eChapters

Calcium is a vital mineral playing an essential role in numerous physiological processes, including bone formation, muscle contraction, nerve impulse transmission, and blood clotting. Proper calcium metabolism in animals is regulated by a complex interplay of dietary intake, hormonal control (mainly by parathyroid hormone; PTH, calcitonin, and vitamin D), and organ systems such as the kidneys, intestines, and bones. Imbalances in calcium homeostasis, whether due to dietary deficiencies, genetic predispositions, hormonal dysfunctions, or systemic diseases, can lead to a wide range of disorders affecting the skeletal system and overall health. Calcium-related disorders in animals can broadly be classified into those resulting from calcium deficiency, excess, or abnormalities in calcium regulation. Among these, skeletal manifestations are the most pronounced, as the bones act as a primary reservoir for calcium in the body. Various diseases related to calcium disorders and their nutritional management are discussed
below:
a) Rickets
Rickets is a skeletal disorder that affects young animals and birds, characterized by improper bone mineralization. This condition occurs primarily due to deficiencies in vitamin D, calcium, and phosphorus, which are essential for proper bone development. Rickets can lead to deformities, pain, and reduced growth rates, and understanding its causes, symptoms, mechanism, and nutritional management is crucial for prevention and treatment.

Flood management is a continuing process of assessing flood risk and coordinating prevention, preparedness, response, recovery, and adaptation. Unlike flood control, which often emphasizes physical structures, integrated flood management accepts that floods cannot always be eliminated and seeks to balance their risks and beneficial functions. It protects life and property while considering river-basin development, environmental sustainability, social needs, and economic feasibility. This chapter explains flood-management concepts, objectives, purposes, and techniques. It discusses structural and non-structural actions, forecasting, watershed treatment, afforestation, rainwater harvesting, floodplain zoning, community preparedness, institutional responsibilities, interlinking proposals, and government programmes. Emphasis is placed on coordinated, basin-wide and risk-informed decision-making.

Size – Shapes - Arrangements – Morphology

Bacteria are very small, most being approximately 0.5 to 1.0 mm diameter. Smallest bacteria are Mycoplasmas, as small as 0.2 micrometers (almost as small as largest poxviruses).

Accepted wisdom is that bacteria are smaller than eukaryotes. But certain cyanobacteria are quite large; Oscillatoria cells are 7 micrometers diameter, size of red blood cells. And certain eukaryotes (e.g. Nanochlorum eukaryotum) are very small, only 1 to 2 micrometers, but true eukaryotes (nucleus, chloroplast, mitochondrion are present). So size difference is, like many generalizations, only a useful yardstick, not an absolute truth.

Epulopiscium fishelsoni, discovered in 1985 in intestinal tract of sturgeonfish, is an enormous, cigar-shaped cell, as large as 80 x 600 micrometers (that’s 0.6 mm, large enough to be seen by the naked eye). Amazingly, this cell is prokaryotic! Initial evidence by EM was hard to believe, but confirmed rRNA comparisons with other organisms, a cousin of Gram-positive Clostridium genus.

The relative size of the bacteria are as follows :

8.1 Climate Change

Climate change is a broad term of global negative phenomena as created predominantly by burning of fossil fuels, which add heat-trapping gases to earth’s atmosphere. The over accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere lead to increased temperature and this is called as global warming. As a result, sea-level rise; ice mass loss in Greenland, Antarctica, Arctic and mountain glaciers worldwide; shifts in flowering/ plant blooming; and extreme weather events occur.

Advanced artificial-intelligence models can achieve high predictive performance, but their black-box nature limits clinical trust and accountability. This chapter examines interpretability and explainability as essential requirements for trustworthy healthcare analytics. It reviews intrinsically interpretable models, post-hoc explanation methods, example-based approaches and network-based explanations. A framework combining data preparation, model selection, ensemble learning, calibration, uncertainty estimation and explanation validation is presented. An explainable sepsis-risk prediction case study demonstrates logistic modelling, ensemble methods, Bayesian uncertainty, SHAP attribution and network analysis. The chapter also addresses causal reasoning, adversarial robustness, temporal and multimodal data, human-centred explainability, ethical responsibilities and regulatory requirements for dependable clinical AI.

Meaning of Market Energy Strategy

Market Entry Strategy

When an organization has made a decision to enter an overseas market, there are a variety of options open to it. These options vary with cost, risk and the degree of control which can be exercised over them. The simplest form of entry strategy is exporting using either a direct or indirect method such as an agent, in the case of the former, or counter trade, in the case of the latter. More complex forms include truly global operations which may involve joint ventures, or export processing zones. Having decided on the form of export strategy, decisions have to be made on the specific channels. Many agricultural products of a row or commodity nature use agents, distributors or involve Government, whereas processed materials, whilst not excluding these, rely more heavily on more sophisticated forms of access.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Soil fertility can be considered to be a measure of the soil’s ability to sustain satisfactory crop growth, both in the short and longer-term. Organic farming recognizes the soil as being central to a sustainable farming system. It could be argued that organically managed soils require a higher level of baseline fertility because shortfalls cannot be made up by applications of soluble fertilizers. Soil fertility is determined by a set of interactions between the physical and chemical environments of the system and by biological activity. Organic matter is linked intrinsically to soil fertility, because it is important in maintaining good soil physical conditions (e.g. soil structure, aeration and water holding capacity) and is an important nutrient reserve. Organic matter contains most of the soil reserve of N and large proportions of other nutrients such as phosphorus and sulphur.

The term soil refers to the outer, loose material of the earth’s surface, a layer distinctly different from the underlying parent rock. A number of features characterize this region of the earth’s crust. It is the natural medium, which supports plant growth. It provides the physical support needed for the root system and also supplies nutrients needed for plant growth. It is a perennial source of organic matter. It supports a vast population of microorganisms.

Tropical tuber and root crops are subjected to the depredation of a number of insect and non insect pests. Comprehensive studies revealed that cassava is attacked by a wide range of arthropod and rodent pests. An exhaustive global account of cassava pests and their management was given by Anon (1978), Bellotti and Schoonhoven (1978) and Bellotti et al. (1999). Lal and Pillai (1982); Pillai and Palaniswami (1984), Pillai (1994) and Palaniswami (1999) reviewed the pests of cassava in India. Anon (1978), Sutherland (1986) and Jansson and Raman (1991) covered world sweet potato pests. Palaniswami (1999) detailed the pests attacking sweet potato in India. Pests of edible aroids, yams and chinese potato were comprehensively reported by Anon (1978); Mitchell and Maddison (1983) and Palaniswami (1994, 1999). In India about 34 species of insects and non-insect pests infest cassava, 80 species attack sweet potato, 46 species on edible aroids, 21 on yams and 10 on chinese potato. One of the main factors for the low productivity of these crops in India is attributed to the pest complex attacking them (Chadha, 2001).

Agriculture is undoubtedly the largest livelihood provider in rural India. As we enter a new post WTO Scenario and IT revolution, new inventions are happening day by day in every sphere. Agriculture is not culture now, it is agri business! Agriculture constitutes over 25% of India’s GDP. In recent years, much emphasis has been given by the Ministry of Agriculture on commercializing agricultural production in the country. Adequate production and distribution of food has become a high priority and global concern. In the fast changing world and increasing competition in a globalized economy, there is a need for exploiting the available resources to the maximum level and use of best technologies available world over, to cope up with domestic demand of food and also to target export market. This will be particularly relevant in South India, where farmers grow a number of crops, but have technical constraints in enhancing production and productivity because of inadequate exposure to high technology & inputs coupled with advanced production practices, logistics and marketing. In addition, shortage of labour is a major concern for progressive farmers of South India who are ready to offer more wages to labourers. Therefore, they are forced to become machinery-dependent in their farm operations. As a result, Southern India is emerging as one of the hottest destinations as well as a strong market with buying potential for farm machinery and equipment.

Myristica fragrans Houtt., the nutmeg tree is unique among spice plants as the donor of two distinct spices; nutmeg and mace.Native of Indonesia (Moluccas islands), nutmeg tree grows there abundantly and is now naturalised in West Indies, Srilanka, India, Phillipines, Tropical America and Pacific Islands. (Varghese, 2000). In India, the plant is grown in certain pockets of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, North East India and Andamans (Krishnamoorthy, 2000). It is also grown in a small scale in Srilanka, Trinidad, China, Tobago, Zanzibar and Mauritius.

4.1. INTRODUCTION

Water stress is the single most severe limitation to the productivity of rice in the rainfed ecosystem (Widawsky and O’Toole, 1990). Drought has been defined as the inadequacy of water availability, including precipitation and soil moisture storage capacity, in quantity and distribution during the life cycle of the crop to restrict expression of its full genetic yield potential. Drought is actually a meteorological event which implies the absence of rainfall for a period of time, long enough to cause moisture-depletion in soil and water deficit with a decrease of water potential in plant tissues. Under drought conditions, water stress develops in the plants as the demand exceeds supply of water; this may occur either/or both due to atmospheric or soil conditions, and is reflected in a gradient of water potentials developed between the soil or soil-root interface and leaf, the transpiring organ. Moisture stress is likely to develop to a different rate in different plant organs along with the gradient. Drought like many other environmental stresses has adverse effects on plant growth and yield.

Introduction

The life cycle of a plant passes through biotic and abiotic stresses and plants are being attacked at different stages of growth by a number of disease causing organisms. These organism including bacteria, fungi, viruses, and nematodes attacks plants. These pathogens caused large crop losses and probably since the beginning of agriculture have contributed to human hunger and malnutrition. The control of plant diseases is thus of fundamental importance and is a major objective of plant breeding and pathology programme and agriculture chemical industry. Plants resists pathogens attack both with preformed defenses such as antimicrobial secondary compounds and by inducing defense responses (Hammond and Jones, 2000, Heath, 2000). Inducible defenses can be activated upon recognition of general elicitor such as bacterial flagellin and even host cell fragments released by pathogens damage (Gomez and Boller, 2000, Hammond and Jones, 2000). However, plants also involved sophisticated recognition systems to detect proteins produced during infection by specific races of pathogens (Martin et al., 2003).

Deviation from normal well being may be for various kinds involving one or more organs and exhibiting array of symptoms. Examination of animals for diagnosis of disease is strenuous process because investigator has just got to know by several means of examination. The evidences produced by owner, animal house, feed being provided supported by prevailing environment and climate are immensely helpful in accurate diagnosis. Diagnosis, of production related diseases, is more difficult because of biasness in history revealed by the owner. At the same time diagnoses of poisonings are also not easy because owner’s description about possible cause and symptoms exhibited by sick animals are vague. So careful quizzing of owner about each and every aspect of disease and animal obviously seems to be first step towards diagnosis, followed by examination of animal. Examination of environment in relation to history revealed by owner and observations drawn from the examination of animal can infer some conclusion about cause of disease. Support of laboratory examinations such as fecal test, blood test and urinalysis are important tools in disease investigation. Following steps are essential in disease diagnosis.

In ancient days spices and herbs were valued as basic ingredients of incense, embalming preservatives, ointments, perfumes, antidotes against poisons, cosmetics and medicines and were used less in culinary preparations. A notable use of spices and herbs in ancient and medieval times were for the treatment of a variety of illnesses. Subsequently spices and herbs had come to be used to flavour food and beverages. In the course of time spices and herbs were shown to be useful not only for making the food lasting and palatable, but also in retarding or preventing rancidity and spoilage. This knowledge acted as a catalyst for the use of spices in a variety of processed foods. Based on the uses, herbs and spices are classified in to culinary, cosmetic and pharmaceutical. In the modern world spices have wide affiliation in the culinary art of people around the world, and are used in food industry for flavouring and seasoning, as well as in pharmaceutical preparations in the traditional systems of medicine and in beauty care. Spices and herbs are useful because of the chemical constituents contained in the form of essential oil, oleoresin, oleogum and resins, which impart flavour, pungency and colour to prepared dishes.

1. Introduction

There is intense commercial interest in dehydrated fruit and vegetable products especially mango powder, banana powder, orange powder, papaya cereal flakes to powder, tomato juice powder and other vegetable powders, which are in great demand for soups, biscuit type cookies supplemented with fruit powders (Ana Maria et al. 2009; Sunita and Chauhan 2008), pizza mixes and sauces. Natural fruit and vegetable powders are gaining lot of popularity in recent years as they are very easy to handle after production, require minimum storage space and they are attractive. Tamarind powder is developed from tamarind fruit (Tamarindus indica) (Manjunath et al. 1991) and recently cashew apple and guava residues from fruit juice industry were successfully converted into fruit powders and used at different levels of wheat flour substitution for cookies formulation (Ana Maria et al.2009) and fruit puree like papaya can be mixed with cereal flour to prepare slurry and after gelatinization, the slurry can be useful for preparing drum dried flakes and powder (Sunita and Chauhan 2008). Tropical fruits are exotic in flavor but their juices and purees are seldom available in dehydrated powder (James, 1971). Citrus juice concentrates were produced during world war II in powdered form by using spray, drum, vacuum-puff, and freeze drying (USDA, 1962). The preservation of fruits and vegetables by dehydration offers a unique method, which may be considered as an alternative low cost preservation technique. A shift from fresh to more and more processed foods with significant value addition is bound to occur sooner or later considering the socio-economic changes taking place in the country and the rapid integration of Indian economy with global system. Most popular brands are found in the “ready to consume” food sector.

The stresses, drought, salinity, chemicals, cold and hot temperatures, have interconnected effects on plants, resulting in the disruption of protein homeostasis. Maintenance of proteins in their functional native conformations and preventing aggregation of non-native proteins are important for cell survival under stress. The heat shock proteins buffer this environmental variation and are therefore important factors for the maintenance of homeostasis across environmental regimes. Heat shock proteins are known to be expressed in plants experiencing high-temperature stress. Heat shock proteins are important in relation to stress resistance and adaptation to the environment. Their molecular function might be membrane or protein stabilization, but, for now, for most heat shock proteins the molecular function remains to be elucidated. The general observation of the response and induction of heat shock proteins following heat stress suggests that they play a fundamental role in cellular homeostasis. It is possible that heat shock proteins may be involved with the phenomenon of acquired thermotolerance. Heat stress disturbs cellular homeostasis and can lead to severe retardation in growth and development, and even death. Temperature stress can have also a devastating effect on both the plant anabolism and catabolism, initially acting on protein complexes, being the quaternary structure the first folding that is lost during heat stress or heating. Understanding the role of HSPs in relation to stress resistance in a more applied perspective as a potential indicator of stress is important. New technological developments make it possible to investigate the role of genes coding for heat shock proteins in greater detail. A combination of genomics and proteonomics will further elucidate the effects of stress on expression patterns at the DNA, RNA and protein level.

    1.    Fortification of common salt is done with 
        a)    Potassium iodide    b)    Potassium iodate
        c)    Both a & b    d)    None
    2.    Vinegar is a 
        a)    Class-I preservative    b)    Class-II preservative
        c)    Natural preservative    d)    a & c
    3.    As per FSSAI regulations, the permitted level of Sulphur dioxide in RTS beverages is not more than ______ ppm
        a)    100    b)    70
        c)    150    d)    80
    4.    Sodium nitrite is a
        a)    Preservative    b)    Buffering agent
        c)    Curing agent    d)    Flavour enhancer

Raj Bahadur
    
3.1.    Nitrogen Fixation in Saline Soil
    
3.2.    Legumes and Nitrogen Fixation
    
    3.2.1.    Legumes in Saline Agriculture; Nitrogen Fixation Capabilities
    3.2.2.    Legumes in Saline Agriculture; Salinity Tolerance of Legumes
    3.2.3.    Improvement of Salinity Tolerance of Legumes
    3.2.4.    Legumes of the HALOPH Database
    
3.3.    Perspective for Saline Agriculture
    
3.4.    Impacts of Agriculture and Global Climate Change Terrestrial Biogeochemical Cycle of Nitrogen
    
    3.4.1.    Nitrogen Chemistry and Terrestrial Life
    
3.5.    Nitrogen Fixation
    
    3.5.1.    Decomposition
    3.5.2.    Nitrification
    3.5.3.    Denitrification
    3.5.4.    Bio-geochemical Linkage of Nitrogen and Carbon
    3.5.5.    Soil Organic Matter
    3.5.6.    Perturbations and N and C Biogeochemistry
    3.5.7.    Organic Nitrogen
    3.5.8.    Mineralization
    
3.6.    Factors Influencing Biological Nitrogen Fixation in Legumes
    
    3.6.1.    Temperature
    3.6.2.    Soil Water Status
    3.6.3.    Nitrogen Concentration in the Root Zone
    3.6.4.    Carbon Demand for Fixation
    3.6.5.    Seasonal Regulation of Legume Biological Nitrogen Fixation
    
3.7.    Quantification of Biological Nitrogen Fixation
    
    3.7.1.    Estimation with Empirical Models
    3.7.2.    Potential N Fixation Rate
    3.7.3.    Impact of Soil Temperature
    3.7.4.    Impact of Soil Water Status
    3.7.5.    Effect of Soil Mineral N or Internal Substrate N
    3.7.6.    Influence of Plant Substrate C or C supply
    3.7.7.    Changes in N Fixation with Plant Growth Stage
        
    References

A. Bhattacharya

6.1.    Macronutrients (Primary)
    
6.2.    Macronutrients (Secondary and Tertiary)
    
6.3.    Micronutrients
    
6.4.    Inter-relationships Between Nutrient Elements
    
    6.4.1.    Synergism
    6.4.2.    Antagonism
    
6.5.    Potassium Inter-relationships with Macronutrients
    
    6.5.1.    Potassium Inter-relationships with Secondary Nutrients
    6.5.2.    Potassium Inter-relationships with Micronutrients
    
6.6.    Nutrient Deficiency
    
6.7.    Role of Mineral Nutrition Against Environmental Stress
    
6.8.    Role of Mineral Nutrition Against Drought Stress
    
6.9.    Role of Potassium in Abiotic Stress Resistance
    
    6.9.1.    Potassium and Drought Stress
    6.9.2.    Cell Elongation and Cell Membrane Stability
    6.9.3.    Aquaporins and Water Uptake
    6.9.4.    Osmotic Adjustment
    6.9.5.    Stomatal Regulation
    6.9.6.    Detoxification of Reactive Oxygen Species
    6.9.7.    Potassium and Salt Stress
    6.9.8.    Potassium and Low-Temperature Stress
    6.9.9.    Potassium and Waterlogging Stress
    
6.10.    Partition of Photosynthates under Nutrient Deficiency
        
References

Significance in Agriculture

The Green Revolution resulted in many fold increase in the food grain production. Crop yields have increased steadily over time, but continuing these increases above the current high levels would be difficult. But in order to meet the demands of the increasing population, the crop production must increase in a sustainable manner. Sustainable increase in the total production without increasing cultivated area represents a huge challenge that can only be met by integrative investigations at the whole plant-plant community level. Improvement of crop production systems will require a thorough understanding of basic principles of yield production. This involves the study of the plant processes responsible for the growth, development and production of economic yield by crop plants, focusing on whole plants and plant communities and not individual plant parts, organs, or cells because most of the processes that control yield operate at the whole plant-plant community level.

The processes responsible for the primary productivity of crop communities are photosynthesis, respiration, transpiration, nutrient utilization and how the products of these processes are converted to economic yield and morphogenetic processes.

Crop physiology is the study of plants at the whole-plant and plant-community level of organization and Agronomy is the study of crops and cropping systems at the farm level over a period of time. At this level of organization, the complexity of the system is so large that comprehensive attempts are to be made to examine the mechanisms underlying the crop responses to management or climate.

The scientific approach to agriculture has been to isolate (i.e., the experiments in which everything else is equal except the studied phenomenon) and to reduce (i.e., the process by which, a phenomenon is quantified in terms of one or more essential molecular processes), because the production system is too complex. Whereas the unraveling of crop production systems to simple chemical and physical phenomena has improved our general understanding of the system, it is necessary to understand how these chemical and physically processes interact within a whole plant grown from seed to maturity under natural conditions for this information to be useful in agronomy.

14.1. INTRODUCTION

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L. emend. Bowden) is one the most important ancient crops and played very important role in the development of agriculture and human civilization. It has also played crucial role in the progress of science of agriculture, physiology, genetics, plant breeding and malting and brewing science. It is the fourth most cereal crop after rice, wheat and maize in acreages and production in the world.  It is grown and used all around the world in many countries and has fed livestock, poultry and people since ancient time.  Barley was domesticated about 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent of the Near East. Fertile Crescent is considered the first of at least seven primary centres of agriculture origin in the world (Smith, 1998; Baik and Ulrich, 2008). Barley is best known around the world as a feed grain and a premier grains for malting and brewing. When most people think of composition of beer, they only think of barley over other cereals. Although utilization of barley for food is relatively low as compared to other cereals today, throughout its history barley has remained an important and major food source poor people living in Western and Eastern Asia and Northern and Eastern Himalayan region nation like Tibet, Nepal and in Northern and Eastern Africa (Newman and Newman, 2006, 2008). Moreover, there has been resurgence of interest and use of barley as food primarily in the developed world due to an increasing emphasis on incorporating the diversity in consumption of whole grain in people’s diets due to its health benefits.

Introduction to Research

Research is an inseparable part of human knowledge. Its role in human life is as precious as that of salt in a vegetable. The life would lose its taste without research exactly in the same manner as a vegetable without salt. The modern academics just cannot stand and meet the aspirations of a matured society, if it does not provide for research and investigation. “The obvious function of research is to add new knowledge to the existing store. but its power for cleansing our minds of clinches and removing the rubbish of inapplicable theory is equally notable. Scientific research is a cumulative process. It is also a projective process, especially in the social sciences. Understanding can be (advanced) not only by gains in knowledge but also by discarding outworn assumptions”.

11.1 Introduction

Fermented foods are the result of the activity of a few specialized types of micro-organisms among the thousands of species known to mankind. Success of such processes is depended upon the control of environmental conditions ensuring the growth of the desired microbial species and inhibition of others. The fermentation can be broadly defined as the process in which the carbohydrate or like compounds are broken down, under anaerobic or aerobic conditions [171]. The basic role of micro-organisms is to breakdown the organic compounds to get energy for their metabolic activities. From ancient times, people all over the world have developed traditional processes for production of alcoholic beverages (wine) either from natural sugar such as in wine or by degrading the starchy materials (beer). Fruit wines referred to as ‘Soma’ in our ancient scriptures have been part of food of man and were used as medicine, might have originated accidentally (transformation of fruit juice beverages having exhilarating or stimulating properties). Wines are made principally from fruits like grape or extract of other fruits of various types (table wine, sparkling wine, dessert, aperitif or vermouth and pop wines) while the beers are prepared from grains like barley, rice and corn. The principal carbohydrate in grain is starch which can not be fermented directly. This process is brought about by starch splitting enzymes by germinating the grains followed by drying and storage until needed. Distillation of beer produces a variety of liquors (whisky, rum, gin, vodka), while that of wine produces the brandy. Besides, the improvement in the raw material selection, fermentation conditions and techniques, a lot of waste material is generated during fermentation process in the industries. Nevertheless, the food based industries are significant contributors to the economy of the many countries of the world (Fig 1). The global market value of food fermentation based industries is estimated to be around 250 million US dollars. Interestingly, more than 10% of this accounts for alcoholic beverages (Fig 2) with projected increase of US$ 27 billions in 1989 to 40 billions in 1990 [93,123,123,129].

5. 1 Irrigation Channels

Canal or channel is an artificially made conduit through which water is supplied to the field from river, tank, reservoir or wells. The open channel is the most common type of water conveyance system. If the pipes and drains are partially full behave like open channel. The irrigation channel may be lined or unlined and the flow is either uniform or varied.

The canal may be classified in following ways.

(a) Classification based on the source of supply

(i) Permanent or perennial canal

(ii) Inundation canal

Importance

It is one of the most valuable primary products in world trade, in many years second in value only to oil as a source of foreign exchange to producing countries. Its cultivation, processing, trading, transportation and marketing provide employment for hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Coffee is crucial to the economies and politics of many developing countries; for many of the world’s Least Developed Countries, exports of coffee account for more than 50 percent of their foreign exchange earnings. Coffee is a traded commodity on major futures and commodity exchanges, most importantly in London and New York.

1. Introduction

Kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa Chev.) is among the most recently domesticated of all fruit plants. The kiwifruit of international commerce are large – fruited selections of Actinidia deliciosa Planch and Actinidia deliciosa (A. Chev.) C F Liang et A. R. Ferguson, belongs to family Acitinidiaceae. A. chinensis has been cultivated commercially for little more than 20 years, however, A. deliciosa for about 70 years. This is known as “China’s miracle fruit” and “Horticulture wonder of New Zealand”. Although this fruit vine originated in China, yet its full economic potential was exploited by the New Zealanders, which accounts for over 70 per cent of world trade (Franco, 1990). Kiwifruit has completely replaced the older name of ‘Chinese gooseberry’. In China, ‘Mihoutao’ (monkey peach) is used for all Actinidia species, but as A. chinensis and A. deliciosa are by far the most important economically of the various Actinidia species in China, they are often simply referred to together as Mithoutao. More explicitly, the two species are sometimes referred to together as Zhonghua (Chinese) Mihoutao. In other countries of the world, its cultivation gained momentum after 1960s and now is cultivated on a commercial scale in USA, Italy China, Japan, France, Germany and Australia.

In India, it was first introduced in 1960 at Lalbagh garden, Bangalore, but the plant did not come into bearing due to lack of chilling requirement during winter for its bud break. Later on, in 1963, it was introduced in Shimla hills, where the plant came into bearing in 1969. In order to assess the performance of kiwifruit cultivation in different agro-climatic conditions of state its plantation were done at different locations. After evaluation, this fruit was recommended for commercial cultivation in mid and low hills of the state. It can also be grown in mid hill of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttrakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Nilgiri hills of south India.

7.1 INTRODUCTION

An understanding of the processes of oxidation and reduction in soils and the associated changes and practical implications requires a knowledge firstly of soil respiration and the movement of O₂ and CO₂ in soils, and secondly an appreciation of the significance of the changes which occur when, as a result of the use of all the O₂ in a given zone of the soil, respiration changes from aerobic to anaerobic. This results in marked changes in the biochemistry of the system. A basic knowledge is therefore needed of the microbiology and biochemistry of aerobic and anaerobic respiration and of the physics of gas movement, as well as of the chemistry of the system.

LUMBAR VERTEBRAE

Ox: The lumbar vertebrae are characterized by elongated flattened transverse processes (projecting outwards) and large, strongly curved articular processes (Fig.5.1a). The body is constricted in the middle and expanded at the extremities. The anterior extermity is less convex and posterior is less concave. The posterior vertebral notches are much deeper. The intervertebral foramina are often double in the anterior part of the series and are very large further back.

Nanotechnologies are being spoken of as the driving force behind the new industrial revolution. The mass production of these nano materials and their applications mean a dramatic increase of workers dealing with Engineered Nano Materials (ENM) and becoming possibly exposed to resulting hazardous effects and increased environmental burden of the environment due to the leaks of these materials from industrial processes. It is, hence, essential to consider the importance of ENM safety and their new applications and understand that it is important for these materials and products to be safe to enable successful promotion of nanotechnology for useful applications (Eman M Osman, 2019). 

1. White alkali soils also know as

a. Acid soil                  b. Saline soil

c. Saline sodic soil    d. Sodic soil

Thermodynamics is defined as the “branch of science which deals with the interaction between the heat and work”[1]. Thermodynamics is also sometimes stated as the science of energy. Thermodynamic deals with the principles of energy and energy conversion in engineering. It also considers the thermodynamic properties of substances. Thermodynamics deals with the conversion of heat into work and vice-versa.

Interaction of radiant energy, exhibiting the properties of both waves and particles, with matter is dealt in spectroscopy. Matter may be defined as material, existing in solid or liquid or gaseous phase, which is composed of molecules, atoms, or ions. Atoms, molecules, and ions, irrespective of their physical state, remain in constant motion in a matter. Molecules may rotate, vibrate, and move from place to place in space. While radiant energy interacts with matter, these molecular motions are influenced to some extent. It is observed that radiations from ultraviolet and visible range of electromagnetic spectrum lead to the movement of bonding electrons from lowest energy state (ground state) to higher energy state (excited state) in the molecules, while absorption of IR radiation causes the molecule to vibrate more. Such changes, referred to as transition, are responsible for changing the molecular energy level.

Drought is a recurrent feature of climate or climatic anomaly or weather related natural disaster. It occurs when the precipitation remains deficient over an extended period of time, usually for a season or more and affects water shortage in water bodies, streams, soil moisture, ground water etc. resulting into low crop production and economic performance of large regions or entire country. Drought occurs in virtually all regions varying its severity, low and high from regions to regions.

Increasing population, declining natural resources, changing climate and political stability are the major threat to our food, nutritional as well as environmental security. It is expected that India’s population will boom to 1.5 billion by 2030 and to feed them we need approximately 341mt food grain including 315 mt cereals and 26mt pulses) (Kumar et al., 2016).

The products of the plants which are used as food adjuncts to add taste only is called

A. Spices                   B. Medicinal plants

C. Aromatic plants     D. Condiments

Biosecurity refers to the measures aimed at preventing the introduction and/or spread of harmful microorganisms to animals and plants in order to minimize the risk of transmission of infectious disease. Biosecurity is of growing interest as a result of developments at the international level, including globalization of the world economy, technological progress and the rapid increase in communications, transport and trade. Against this background, there is concern that the appropriate level of protection of human, animal and plant life and health is not being maintained as risks increase. Biosecurity is a strategic and integrated approach that encompasses the policy and regulatory frameworks for analyzing and managing relevant risks to human, animal and plant life and health, and associated risks to the environment. 

3.1 Redgram or Pigeon Pea

In any production programme, the importance of quality seed needs hardly be emphasized. In fact, the major bottleneck in the pigeon pea cultivation programme is the restricted or poor availability of quality seeds of the desirable varieties. The seed has been considered as the ‘vehicle of change’. With better attention paid to their interaction among water, fertilizer and seed of improved varieties, the production can be maximized. Although a numbers of improved varieties of pigeon pea have been released since 1970, organized seed production programmes have been rather limited. Most of our national efforts in this direction continue to be centralized on cereal crops like wheat, rice and hybrid millets. Moreover, the benefits of the current research will not reach the farmers unless large-scale seed multiplication programmes are organized.

Chapter Overview

This chapter discusses the crucial concept of gender sensitization in the context of livestock production. Gender sensitization involves raising awareness about gender equality concerns, challenging stereotypes, and promoting equitable practices in the livestock sector. The chapter covers the stages of gender sensitization, offers guidelines for veterinarians and veterinary students, provides real-world examples, outlines a sensitization strategy, and underscores the pressing need for gender sensitization in livestock production.

Electrophoresis

The mobility of ions in an electric field is the basis for the separation method known as electrophoresis. Ions that are negatively charged move toward a positive electrode, while those that are positively charged move toward a negative electrode. Usually, one electrode is biased either positively or negatively, and the other is at the ground for safety reasons. Ions can be distinguished from one another based on their size, shape, and overall charge, which determine their migration rates.

Poly Acrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (PAGE)

Introduction

Electrophoresis is an electrochemical process in which substances with a net electric charge migrate under the influence of an electric current. This migration occurs in an agar gel or a liquid- filled buffered matrix such as cellulose acetate. Positively charged substances travel toward the cathode (negative electrode), while negatively charged substances go toward the anode (positive electrode). Different substances move at different rates depending on their charge. This movement is called electrophoretic mobility.

Proteins are charged molecules. They have a positive as well as a negative charge. Among proteins, particularly caseins, they have different contents. The charge density also varies depending on the molecular weight. Proteins have a net negative charge at a pH above 4.6, and hence they move towards the anode (positive electrode) when subjected to an electric field under alkaline conditions. Due to differences in the charge of individual protein fractions, their migration rates also differ and are hence separated into distinct bands. These bands are stained with the dye amido- black, destained with 7% acetic acid, and observed for the electrophoretic pattern.

The name Lepidoptera derived from the Greek words “lepido” meaning Scale and “ptera” meaning wings refers to the flattened hairs (Scales) that cover the body and wings of most adults. Lepidoptera (Moths and Butterflies) is the second largest order (1.10 lakh sp.) in the class insecta, characterized by the body, wings and appendages being generally covered densely with pigmented scales which provide the colour pattern of the characteristic of the species and play an important role in courtship and intraspecific recognition.

Adults

• Head: Hypognathus and relatively small.

• Compound eyes are large and set well apart. Ocelli two in number in moths or reduced to Chaetosoma in butterfly.

• Mouthparts form a coiled tube (Proboscis) beneath the head.

• Antennal type:

• Butterflies: Clubbed, clavate, capitate.

• Moths: Pectinate (Uni/Bi).

• Adults have siphoning type mouthparts except in micropterygidae (Mandibulate mouthparts). Front wings large, triangular, hindwings large, fan shaped.

• Body and wings covered with small, overlapping scale.

• Thoracic segments are fused and metathorax is the largest and most prominent.

• Wings covered with scales. Androconia (Plumules) on upper surface of wings in some males serves as outlet for odouriferous glands. are fringed distally with each tip finely divided. • Wing coupling apparatus variable (generally Frenulum and retinaculum or Amplexiform type)

Sprinkler irrigation is an advanced method of irrigation in which water is sprayed to air and allowed to fall on the ground similar to rainfall. The spraying of water occurs through nozzle connected to a network of pipes with water under pressure. The rate of application and area of coverage under a sprinkler is regulated by suitable selection of nozzle size and pressure in the system.

History of Sprinkler Irrigation

The sprinkler irrigation has started elsewhere in the world in the early part of twentieth century. Before 1920, sprinkler irrigation was limited to orchard, nurseries and intensive vegetable cultivation. The cost of sprinkler reduced considerably by the development of impact sprinkler and lightweight steel pipe with quick couplers in the 1930s. As a result, sprinkler irrigation began to spread in larger area and to the area of field crops. However, sprinkler irrigation developed mainly after the Second World War with the introduction of lightweight portable aluminum pipe.

Sprinkler irrigation has started in India from mid of 1950s. Due to requirement of high initial investment, the average Indian farmers cannot afford the system and therefore the area under sprinkler irrigation in India was 0.66mha (approx.) out of total irrigated area of 87.80mHa in 1995 (INCID). The sprinkler irrigation was first introduced in India in hilly regions such as Western Ghats in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and in the North Eastern States especially by plantation owners for irrigating tea, coffee and cardamom crops. Since the cost of aluminum pipe is high, to replace it, High Density Polyethylene Pipe (HDPE)/PVC with suitable modification have been introduced in sprinkler system. However, the area under HDPE/PVC piping system is below 20% to the total area under sprinkler irrigation. The remaining area is cultivated under aluminum or steel based sets. The indigenous manufacturing of the system has started in India only 35-40 years ago and there are about fifty numbers of manufacturers till 1996 (INCID). The details of the cultivated area under sprinkler irrigation system in the world and in Indian States are given in Table 8.1 & 8.2 respectively.

A. Mass Production of Quality Bio-control Agents: Techniques, Formulations, Economics, Field Release/Application, and Evaluation

Biological control agents, such as phytophagous insects, play a significant role in integrated pest management by targeting and suppressing weed populations naturally. Effective utilization of these agents requires understanding their mass production, formulation, economics, field release/application, and evaluation.

Techniques for Mass Production of Bio-control Agents

Mass production of bio-control agents involves rearing insects or other organisms in large quantities while maintaining their effectiveness and quality. The following are key techniques used in mass production:

1. Laboratory Rearing: Laboratory rearing of bio-control agents is a meticulous process that ensures the continuous production of high quality insects under controlled environmental conditions. This technique involves creating optimal conditions for temperature, humidity, and light to simulate natural habitats. Nutritional requirements are met by providing specific diets, which can be natural or artificial, tailored to the needs of the bio-control agents. Breeding protocols are established to manage mating, egg-laying, and larval development cycles efficiently. By controlling these factors, laboratory rearing ensures a stable and sustainable supply of bio-control agents for field application.

Fruits, the vivid and delightful offerings of the nature, undergo remarkable transformations as they travel from the orchard to our dining tables. These changes indicate the significance of post-harvest physiology, which is the scientific study that reveals the secrets of how fruits behave after they are picked, including the mechanisms that affect fruit quality and how long it may be stored. The next section provides definitions of the various stages and key players involved in the processes of fruit maturity, ripening, and post harvest physiology. These topics will be further explored in the subsequent sub-sections of this chapter.

Fruit developmental physiology

The life cycle of horticultural commodities (fruits and vegetables) can be effectively categorized into three primary physiological stages after fruit set or initiation, namely growth, maturation, and senescence. Still, a lack of obvious differentiation exists among the several stages. Growth encompasses the process of cell division followed by cell enlargement, which determines the ultimate size of the product. Maturation typically begins prior to the cessation of growth and involves various activities across different commodities. The stages of growth and maturity are commonly denoted as the developmental phase. Senescence can be described as the phase in which anabolic biochemical processes transition into catabolic processes, resulting in the ageing and eventual demise of the tissue. Ripening, a term specifically used for fruit, is typically regarded as the initial phase of senescence that occurs during the later phases of development. Defining the transition from growth to senescence is rather straightforward.

IKS stands for Indigenous Knowledge Systems. When applied to pest and disease management in agriculture, IKS refers to the traditional and local knowledge systems developed by communities over generations to deal with agricultural challenges, including pests and diseases.

5.1 Key Aspects of IKS for Pest and Disease Management

1. Traditional Practices: Indigenous communities often have developed practices based on observation and experience to control pests and diseases. These may include specific plant combinations, crop rotations, or timing of planting to minimize pest damage.

2. Natural Remedies: IKS often includes knowledge of natural substances and plants that have pesticidal or medicinal properties. Examples include the use of neem, garlic, chilli, or certain plant extracts to deter pests or control diseases.

3. Cultural Practices: Traditional farming practices may include rituals or timing of activities that are believed to influence pest and disease outbreaks. For instance, planting during specific lunar phases or following certain cultural calendars.

4. Biological Control: Indigenous knowledge may also involve the use of natural enemies of pests, such as predators or parasites, to manage pest populations. This aligns with modern biological control principles.

5. Crop Diversity: Traditional farming systems often promote crop diversity, which can help naturally manage pest and disease pressures by reducing monoculture effects and providing habitats for beneficial organisms.

Entomopathogenic / Entomophilic / Insecticidal/ Entomogenous nematodes can be found in the orders Aphelenchida, Ascaridida, Mermithida, Oxyurida, Rhabditida, Spirurida and Tylenchida. Phylogenetic relationships reveal that nematodes have established trophic associations with insects numerous times (Adams and Nguyen, 2008). Nematodes may have a proclivity (exaptation) for negotiating the natural defenses of insects and their associations with insects are tremendously fruitful (ecologically and evolutionarily).
3.1 Evolution of Parasitism in Insect-transmitted Plant Nematodes
Nematode-insect associations have evolved many times in the phylum Nematoda, but these lineages involve plant parasitism only in the Secernentean orders Aphelenchida and Tylenchida. In the Aphelenchida (Aphelenchoidoidea), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Pine wood nematode), B. cocophilus (Red ring or Coconut palm nematode) (Parasitaphelenchidae), and the many potential host-specific species of Schistonchus (fig nematodes) (Aphelenchoididae) nematode-insect interactions probably evolved independently from dauerforming, mycophagous ancestors that were phoretically transmitted to breeding sites of their insect hosts in plants (Giblin-Davis et al., 2003). Mycophagy probably gave rise to facultative or obligate plant-parasitism because of opportunities due to insect host switches or peculiarities in host behavior. In the Tylenchida, there is one significant radiation of insect-associated plant parasites involving Fergusobia nematodes (Fergusobiinae: Neotylenchidae) and Fergusonina (Fergusoninidae) flies as mutualists that gall myrtaceous plant buds or leaves. These dicyclic nematodes have different phases that are parasitic in either the insect or the plant hosts. The evolutionary origin of this association is unclear.