<mods:mods version="3.3" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-3.xsd" xmlns:mods="http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"><mods:titleInfo><mods:title>Investigations on prevalence of aflatoxin contamination in major groundnut growing states of India, influence of soil characteristics and farmers’ level of awareness</mods:title></mods:titleInfo><mods:name type="personal"><mods:namePart type="given">H</mods:namePart><mods:namePart type="family">Sudini</mods:namePart><mods:role><mods:roleTerm type="text">author</mods:roleTerm></mods:role></mods:name><mods:name type="personal"><mods:namePart type="given">P P</mods:namePart><mods:namePart type="family">Thirumalaisamy</mods:namePart><mods:role><mods:roleTerm type="text">author</mods:roleTerm></mods:role></mods:name><mods:name type="personal"><mods:namePart type="given">M K</mods:namePart><mods:namePart type="family">Naik</mods:namePart><mods:role><mods:roleTerm type="text">author</mods:roleTerm></mods:role></mods:name><mods:name type="personal"><mods:namePart type="given">K</mods:namePart><mods:namePart type="family">Vemana</mods:namePart><mods:role><mods:roleTerm type="text">author</mods:roleTerm></mods:role></mods:name><mods:name type="personal"><mods:namePart type="given">S</mods:namePart><mods:namePart type="family">Sundravadana</mods:namePart><mods:role><mods:roleTerm type="text">author</mods:roleTerm></mods:role></mods:name><mods:name type="personal"><mods:namePart type="given">U N</mods:namePart><mods:namePart type="family">Mangala</mods:namePart><mods:role><mods:roleTerm type="text">author</mods:roleTerm></mods:role></mods:name><mods:name type="personal"><mods:namePart type="given">K</mods:namePart><mods:namePart type="family">Vijay Krishna Kumar</mods:namePart><mods:role><mods:roleTerm type="text">author</mods:roleTerm></mods:role></mods:name><mods:abstract>Food safety issues are of major concern in groundnut due to aflatoxin&#13;
contamination by Aspergillus flavus. Monitoring aflatoxin&#13;
prevalence and understanding the factors responsible can provide&#13;
useful information for devising effective management strategies.&#13;
The present study focused on mapping the pre-harvest&#13;
aflatoxin contamination in India along with its determining factors.&#13;
A comprehensive survey was undertaken during 2012-2014&#13;
in four major groundnut growing States such as Andhra Pradesh,&#13;
Gujarat, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. Pod (n=2434) and rhizospheric&#13;
soil samples (n=1322) were collected to ascertain A. flavus&#13;
populations and pre-harvest aflatoxin contamination. Further,&#13;
kernel aflatoxin levels were correlated with soil organic carbon,&#13;
available calcium and pH levels in the fields from where the samples&#13;
were collected. Farmers’ awareness on aflatoxin problem&#13;
was also determined using a semi-structured questionnaire. Our&#13;
results indicate wide variations in the occurrence of pre-harvest&#13;
aflatoxin contamination levels of kernels among different States&#13;
(0 - 5486 ppb) and samples within States. Detectable levels of&#13;
aflatoxins (&gt;1ppb) were highest in Karnataka (70.5%), whereas&#13;
it was lowest in Andhra Pradesh (32.9%). Correlation studies&#13;
revealed that aflatoxin contents were positively associated with&#13;
soil pH (r = 0.54-0.99) and A. flavus populations (r = 0.63 in&#13;
Gujarat; r = 0.75 in Karnataka) whereas soil organic carbon and&#13;
available calcium were negatively correlated with toxin levels in&#13;
kernels (r = -0.99). Farmers’ awareness was considerably poor&#13;
in all the States under survey. Overall, our results suggest the&#13;
prevalence of aflatoxin contamination in major groundnut growing&#13;
areas in India, and influence of certain edaphic factors.</mods:abstract><mods:classification authority="lcc">Groundnut</mods:classification><mods:classification authority="lcc">Indian Agriculture</mods:classification><mods:classification authority="lcc">Aflatoxins</mods:classification><mods:originInfo><mods:dateIssued encoding="iso8061">2017-02</mods:dateIssued></mods:originInfo><mods:genre>Conference or Workshop Item</mods:genre></mods:mods>