eChapters

1. INTRODUCTION

Landscaping is a branch of ornamental horticulture having aesthetic and beautifying value which freshens up the atmosphere, enhances the look of the environment and improves beauty of land. In the area of landscaping, it is beneficial to know about ground covers (grasses etc), hedging plants, and focus plants that will complement one another.

A garden by definition is a piece of land devoted to growing flowers, fruits, vegetables, shrubbery and turf. Gardens brighten their surroundings and they add to the beauty of the landscape. The types of flowers that can be grown in a garden depend on the size of the garden, its location and the amount of sunshine and shade it gets.

Lipids are a class of compounds that are defined by how they are isolated, rather than by their composition. Lipids are molecules that can be extracted from plants and animals by low polarity solvents such as ether, chloroform, or even acetone. They are not appreciably soluble in water. Fats and the fatty acids from which they are made belong to this group as do oils, waxes and steroids. Hydrolyzable lipids are those that contain a functional group that will react with water. The functional group is usually an ester and the list of compounds includes neutral fats, waxes, phospholipids, and glycolipids. Non- hydrolyzable lipids lack such functional groups and include steroids and fat-soluble vitamins (e.g. A, D, E, and K).

Fats and oils are composed of triacylglycerols. These are compounds prepared by the union of glycerol (1,2, 3-tri- hydroxypropane) and 3 fatty acids to form a triester. Fats and oils belong to a group of biological substances called lipids. Lipids are biological chemicals that do not dissolve in water. They serve a variety of functions in organisms, such as regulatory messengers (hormones), structural components of membranes, and as energy storehouses. Fats and oils generally function in the latter capacity. Fats differ from oils only in that they are solid at room temperature, while oils are liquid. Fats and oils share a common molecular structure. The fats and oils contain three ester functional groups. Fats and oils are esters of the tri- alcohol, glycerol (or glycerine). Therefore, fats and oils are commonly called triglycerides, although a more accurate name is triacylglycerols. Triglyceride molecules contain mostly carbon and hydrogen atoms, with only six oxygen atoms per molecule. This means that fats and oils are highly reduced (un-oxidized). Oils are particularly common in seeds, where the stored energy helps seedlings during germination, until they can exploit solar energy through photosynthesis. Fatty acids contain an even number of carbon atoms, from 4 to 36, bonded in an unbranched chain. Most of the bonds between carbon atoms are single bonds. If all of these bonds are single bonds, the fatty acid is said to be saturated, because the number of atoms attached to each carbon atom is the maximum of four. If some of the bonds between carbon atoms are double bonds, then the fatty acid is unsaturated. When there is only one double bond, it is usually between the 9th and 10th carbon atom in the chain, where the carbon atom attached to the oxygen atoms is counted as the first carbon atom. If there is a second double bond, it usually occurs between the 12th and 13th carbon atoms, while a third is usually between the 15th and 16th.

Introduction

Alstroemeria also known as the lily of the Incas, Peruvian lily or Inca lily, has been grown mainly as a cut flower crop. Recently, it has become popular as a garden flower and also as a potted flowering plant. The plants produce beautiful large inflorescence in many different colours viz. lavender, orange, yellow to dark yellow, white, pink, red, purple and bi-colors. Flowers are characterized by black dots at the base of the petals and throats. The cut flowers have a long post harvest life, up-to two weeks. These valuable characteristics have made Alstroemeria one of the top cut flowers at the Dutch Flower Auction Centers. The plants produce high yield and possess an ever blooming habit after flower initiation has occurred but in general most cultivars flower best during spring and early summer. The straight, un-branched shoots emerge from underground rhizomes which also produce enlarged storage roots. It is gaining popularity in Indian flower market due to long stem flowers and prolonged vase life. Recently flower growers have shown great interest about its production as a cut flower crop.

Technologiocal intervention is essential for improving pulse productivity through introduction of suitable high yielding varieties (Masood Ali and Shiv Kumar 2009). This is only possible through: (i) development of high yielding varieties with multiple resistance/tolerance to major diseases like mung bean yellow mosaic virus (MYMV), powdery mildew (PM) and Cercospora in mung bean and urdbean; (ii) development of varieties having resistance and tolerance to pre-harvest sprouting in mung bean, (iii) development of efficient plant type with high biomass and harvest index, (iv) development of varieties suited for intercropping system, (v) broadening genetic base of developed varieties, (vi) development of 50-55 days varieties of mung bean having 1 tonne/ha productivity and resistance to YMV for summer cultivation, (vii) development of high yielding and early maturity varieties of peas having resistance to powdery mildew, (viii) developing rajmash genotypes resistant to bean common mosaic virus and sclerotia rot, tolerant to high/low temperature and shattering resistance are important ones for increasing production through varieties intervention (AICRP MuLLaRP, http://iipr.res.in/mullarp).

Seed is the basic input in agriculture that acts as a catalyst for realising the full production potential of the high yielding/improved varieties. The role of quality seed in agriculture has been recognized since the ancient periods. It is a well established fact that among all the agricultural inputs, use of quality seed alone can enhance the crop production up to 15-20 per cent, depending upon the crop, and it can be further raised up to 45 per cent with efficient management of other inputs. If the seed sown is of inferior quality, the efforts of the plant breeders in developing and introducing improved varieties would be rendered futile. Modern agriculture lays great emphasis that each and every seed should germinate readily with full potential and produce vigorous seedlings to ensure high yields.

Agriculture – world-wide – is a vital determinant of the livelihoods of the rural communities and small holders in particular. Farm households consume as well as produce the food items. Diet diversity increased with farm size. Large farm- households obtain their food energy from more diverse sources – intake of pulses, milk, edible oil and sugar. Calorie intake per person per day decreased as farm size decreases. So also the protein intake on large farm house holds is substantially higher than for sub-marginal farm households and correspondingly for fats. So far the protein consumption is concerned the main source is pulses the small holder farmers grow. This is justified by the Simpson Index of diet diversity-0.43 for sub-marginal and 0.56 for large households (Singh et al., 2002). The production of pulses including the traditional/potential pulses keep priority for combating the protein deficiency in addition to earning monetary returns from export of processed and value added pulse products. The pulse production is not sufficient to cater the domestic consumption need. The area under pulse is declining over the years. The productivity is not satisfactory in comparison to the potential yield of the varieties as well as the low yield from traditional plant types grown mostly under rain fed and residual soil moisture condition after harvest of paddy or as pyra crop in paddy without proper crop management. The trend in total factor productivity of black gram and green gram, the major pulses is declining in state of Odisha and that of chick pea in Madhya Pradesh. The deficit in pulse production has led to rise in price of processed pulses due to its import to meet the domestic requirement.

There is an urgent need to take up productivity improvement programmes in the senile plantations, with fresh stock supported with appropriate and integrated combination of inputs, pruning and grafting as well as training techniques taking care of health, vigour and productiveness. This require proven technology implementation through individual farmers, farmers’ cooperatives, self-help groups, NGOs, growers’ associations and commodity organizations. However, technology depends upon the nature and requirement of a particular fruit crop. The rejuvenation technology for transformation of old senile orchards into young productive ones in sustained manner requires well-planned and concerted efforts. Though processes and procedures require scientific skill with precision in application/implementation as these important commercial crops have been associated with livelihood of many farmers/growers, i.e. why economic production is of utmost important for the growers as it holds true for all the region specific important commercial fruit crops in general.

The successful translation of rejuvenation technology in old senile orchards includes sequential operational steps. They should be followed in scientific manner for different category/group of fruit crops.

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) commonly known as ‘Anar’, is an ancient favourite table fruit of tropical and subtropical regions of the world. It belongs to family, Punicaceae. There is a great diversity in pomegranate. Originated in southern Asia and said to be native from Iran to the Himalayas in the northern India (Sandhu and Gill, 2013). The orcharding of pomegranate is somewhat expansive and skilful job. The perennial nature of fruit take longer period to come to bearing stage (3-4 years). Thereafter due to neglect in management practices the annual production, many a times compels the orchardist have to go for distress sale of entire poor quality produce. But, the successful commercial fruit production with increased quality production has made significant contribution to economic development of the grower and ultimately those in the growing region in sustainable manner.

1.1 General

Access to energy is a crucial enabling condition for achieving sustainable development. Prudent energy policies and research can play an important role in steering both industrialized and developing countries onto more sustainable energy development paths. Specifically, they can strengthen the three pillars of sustainable development: the economy, by boosting productivity, social welfare, by improving living standards and enhancing safety and security, and the environment, by reducing indoor and outdoor pollution and remediating environmental degradation.

1.2 Energy and it’s Requirement

Energy in any form is necessary to meet many of our requirements. It’s varying definitions shows the importance of energy in our life.

Abstract

The art of remote sensing has opened up many vistas in the study of river migration as satellite photographs, both in their normal and digitally enhanced modes, vividly show the rivers and their migratory signatures. The rivers migrate for various reasons amongst which tectonic movement is one of the main causes. In the present study an attempt has been made to exhibit the palaeochannel network of the rivers of Western India and integrate them with lineament fabric, so as to understand the Quaternary tectonics of the region. The study has shown that Western India shows considerable signs of Quaternary tectonics.

Abstract

The art of remote sensing has opened up many vistas in the study of river migration as satellite photographs, both in their normal and digitally enhanced modes, vividly show the rivers and their migratory signatures. The rivers migrate for various reasons amongst which tectonic movement is one of the main causes. In the present study an attempt has been made to exhibit the palaeochannel network of the rivers of Western India and integrate them with lineament fabric, so as to understand the Quaternary tectonics of the region. The study has shown that Western India shows considerable signs of Quaternary tectonics.

Carbon may present in soil in four different forms:

1. Carbonates: Mainly as CaCO₃ and MgCO₃, active CO₃^2- and HCO₃^- ions and gaseous CO₂.
2. Highly condensed elemental organic form: Charcoal, graphite.
3. Completely decomposed resistant organic residues: Humus.
4. Undecomposed and partially decomposed organic residues.

3.0. Introduction

A hazard is any factor that may be present in the food or food products and can cause harm to the consumer either through injury or illness. Hazards may be biological, chemical and physical. It may be a biological, chemical or physical property or condition of food with the potential to cause an adverse health effect. Therefore, these hazards can be grouped into three broad categories (Fig 3.1). Further, various stages during which processing hazard can takes place in a food industry is illustrated through Fig. 3.2. Effect of different potential hazards on human health along with symptoms is presented in Annexure IV.

Introduction

India has made impressive strides on the agricultural front during the past three decades. Much of the credit for this success should go to the several million small farming families that form the backbone of Indian agriculture and Indian economy. Policy support, production strategies, public investment in infrastructure, research and extension for crop, livestock and fisheries have significantly helped in increasing the agricultural productivity, food production and its availability. Notwithstanding these achievements, producing additional food with limited land, and providing economic access to food at the household level for ensuring food security would continue to be a major challenge for the nation. India has experienced considerable changes in the crop mix, yield and production since the inception of the Green Revolution. The Green Revolution phase displayed a high yield growth per unit of input. The first post-Green Revolution phase (from late-1960s to mid-1980s) was marked by the continued growth in returns from land through the intensification in use of chemical inputs and machine labour. The second post-Green Revolution phase (beginning the mid-1980s) was characterized by high input-use and decelerating productivity growth. It calls for an examination of the issues related to the trends in agricultural productivity, particularly with reference to individual crops in recent years. In the present paper, the temporal and spatial variations in the productivity status of major crops in India have been analyzed using the TFPG estimates. Some policy measures have also been suggested for sustaining TFP of the crops.

Introduction

Food is the most important requirement of every section of the society. But, mere availability of food sometimes is not enough and it does not mean that everybody is having access to a fair share of it or that every one has an adequate diet (Oshaug et al., 1994). Therefore, affordable food prices and adequate purchasing power with the people are equally important.

The need of food security was felt due to the gaps in food production and availability of sufficient food from domestic resources. Large proportion of the underfed population starves not because of general food shortage but due to the insufficient access to food supplies or insufficient income to purchase food.FAO (1999) estimated that there were 20.4 million undernourished people in India only).

Importance of maintaining food security over the world has been abundantly recognized since long. However, during 1974, FAO was called by the World Food Conference to establish a Committee on World Food Security so as to keep the world food situation under constant review and to suggest the strategies for rectifying the problems in problematic areas. Later, an International Undertaking on World Food Security was set up wherein member nations committed themselves to maintain food stocks for ensuring uninterrupted supply of foodgrains and to cope up with the problems of shortage in case of crop failure due to the natural calamities etc. Since then, the Committee on World Food Security monitors the implementation of the undertaking.

Introduction

The diversifi cation and modernization of the present agricultural and other related activities supported by efficient on and off farm processing of the commodities for the purpose of value-addition is expected to increase food production and create employment and income generation. Adding value to food commodities after harvest is also aimed at minimizing the losses during storage and to maintain the quality of product. Efficient post-production practices, particularly the preservation and processing of agricultural and allied produces may bring a wide range of benefits to the people in this country, generating job opportunities by opening up village-level processing units. The goals of post-harvest and food processing technology are loss prevention as well as adding value to the harvested biomass, which result in more income to the farmers/processors and better quality produce provided to the consumers. Post-harvest and food processing technology are commodity-and location-specific and it is done at home, village and/or cottage levels at small and large industrial scale. On-farm post-harvest storage and primary processing integrated with production technology help to generate more employment opportunities and additional income for rural people. Minimization of the post-harvest losses is an important means to increase per capita food availability. It also helps to generate more employment and income. Investment in post-harvest measures is more economical and time saving than in productivity to obtain the same amount of a particular commodity. Furthermore, post-harvest measures automatically add value to the raw commodities as they pass on their marketing channels. Adoption of postharvest technologies and value additive measures are very strong tools for rural and social development through employment and income generation. Development and adoption of efficient value addition practices will enhance national food supply and sustain food security even at the household level. Fruits and vegetables processing industries have a good deal of potential in serving the rural economy. First, it helps in generating more employment for rural people. It will also check mobility of rural masses towards urban areas in search of employment. Employment opportunities offered by agroprocessing industries are plenty to the farm population and entrepreneur seeking self-employment. Cottage scale units particularly offer self-employment opportunities. Traditionally women handle food and are familiar with skills of food processing. In order to improve the status of living of woman and rural food processing, low cost appropriate fruit and vegetable processing technologies offer excellent opportunities for production of processed foods. The improvement of status of socially backward and landless labor classes will be possible only through providing non-farm employment at their doorsteps. This will generate a sense of security and confidence amongst rural people for overcoming uncertainty in agricultural income and providing self-employment to the land-less labor. The locally available untapped resources should be used effectively.

Concept of sustainable agriculture is of multiple dimensions. It denotes potential of technology, fragile ecosystem, and human interference of limited natural resources. An understanding of sustainable agriculture in brief indicates:

1. Increase in production with efficient use of resources

2. Control of external inputs of synthetic nature

3. Nutrient cycle within the farm must be closed.

Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of CGIAR reveals that sustainability is a dynamic concept that allows for changing needs of a steady increasing global population. Sustainable agriculture should involve the successful management of resources for agriculture to satisfy changing human needs while maintaining or enhancing the quality of environment and conserving natural resources.

The dictionary meaning of sustainability is to keep an effort continuously the ability to last out and keep from falling. Sustainability basically refers to the capacity to remain productive while maintaining the resource base. Locker (1988) explained the term sustainable, a time dimension and the capacity of farming system to endure indefinitely. The concept of sustainability should serve as guide to agricultural practices. It must include technology and practices that both sustain and enhance productivity to meet the increasing food demands (Rutton, 1988). In short, environmental sustainability implies that it is compatible with and supportive of the criteria like;

Introduction

A complex spatial soil properties pattern is directly controlled by soil internal factors and anthropogenic impacts.Hartemink et al. (2001) elaborate a strong decline in mineralogy, morphology and genesis of soil research than strong increase in pedometrics applications during 1967 to 2001. Hartemink and McBratney (2008) identified this change as “soil science renaissance”. Basically, the soil science deeply rooted in agriculture, geology, and chemistry but the paradigm has been shifted from classification and inventorization to quantification of soil patterns in spatial as well as temporal patterns and their impact on the ecosystem health and hydrological cycle. The environmental keen approach explains that soil is in the center of the ecosystem and highly interacting with the biotic and abiotic factors of the ecosystem and a complex pattern and process has been co-evolved with the time.

Introduction

In geographical location, the observations taken in proximity tend to be more alike than observations made at points that are far apart-that is, the values tend to be correlated. An area of study that takes this sort of spatial consideration into account is called geostatistics. A primary motivation for sampling is to make meaningful estimates of values at nearby positions in space and time. When values are assumed independent, the best estimate for an unmeasured point will be the mean. However, for correlated values nearby values are estimated by interpolation. The simplest interpolation scheme is a nearest neighbor estimate for which the unknown values are based on the closest measured location. Inverse distance is another sort of interpolation technique where weights are estimated based on the inverse distance squared. Kriging is a geostatistical interpolation technique that considers both the distance and the degree of variation between known data points when estimating values in unknown areas.

It makes the best use of existing knowledge by taking account of the way that a property varies in space through the variogram model. In its original formulation a kriged estimate at a place was simply a linear sum or weighted average of the data in its neighbourhood. Weights are based on the distance between the measured points, the prediction locations, and the overall spatial arrangement among the measured points. Since then kriging has been elaborated to tackle increasingly complex problems in mining, petroleum engineering, pollution control and abatement, and public health. The term is now generic, embracing several distinct kinds of kriging, both linear and non-linear.

Introduction

The natural resources of arid regions particularly soil and water are limited and is often in a delicate environmental balance. Desert encroachment due to lack of conservation planning, and the dangers of destroying or depleting beyond recovery these productive resources, are evident at present time and may be disastrous if development is based on short term expediency rather than long term stability.

The arid zone of India is spread over 38.7 million ha area, out of which 31.7 m ha in under hot arid region and 7 m ha under cold region. The hot arid region occupies major part of north-western India (28.57 m ha) and occurs in small pockets (3.13 m ha) in south India. The north-western arid region occurs between 22o30' and 32o05' N latitudes and from 68o05' to 75o45' E longitudes, covering western part of Rajasthan (19.6 m ha, 69%), north-western Gujarat (6.22 m ha, 21%) and 2.75 m ha (10%) in south-western part of Haryana and Punjab (Faroda et al. 1999). Rainfall distribution is highly uneven over space and time (CV>60%). The region receives low rainfall (<100 mm to 500 mm), has high evapotranspiration and high temperature regime (Rao and Singh 1998). Groundwater is deep and often brackish. The western-central area is devoid of drainage system and surface water resources are meager (Fig. 20.1). Due to low and erratic rainfall, replenishment of water resources is also very poor. The entire Rajasthan state is being categorized as the driest state and water scarce (having per capita water availability below 1000 m3 year-1) since 1991 in the country. Increasing pollution by industrial units, big and small, unregulated mining and even over-extraction of water from deep wells also add to the water quality problem in number of districts. Rapid urbanization and industrialization make such existing differences even more

A protocol for SYBR green based real-time RT-PCRfor detection of Piper yellow mottle virus and Cucumber mosaic virus infecting black pepper and Cardamom mosaic virus (CdMV) and Banana bract mosaic virus (BBrMV) infecting cardamom was developed. A native isolate of Phytophthora capsici (Is. No. 98-93) infecting black pepper was completely sequenced using next generation sequencing platform, Illumina-Solexa GA II. The sequence data was assembled by taking Joint Genome Institute’s P. capsici as reference genome. The treatment of black pepper cuttings with Carbendazim + Mancozeb (0.1%) was effective for the management of anthracnose disease in nursery.

The black pepper accession, 1114 (Kumbhachola), was tolerant to P. capsici. The accession was earlier found resistant to pollu beetle and drought. A new bacterial wilt disease on small cardamom was recorded in Wayanad, Kerala. The phenotypic and genetic characterization revealed that causative organism is Ralstonia solanacearum (Biovar 3 phylotype 1) and was 100% similar to ginger strain of R. solanacearum. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (GRB 35) and Serratia marcescens (GRB 68) were promising for enhancing sprouting of rhizomes, growth promotion and reducing the incidence of soft rot and bacterial wilt diseases in ginger in the field.

High-yielding Plantation crops varieties and hybrids with tolerance to pests / diseases and to various farming constraints such as soil and water salinity, soil acidity, drought, flood and such other factors have been developed.

Three coconut varieties (IND 045S, IND 048S and IND 058S), two arecanut varieties (VTL 62-Shriwardhan selection and VTL7-Nalbari) and two selections of cocoa (VTLC 1 and VTLC 57) were identified for commercial cultivation. Coconut variety, Kalpa Samrudhi, was recommended for commercial cultivation in Kerala and Asom, and Kalpa Sankara and Kalpasree for coconut root(wilt)- affected tracts in Kerala. Molecular-markers associated with hybridity in coconut, dwarfness and resistance to root (wilt) and yellow leaf diseases were utilized. Homology-basedmodelling of somatic embryogenesis receptor-like kinase (SERK) protein in coconut, development of a computational tool for detection of microsatellites in whole genome sequences, development of algorithm for gene annotation and genome-wide analysis of microsatellites in strains of plant growth promoting (P. fluorescens) are achievements in bioinformatics.

The relevance and need for an eco-friendly alternative farming system arose from the ill effects of the chemical farming practicesadopted worldwide during the second half of the last century. The methods of farming evolved and adopted by our forefathers for centuries were less injurious to the environment. People began to think of various alternative farmingsystemsbased on the protection of environment which in turn would increase the welfare of the humankind in various ways like clean and healthy foods, an ecology which is conducive to the survival of all the living and non-living things, low use of the non-renewable energy sources, etc. Many systems of farming evolved as an outcome of the efforts of many experts and laymen. However, organic farming is considered to be the best amongall of them because of its scientific approach and wider acceptance all over the world.

Organic farming means farming in the spirit of organic relationship. In nature, organic relationship is a pervasive phenomenon. Everythingis connectedwith everything else. Hence, organic farmingis not mere non-chemicalism in agriculture. Since, organic farmingmeans placingfarmingonintegral relationship, wehave to know therelationship between soil-water and plant; betweensoilandsoil microbes andwasteproducts;between the plant and animal kingdom of which the apex animal is the human being; between agriculture and forestry; between soil, water and atmosphere etc.It is the totality of the relationship that is the bedrock of organic farming. However, the understanding of this totality of relationship is not sufficient for success in organic farming. Understanding the local specificity in respect of each of these aspects of these multiple relationship is also important (Pal, 2006).

Introduction and Scope

Plant and soil testing enable scientific assessment of the needs of the plant for nutrient elements and of the capacity of the soil to supply them. The nutrient elements enter the plant in ionic form from the soil solution. Ion transport to the root surface may take place through ion diffusion and bulk transport (mass flow). Mass flow is the sweeping along of ions as water moves to the root. It is particularly important for ions that are not absorbed on soil colloids such as nitrates and sulphates. Because of mass flow, a plant deficient in N can extract all the nitrates from the soil. Potassium, phosphate and the micronutrient cations are absorbed on soil colloids with various degrees of affinity and are greatly retarded in movement with the soil water. Diffusion (movement along a concentration gradient) is the main mode of transport from the solid phase to the root surface for these non-mobile ions. There is also a possibility that some of them are absorbed by a direct exchange of an ion, usually hydrogen, between the root surface and ions absorbed on soil colloids. Most ions are sorbed by the root against a concentration gradient and, thus, the process involves the use of metabolic energy. The fact that nutrient uptake is an active process explains some of its peculiarities. Plants not only accumulate nutrients against a concentration gradient, they are also able to select from the nutrients at the root surface according to their requirements (preferential uptake).

ABSTRACT

This article is an attempt to describe potential agroforestry systems for mid hills zone of Himalayas. The existing traditional land use systems with separate allocation to agriculture and forest are inadequate not only to fill gaps between demand and supply for food, fuel, fodder and timber but also to check land degradation and soil erosion. The adoption of common agroforestry systems, namely agrisilviculture, agrihorticulture, agrisilvihorticulture, agrihortisilviculture, silvimedicinal, silvipastoral and hortipastoral along with appropriate management practices shall be suitable and viable option for checking soil erosion, improving productivity and economic status of the farming community. The functional components of agroforestry systems, however, differ greatly in size, texture and nature depending on the necessity of rural population. The fuel, fodder, timber and fruit trees dominate in the hilly regions, whereas commercial species like poplar, eucalyptus, shisham, etc constitute the major functional component in lower Shivaliks. Farming communities successfully grow food crops like wheat, maize, soybean, pea, black gram; vegetable crops like tomato, cabbage, capsicum; tuber crops and medicinal crops with multipurpose woody perennials. The findings indicate that agricultural crops can be integrated with woody perennials without any adverse impact on growth, production or physiological status of food crops, except when growing immediately beneath tree canopies. Our experience is that planting timber, fuel-fodder or fruit tree species in combination with agricultural crops and medicinal and aromatic herb species pave the way for diversified products and better economic returns to the farmers. Multipurpose tree species outside the forest have played very important role in catering to the day to day requirements of the rural population, beside environmental conservation. Different farming systems consisting crops + trees have yielded encouraging results and have not only helped diversification but enhanced productivity of land per unit area. Intercropping medicinal and aromatic herb species, especially with fruit and commercial timber further makes agroforestry more profitable.

Internal Factors

The increased yield and other desirable characters are related to the genetic make up of the plant. They are :

• High yields under given environmental conditions.
• Early maturity (in some cases late maturity).
• Resistance to lodging.
• Drought, flood and salinity tolerance.
• Tolerance to insects and diseases.
• Chemical composition of grains (high percentage of oil, increase in protein quantity or quality, etc.)
• Quality of grains (fineness, coarseness, etc.)
• Quality of straw (sweetness, juiciness, etc.)

Abstract

Grazing animals have developed symbiotic relationship with anaerobic microorganisms, which survive in their rumen and help in the oxidation of complex molecules of feed containing lignocellulosic materials into volatile fatty acids. The consortium comprises anaerobic bacteria, fungi and protozoans. The rich microbial diversity of rumen remains constant after its establishment and does not get affected by intruding contaminants along with feed or water. The rumen contains a wide range of microbes such as Fibrobacter spp., Ruminococcus spp., Clostridium spp., Prevotella spp., Eubacterium spp., Methanobacterium spp., Treponema sp. Lachnospira sp., Bacterioides s pp., fungi: Anaeromyces s pp., Neocallimastix spp., and protozoa: Enoplastron sp., Eudiplodinium spp., Ostracodinium sp. They often have a variety of enzymes, glucanases, xylanase, glucuronidase, pectinase and amylase, etc. These enzymes inhabit the microbes and even break down complex molecules into simpler forms like; glucose and volatile fatty acids. The present chapter discusses on the role of microorganisms of rumen.

Introduction

A symposium organized by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in 1966 and International Organization of Biological Control (IOBC) in 1967, felt the need for the development of a new concept called “Integrated control” which was later replaced by “Integrated Pest Management”. The origin of IPM was necessary after the serious failure of the chemical age which started in the 1940’s. The pesticides were used as the only tactic to completely annihilate the pests from the crop ecosystem, which did miraculously decreased the pests and increased the production of the crop extensively, but they failed to realize the balance of life, by nature and by virtue of the selection pressure pests started developing resistance against all kind of pesticides being dumped on them.While the pests were getting resistant, the dumped pesticides were accumulating in the environment and biomagnifying inside the bodies of animal (WHO, 1990; Alewu & Nosiri, 2011; Eskenazi et al., 1999). The indiscriminate use of pesticides led to the significant health hazard to the humans (WHO, 1990; Alewu & Nosiri, 2011; Sanborn et al., 2007; Mnifet al; 2011; Semchuk et al., 1992; Goad et al., 2004; McKinlay et al., 2008; Gasnier et al., 2009; Lin et al., 2015; Waddell et al., 2001), reproductive malfunction in male (Jamal et al., 2015), nervous system (Jaga and Dharmani, 2003; Rosenstock et al., 1991; Wesseling et al., 2002; Eskenazi et al., 2006), cardiovascular system (Hung et al., 2015) and ultimately death (WHO, 1990; Gunnell et al., 2007). From the lessons acquired of the hazards, the concept of IPM proposed the concept of “pest eradication” was replaced with “pest management”. There are more than 64 definitions of IPM but the most accepted one came from FAO (1967) which defined IPM as “a system in context with associated environment and the population dynamics of pest species, utilizes all suitable techniques and methods in as compatible manner as possible and maintains the pest populations at level below those causing economic injury”. IPM decreased the pest pressure of the crop and increased the productivity of the crop and income of the farmers. IPM is a complex approach that advocates the integration of several components such as physical, mechanical, biological, legal, ecological and chemical tactics, in a compatible manner in a complete ecological set up, so that natural mortality has a role in checking the pest population building up above economic injury level (EIL).

Introduction

Biotic stresses, particularly insect pests adversely affect the economical yield potential and the quality of the widely cultivated spice crops. These pests attack the crops at various developmental stages of the crops. For instance, Pollu beetle alone in black pepper is the most destructive pest and causing 30 to 40% yield loss in humid, tropical evergreen forests of India (Devasahayam, et al., 1988). Considering the cost of cultivation and profitability, it is very important to develop and recommend low cost, economic easily adoptable technologies. Food production process in India during the green revolution period has been based on the use of more chemical fertilizers and pesticides which are detrimental to the environment. The challenge before the crop protection scientists is to boost the yield from the available land without harming the environment. To manage the problem of insect pests in spice crops, farmers are over using synthetic chemical pesticides indiscriminately and this result in environmental degradation and high pesticide residue levels in the produces are are mainly hindering the export. Now the focus is on organic spice production, therefore a search for safer measures of pest and disease management is gaining importance. Integration of various approaches like use of resistant/tolerant varieties, disease or pest free planting materials and exploitation of biological means such as bio- control agents, bio-pesticides, entomo-pathogens, parasitoids and predators at the right time paved the way to achieve this goal (Dhanya et al., 2019; Prakash et al., 2016). Incorporating ecological and economic factors into decision making and addressing the public concerns about environmental quality and food safety is the need of the hour. There is now wide array of techniques available to replace the use of conventional chemical insecticides in IPM programmes. These issues can be sorted out by adopting eco-friendly Biointensive Integrated Pest Management strategy.

A

Abdomen: Area between the keel and the pubic (hip) bones.

Abdominal capacity: The distance between the two public bones (width) and between the pubic bones and the tip of the keel (depth).

Addled: An egg where the contents are decomposing.

Air cell: The air space between the two shell membranes, usually at the large end of the egg.

Albumen: The white of an egg.

Alektorophobia: The fear of chickens.

Allantois: A sac connected to the embryo’s abdomen and involved in embryo respiration.

Amnion: A sac surrounding the embry filled with amniotic fluid which protects the developing embryo from shock and provides a medium for the develop embryo to exercise their muscles.

Antibody: A natural substance in the blood that recognizes and destroys foreign invaders and that causes an immune response to vaccination or infection.

Anticoccidial: An anticoccidial drug used to treat or prevent coccidiosis.

Antigen: A foreign protein in the blood that differs from nautral body proteins and, as a result, stimulates the natural production of antibodies.

Artificial insemination: The introduction of semen into the female oviduct by methods other than by natural mating.

As hatched: Description of a group of chicks that have not been sorted.

7.1 Economics and Valuation of ghgs emissions

Since the late 20^th century, it has been largely accepted that cause of high concentration of GHGs in atmosphere is induced by human activities. Greenhouse gas emissions and related climate change has opened up debate on overall economic losses and ways to reduce these loses. Moreover, apart from curbing monetary losses; the global political leaders as well as reputed economists are looking towards making money by saving the emissions. Recently, the researchers have started to emphasize on the actual value added to the ecosystem by curbing emissions, discrete of the economic benefits. This section will discuss the economics and ecosystem services related to the management of GHG emissions.

Origin

The initiative to curb the emissions started in 1992 with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The Convention took place from 3 to 14 June, 1992. The UNFCCC is an international environmental treaty designed to “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system”. The UNFCCC had non-binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions for individual countries and the framework was only meant for formulating precise international treaties (called “Protocols” or “Agreements”). It contained no execution mechanisms, however, it considered some negotiations and suggestions to formulate the action plans and regulation guidelines under UNFCCC to fulfill the objective of reduction of GHG emissions to the desired level.

1.1 Introduction

The word ‘computer’comes from the word ‘compute’, which means to calculate or perform a sequence of operations. Hence, a computer is normally considered to be a calculating device, which can perform arithmetic operations at enormous speed.

In other words, a computer takes information (or input), processes it according to a set of instructions (or process), and gives back a result (or output). In this respect, it is very similar to a calculator, but obviously somewhat more complex.

A computer is a multi-function platform. The same machine can perform many different tasks by using different programs. The programs (also termed as applications) are written to do everything imaginable. In other words, we can say that a program is a set of instructions issued to a computer in order to get the desired output.

Definition

A Computer can defined as an electronic device that takes input from its user, stores, processes data and generates the required output as per the processing instructions given to it by the user.

2.1 Definition and Concept

An operating system (abbreviated as ‘OS’) is the program that, manages all the other programs in a computer. Every general-purpose computer must have an operating system. It provides support for the loading and execution of other programs which are known as Application Programs.

5.1 Introduction

According to Croxton and Cowden, “Either for one’s own use or for the use of other, the data must be presented in some suitable form”.

Now – a – days everybody uses tables in one form or another, and accountants use them quite often. The work become tedious, especially if you had to do for 12 columns for the 12 months of the year, and more so if there were some modification to be done after having set up the entire table. The Americans have a special name for such tables- spreadsheet which makes life easy.

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak two young Americans in 1976 AD developed the first desktop computer – The Apple which was not user friendly and needed programming for useful work. Dan Bricklin, Robert Frankston and Dan Fylstra proposed a program to turn the computer’s memory into a giant virtual spreadsheet where necessary corrections and modifications could be done fairly, quickly and easily and marketed the program in 1978 under the trade name VisiCalc. VisiCalc was soon succeeded by Sugercal and other computer programs which were more user friendly. The Lotus 1-2-3 designed and developed by Larry Kaplan put further step, which set the standard for many applications under the IBM, Now a days Microsoft under the leadership of Bill Gates had been working on the sidelines perfecting graphical user Interface (GUI) packages for the PC range of computers that would widen its reach. Now Microsoft office program Suite the integrated word processing, spreadsheet, presentation and data base management.

The spreadsheet package in Microsoft office is called Excel – our basic software, or program for this manual.

Solution:

Steps used for plotting the bar graph are as:

Step 1: Open Excel sheet and feed the above data as given in figure. 9.1.

Step 2: Select data and go to insert menu and select column chart. (figure 9.2)

Step 3: Select 2-D column, option first from dialog Box (figure 9.3).

Step 4: The desired output will be as shown (figure 9.4).

Remark The data labels, axis name, title of the graph etc. can be inserted through selecting option formatting chart area and add data labels by right clicking on the graph output (figure 9.5).

Historically, the terms alternative, complementary or traditional medicine (TM) all referred to a genre of health care practices or services that got bound together as a class through the logic of reductio-ad-absurdum, or because of their “absence from the mainframe of” what has come to be known as Modern Medicine (MM). However, since Stephen Fulder¹ , the identities of TM have become more distinct, MM-TM blending more active and, the line separating the two more fuzzy. To date, the World Health Organization offers the most comprehensive definition of TM² .

WHO defines traditional medicine as including diverse health practices, approaches, knowledge and beliefs incorporating plant, animal, and/or mineral based medicines, spiritual therapies, manual techniques and exercises applied singularly or in combination to maintain well-being, as well as to treat, diagnose or prevent illness.

The phraseology MM/TM is syntactically incorrect because it is contended that medicine as such, modern or otherwise, evolves and progresses through traditions. The major difference between the various traditions of health care practices is that MM rode the crest of the high wave of reductionist-scientistic rigor of modernity³ to reach the shore of global acceptability while the others never crossed the threshold of geographical and cultural locality, remaining untested, neither proved nor disproved. Darwinian principle of survival of the fittest also endorses a truism that survival is a proof of fitness. Given this principle, it makes sense that TM as we know of it today may be useful for promoting human health. Moreover, most TM considers human beings and their health in the context of their environment. This criteria, not only defines TM apart from MM but also provides for a reason as to why lately TM is emerging out of long hibernation. Developmentally, MM isolated “human” from its global environmental context as a static, stand-alone, complete, total and delimited system in itself. While this reductionist approach has a very high pay off for the first 90% of human health problems, it fails when dynamic non-linear complex systems elements kick in (I’m not exactly sure that you mean by this phrase). TM covers some parts of those hidden variables and thats the utility to modern mankind.

Safety is a primary concern regarding traditional and complementary therapies. There are two aspects of safety evaluations. First, to ensure that the right quality of material and apt possesses are used from sourcing to marketing; and second, there is no contamination, adulteration or spiking. Few studies have reported adulteration with steroids in some traditional Chinese dermatological preparations. In an analysis of Chinese herbal creams prescribed for dermatological conditions, Keane et al. found that eight of eleven creams analyzed contained steroids194. Spiking with corticostreoinds has been observed in some market preparations claimed to be useful in the treatment of arthritis and asthma195. Recently, Saper et al. from Harvard Medical School have reported heavy metal content of Ayurvedic herbal preparations and have recommended mandatory toxic heavy metal testing196. There have been few reports of heavy metal toxicity following traditional medicine use197,198. Such studies are important and needed, however they are more related to the quality control failures of the mass manufacturing activities. Often they are wrongly used to limit the use of TM. In reality, such a QC failure should not be considered as a general negative notion to create a bias against TM. We certainly need effective QC and regulation of herbal medicines, without limiting public access to these preparations and ensuring public interest and constituting restrictive trade practice.

A. Diseases

1. Anthracnose

Occurrence & severity status

Anthracnose of sisal is also called as leaf spot or ring spot disease. The disease is frequently accompanied with sun scorch in Kenya and Tanganyika (Morstatt, 1930). This is considered as a leaf disease of minor importance, occurring on numerous species of Agave as well as the closely related genus Furcraea, including F. macrophylla Baker (wild sisal). The disease is distributed in warm temperate and tropical regions including southern Europe, British Guiana (Bancroft, 1914), the Neotropics, Cyprus (Georghiou and Papadopoulos, 1957), Kenya (Nattrass, 1961) and USA (Parris, 1959). It is also been reported to occur in various countries of Asia, including China (Tai, 1979), Korea (Cho and Shin, 2004), the Philippines (Teodoro, 1937) and Taiwan (Anonymous, 1979). In India, the disease was first reported as leaf spot caused by Colletotrichum agaves Cav. (Butler, 1905). Its occurrence was also reported from Antigua (Bancroft, 1910) and Puerto Rico (Macedo, 1943). Apart from sisal, the disease also occurs on tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum), potato (Solanum tuberosum) and over 35 other hosts, representing 13 families, chiefly in the Cucurbitaceae, Leguminosae and Solanaceae (Chesters and Hornby, 1965). The disease also occurs on onion and strawberry (Mordue, 1967).

Southern Leaf Blight

Helminthosporium maydis (Syn: H. turcicum)

Economic Importance

• The first epidemics of the Southern corn leaf blight also known as Maydis leaf blight took place in the USA in 1970.
• A highly virulent strain called Race T appeared on maize hybrids with Texas male sterile cytoplasm.
• The disease development was related to the growing of maize with T-cytoplasm on large areas.
• Since 1990 the use of cultivars with T male sterile cytoplasm has been forbidden in selection.
• Presently, the cultivars with M and C types of sterility are used.

Dry Root Rot / Charcoal Rot

Macrophomina phaseolina

Economic Importance

• Dry root rot has been found in most of the soybean-growing areas of the India.
• The disease has been increasing in importance and can result in substantial yield losses.
• In most fields, stand losses range from less than 5% to over 50% in severe cases.
• It is most prevalent on seedling and young plants, causing a root and stem rot.

Root Rot or Charcoal Rot

Rhizoctonia bataticola

(Pycnidial stage: Macrophomina phaseolina)

Economic Importance

• Charcoal rot is of great economic importance in the World and has been found to reduce head weight and diameter, stem height and weight and in particular, the stem girth and root weight of sunflower plants.
• The first report of the occurrence of charcoal rot on sunflower was from Sri Lanka by Small (1927).
• Under favourable condition, losses can reach 60-90%.
• Infected plants generally die before seed set is finished.

Introduction

The world does not function without mathematics. In our day-today life we come across many problems which are solved mathematically. The mathematical logical system follows “Yes” or “No”, “True” or “False”, “1” or “0” which are precise outputs for the precise inputs. There are several ambiguous or vague problems which cannot be given with accurate precise value with the conventional logical operators. Beyond this Boolean logic operator the logical system which mimics the human brain and gives precise solutions for the imprecise linguistic variables is the Fuzzy logic system. Fuzzy logic is a novel approach that intends to imitate human reasoning using calculations and operations with fuzzy systems and linguistic variables. The problems with vague imprecise data which we come across in our day today life cannot be solved by conventional binary logical method. The fuzzy logic solution spontaneously splits a complex problem into its component parts. This reduces the solution to its component parts. Compilers may re-assemble the code for effective execution on some target, but at the programmer level the problem is a number of simple tasks.

Fuzzy sets theory was introduced by Zadehin the year 1965, and it allows uncertain phenomena to be treated mathematically.

Introduction

Biological, physical, chemical and other hazards associated with food have been detailed in Chapter 4. This chapter would address the risks associated with these hazards as well the scientific approach is assessing them. Risk analysis is an inevitable platform for food safety assurance which measures the impact of hazards on the health of consumers. To improve public health and maintain consumer trust in the food supply and to provide a sound regulatory foundation for national and international trade in food, an efficient food safety management system is essential. Therefore, World Trade Organization (WTO) developed food regulations governing international trade in foods based on science and risk assessment. A sound knowledge of food hazards and risks they pose to consumers, along with the capacity to take appropriate interventions, deserve top priority of a responsible authority and industry.

Risk

The word ‘risk’ is used to describe a situation that involves a possibility of something undesired to happen (Rowe, 1977). In food processing, hazards are considered as risks. Hazards are often thought of as synonyms of risks, however, hazards are quite different from risks.

A food borne hazard is defined by Codex as “a biological, chemical or physical agent in or condition of food, with the potential to cause an adverse health effect”. A risk is the chance, low or high, that any hazard will actually cause harm. Some of the emerging food hazards that must be assessed and managed are listed in table 1. Assessment and management of risks posed by these hazards is the responsibility to be urgently addressed by the scientific community.

Street Foods-An Introduction

The National Policy on Urban Street Vendors (2004) defines street vendor as a person who offers goods for sale to the public without having a permanent built-up structure but with a temporary static structure or mobile stall (or head load). Street vendors may be stationary occupying space on the pavements or other public/private areas, or may be mobile in the sense that they move from place to place carrying their wares on push carts or cycles or baskets on their heads, or may sell their wares in moving trains and buses. The total number of street vendors in India has been estimated to be ten million and the number of street food vendors has increased sharply in the past few years (Bhowmik 2005).

The preparation and sale of street food is an age-old activity with historical roots and complex socio-economic and cultural implications. Street food vendors are mostly outside the regulation of the governments and unregistered thus making them an informal sector. Similar to most other informal sector enterprises street food operations too are carried out with minimal investment, infrastructure and as familial operations. Street food outlets are seen mushrooming at crowded public places like bus stands, cinema halls, market areas and parks. They operate as temporary structures or as pushcarts parked near the roadside or at pavements. Most street food vendors operate their food stands alone and are able to generate sufficient income for sustenance.

Introduction

Food quality control systems in all sectors of food chain around the globe are driven by guidelines to help the authorities to enforce rules and regulations to protect the public from fraud and deception in various levels of food production and facilitate fair trade. This also helps authorities to select suitable options of infrastructure and enforcement mechanics. Such documentation provide possible infrastructure and approaches to national food control systems to use them or further improve them wherever needed (Temesgen, 2015). To make a food control system most effective; it is strengthened by improving the existing fragmented legislation, multiple jurisdictions, and weaknesses in surveillance, monitoring and enforcement in many countries. Organisations like FAO and WHO help enforce food laws and regulations to meet a country’s sanitary as well as phytosanitary requirements.

Generally, food law may be divided in two parts: (i) a basic food act, and (ii) regulations. The Act itself give broad principles, while regulations contain detailed provisions governing the different categories of products coming under the jurisdiction of each set of regulations. Detailed provisions are needed for effective administration of and enlightened compliance with the basic food laws. In governments where there is a division between the responsibilities of the legislative and executive branches, the legislative branch enacts the basic law, while detailed regulations are elaborated and promulgated by the executive agency or agencies responsible for administering the law. Regular revisions of regulation is necessary because of novel scientific knowledge, change of processing technology, or quick action to protect public health. Such revisions can be made much more expeditiously by executive agencies than by legislative bodies. In some of the countries food standards are a part of the regulations; in the other countries they are separate enactments.

Introduction

Tripura is a small state blessed with rich flora and fauna. The small scale aquaculture with other agricultural enterprises and allied economic activities are common practice followed by majority of the farmers in rural areas. The small scale aquaculture is not only common in rural areas but is also practiced in the backyard ponds in urban which have multiple uses. The homestead fish production is common in Tripura because fish is highly preferred food item in the diet of about 95% people of Tripura. But due to the subsistence level of aquaculture practices in the state, productivity and production of fish is quite insufficient to meet out market demand for fish. Though the state Government and other stakeholders of fish production systems are making relentless effort to enhance the production to the level of 74 MT to meet the current market demand, the average fish productivity in the state is comparatively lower as compared to many states of the country. The lower productivity is an important issue and one of the major impediments in enhancing fish production in the state. The experts and research finding have identified several factors such as short culture period, acidic nature of soil and water, more iron content, poor quality of seed, improper feeding, lack of technical knowhow etc are the main reasons behind the lower productivity. Still, there are many other issues uncovered and unaddressed which may be the lower growth of fishes and consequent lower fish productivity. For instance, factors like pond size and number of species in the culture system at farmers’ level may also have impact on the farm productivity. It is necessary to adopt region-specific models for furthering freshwater aquaculture in view of the available aquatic biodiversity as well as the consumer preferences and economics of operations in different parts of the country (Ayappan et al, 2009). This is particularly important considering polyculture is the major form of aquaculture in the state. Datta 2015, has opined that due to consumer’s preference, high market value as well as conservation-revitalization of various cultivable species, importance of diversification in culture of various species has been found of immense importance in the present aquaculture scenario. Among the species, endemic minor carps, catfishes in monoculture, perches, murrels live species are important. In this study, an attempt has been made to analyse level of species diversification at the farm level and their socio-economic and scientific significance at farm level.

Pomegranate is emerging as one of the important fruit crops owing to its hardiness and ability to withstand adverse soil and climatic conditions. India contributes 40-45 percent of total 10 lakh tons production in the world. Currently the export of pomegranate is around 10,000 tons, which is just 5 percent of the total export. With the increase in population, the domestic demand of fruits has also increased substantially. As on date, out of total area of 1, 25,000 ha. under pomegranate, major area under the crop is found in Maharashtra. The state has 85,000 ha. (68 % area) under the crop, of which only 51,000 ha is under production, followed by Karnataka 12,727 ha. Gujarat 3,787 ha, up to 2003 –2004 (Anon, 2005). Earlier orchards were raised mainly with variety Ganesh, which was the leading variety. However, the variety is fast being replaced with the new cultivars like Bhagawa and Arakta, which have attractive skin and aril colour and are suitable for export.

The pomegranate is an ancient and favorite table fruit of tropical countries. It is commercially grown for its sweet-acidic fruits, which provide a cool refreshing juice, and is valued for its medicinal properties. The fruit rind, juice, leaf and roots are used in the preparation of various ayurvedic medicines. Its popularity is also due to ornamental nature of the plant especially due to bearing bright red flowers throughout the year. The fruit juice is refreshing and contains both glucose and fructose. The juice and seed contain large quantities of tannin and agolic acid, which is essential in curing several diseases. The fruit can be successfully grown even under purely rain fed conditions. In the recent years pomegranate cultivation has become an economically viable proposition.

Introduction

Protected cultivation practices can be defined as a cropping technique where in the micro environment surrounding the plant body is controlled partially or fully as per plant need during their period of growth to maximize the yield and resource saving. Protected structures can play important role to minimize the impact of temperature fluctuation, over/under precipitation, fluctuating sun shine hour and infestation of disease and pest. The controlled environment can be utilized for growing early season /off-season vegetables and high value vegetables. This may become relevant to those farmers having small land holding who would be benefitted by a technology, which helps them to grow more crops each year and save them from adverse situation. Vegetable crops are very sensitive to climatic vagaries and sudden rise in temperature as well as irregular precipitation at any phase of crop growth can affect the normal growth, flowering, pollination, fruit development and subsequently decreased the crop yield. Apart from that high input cost and higher labor wages make vegetable cultivation less profitable under open field condition. Again, in the present scenario, more people are demanding early season/off-season vegetables and high value vegetables at higher price which are not possible to grow under open field situation.

Present status in world: In world, China has the largest area (2,760 thousand hectares) under greenhouse cultivation followed by Korea having 57.44 thousand hectares (Nair and Barche, 2014). The advent of protected cultivation technology in India materialized during the early nineties, post globalization.

India: India is the second largest producers of vegetable in the world, however as per medical council of India, the production is much less than the requirement if balanced diet are to be provided to every individual. The advent of protected cultivation technology in India materialized during the early nineties, post globalization. In India, the area under protected cultivation faced with constraints of land holdings, rapid urbanization, declining crop production, declining biodiversity and ever increasing population, demand for food, especially vegetables has increased manifold and protected cultivation has offered a new dimension to produce more in a limited area. Today Dutch protected cultivation is one of the most intensive farming systems in the world with high levels of output by using the latest technologies.

Introduction

Arid regions are characterized by stressful edaphic and environmental conditions such as low and erratic rainfall coupled with limited irrigation resources, high evapotranspiration and extreme temperature regimes. Under such environment, the productivity of agriculture crops is far behind the satisfactory level, rendering cultivation of field crops an unprofitable venture. The recent awareness about potential of ecologically fragile lands for cultivation of fruit trees has not only opened up scope for providing economic sustainability for the natives, especially small farmers, but also for bringing new areas under fruit production. Ber (Ziziphus mauritiana Lamk.) or Indian jujube, which belongs to the family Rhamnaceae and said to be indigenous fruit crop. Ber is grown in India traditionally from ancient times where it has been in use for almost 4000 years (Mittre, 1961). It is one of the most suitable fruit trees for arid and semiarid regions. It is also known as ‘King of Arid Fruits’, Chinese date, Chinese fig or poor man’s fruit. Ber can do well even under marginal growing conditions and provides quality yields at low cost (Shukla, 1996). Cultivation of ber under the harsh conditions of the Thar desert of India (west Rajasthan) demonstrates its adaptation to desert conditions. Flowering and fruiting of ber coincide with the availability of maximum rain water (monsoon rains), which is during JulySeptember. It has a long taprootand can withstand high temperatures during the summer. During the dry hot summer (AprilJune), it undergoes dormancy by shedding its leaves, thus evading the injury of drought. It can produce fruits even under rainfed situation where average annual rainfall is 150200 mm. It is truly a desert apple for the dwellers of Thar Desert. The tree propagates freely and greatly resists stress conditions in regions experiencing recurrent droughts. It is thus an important tree suitable for integration into the agroforestry systems in the warm desert ecoregions. The tree can provide economic sustenance to the region and insurance against ecological degradation.