Glossary

Vegetable Tanning

Vegetable tanning is the traditional tanning method. This involves two types of tanning—bag tanning and pit tanning. In bag tanning, the carcass is sewn together into a bag and then tanned with amla (Indian gooseberry) or babool (Acacia Nilotica) or myrobalan bark. This is done by filling the bag with the tannin solution and hanging it up for several days so that the solution gets absorbed. In pit tanning, the open hide is soaked in pits and tanned with the same vegetable substance. Traditional vegetable tanning is highly labour intensive and involves hard manual work in extremely difficult working conditions.

The tanned leather made through either the bag tanning or pit tanning processes is tough, reddish in colour and is used for special products such as saddles and harnesses for horses, sports goods and shoe soles.

Transaction Costs

The cost incurred in making an economic exchange. For example, most people, when buying or selling a stock must pay a commission to their broker; that commission is a transaction cost of the stock deal.

Or consider buying a banana from a store; to purchase the banana, your costs will not only be the price of the banana itself, but also the energy and effort it requires to find out which of the various types of banana you prefer, where to get them and at what price, the cost of traveling from your house to the store and back, the time waiting in line, and the effort of the paying itself; the costs above and beyond the cost of the banana are the transaction costs. (Source - Wikipedia)

Single comb

The single comb shape is the most common variety of comb, and usually the most well known. It is characterized by a flat vertical base protruding from the top of the head, a varying number of spike-like points, and a blade. The single comb varies greatly in size from chicken to chicken and breed to breed, although rooster's combs are generally bigger. A healthy single comb is always red. Purple can signify frost-bite or other health problems, while pink is much more common, and while it can be from health problems, hens that aren't laying eggs regularly often have pink, dry combs.

Shoddy sector

The shoddy industry contributes nearly 30% to the woolen industry’s turnover. Shoddy refers to the reclaimed textile fibre from used garments, which is spun on the woolen system to make yarns suitable for making blankets, sweaters, blazer fabrics and heavy woolen jacketing material. There are about 500 units in India engaged in the production of shoddy woolen products by way of spinning, weaving or processing

Ruminant

Hoofed, even-toed, usually horned mammals of the suborder Ruminantia, such as cattle, sheep, goats, deer, and giraffes, characteristically having a stomach divided into four compartments (rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasums) and chewing a cud consisting of regurgitated, partially digested food. While cows and buffaloes are commonly called Large Ruminants, goats and sheep are referred to as Small Ruminants.

Rotational grazing

Rotational grazing is periodically moving livestock to fresh paddocks, to allow pastures to re-grow. Rotational grazing requires skillful decisions and close monitoring of the consequences of grazing. (Source - The National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service – www.attra.ncat.org)

Pea comb

Pea comb in poultry is a low comb with three low ridges. The middle ridge is higher than the other two. Pea comb is a dominant mutation in chickens that drastically reduces the size of the comb and wattles. It is an adaptive trait in cold climates as it reduces heat loss and makes the chicken less susceptible to frost lesions.

Oats - Milky stage

It refers to the 4-5 months of oat growth. In the lower valleys, the milky stage is reached in the months of April and May.

In the higher alpine areas, oats reach their milky stage in the months of September and October. This is the time when farmers harvest oats for hay making.
[Oats] [Common Property Resources]

Oats - Dough stage

Oats reach the dough or seed production stage after 5-6 months of sowing. In the lower valleys, farmers produce their own oat seeds in addition to producing surplus seed for farmers in high altitude areas. After harvesting the seed, the straw is used for animal feed. In the valleys oat seed is generally harvested in June.
[Oats] [Common Property Resources]

Oats - Booting stage

It refers to the 3-4 months of the growing stage of oats. The most appropriate time for sowing oats differs in the lower valleys and the higher alpine ranges.

In the lower valleys, oats are sown in December/ January and the booting stage is reached in the months of March and April. At this time no other fodder or grass is available except oats.

In the higher alpine regions, oats are planted in the months of April and May when the Yak herders migrate to the higher pastures.
[Oats] [Common Property Resources]