Study on socio-economic status and farming practices of fish farmers in Pachrauta Municipality, Bara, Nepal.

An interview-based questionnaire survey was done in 2021 to assess the socio-economic conditions, farming practices adopted, and problems faced by fish farmers and to analyze the cost and benefits of fish farming in the Fish super zone area of Pachrauta Municipality, Bara district. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 60 respondents for the study and the information collected was analyzed and processed by MS-Excel and SPSS. The majority of respondents were male, belonged to the age group of 25-36 years, and had a secondary level of school education. The mean total land holding size was found to be 3.65 ± 2.57 bigha with a total pond area of 1.38 ± 1.08 bigha and a small minority (18 %) practiced contract farming. Most of the farmers were found to have experience of 6-11 years (40 %). The farming system was polyculture and mostly Intensive (60 %). While the use of modern equipment was low (25 %), the majority of farmers (>90 %) practiced regular drying and liming of ponds. Mid-April to Mid-July was the most preferred time of stocking and the big fraction of feed used was locally prepared (70 %). Fertilizer use and Multiple harvesting were also common. Fish farming in the study area was found to fetch an average annual income of 0.95 million NRs. The major problems faced by farmers were Expensive feed (0.67), Lack of quality seeds (0.60), and Lack of proper marketing channels (0.55). Despite the constraints, Economic analysis revealed fish production in the study area as a profitable business with a BC ratio of 2.20 and a high gross margin value (Rs. 1330341.6 per hectare).

Primary Anorectal Melanoma: A Case Report.

Primary anorectal melanoma is an extremely rare and aggressive mucosal melanocytic malignancy of the anorectal region. Because of the rarity of the tumor and vague clinical presentations, diagnosis at an early stage is a challenge for clinicians. In our context, where the hemorrhoid is a diagnosis of cultural familiarity for any sort of rectal pathology, these patients often present to us at a very advanced stage of the disease. Here, we present a case of a 55-year-old male patient with stage 2 anorectal melanoma who is on adjuvant chemotherapy following abdominoperineal resection with a permanent colostomy. Five cycles of dacarbazine and carboplatin have been given and the patient is doing well with the treatment. Abdominoperineal resection with excision of the tumor remains the mainstay of treatment; however, poor patient compliance with permanent colostomy is a major limiting factor of abdominoperineal resection. Even with the best interventions and care, the survival rate is not very good. Keywords: abdominoperineal resection; adjuvant chemotherapy; case reports; melanoma.