Co

Food Safety Regulation in Nepal

by Yadav Sharma Bajagai 1          Introduction   Being member of different international organizations, Nepal has many food safety related obligations to comply with rules and regulations of those organizations. Food safety related issues started to become matter of increased concern and one of the priority areas of the government after the country has become member of the world trade organization (WTO) in 2004. Being a developing country, food chains are generally long in developing countries like Nepal as compared to those in developed countries due to poor infrastructure which makes the food more vulnerable to be contaminated with harmful agents (microorganism and chemicals). In addition, infrastructures related to technical regulation, conformity assessment and safety of food are still in developing phase which requires more focus and investment for better functioning. Similarly, Inspections and regulation of food related business are challenging and difficult due

Emission of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) from Livestock Sector of Nepal

by Yadav Sharma Bajagai Intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPPC) has classified the sources of greenhouse gases into six major source categories (energy, industrial processes, solvent and other product use, agriculture, land-use change and forestry and waste) each of which has further been divided into several sub-categories. Livestock is one of the sub-groups of the sources of greenhouse gases under the agriculture group. Methane (CH 4 ) from enteric fermentation and CH 4 and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) from livestock manure management are two major greenhouse gases emitted from livestock sector. Greenhouse gas inventory of the country from livestock sector has been prepared by using the Tier 1 emission estimation method of IPPC by using default emission factors for different categories of animals. The data has been assembled and analysed by using 2006 IPCC Software for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories version 1.96.   L ivestock sector of Nepal is responsible to