Vale Rio de Indus. conexões de novela na India

DADOS PRINCIPAIS

ÁREA: 3.287.782 km²
CAPITAL DA ÍNDIA: Nova Délhi
POPULAÇÃO: 1,080 bilhão (estimativa 2005)
MOEDA DA ÍNDIA: rúpia indiana
NOME OFICIAL: República da Índia (Bharat Juktarashtra).
NACIONALIDADE: indiana
DATA NACIONAL: 26 de janeiro (Proclamação da República); 15 de agosto (Independência); 2 de outubro (aniversário de Gandhi).

GEOGRAFIA DA ÍNDIA:
LOCALIZAÇÃO: centro-sul da Ásia
FUSO HORÁRIO: + 8 h30min em relação à Brasília
CLIMA DA ÍNDIA : clima de monção (maior parte), clima tropical, equatorial (S), árido tropical (NO), de montanha (N).
CIDADES DA ÍNDIA (PRINCIPAIS): : Mumbai (ex-Bombaim), Calcutá, Nova Délhi; Madras, Bangalore.
COMPOSIÇÃO DA POPULAÇÃO: indo-arianos 72%, drávidas 25%, mongóis e outros 3% (censo de 1996).

IDIOMAS: hindi (oficial), línguas regionais (principais: telugu, bengali, marati, tâmil, urdu, gujarati).

RELIGIÃO: hinduísmo 80,3%, islamismo 11% (sunitas 8,2%, xiitas 2,8%), cristianismo 3,8% (católicos 1,7%, protestantes 1,9%, ortodoxos 0,2%), sikhismo 2%, budismo 0,7%, jainismo 0,5%, outras 1,7% (em 1991).

DENSIDADE DEMOGRÁFICA: 329 hab./km2

CRESCIMENTO DEMOGRÁFICO: 1,6% ao ano (1995 a 2000)

TAXA DE ANALFABETISMO: 44,2% (censo de 2000).

RENDA PER CAPITA: US$ 3.019 (estimativa 2005).

ECONOMIA DA ÍNDIA :
Produtos Agrícolas: algodão em pluma, arroz, chá, castanha de caju, juta, café, cana-de-açúcar, legumes e verduras, trigo, especiarias, feijão.
Pecuária: bovinos, ovinos, caprinos, suínos, eqüinos, camelos, búfalos, aves.
Mineração: minério de ferro, diamante, carvão, asfalto natural, cromita.
Indústria: alimentícia, siderúrgica (ferro e aço), têxtil, química e medicamentos.

Há provas de uma civilização no extremo norte da Índia, de tanto verso quanto 9.000 anos, as Persianas tinham contato com pessoas situados a como as que viveram perto do Rio Indus é a rota de comércio alongamento através das fronteiras do Afeganistão e antigo Pérsia, Síria e o Império Turco, que permitiu especiarias, ouro e lapis lazuli
Lápis Lazuli
Traz vitaliciedade e relaxamento para o corpo e a mente. É uma poderosa pedra das habilidades físicas e das comunicações. Usado no chakra do terceiro olho para penetrar nos bloqueios do sub consciente. Ajuda a desenvolver o poder da mente. Inspira criatividade, expressão e estabilidade.
The best lapis lazuli still comes from the Sar-e-Sang mines in Afghanistan, where the vivid blue rock was traded to Egypt and Sumer (Iraq) in ancient times, and later throughout the East and Europe.

Classe : Semiprecioso
origem do nome : desde o lazhward Persa (azul)
Cor: azul escuro a composição química verdusco claro-azul a violeta-azul: agregado de várias minerais, incluindo hauyne (que presta a pedra sua cor), Sodalita, nosean e lazurite (uma combinação de hauyne e Sodalita)
Cristal Sistema: os minerais quatro acima pertencem ao sistema cúbico dureza: 5.5 específicas gravidade: 2.7-2.9
Origens geográficas : Afeganistão, Sibéria, Chile

Não sei se era o mantenha Holandês sobre a economia na Europa, a classificação dos banqueiros para o continente, nem geralmente pretende um acesso mais rápido e mais direto à Índia, à China e Afeganistão, para benefício comercial mais rápido, que conduziu a Portugal e Reino Unido procurar muito ampla e sobre os oceanos do mundo, conduzindo assim à descoberta do Brasil.
Certamente o comércio conduzido a Portugal, a Holanda, Espanha e a Inglaterra, praticamente dividindo entre si, África e América do Sul, embora Inglaterra parecia gerenciar obter parte a maior da Índia, Austrália, Canadá e Norte América. Depois, com a derrota da Napoleão, Grã-Bretanha conseguiu afetar o bem-estar da maioria da Europa, Rússia e no processo, as finanças do Brasil. Com graça agora análise em ouro preto, ela foi um pouco surpresa ao descobrir que a maioria do ouro que foi tomada fora das minas em Minas Gerais, foi para a fazenda pública em Inglaterra, acho como reembolso para salvar a pele do Rei português, Dom Pedro. Houve planos no britânico governamentais, para invadir o Brasil se Napoleão não pôde ser interrompido na Europa, esta que referi aos meus amigos brasileiros, poderia conduziram a um mundo muito diferente, não menos para um idioma diferente no Brasil.
Rejubila ao nascimento do Príncipe Salim (Jahangir). Mogol, c. 1590.

História extraordinária da Índia está intima ligada a sua geografia. Uma reunião entre o Oriente e o Ocidente em terra, tem sido sempre paraíso de um invadir, enquanto ao mesmo tempo sua isolamento natural e religiões magnéticas lhe permitiram adaptar a e absorver muitos dos povos que penetrou suas passagens de montanha. Não importa quantas Persas, gregos, chineses nómadas, árabes, Reino Unido, portuguesa e outros atacante tinham sua maneira com as terras, reinos hindus locais sobreviveram invariavelmente seus depravados, que vivem fora seus próprios sagas de conquista e colapso. Enquanto isso, estes locais Dinastias construídas as raízes de uma cultura bem estabelecida desde o tempo dos invasores primeiros, os arianos. Em suma, Índia sempre tem sido simplesmente demasiado grande, demasiado complicado e demasiado culturalmente sutil para permitir que qualquer um império dominá-lo por muito tempo.
Verdade para o ambiente ocasionais do país, a descoberta de civilização mais antiga da Índia literalmente aconteceu por acidente. Engenheiros britânicos no meia 1800, ocupados de construir uma linha de caminhos-de-ferro entre Karachi e do Punjab, encontrado tijolos antigos, estufa-cozido ao longo do caminho da pista. Esta descoberta foi tratada no momento como pouco mais do que uma curiosidade, mas arqueólogos posteriormente revistada o site no 1920 e determinou que os tijolos eram mais de 5000 anos de idade. Em breve mais tarde, duas cidades importantes foram descobertas: Harappa sobre o Rio Ravi e Mohenjodaro on the Indus. A civilização que os tijolos, um do mais antigo, mundo era conhecida como o Indus. Tiveram um idioma de escrita e foram altamente sofisticados. Remonta a 3000 A.C., eles origem do Sul e Norte, movido construção complexa, matematicamente -planejadas cidades. Alguns destas cidades foram quase três milhas de diâmetro e contidas como 30.000 residentes. Esses municípios antigos tiveram celeiros, citadels e SANITAS mesmo domésticas. Em Mohenjodaro, um canal de milhas-longo conectado a cidade para o mar e negociação navios navegou, na medida do Mesopotâmia. No seu auge, a civilização Indus mais alargado metade um milhão de milhas quadradas em toda a vale do Rio Indus, e embora que existia ao mesmo tempo como as civilizações antigas da Sumária do Egito e, é muito afora durou-los.
O primeiro grupo para invadir a Índia foram os arianos, que vieram fora do Norte em cerca de 1500 A.C.. Os arianos interpostos com eles fortes tradições culturais que, milagrosamente, ainda permanecem em vigor hoje. Eles usaram da palavra e escreveram em uma linguagem chamada Sânscrito, que foi posteriormente utilizado na documentação do primeira dos Vedas. Embora guerreiros e conquistas, os arianos viveram par Indus, introduzindo-los para o sistema de castas e que estabelece a base das religiões indianos. Os arianos habitaram regiões do Norte por cerca de 700 anos, então movido mais Sul e Leste, quando se desenvolveram ferramentas de ferro e armas. Eles eventualmente liquidada vale do Ganges e construiu grandes reinos em grande parte da Índia do Norte.
Enquanto os Persas e gregos lento vale do Indus e o Noroeste, baseada em Aryan reinos continuaram a desenvolver no Oriente. No século 5.BC, Sidarta Gautama fundada a religião do Budismo, um trabalho profundamente influente do pensamento humano ainda abraçado por grande parte do mundo. Como a esfera helenística extendida diminuiu, um Rei conhecido como Chandragupta varrida volta através do país de Magadha (Bihar) e conquistou a sua maneira bem para o Afeganistão. Este foi o início das Dinastias maiores da Índia um, a Maurya. Sob o Rei grande Ashoka (268-31 BC.), o Império Maurya conquistou quase o sub continente todo, estendendo próprio Sul tão longe como Mysore. Quando Ashoka conquistada Orissa, no entanto, o seu exército lançar sangue tanto que o Rei arrependido desistiu guerra eternamente e convertido para Budismo. Revelar-se como incansável um missionário como ele foi como o conquistador, Asoka trouxe Budismo para grande parte da Ásia central. Sua regra marcada a altura do Império Maurya, e é recolhido apenas 100 anos após a sua morte.
Após o desaparecimento da dinastia Maurya, as regiões que tinha conquistada dividido em um mosaico de reinos e Dinastias menores. Os gregos retornado brevemente em 150 BC. e conquistaram o Punjab, e por este tempo Budismo foi tornar tão influente, que o Rei grego Menandro desistiu do Panteão helenística e tornou-se um budista próprio. Os locais reinos gozam invasores relativa autonomia para a próxima algumas cem anos, ocasionalmente luta (e muitas vezes perder para) do Norte e a China, que pareceu vir e vá as moncáos. Ao contrário os gregos, os romanos nunca deixou à Índia, preferindo expandir Oeste, em vez disso.
Muçulmanos sabiam que Índia foi ainda lá, aguardando com todas as suas riquezas. Eles retornarem em 1192 sob Mohammed de Ghowr e, desta vez eles pretendem permanecer. Exércitos da Ghowr estabelecidas resíduos para os Templos budistas de Bihar, e por 1202 ele tinha conquistou os mais poderosos reinos hindus junto do Ganges. Quando morreu, Ghowr em 1206, um dos seus generais, Qutb-ud-din, decidiu o Norte longe do Sultanato de Deli, enquanto a maioria do Sul da Índia foi isento dos invasores. Reis turcos decidiu a aquisição muçulmana até 1397, quando os mongóis invadiram sob Tamerlão lang (Tamerlane) e devastado toda a região. Um historiador que escreveu a velocidade relâmpago com os quais exércitos da Tamerlane atingidos Deli foi solicitado pelo seu desejo de escapar a esquecer de apodrecer cadáveres, eles foram deixando para trás-los.
Índia islâmica fragmentado após a devastação brutal que Tamerlão lang deixado em Deli, e foi todos os homem forte muçulmano para si próprio. Isto alteraria em 1527, no entanto, quando a monarca mogol (persa para Mongol) Babur entrou em energia. Babur foi uma régua complicada, esclarecida de Cabul que adorava a poesia, jardinagem e livros. Escreveu ainda culturais treatises on the hindus ele conquistada e tomou notas sobre o local de flora e fauna. Afegãos príncipes na Índia pediu a sua ajuda em 1526, e ele conquistou o Punjab e rapidamente afirmar a sua própria alegação sobre eles tomando Deli. Esta foi a Fundação da dinastia a mogol, cujos imperadores seis incluiria mais influentes de todos as Dinastias muçulmanas na Índia. Babur morreu em 1530, deixando para trás um filho de harried e ineficaz, Humayun. Filho da própria Humayun, Akbar, no entanto, seria a régua mogol maior de todos. Ao contrário de seu avô, Akbar foi Guerreiro mais do que o estudioso, e ele alargado o Império Sul tão longe como o Rio Krishna. Akbar tolerada religiões locais e casou com uma princesa hindu, que institui uma tradição de aceitação cultural de que iria contribuir significativamente para o sucesso da regra mogol. Em 1605, Akbar foi bem sucedida pelo seu filho Jahangir, que passados Império expansão juntamente para seu filho Shah Jahan em 1627.
Embora ele passou muito de seu tempo subduing reinos hindus ao Sul, Shah Jahan deixadas para trás os monumentos colossais do império mogol, incluindo o Taj Majal (túmulo de sua esposa Favoritos), a mesquita de Pearl, a mesquita real e o forte de vermelho. Campanhas da Jahan no Sul e seu chama para arquitetura extravagante impôs aumentaram de impostos e preocupado seus súditos e sob este cenário seu filho de Aurungzebe presos ele, que procuram o poder para si próprio no 1658.
Ao contrário de seus antecessores, Aurungzebe queria erradicar tradições indígenas e seu intolerância solicitado feroz resistência local. Embora ele expandiu o Império para incluir a quase o subcontinente todo, ele nunca totalmente poderia reduzir a Mahrattas do Deccan, quem resistir-lhe até sua morte em 1707. Fora do 'the Mahrattas doggedness surgiu a Figura lendária de Shivagi, um resistência de símbolo hindu e nacionalismo. Três filhos da Aurungzebe litígio sobre a sucessão e, se o império mogol, tal como os europeus foram começa a flexível seus músculos imperialistas. Os portugueses tiveram negociadas em Goa logo como 1510 e mais tarde fundou a três outras colónias na Costa Oeste Diu, Bassein e Mangalore. Em 1610, os britânicos fora talhado um squadron Marinha Portuguesa, e a companhia das Índias Orientais criado sua próprias outpost em Surate. Este pequeno outpost marcou o início de uma presença notável que duraria mais de 300 anos e, eventualmente, dominar o subcontinente inteiro. Uma vez na Índia, o Reino Unido começou a competir com o português, os holandais e franceses. Através de uma combinação de alianças liminarmente hábil e combater com príncipes locais, a companhia das Índias Orientais adquirida controlo de todo o comércio europeu na Índia pela 1769. Como uma nação pequena ilha, milhares de quilómetros de distância, veio a administrar um enorme território de 300 milhões de pessoas é um dos espetáculos grande da história. Uma tarefa aparentemente impossível, foi feito por meio um sistema altamente eficaz e organizado, chamado o Raj. Tratados e acordos foram assinados com príncipes nativos, e a empresa aumentado gradualmente seu papel no locais de assuntos. O Raj ajudou a infra-estrutura de compilação e nativos treinados para sua própria militares, em teoria se fossem para defesa própria da Índia. Em 1784, depois de escândalos financeiros na companhia alarmado políticos britânicos, a coroa assumido metade-controle da companhia, início a transferência de poder para mãos royal.
Em 1858, um rumores difundir entre soldados hindus que o Reino Unido foram greasing seus marcadores com a gordura de vacas e suínos, os animais sagrados antigos hindus e os animais incorretos último muçulmanos. Seguido de uma rebelião de ano-longo contra o Reino Unido. Embora o motim de indiano tenha sido vencida, é solicitado o Governo britânico a aproveitar o controlo total de todos os interesses britânicos na Índia em 1858, finalmente que institui um imperialismo sem costura. Alegando apenas estar interessados no comércio, o Raj constantemente expandiu sua influência até os príncipes governado no nome apenas. Desaparecimento da Raj o parcial foi o resultado do seu êxito notável. Ele tinha ganhou o controlo do país exibindo-lo como uma fonte de lucro. Infra-estruturas foram desenvolvidos, administração estabelecido e uma toda a estrutura de governação erguida. Índia se tinha tornado uma empresa rentável, e o Reino Unido foram loath permitir a população indiana qualquer poder em um sistema que eles exibidos como seu próprio cumprimento. Os índios não apreciam esta muito, e como despontar o século XX não havia movimentos crescentes no sentido de auto-regra.
Independência chegou a grande custo. Enquanto Gandhi foi conduzindo um movimento em grande medida hindu, Mohammed Ali Jinnah foi enorme um muçulmano, através de um grupo chamado a Liga muçulmanos. Jinnah defendido a divisão da Índia em dois Estados separados: muçulmanos, hindu e ele foi capaz de atingir o seu objectivo. Quando deixaram os britânicos, criaram Estados separados do Paquistão e Bangladesh (conhecido nessa altura, como o Paquistão do Leste) e violência eclodiu quando entrançados muçulmanos e minorias hindus nas áreas fugiram em oposto direções. Dentro de algumas semanas, meio milhão de pessoas morreu no decurso da migração maior de seres humanos na história do mundo. O envelhecimento Gandhi comprometeu-se a rápida até parar a violência, que fez quando a sua saúde estava seriamente ameaçada. No momento mesmo, os britânicos retornado e ajudaram a restabelecer a ordem. Exceptuando a Caxemira, que ainda é uma área contestada (e actualmente inseguro para os turistas), a divisão atingido estabilidade.

Stem cell surgery for corneal bindness

Sé você esta Portuguesa, não esquecer usa de botão para tradução no direita na pagina.

Here is one high light of good news from last year and hopefully it will become a new start for medical science, creating fast, safe and effective surgery for those suffering many illnesses and deficiencies almost too complicated to cure at the moment, for example, corneal blindness or loss of areas of the brain. A friend that suffered a stroke some years ago is now hampered by lack of motion on one side of his body, I would love to think one day he may benefit from stem cell research. The family of another friend, have an adopted daughter, now 9 years old, whom has areas of her brain that are missing, which have much the same effect as paralysing, she cannot see much, cannot walk or talk, her hands and feet are always contorted, she is unable to feed herself, all food as to be liquidised and given by syringe ( one process that is exceptionally long and tiring, two sisters who are in their late 60's are constantly having to care for this child).
Now for my own personal interest, I am still trying to sort out new spectacles that can give back my vision as it was one year ago, it is unfortunately not a surgical problem now but an optical one, I had my surgery done at the Eye Pavilion in Edinburgh, by Dr Jas Singh, exceptional surgeon who must have incredibly steady hands. Two weeks ago, here in Brazil, my eyes were scanned with ultra-sound to see if there was any existing problem that might impair the vision, I found that the pressures in both eyes are perfect and that the retina, which had become detached, was well secured and working well, the operation has been a great success and it is with pride that I see this same hospital is now trying to develop surgery which will restore sight to those that have lost it or never had the sight. I have asked my friend if he knows whether this surgery may well be used on stroke victims and he thinks that it may well transfer if the initial eye treatments are a success.
In Scotland, British scientists have developed a revolutionary new stem cell surgery that may restore vision to millions of people with corneal blindness. The researchers are testing the novel treatment on human guinea pigs in the world's first trials, and hope that their advances will lead to cures for other types of blindness.

The eagerly anticipated trials are set to start in Scotland this month, using 20 patients. During the surgery, diseased cells in the patients' corneas - called limbal cells - will be replaced with healthy ones, taken from dead donors or grown in a lab. The researchers hope that the healthy cells will encourage further growth, and help repair the cornea's surface. The only treatments currently available for corneal blindness – characterised by a loss of cells on the cornea, the outer surface of the eye – are a transplant or a tissue graft, both of which carry risks of infection.

Surgeons also often face a shortage of corneas for transplant. "It is exciting to be involved in such ground-breaking work. Piloting the use of limbal stem cell transplantation is a great landmark in the treatment of patients suffering from corneal blindness," said Professor Bal Dhillon, consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion in Edinburgh, who leads the study.

Winfried Amoaku, chairman of the scientific committee of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, said: "There are some types of corneal blindness that are not treatable by any other means so if they can be treated in this way it is a very significant breakthrough, very exciting." He even believes that the developments could later be extended to include those who had never been able to see, if their blindness was due to damage to the cornea. "There are some people who are born blind due to problems with the cornea and those people may be cured by this treatment," he said.

Jon Moulton, a trustee for the UK Stem Cell Foundation, which is jointly funding the study along with Scottish Enterprise, said: "Vision loss is a serious condition that dramatically affects the lives of millions of people around the world. The loss of independence resulting from blindness and visual impairment can have devastating consequences for individuals and their families. Innovative pilot studies like this offer real hope."

Sonal Rughani, senior adviser and optometrist at the Royal National Institute for the Blind, said that the charity "very much welcomes this new clinical trial". She said: "We look forward to further positive developments that could bring hope to many people who have lost their sight as the result of corneal blindness."
This is the current work of my friend and shows how stroke victims are not victims of expression, I am so delighted to see how he has overcome the disadvantages of painting with one hand, I am useless at painting with water colour, never having the picture firmly in my minds eye to transpose onto the paper, here you can see that he keeps the image firmly in his mind and colours it with such wonderful sensitivity. Every year he paints a Christmas card design so that it can be reproduced to aid a charity.

Aipim, Mandioca, Manioc, Pão-de-pobre, Cassava(Manihot esculenta)

Before launching into too much technical detail, which is worth knowing as this is one plant that ranks with rice and maize as a major staple for the vast areas of China, India and South America, I am reminded of my first experience when eating Aipim, it was served as an accompanying flour , Farofa, with everything, normal here in Bahia and eaten with sweet things as well as sour, an ideal accompaniment for all fatty and spicy food but having a very dry and woody taste. I was reminded of the saw dust of my workshop and felt it very inhospitable of the restaurant to serve this strange fibre with the meal, however felt the difference it made to eating Feijoada, the staple of bahia and loved, as a historical link, by the vast part of Brazil, it having its origions with the Indiginous Indians of the Amazon basin, they took the plant with them as they moved in a nomadic life style up and down the Amazon, it being their only crop and giving them a creative crop for making flour and an equal of potato, including the ability to create alcohol and soups. This back ground has survived to the present, being past on to the negro slaves, with their poor diet, only being given scraps that would be largely bone with fat and entrails, allowed them to augment their diet with starch and protein, this is still the case today, although the economy is growing and the price of these basics have now made the staple seem some thing more of a luxery food, the poor have mostly cut out the meat content and serve the Feijon bean mix with rice, as this is cheaper.

Common Names

Yuca
Tapioca
Manioc
Aipim
Mandioca
Cassava
macaxeira

Scientific Names

Species: Manihot esculenta Crantz
Syn: M. ultissima Phol
Syn: M. aipi Phol
Family: Euphorbiaceae


Uses

Cassava is grown for its enlarged starch-filled roots, which contains nearly the maximum theoretical concentration of starch on a dry weight basis among food crops. Fresh roots contain about 30% starch and very little protein. Roots are prepared much like potato. They can be peeled and boiled, baked, or fried. It is not recommended to eat cassava uncooked, because of potentially toxic concentrations of cyanogenic glucosides that are reduced to innocuous levels through cooking. In traditional settings of the Americas, roots are grated and the sap is extracted through squeezing or pressing. The cassava is then further dried over a fire to make a meal or fermented and cooked. The meal can then be rehydrated with water or added to soups or stews. In Africa, roots are processed in several different ways. They may be first fermented in water. Then they are either sun-dried for storage or grated and made into a dough that is cooked. Alcoholic beverages can be made from the roots.

Young tender leaves can be used as a potherb, containing high levels of protein (8-10% F.W.). Prepared in a similar manner as spinach, care should be taken to eliminate toxic compounds during the cooking process. One clone with variegated leaves is planted as an ornamental.

Cooked in various ways, cassava is used in a variety of dishes. The soft-boiled root has a delicate flavor and can replace boiled potatoes in many uses: as an accompaniment for meat dishes, or made into purées, dumplings, soups, stews, gravies, etc.. Deep fried (after boiling or steaming), it can replace fried potatoes, with a distinctive flavor. Tapioca and foufou are made from the starchy cassava root flour. Tapioca is an essentially flavourless starchy ingredient, or fecula, produced from treated and dried cassava (manioc) root and used in cooking. It is similar to sago and is commonly used to make a milky pudding similar to rice pudding. Cassava flour, also called tapioca flour or tapioca starch, can also replace wheat flour, and is so-used by some people with wheat allergies, such as coeliac disease. Boba tapioca pearls are made from cassava root. It is also used in cereals for which several tribes in South America have used it extensively. It is also used in making cassava cake, a popular pastry.

The juice of the bitter cassava, boiled to the consistence of thick syrup and flavored with spices, is called Cassareep. It is used as a basis for various sauces and as a culinary flavoring, principally in tropical countries. It is exported chiefly from Guyana.

The leaves can be pounded to a fine chaff and cooked as a palaver sauce in Sierra Leone, usually with palm oil but vegetable oil can also be used. Palaver sauces contain meat and fish as well. It is necessary to wash the leaf chaff several times to remove the bitterness.

In many countries, significant research has begun to evaluate the use of cassava as an ethanol biofuel.

In China, dried tapioca are used among other industrial applications as raw material for the production of consumable alcohol and emerging non-grain feedstock of ethanol fuel, which is a form of renewable energy to substitute petrol (gasoline). Under the Development Plan for Renewable Energy in the 11th Five-Year Plan in China, the target is to increase the application of ethanol fuel by non-grain feedstock to 2 million tonnes, and that of bio-diesel to 200 thousand tonnes by 2010. This will be equivalent to a substitute of 10 million tonnes of petroleum. As a result, cassava (tapioca) chips have gradually become a major source for ethanol production
Origin
Cassava originated in Brazil and Paraguay. Today it has been given the status of a cultigen with no wild forms of this species being known.

Crops Status

Cassava is a perennial woody shrub, grown as an annual. Cassava is a major source of low cost carbohydrates for populations in the humid tropics. The largest producer of cassava is Brazil, followed by Thailand, Nigeria, Zaire and Indonesia. Production in Africa and Asia continues to increase, while that in Latin America has remained relatively level over the past 30 years. Thailand is the main exporter of cassava with most of it going to Europe. It was carried to Africa by Portuguese traders from the Americas. It is a staple food in many parts for western and central Africa and is found throughout the humid tropics. The world market for cassava starch and meal is limited, due to the abundance of substitutes.

Toxicities

Cassava is famous for the presence of free and bound cyanogenic glucosides, linamarin and lotaustralin. They are converted to HCN in the presence of linamarase, a naturally occurring enzyme in cassava. Linamarase acts on the glucosides when the cells are ruptured. All plant parts contain cyanogenic glucosides with the leaves having the highest concentrations. In the roots, the peel has a higher concentration than the interior. In the past, cassava was categorized as either sweet or bitter, signifying the absence or presence of toxic levels of cyanogenic glucosides. Sweet cultivars can produce as little as 20 mg of HCN per kg of fresh roots, while bitter ones may produce more than 50 times as much. The bitterness is identified through taste and smell. This is not a totally valid system, since sweetness is not absolutely correlated with HCN producing ability. In cases of human malnutrition, where the diet lacks protein and iodine, underprocessed roots of high HCN cultivars may result in serious health problems.

Traditional Medicinal UsesMedicinal uses for cassava are not well-documented.

Botan/Taxonomy
Early literature on cassava described the genus with two edible species, M. ultissima Phol or sweet and M. aipi Phol, delineating species which have high and low cyanogenic glucoside concentrations respectively. More recently cassava was classified as all being the same species M. esculenta. It is the only one of 98 species in its family that is widely cultivated for food production. Cassava uniformly is 2n = 36. Other ploidy levels are not utilized, but have been produced experimentally. There are several closely related species found in the tropical and subtropical Americas that can be crossed with M. esculenta.

Crop Culture (Agronomy/Horticulture)

Ecology

Cassava is a tropical root crop, requiring at least 8 months of warm weather to produce a crop. It is traditionally grown in a savanna climate, but can be grown in extremes of rainfall. In moist areas it does not tolerate flooding. In drouthy areas it looses its leaves to conserve moisture, producing new leaves when rains resume. It takes 18 or more months to produce a crop under adverse conditions such as cool or dry weather. Cassava does not tolerate freezing conditions. It tolerates a wide range of soil pH 4.0 to 8.0 and is most productive in full sun.

Cultivars

Before the development of national and international breeding programs with cassava there were relatively few cultivars. This is because cassava is propagated vegetatively as clones. Recent releases from breeding programs include clones with resistance to many of the major diseases and pests. Specific cultivar names are mostly regional, with the exception of introductions from international research centers, which carry with them an institutional code. This code is often retained as the name of the cultivar. Cultivar classification is usually based on pigmentation and shape of the leaves, stems and roots. Cultivars most commonly vary in yield, root diameter and length, disease and pest resistance levels, time to harvest, cooking quality, and temperature adaptation. Some clones require 18 or months of growth before they can be harvested. Storage root color is usually white. A few clones have yellow-fleshed roots.

Most clones were selected by farmers from chance seedlings in their fields. Each growing region has its own special clones with farmers growing several different ones in a field.

Production Practices

Cassava is planted using 7-30 cm portions of the mature stem as propagules. The selection of healthy, disease-free and pest-free propagules is essential. The stem cuttings are sometimes referred to as 'stakes'. In areas where freezing temperatures are possible, the cuttings are planted as soon as danger of frost has past. The cuttings are planted by hand in moist, prepared soil, burying the lower half. When soils are too shallow to plant the cutting in an upright or slanted position, the cutting are laid flat and covered with 2-3 cm soil. Mechanical planters have been developed in Brazil to reduce labor inputs. Observing the polarity of the cutting is essential in successful establishment of the cutting. The top of the cutting must be placed up. Typical plant spacing is 1m by 1m. Cuttings produce roots within a few days and new shoots soon appear at old leaf petiole axes on the stem. Botanical seeds are used only for breeding purposes. Early growth is relatively slow, thus weeds must be controlled during the first few months. Although cassava can produce a crop with minimal inputs, optimal yields are recorded from fields with average soil fertility levels for food crop production and regular moisture availability. Optimal growth and productivity of the plant is related to its harvest index, root weight divided by total plant weight. The desirable indexes range from 0.5 to 0.7. Responses to macro-nutrients vary, with cassava responding most to P and K fertilization. Vesicular-arbuscular (VA) mycorrhizae benefit cassava by scavenging for phosphorus and supplying it to the roots. High N fertilization, more than 100 kg of actual N/ha may result in excessive foliage production at the expense of storage root development and a low harvest index. Fertilizer is only applied during the first few months of growth. Commercially produced fungicides and pesticides are seldom used, with none being registered for use in the U.S.A. There is no mature stage for cassava. Plants are ready for harvest as soon as there are storage roots large enough to meet the requirements of the consumer. Under the most favorable conditions, yields of fresh roots can reach 90 t/ha while average world yields from mostly subsistence agricultural systems are 9.8 t/ha. Typically harvesting can begin as soon as eight months after planting. In the tropics, plants can remain unharvested for more than one growing season, allowing the storage roots to enlarge further. However, as the roots age, the central portion becomes woody and inedible.

Harvesting

Most cassava is harvested by hand, lifting the lower part of stem and pulling the roots out of the ground, then removing them from the base of the plant by hand. The upper parts of the stems with the leaves are removed before harvest. Levers and ropes can be used to assist harvesting. A mechanical harvester has been developed in Brazil. It grabs onto the stem and lifts the roots from the ground. Care must be taken during the harvesting process to minimize damage to the roots, as this greatly reduces shelf life. During the harvesting process, the cuttings for the next crop are selected. These must be kept in a protected location to prevent desiccation.

Processing

The shelf life of cassava is only a few days unless the roots receive special treatment. Removing the leaves two weeks before harvest lengthens the shelf life to two weeks. Dipping the roots in paraffin or a wax or storing them in plastic bags reduces the incidence of vascular streaking and extends the shelf life to three or four weeks. Roots can be peeled and frozen. Traditional methods include packing the roots in moist mulch to extend shelf life.

Dried roots can be milled into flour. Maize may be added during the milling process to add protein to the flour. The flour can be use for baking breads. Typically, cassava flour may be used as partial substitute for wheat flour in making bread. Bread made wholly from cassava has been marketed in the U.S.A. to meet the needs of people with allergies to wheat flour.

Fresh roots can be sliced thinly and deep fried to make a product similar to potato chips. They can be cut into larger spear-like pieces and processed into a product similar to french fires.

Roots can be peeled, grated and washed with water to extract the starch which can be used to make breads, crackers, pasta and pearls of tapioca.

Unpeeled roots can be grated and dried for use as animal feed. The leaves can add protein to animal feed.

Industrial uses where cassava is used in the processing procedures or manufacture of products include paper-making, textiles, adhesives, high fructose syrup and alcohol.

Brazil

Cassava is heavily featured in the cuisine of Brazil. The dish vaca atolada ("mud-stranded cow") is a meat and cassava stew, cooked until the root has turned into a paste; and pirão is a thick gravy-like gruel prepared by cooking fish bits (such as heads and bones) with cassava flour, or farinha de mandioca. In the guise of farofa (lightly roasted flour), cassava combines with rice and beans to make the basic meal of many Brazilians. Farofa is also one of the most common side dishes to many Brazilian foods including feijoada, the famous salt-pork-and-black-beans stew. Boiled cassava is also made into a popular sweet pudding. Another popular sweet is cassava cake. After boiling, Cassava may also be deep-fried to form a snack or side dish. In the north and northeast of Brazil Cassava is known as macaxeira, in the south as aipim and in the southeast of the country as mandioca.

Venezuela

As in the Dominican Republic, Cassava bread (casabe) is also a popular complement in traditional meals, as common as the arepas. Venezuelan Casabe is made by roasting ground cassava spread out as meter wide pancake over a hot surface (plancha). The result has the consistency of a cracker, and is broken in small pieces for consumption. There is also a sweet variety, called Naiboa, made as a sandwich of two casabe pancakes with a spread of Papelón in between. Naiboa also has a softer consistency. In general terms, Mandioc is an essential ingredient in Venezuelan food, and can be found stewed, roasted or fried as sides or complements. In Venezuela cassava is also known as "yuca". Yuca is actually the root of the cassava plant. Yuca is boiled, fried or grilled to serve aside of main meals or to eat with cheese, butter, or margarine.

In the humid and sub-humid areas of tropical Africa, cassava is either a primary staple food or a secondary co-staple. Nigeria is the world's largest producer of cassava. In West Africa, particularly in Nigeria and Sierra Leone, cassava is commonly prepared as eba or garri. The cassava is grated, pressed, fermented and fried then mixed with boiling water to form a thick paste. In West Africa the cassava root is pounded, mixed with boiling water to form a thick paste and cooked as eba. Historically, people economically forced to depend on cassava risk chronic poisoning diseases, such as tropical ataxic neuropathy (TAN), or such malnutrition diseases as kwashiorkor and endemic goitre. However, the price of cassava has risen significantly in the last half decade and lower-income people have turned to other carbohydrate-rich foods like rice and spaghetti.

In Central Africa, cassava is traditionally processed by boiling and mashing. The resulting mush can be mixed with spices and then cooked further or stored. A popular snack is made by marinating cassava in salted water for a few days and then grilling it in small portions.

In Tanzania and Kenya, cassava is known as mihogo in Swahili. Though the methods of cooking cassava vary from region to region, the main method is simply frying it. The skin of the root is removed and the remains are sectioned into small bite-size chunks that can then be soaked in water to aid in frying. Thereafter, the chunks are fried and then served, sometimes with a chili-salt mixture. This fried cassava is a very common street food as it is relatively cheap to buy, easy to prepare and good to eat. The same applies to another very common roadside method where the the cassava is lightly boiled and cut into straight pieces about 8–10 inches (20–25 cm) long. These pieces are then roasted over charcoal grills, served hot by splitting through the middle and applying the chili-salt mixture.

Cassava flour can also be made into a staple food with a consistency like polenta or mashed potatoes. The Swahili name for it is ugali while the Kikuyu name for it is mwanga). It's also called fufu in Lingala and luku in Kikongo.

Residents in the Sub-Saharan nation of the Central African Republic have developed multiple, unique ways of utilizing the abundant cassava plant. In addition to the methods described above, local residents fry thin slices of the cassava root, resulting in a crunchy snack similar in look and taste to potato chips.

In the provinces of Bandundu and Bas-Congo, in Western Democratic Republic of the Congo manioc root is pounded into a paste, fermented and cooked in banana or other forest leaves. The resulting hard packets make for good travel food due to their long shelf-life. This form of manioc is called "kwanga" in Kikongo.

The root can be pounded into flour and made into bread or cookies. Many recipes have been documented and tested with groups of women in Mozambique and Zambia.This flour can also be mixed with precise amounts of salt and water to create a heavy liquid used as white paint in construction.

The cassava leaf is also soaked and boiled for extended periods of time to remove toxins and then eaten. Known as gozo in Sango, sakasaka in Kikongo, sombe in Swahili and pondu in Lingala, the taste is similar to spinach.

China

The Chinese name for cassava is Mushu (木薯), literally meaning wood potato. In the subtropical region of southern China, cassava is the fifth largest crop in term of production, after rice, sweet potato, sugar cane, and maize. China is also the largest export market of cassava produced in Vietnam and Thailand. Over 60% of cassava production in China is concentrated in a single province, Guangxi, averaging over seven million tons annually. Cassava in China is being increasingly used for ethanol fuel production. On December 22, 2007, the largest cassava ethanol fuel production facility was completed in Beihai with annual output of two hundred thousand tons, which would need an average of one and half million tons of cassava.

India

Boiled cassava served with fish and chutney

In the state of Kerala, India, cassava is a secondary staple food. Boiled cassava is normally eaten with fish curry (kappayum meenum in Malayalam which literally means casava with fish) or meat, and is a traditional favorite of many Keralites. Kappa biriyani—cassava mixed with meat is a popular dish in central Kerala. In Tamil Nadu, the National Highway 68 between Thalaivasal and Attur has many cassava processing factories (local name Sago Factory) alongside it—indicating an abundance of it in the neighborhood. In Tamil Nadu it is called Kappa Kellangu or Marchini Kellangu. Cassava is widely cultivated and eaten as a staple food in Andhra Pradesh. The household name for processed cassava is saggu biyyam. Cassava is also deep fried in oil to make tasty homemade crisps,then sprinked with flaked chillies or chilli powder and salt for taste.It is known as Mara Genasu in Kannada.

Cassava pearls (sabudaana) are made from cassava-root starch, and are used for making sweet milk pudding in many parts of India. In western India, cassava pearls are use to make a salted and lightly spiced khichadi, or deep-fried patties known as vada. These are considered pure foods by Hindus in Maharashtra which can be eaten during fasts, when other foods cannot be partaken

Cassava hay

Cassava hay, is hay which is produced at a young growth stage, 3-4 months and being harvested about 30-45 cm above ground, sun-dried for 1-2 days until having final dry matter of at least 85%. The cassava hay contains high protein content (20-27% Crude Protein) and condensed tannins (1.5-4% CP). It is used as a good roughage source for dairy, beef, buffalo, goats, and sheep by either direct feeding or as a protein source in the concentrate mixtures. More details can be searched from Metha Wanapat, Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences.

"Matryoshka" (Матрёшка)

A Matryoshka doll, a Babushka doll or a Russian nested doll, also called a stacking doll, is a set of dolls of decreasing sizes placed one inside the other. The name "Matryona" in turn is related to the Latin root, "mater" and means Mother. So the name is closely connected with motherhood and in turn the doll has come to symbolize fertility. Matryoshkas date from 1890, and are said to have been inspired by souvenir dolls from Japan. However, the concept of nested objects was familiar in Russia, having been applied to carved wooden apples and Easter eggs; the first Fabergé egg, in 1885, had a nesting of egg, yolk, hen, and chick. The story goes that Sergei Maliutin, a painter from a folk crafts workshop in the Abramtsevo estate of a famous Russian industrialist and patron of arts Sawa Mamontov, saw a set of Japanese wooden dolls representing Shichi-fuku jin, the Seven Gods of Fortune. The largest doll was that of Fukurouju — a happy, bald god with an unusually long chin — and within it nested the six remaining deities. Inspired, Maliutin drew a sketch of a Russian version of the toy. It was carved by Vasiliy Zvezdochkin and painted by Sergei Maliutin at the Children’s Education Workshop-Salon in Abramtsevo. It consisted of eight dolls; the outermost was a girl holding a rooster, six inner dolls were girls, the fifth doll was a boy, the innermost – a baby.
Modern artists create many new styles of nesting dolls. Common themes include animal collections, portraits and caricatures of famous politicians, musicians and popular movie stars. Matryoshka dolls that feature communist leaders of Russia became very popular among Russian people in the early 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Today, some Russian artists specialize in painting themed matryoshka dolls that feature specific categories of subjects, people or nature.

Sergiev Posad style of Russian nesting dolls

Sergiev Posad was a place where the first nesting doll was made by artist Sergei Maliutin and a turner Vassiliy Zviozdochkin. This old Russian town is located 73 km (about 45 miles) from Moscow. It has grown up around famous Trinity-St.Sergius Monastery. In 1340 the monk Sergius founded a small temple lost in the midst of the wild thick forests. In time it was developed into the biggest monastery of Russia.
Arts and crafts were flourished in the towns and villages who surrounded the monastery. Wooden toys, which were known as "Trinity" toys, became particularly popular. According to the legend the first "Trinity" wooden toy was made by the Prior of the Monastery, Sergius Radonezhsky.
Sergiev Posad was a colorful, truly Russian town. The Monastery lent a unique peculiarity to it. The huge marketplace in front of the Monastery was almost always full of different people: merchants, monks, pilgrims and craftsmen were milling around.

"An old man", 8-p. matryoshka, beginning of 20 century

Professional artist made the first painted matryoshka of Sergiev Posad just for fun. That is why these dolls are so expressive and won admiration of adults and children. In the initial period of matryoshka development particularly attention was paid to faces of matryoshka, clothes were not detailed painted. Such dolls depicted different character and types: peasants, merchants, and noblemen.

The faces of the early matryoshkas of Sergiev Posad were oval and strict. The heads of many matryoshkas were greatly enlarged that's why the face dominated the body. These dolls look primitive because of this.

The matryoshka of Sergiev Posad consisted of 2 to 24 pieces. The most popular dolls consisted of 3, 8 and 12 pieces. In 1913 a 48-pieces matryoshka made by N. Bulichev was displayed at the Exhibition of Toys in St. Petersburg.
Development of matryoshka greatly depended on turners' skill. Highly skilled masters turned matryoshkas with very thin sides, which was considered to be a special art of matryoshka turning. Apparently, painting was secondary. Professional artists who painted the first turned dolls did not treat it seriously enough. It was sort of entertainment. There are some matryoshkas - caricatures in the Museum Estate Polenovo. From other hand there were many independent workshops of Sergiev Posad
Where skilled artisans worked and they crated their own style of Russian matryoshka. Folk art tradition was very important in the development of the present Sergiev Posad style. Due to widest layer of folk culture, matryoshka continued to exist even after Russian style, developed by Russian professional artists was forgotten. Icon painters of Sergiev Posad contributed a lot to matryoshka pictorial style. Anthropomorphism, in other words, resemblance to a human being of the Russia "take apart" dolls turned out to be the continuation of ancient Russian art tradition. An artist focused mainly on the figure of a person, his or her face.
This tradition of Russian ancient art came from Byzantine Empire, which had borrowed it from ancient Greek culture. The connection of certain early type of the matryoshkas of Sergiev Posad with the tradition of the local icon painting school is confirmed both stylistically and virtually. Along with the icons, matryoshkas were painted as well in the icon painting school of Sergiev Posad.

Porked (burned) nesting doll, 5-p., 1990-s.
Initially matryoshka types were rather different: they portrayed both male and female characters. There are some ethnographic matryoshkas: Samoyed (Eskimo), Gypsy Woman, American Man, Turk, Chinese, Lithuanians, and Tartar Family, Ukrainian and so on. Gradually female character became the main type of matryoshkas. The tradition of making special matryoshka proportion (1:2, that is ration between a matryoshka's width and height) were worked out.
Larisa Soloviova, an author of a great book about Russian matryoshkas divided development of this type of dolls into three periods:
1) 1890 -1930-s
2) 1930-s - beginning 1990s
3) Beginning of 1990-s till this time.
The first period contributed us the first matryoshka and created a wide verity of different types of dolls.

In 1918 the unique Museum of Russian and Foreign Toys was opened in Sergiev Posad. The first Russian matryoshka by S. Maliutin is a part of its exhibition. Soon afterwards the Toys Research Institute was organized there as well. The remarkable samples of toys were created in this institute including 42 pieces matryoshka. 60- pieces nesting doll is consider being the biggest one among the matryoshkas of Sergiev Posad. It was made in 1967.
The matryoshka of Sergiev Posad has its own peculiarities: its top part flows smoothly into thicker lower part: it is painted with gouache and has a varnish surface. In spite of, or perhaps because of the popularity of the matryoshkas of Sergiev Posad, matryoshka-making center started to spring up in Russia.

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Semionovo matryoshka

Semionovo is a large old center of wooden handicrafts. Huge thick forests, soil that is not good for agriculture, big outlet provided development of local people crafts. Of course, many changes occurred during long history of crafts in Semionovo but even now about 200 items are produced in factories and privately in this region, 33 countries import goods from this small town.

Semionovo is famous for its wooden painted tableware, wooden toys and, of course, matryoshkas. The first mention about this settlement goes as far as 1644. There is a legend that Semionovo was founded by merchant Semion and a run-a-way monk from Solovky monastery. In 1779 in time of Catherine the Second 3000 inhabitants lived and worked in this place. As the town was surrounded by forests people used to make goods of wood for themselves and for sale. Some crafters made for their children and just for fun wooden toys, with time it became a profitable business.

The first matryoshka in Semionovo was made well known by his wooden utensils, rattles, balls and apples Arsenty Mayorov.

Arsenty Mayorov

In 1924 he brought from the fair in Nizhny Novgorod unpainted nesting doll. His elder daughter Luba painted it using ordinary goose feather and aniline dyes, which were used for painting of toys. Almost 20 years matryoshka made by Mayorov were the best in the area of Nizhny Novgorod. In 1931 an artel which made souvenirs including matryoshkas was established in Semionovo.

Blossom of Semionovo toy

Gradually a distinct matryoshka type of Semionovo was developed. It was more decorative and symbolic than the matryoshka from Sergiev Posad. Semionovo's tradition goes back to the traditions of ancient Russia.

The painters of Semionovo used aniline dyes; they left quite a lot of unpainted space and varnished dolls. First of all, light touches of the brush mark the outlines of the face, eyes, the lines of the lips and apply color to the cheeks. Then a skirt, an apron, a scarf on the matryoshka's head and hands are drawn.

An apron is considered to be the main thing in painting of Semionovo. A bright bouquet of flowers is painted on it. It is possible to recognize the technique of old Russian masters. The early matryoshkas of Semionovo were more in the spirit of old Russian painting traditions, the lines were more graphic and lighter. It is easy to recognize a typical Semionovo shape of wooden form of matryoshka. It is slender and has a relatively thin top, which widens sharply into a thick bottom.

The matryoshka of Semionovo are famous for containing many pieces.
The biggest matryoshka contained 72 pieces; it was 1 m high and had a diameter. This unique doll was made in 1970 and was dedicated to birthday of Soviet communist leader Lenin.

The bigest matryoshka

It cost 3000 rubles (it worth saying that a popular Soviet car cost in that time 5,000 rubles. The doll was sent to exhibition in Japan.

In the 80-s artists from Semionovo developed new types of matryoshkas Artist Serov designed new matryoshka "The Father Frost and Snegurotchka". This matryoshka was so designed that children could learn to count: inside a big "mother" 10 small was hidden.

In this time the Chief Artist Sorokin has created a couple of dolls-case "Russian Lad" and "Russian Beauty".

They were in cosmic flight

This couple was taken in cosmic flight in 29 June 1982 by Russian astronauts and was gifted to international crew.

Present time

Now Semionovo matryoshka has not the best time. The complex economic situation in Russia mirrors at these crafts too: it's harder to buy raw materials, fuel and electricity became more expensive. In these condition it hard to create something new, people instead of wage in money get just ready goods: matryoshkas, wooden spoons, wooden tableware. It press people to leave a factory and to work separately at home. Maybe it is hard in the beginning but in such conditions can be born new ideas, types, goods - there are more to room for creative activity.

We sincerely hope that Semionovo matryoshka will blossom soon and will expose us new unusual things.

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Polkholvsky Maidan nesting dolls

Polkhovsky Maidan located to the south-west of Nizhny Novgorod, is a motherland of another style of matryoshka. The river Polkhovka in old times was wide and big, it was surrounded by forests- that is why people choose this place to settle a new village. Now Polkhovka became a small stream meanwhile the village turned into a center of crafts.