eBook Chapters

ABSTRACT

India is one of the leading coconuts producing country in the world. Yet, it does not figure in the list of leading exporting countries of desiccated coconut. The study makes an attempt to examine the Economics of production and marketing of desiccated coconut. The study was conducted in Tiptur taluk of Tumkur district. The primary data was collected from the 10 desiccated coconut entrepreneurs from Tipturtaluk of Tumkur district of Karnataka. The study reveals that desiccated coconut units were utilizing 78.9 per cent of their installed capacity. The net return per tonne of coconut processed by desiccated coconut units was lakh Rs. 32.1, lakh Rs.81.1, and lakh Rs. 114.5 in case of small, medium, and large sized units respectively. On an average Rs. 144.01 lakhs was needed for the establishment of desiccated coconut unit. Out of which the investment on land (53.64%) was a major cost followed by machinery (26.15%), building (15.11%), and power installation (5.11%). The break even analysis showed that all categories of units had processed more than breakeven level. The investment made on desiccated coconut units was realized back within 2 to 3 years. The major constraints faced by desiccated coconut units were lack of skilled labor, limited market for desiccated coconut, higher requirement of working capital, and use of obsolete machines. Motivating the entrepreneurs to improve the quality standards, and modernization of desiccated coconut units need to be considered to improve the performance of desiccated coconut sector.

Introduction

Global fisheries produced roughly 171 million tons of fish, with an estimated sale value of US$ 362 billion, generating over US$143 billion in exports in 2016. Around 60 million people across the world are employed in fisheries and aquaculture, with the majority in the small scale capture fisheries sector of developing countries (FAO, 2018). India has an annual harvestable potential of 4.414 mt. and with 9.9 lakh active fishers, the sector provides livelihood to nearly 4.0 million people including the post-harvest sector (Sathiananthan, 2017). The estimated value of marine fish at landing centre level was Rs. 48,381 crores and at retail level was Rs. 73,289 crores during 2016 (CMFRI, 2017). Seafood exports from the country reached 1.38 million tons valued at $7.1 billion in 2017-18 (MPEDA, 2018). The fishing fleet of the country includes 1, 94,190 fishing units consisting of 72,559 (37.31%) mechanized, 71,313 (36.67%) motorized and 50,618 (26.03%) artisanal craft (CMFRI, 2010). The mechanised sector contributed 82% of catch followed by motorised (17%) and non-mechanised (1%) sectors in 2016 (CMFRI, 2017).

The development of marine fisheries sector in India occurred in three phases. In the first phase (up to 1965-66) fishing was mainly done by using non-mechanized indigenous craft and gear. The second phase (up to 1985-86) witnessed increased mechanization, improved gear materials and introduction of motorized country craft. In the last phase (after 1986) there was intensification of mechanization, motorization of the country craft and multi-day voyage fishing (Sathianandan, 2013).

The craft and gear technologies in marine fisheries sector vary based on the types of fish caught and nature of fishing ground. The economics of different production technologies in the mechanised, motorised and non-mechanised categories were analysed based on the size of boats and capacities of engines and gear. The economic indicators developed in different coastal states helps for micro level investment decisions as well as for developing macroeconomic policies for the fisheries sector.

Introduction

Regenerative agriculture is an approach to farming and land management that focuses on restoring and improving the health of ecosystems and the soil (Latacz and Nuppenau. 2019). It goes beyond sustainable agriculture by actively seeking to regenerate and rejuvenate the natural resources utilized in agricultural practices (Lal, 2018). The goal of regenerative agriculture is to create a resilient and sustainable farming system that enhances biodiversity, improves soil health, sequesters carbon, and promotes overall ecosystem health (Paustian, et.al., 2018). Regenerative agriculture encompasses a range of practices and principles that vary depending on the specific context and agricultural systems (Smith et. al., 2015).

Regenerative Agriculture often include:

• Conservation tillage: Minimizing soil disturbance to maintain soil structure, prevent erosion, and preserve beneficial microorganisms.

• Cover cropping: Planting cover crops in between cash crops to protect the soil from erosion, improve nutrient cycling, and enhance soil fertility.

• Crop rotation and diversification: Alternating crops and incorporating diverse plant species to improve soil health, break pest cycles, and optimize nutrient use.

• Composting and organic matter management: Adding organic materials to the soil to improve its fertility, water-holding capacity, and nutrient availability.

• Managed grazing: Employing rotational grazing strategies to mimic natural grazing patterns, improve soil health, and promote plant growth.

• Agroforestry: Integrating trees, shrubs, or other perennial plants into agricultural systems to provide additional ecosystem services, such as shade, windbreaks, and habitat for beneficial organisms.

The harmful impact of chemical pesticides and fertilizers like gradual low productivity of land, growing nutrient imbalance in cultivated soils, accumulation of high pesticide residue in food materials, increasing resistance of harmful pests towards chemical pesticides and continuous increase in environmental pollution are forcing farmers to adopt organic or sustainable farming by considering vermicompost as possible substitute to the costly chemical fertilizers during crop cultivation. Gradual awareness among common people on organic farming, large availability of organic wastes in both rural as well as urban areas, more avenues of vermicomposting training, global market for organically produced foods and ever increasing unemployment problem have opened up greater prospects of commercial vermicomposting (Sannigrahi, 2012).

Q. 1 Annual depreciation of a machine is included in
(A) Fixed cost         (B) Variable cost
(C) Hiring cost         (D) None of the above

Introduction

Hybrid is the first generation cross-produced through crossing between two genetically different plants, lines or varieties. The seeds produced in this way are called hybrid vigour, which serves as a key for increasing the yield of many self, and cross-fertilized crops. With limited possibilities of horizontal expansion in area and to meet the ever-increasing demand of quality vegetables by growing populations, the exploitation of hybrid vigour is best option for increasing both productivity and quality. Vegetable hybrids under optimum crop production and protection management produce economically more yield than improved, open-pollinated varieties. The uniform size, early maturity, improved nutritional quality, adaptability to adverse environments and resistance to various biotic and abiotic stresses, are additional advantages of hybrids resulting in better monetary returns to growers. Development of hybrids in vegetables brought about a near revolution but still India has not been able to harvest full potential of hybrid technology as compared to USA, Japan, Canada, Europe and Israel. About 10-12% of the total vegetable area is under hybrids in India as against 75-90% in Japan or USA. In India, only tomato and cabbage are leading vegetable crops, occupying 30-35% area under hybrids while rest of the vegetables cover less than 15%. The hybrid seed production and their cultivation, therefore, should be popularized on warfooting to achieve the targets. Many hybrids have been developed both by public and private organizations as given in Chapters 6 of Table 6, which are competing among themselves to produce best hybrids to compete in world market and selling seeds on very high rates ranging from Rs 5,000 to 50,000/ kg of seed. Though, they are making very huge profits but their contribution in promotion of hybrid technology is exemplary and cannot be overlooked.

About two-thirds of the developing world’s three billion rural people live in about 475 million small farm households, working on land plots smaller than two hectares. Many are poor and food insecure and have limited access to markets and services. Their choices are constrained, but they cultivate their land and produce food for a substantial proportion of the world’s population. Besides farming, they have multiple economic activities, often in the informal economy, to contribute towards their small incomes. These small farms depend predominantly on family labour. In China, nearly 98 percent of farmers cultivate farms smaller than 2 hectares – the country alone accounts for almost half the world’s small farms. In India about 80 to 85 percent of farmers are small. In Ethiopia and Egypt, farms smaller than 2 hectares constitute nearly 90 percent of the total number of farms. In Mexico, 50 percent of the farmers are small; in Brazil smallholders make up for 20 percent of the total number of farmers (Rapsomanikis, 2019).

Ecophysiology is the branch of physiology which aims to define the adaptive features of an organism which fits it to its environment. Most of the time the environment in which the animal lives is a difficult one, hence the requirement of adaptation to environment. Environment is defined as the surroundings in which the organism lives.

5.1 Concept of Ecosystem

Ecosystem is the basic functional unit in ecology, since it includes both biotic and abiotic environments influencing each other for maintenance of life.

A.G. Tansky in 1935 first proposed the term ecosystem. According to him, it is defined as the system resulting from the integration of all the living and non-living factors of the environment. In a simplest form, an ecosystem can be defined as a self-sustained community of plants and animals existing in its own environment. The term ecosystem is composed of two terms, “eco” means environment and “system” means an interacting and interdependent complex. It is otherwise known as bio system.

Introduction

Fisheries management is the scientific approach that is heavily influenced by ecosystem theory but primarily focuses on fishing activity. In inland waters, it expanded from wildlife management and involved direct intervention in habitat and species composition. (Lackey, 1999) In marine ecosystems, management strategies focus on controlling fishing while using indicators for ecosystem and resource status. It is an integrated process concerned with collecting information, inspecting, organizing, decision-making, resource allocation, and regulation enforcement. Its goal is to sustainably utilize fishery resources for human livelihood, food, and recreation.

Environment: Environment means “surrounding”. First definition of environment was given by “Ernst Haeckel”. According to this - The relation between all organic and inorganic atmosphere of any animal is called environment.

2.1 Ecosystem

An ecosystem can be defined as a dynamic entity composed of a biological community and its associated abiotic environment. Often the dynamic interactions that occur within an ecosystem are numerous and complex. Ecosystems are also always undergoing changes or alterations to their biotic and abiotic components. Some of these alterations begin first with a change in the state of one component of the ecosystem which then cascades and sometimes amplifies into other components because of relationships.

The human activities of various kinds have resulted in caused a number of dramatic changes to a variety of ecosystems found on the Earth. Humans use and modify natural ecosystems through agriculture, forestry, recreation, urbanization, and industry. The most obvious impact of humans on ecosystems is the loss of biodiversity. The number of extinctions caused by human domination of ecosystems has been steadily increasing since the start of the Industrial revolution. The frequency of species extinctions is correlated to the size of human population on the Earth which is directly related to resource consumption, land-use change, and environmental degradation. Other human impacts to ecosystems include species invasions to new habitats, changes to the abundance and dominance of species in communities, modification of biogeochemical, and modification of hydrologic cycling, pollution, and climatic change.

Introduction

`The living and nonliving components of ecosystems, as well as the conditions and processes that occur within them, create services thus connecting ecosystems and human cultures. The preservation of Earth’s biological diversity and the protection of the benefits, or “ecosystem services,” those functioning ecosystems bring to humanity are two primary goals of environmental conservation. Agroforestry is increasingly viewed as providing ecological services, environmental advantages, and economic gains as part of a multifunctional working landscape. The multifunctional importance of agroecosystems was emphasized in both the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MES 2005) and the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (2008).

Definition: Ecotourism that involves traveling to relatively undisturbed natural areas with specified object of studying, admiring and/or enjoying the scenery and its wild plants and animals as well as any existing cultural aspects found in these areas.

OR A tourism which contains a visit to an ecosystem is ecotourism.

OR Ecotourism is now defined as “Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people and involves interpretation and education” (TIES, 2015).

The word ecotourism has been derived from two words ‘Ecosystem’ and ‘Tourism’, together it is made Ecotourism. Green globe 21 International Ecotourism Standard has adopted Ecotourism Australia’s definition of ecotourism as “Ecologically sustainable tourism with a primary focus on experiencing natural areas that fosters environmental and cultural understanding, appreciation and conservations”.

It entails not only travelling to such ecosystems, but also helping to conserve them. It involves travel to areas of natural or ecological interest, typically under the guidance of a naturalist for the purpose of observing wildlife and learning about the environment and at the same time focusing on conservation of wildlife and environment.

Characters

Two orders i.e. Archaeognatha & Thysanura are grouped together as Ectognatha because the mouth parts are more or less exposed and not covered by cranial fold.

LICE

Introduction

Lice are common ectoparasites of birds. There are many species of bird lice and are found on chicken, turkey, guinea fowl, duck, goose and pigeon. Lice species prefer a different part of the body. Most of them are straw colour and measure 1-10 mm. Lice from one host can parasitise another host if they are in close contact. For example, a louse from chicken can parasitise guinea fowls kept on the same premises. Hence, the species of lice is determined if cross contamination from another species is suspected. Lice are not highly pathogenic to mature birds. However, severe lousiness may lead to weight loss, as well as low production and death.

Flea of Brds

Ceratophyllus gallinae – commonest flea of domestic poultry may be responsible for irritation, restlessness and even anaemia Feeds readily on humans and domestic pets and its often acquired in the handling of poultry and from injured and wild birds brought into houses could migrate into rooms from nests under adjacent caves.

Echidnophaga gallinacea -‘stick tight’ flea-seen on the skin of the fowl (usually comb and wattles). Absence of genal and pronotal comb. Fleas established in a poultry house - Remove and burn all litter them spray the poultry house with an insectide.

Mites of Birds

Eczema is a troublesome skin condition characterized by redness, cracking, oozing and scaling of the skin. Extremes of heat and cold and even emotional stress seem to play a part in this condition. The patient usually complains of itching and burning in the skin, especially at the night. Sores appear on various parts of the body, but most often on the hands, feet, ears and legs. Eczema may come on at any time of life and in either sex. The commoner manifestations are erythema changing to papule, vesicle, crust, scale and fissure, with serous exudation. In chronic cases, thick scales accumulate.

This is the effect of local irritation by chemical, thermal, actinic or mechanical agents in a hypersensitive individual, subject of an allergy or constitutional disabilities such as gout, chronic nephritis, rheumatism, local sepsis, dyspepsia, alcoholism, uterine disturbances also teething. In some cases heredity may be found.

Papules, vesicles and pustules with some degree of local oedema are found; exudation, crusting and scaling with inflammation of varying severity may be present. These tend to spread to the contiguous areas.

One or both cheeks of an infant or the ear, limbs or trunk are occasionally involved. In adults also similar papulo- vesicular eruptions appear. Sensations of burning, smarting, throbbing or itching are present, according to the acuteness of the process and severity of the inflammation.

Successful cultivation of a crop is governed by various factors including the edaphic and climatic conditions of the region, owing to which the crop responds in terms of quality and productivity. Pineapple (Ananas comosus L. Merr.) is one of the major crops cultivated across the tropical and sub tropical countries worldwide. Adaptability of the crop under different climatic conditions, topography, temperature, photo-periodicity, rainfall and edaphic conditions will be discussed in this chapter.

Climatic zone: Pineapple is a tropical fruit crop though it can thrive well in the sub-tropical condition as well.Pineapple grows well inwarm and humid climate ranging from mild coastal climate up to an altitude of about 1000 meters, provided the area is free from frost (Singh, 2014).Pineapple is commercially grown over a wide range of latitudes from 30° N (Assam, India) in the northern hemisphere to 33°S in the Southern hemisphere (South Africa) (Malezieux et al., 2003; Purseglove, 1972).

Topography: Pineapples are easy to cultivatesince they thrive naturally in a variety of places with different elevation, especially in tropical countries (Kaudo, 2014). Though the plant survives at different altitude, the fruit quality and size may alter at different elevation. When pineapple is grown at altitudes greater than 1000 m, smaller fruits with elevated tartness with less attractive pulp colour (Purseglove, 1968).Moreover, fruit flavour can also vary, wherein the fruit tends to bemore acidic and sour when cultivated above 1800 meters, but will be sweet and tasty under 1350 meters (Kaudo, 2014).

Temperature: On an average, the temperatures required for growing pineapples range within 18-30°C (Kaudo, 2014) andmore specifically at 23 - 24 ° C (Neild and Boshell, 1976; Py et al., 1987). The optimum day and night temperatures for pineapple were reported to be about 30°C and 20 °C, respectively (Neild and Boshell, 1976). Bartholomew and Kadzimin (1977), however have reported that leaves and roots grow best at 32°C and 29°C respectively and the growth practically ceases below 20°C and above 36°C. Py and Tisuucau (1965) have observed 25°C to be optimal for fruit ripening.

Edge plant

Very low growing plants grown only for the purpose of decoration and demarcation and not for screening are known as edging. Live and inert materials used for living of borders flower beds, paths, lawn, shrubbery and herbaceous border are known as edging. Formal edgings are: Bricks, stones, tiles, concrete etc. Informal edging are: Grass verges and crazy paths made up of tiles stones etc.

10.1. Introduction

When it comes to packaging, plastics are still popular because of durability, versatility, economic production, and enhanced mechanical properties. However, with growing concerns about the impact of plastics-based packaging on the environment, edible and biodegradable packaging were introduced. The application of edible and biodegradable packaging promotes renewable resources, which greatly reduces environmental concerns and fulfil the packaging requirements. The sources employed to develop edible and biodegradable packaging are mainly plant-based biopolymers like cellulose, proteins, starch, and lipid. Moreover, the properties of the packaging material are decided by the proportions of these biopolymers. Hence, selecting a food commodity to be package is equally important as selecting suitable resources for the development of edible and biodegradable packaging.

The Begonia family has a tropical and subtropical distribution in America, Asia and Africa. With approximately 100 species and 10,000 cultivated hybrids, they are very important as ornamental plants.A few reports describe Begonia as edible; the highest number of these species is found in America, some in Asia, and we have only one report of an edible Begonia in Africa.

The Begonia family has a tropical and subtropical distribution in America, Asia and Africa. There are approximately 600 species in America, and the same number in Asia.

Africa, including Madagascar and the Mascarenes, has 158 reported species, one third of which are endemic to Madagascar and associated Isles (Mascarenes, Seychelles and Comoros). Only ones species, B. grandis Dryander, is widely distributed in temperate regions, extending northwards near Beijing (Forrest & Hollingsworth, 2003; Plana, 2003).

Wild edible plants have played an important role in human life since time immemorial. People depend on the wild plant resources for various purposes like fire wood, timber, non-timber forest products, medicines and food (Pushpangadan, 1995). In many cases, rural communities depend on wild edible plants, to meet their food needs in periods of food shortage. Indian subcontinent is blessed with varied and diverse soil and climate conditions suitable for the growth of various plant species. It has been estimated that 9000 of the 15,000 higher plants occurring in India are commercially useful. Of these 7500 are medicinal, 3900 are edible, 700 are culturally important, 525 are used for fiber, 400 are fodder, 300 for pesticides and insecticides, 300 for gum, resin and dye and 100 for incense and perfume (Anonymous, 1992-1993).

Introduction

Fruits and vegetables are essential constituents of daily diet and are highly demanded in the recent years from most of the population. They are reservoir of vitamins, essential minerals, antioxidants, bio-flavonoids, dietary fibres and f lavour compounds which fall easily victim to abiotic and biotic adversities. Fruits and vegetables are highly perishable and during the post- harvest, there are considerable losses due to microbes, insects, respiration and transpiration.

The important quality factors of fresh produce contributing to the marketability are texture, colour, appearance, flavour, nutritional value and microbial safety. These quality factors are measured by plant variety, ripening stage, maturity stage pre-harvest and post-harvest conditions. The Post-harvest losses of fruits and vegetables are a serious problem because it rapidly deteriorates them during handling, transport and storage. Edible coating over fruits and vegetables are used to improve their quality and shelf life.

Abstract

It’s relatively frequent to hear about the customary consumption and commercialization of wild and cultivated mushrooms in European, North American and Asian tempered zones. In contrast, such a phenomenon has been widely unrecognized in Mesoamerican lowlands. The scarce interest for leading ethnomicological studies in these zones may be caused by a preconception according to which peoples inhabiting them do not use macroscopic fungi. Yet, archaeological evidence shows a relation between fungi and Mayan peoples existed during pre-Hispanic times.

‘Fungi’ including ‘mushrooms’ are ‘Thallophytes’, which do not possess chlorophyll and have been classified under the Kingdom - Myceteae. They do not have stems, roots and leaves and they lack a vascular conducting system as in the case of plants. They propagate by means of spores, either asexual or sexual. Though almost all the fungi are microscopic, the mushrooms are among the largest fungi and had attracted the attention Scientists and Naturalists of many countries dating back to centuries. The Greek word ‘mykes’, which means ‘cap’, was given to the mushrooms because of the ‘cap-like’ appearance of the pileus and the Greek word ‘Mycology’ (mykes = mushroom + logos = discourse) denotes the study of mushrooms. What we call mushrooms, are actually the sporocarps produced by several species of fungi, while the mycelium that produces them live in various types of substrata and obtain nourishment from them. Usually, the fleshy, macroscopic fruiting bodies or sporocarps produced by fungi belonging to Basidiomycetes and Ascomycetes are called ‘mushrooms’

The Romans attributed the appearance of mushrooms and truffles to lightning hurled by Jupiter to the earth. Even now in India and several other countries, people believe that mushrooms appear only after lightning and thunder. The Greeks believed mushrooms as ‘Food for the Gods’. The Romans supplemented mushrooms in the food of soldiers for strength and vitality. The much-priced mushrooms were supposed to be the food delicacy of the elite society of the Romans and Greeks in olden days. The Chinese consider mushrooms as a cure for many diseases and they believe that mushrooms increase the longevity. A number of medicines in all forms are prepared from mushrooms by the Chinese.

Mushrooms are good as nutritious food for all ages and under all conditions of health. The mushroom is a fleshy, space-bearing organ of non-green edible fungi. Its fleshy nature of mushroom is responsible for its main attraction to human being as a source of food. Like other fruit and vegetables, mushrooms are soft textured and highly perishable in nature. Mushroom are potential sources of nutrients. They can convert nutritionally valueless substances into high fat and protein food. Mushroom proteins are comparable to muscle protein in nutritive value. Being a good source of vitamins and proteins it is considered be a distinct food. The digestibility of protein in these is 72-83%. Mushrooms are edible fungi; assume considerable importance in human diet as they are good source of non starchy carbohydrate, dietary fibre, minerals and vitamins-B and essential amino acids. Mushrooms are popular their delicacy and flavour rather that food value. However, it is now a well-established fact that they are excellent sources of vitamins and minerals (Vijaya Khader, 1988). The vitamins in mushroom are well retained during cooking, canning, and dehydration. The White button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus), Shiitake mushroom (Lentinus edodes), Pleurotus species (Pleurotus osteatus, P. flabellatus, P. sajor caju etc.), Paddy straw mushrooms (Volvariella volvacea), Winter mushrooms (Flammulina velutipis), Jew’s ear mushrooms (Auricularia polytricha) are commercially cultivated species of mushroom. In India, mainly three species viz., white button, oyster or dhingari and paddy straw mushrooms are commercially cultivated at large scale.

Objective
After performing this experiment you will be able to learn:
How to do edible packaging of food sample.

Introduction

Edible Packaging – An edible film or coating is simply defined as a thin continuous layer of edible material formed on, placed on, or between the foods or food components. The package is an integral part of the food, which can be eaten as a part of the whole food product.

Edible packaging can be done in two types:

Edible coating: Edible coating are applied and formed directly on food (e.g. by spraying, immersion, and fluidization) via a coating solution. This will be a part of the food and must not provoke unwanted change (organoleptic, physical, and chemical).

This chapter demonstrates that modern advances in horticultural crop development may benefit from not only knowledge derived from extant ethnographic groups but extinct peoples as well. More than 18,000 archaeological sites were identified, and a dozen rock shelter sites investigated in the Zeekoe Valley, Upper Karoo, South Africa. A baseline for understanding potential contribution of plants to the Zeekoe Valley diet is crucial for developing models of land use and mobility patterns for Late Stone Age (LSA) inhabitants, particularly since  ethnographically known foragers in Botswana, some 800 km to the North, are as much as 80 % depend on plant foods for their survival.  Since native foraging groups are long extinct in this semi-arid region with abundant natural springs, a rigorous investigation of botanical and ethnohistoric literature forms the groundwork for field investigations where direct ethnographic observation is no longer an option. First, edible species in the study area are identified in the literature. They are then sought on the ground with the aid of local informants whose families reside in the valley for generations. It appears as though some knowledge of local plants gained from native foragers 150 years ago or more have remained in Afrikaans families passed down from landowning parent to child. On the ground, collection and middle range experimentation were followed by basic nutritional analysis.  These measures were then used to compare foraging efficiency to measures from extant foraging groups.

Editing

Editing is the process of refining the content, structure, grammar, and presentation of a written work. Editing is done to make sure that your thoughts are communicated to the reader as clearly as possible.

It takes more than just changing a word, adding a comma here and there, and fixing spelling errors to edit a tale. The procedures below must be followed in order to edit effectively.

1. Read the story from beginning to end first. The writer’s intent will become clearer to you at this point. Then check to see if it addresses the following queries: what? Why? Where? When? Who? and how - regarding the topic.

2. Make your notes in the margin while keeping these inquiries in mind.

3. Next, consider the general level of education and comprehension of your magazine or letter’s readers. Make a note of every word you believe they won’t comprehend.

4. Next, determine how long the story should be. What room in your magazine can you offer it? It is preferable to rewrite the story rather than attempt to condense it by omitting some details if you need a very brief copy.

5. Verify that the information is logically ordered and, if a process story, that the directions are comprehensive and given in the right sequence.

While reviewing the status of education and research on medicinal plants in Bangladesh, it was found that there are 27 government and private educational institutions currently engaged in offering Bachelor or Diploma degree on Unani and Ayurvedic systems and training of traditional medicine practitioners in Bangladesh. Several other public and private universities have included different aspects of medicinal plants in their syllabus with other degrees at undergraduate and post graduate level. At present, there are 277 Unani, 201 Ayurvedic and 32 herbal drug manufacturers in Bangladesh with 6498 Unani, 4058 Ayurvedic and 537 herbal products registered by the Directorate General of Drug Administration. About 500 species of plants are identified which possess medicinal properties and are distributed throughout the country. There is no distinctive research organizations at present for conducting planned research solely on medicinal plants; though, the Bangladesh Forest Research Institute have some research programme on medicinal plants. Hamdard University- a private university is offering degree on Unani and Ayurvedic systems and conducting some research including drug manufacturing. Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute with other public and private universities are conducting some hectic research on medicinal plants including some high yielding variety development. The Government of Bangladesh (GoB) have taken some initiatives for development of Unani and Ayurvedic medicine sector like making ‘Bangladesh Unani and Ayurvedic Practitioners Ordinance, 1983’, ‘National Drug Policy 2016’, establishment of ‘Board of Unani and Ayurvedic Systems of Medicines (BUASM)’, etc. But proper implementation of the ordnance, strengthening the activities of BUASM and taking organized research programme on medicinal plants are very much essential for having skilled professionals, quality drugs and research.

ABSTRACT

Education begins at home, then in community and finally in the educational institutes. At present 90% of the children in the age group of 6-14 years are receiving free primary education. Education policy of the 11^th plan states that there should be free and compulsory secondary education for all. To meet this goal, additional schools have to be set up to cater to the 30 million students. To teach the 30 million students atleast one million teachers would have to be trained to ensure the 1:30 teacher– student ratio. How do we plan to meet this target?

The projected target has to be met by developing innovative teaching methods in the institutes of higher learning. These methods have to be technology based, as well as community based regional approach. Emphasis has to be given to Liberal Education where there has to be a close interaction between the teacher and learner. The Open and Distance Learning isone such System which can be compared to Liberal Education– where there is flexibility in time and pace of learning for the learners. Reforms and innovations have to be brought in this system of education with utmost caution so that there is no compromise on quality and ethics, since every age has its own ethical environment.

Ethics in this context means traditions and culture of the small communities. This is more so in the North Eastern Region where there is an intimate connection between large and small communities. This region is rich in its community based values, bioresources and cultures. Need based Vocational and Professional courses have to be designed for enriching the region with human resources infused with sophisticated skills, resulting in the economic growth for the region. This method is envisaged to take care of the social challenges, traditions and cultural ethos.

Distance Education coupled with Information Communication Technology plays a pivotal role in meeting the requirements of today’s knowledge society by cutting across the barriers of time and geographic isolation.

Almost half of the population in the world comprises women, indicating that women are at par with men, but the issue is ‘Is she really at par with men in the status too?’ Numerous studies have drawn attention to the fact that women are half marginalised in every society; they have not yet got their share. The concern over women’s problems started with the establishment of the United Nations in 1945, which led to the declaration of 1975 as ‘International Women’s Year’ and the years between 1975- 1985 as the UN Decade for Women. For the first time, the attention was focused on the unnoticed and forgotten halves, who by birth were women, performing 2/3^rd of the world’s work, receiving 1/10th of the world’s income and owning less than 1/100^th of the world’s property (Rath, 1996). 

1. Introduction
“Educational Technology is the application of scientific knowledge about learning and the conditions of learning to improve the effectiveness of teaching and training. In the absence of scientifically established principles, educational technology implements techniques of empirical testing to improve learning situation”.
Educational technology includes numerous types of media that deliver text, audio, images, animation, streaming video that includes technology applications and processes such as computer-based learning as well as local intranet/ extranet and web-based learning. Information and communication systems whether freestanding or based on either local networks or the internet in

“Educational Technology is the application of scientific knowledge about learning and the conditions of learning to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of teaching and training. In the absence of scientifically established principles, educational technology implements techniques of empirical testing to improve learning situation”.

National Centre for Programmed Learning, UK
“Educational Technology is a complex, integrated process involving people. procedures, ideas, devices and organization for analyzing problems and devising. implementing, evaluating, and managing solutions to those problems, involved in all aspects of learning”.

Association for Educational Communications and technology (AECT), 1977
The most recent definition of the field (which uses the term, instructional technology) has been published by the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT). It defines Instructional Technology as “the theory and practice of design,

Effect of Air Pollutants on Plants
 
Elements of those air pollutants which accumulate in plants (S from SO2, heavy metals from anthropogenic emissions etc.) may be used for specific bio-indication of possible effects caused by these pollutants, and for mapping their spatial and temporal distribution. Measuring accumulated components in plants rather than directly in the environment, provides the dual advantages of an integrated rather than a momentary value, and of a biological content rather than a mere concentration (Stocker and Gluch, 1990).

Air pollution is the major environmental problem due to rapid urbanization and industrialization. It has led to continuous deterioration of air quality in both developed and developing countries.

Air pollution is characterized by high concentrations of suspended particulate matter, oxides of sulphur and nitrogen. Air pollution has long term effects on fruit trees; when exposed to higher orabnormal levels of various air pollutants. The injury symptoms range from visible marks on foliage, reduced growth and yield to premature death of the plant. The development and severity of injury depends not only on the concentration of the particular pollutant, but also on a number of other supporting factors. These include the duration of exposure to the pollutant, the plant species and development stage as well as conducive environmental factors.

Air pollution problems: Air pollutants are injurious to vegetation can generally be classified as either local or widespread.

Rapid urbanization and industrialization has led to continuous deterioration of air quality, which is a major environmental problems in many urban areas in both developed and developing countries. Air pollution is characterized by high concentration of suspended particulate matter, oxides of sulphur and nitrogen resulting primarily from increased use of vehicles. Air pollution effects are not limited to the short term nor to the plant damaged or killed. Rather, air pollution has long term effects that affect plants including fruit trees. Horticultural crops are injured when exposed to higher of abnormal levels of various air pollutants. The injury symptoms range from visible marks on foliage, reduced growth and yield to premature death of the plant. The development and severity of injury depends not only on the concentration of the particular pollutant, but also on a number of other supporting factors. These include the duration of exposure to the pollutant, the plant species and development stage as well as conducive environmental factors.

Introduction

Ammonia has been described as one of the most significant limiting factors for the growth and survival of aquatic living resources among water quality criteria (Russo and Thurston, 1991). Ammonia is a common pollutant of water bodies and forms the main nitrogenous waste in fishes (Tomasso et al, 1980). It enters the river and stream directly from livestock wastes and indirectly via poorly treated waste-water discharge. The chemistry of ammonia in freshwater has been extensively reviewed and its toxicity to the fish is generally expressed as ammonia concentration (EIFAC, 1970; WHO, 1986). Ammonia is produced mainly in the fish liver (Goldstein et al, 1982), it reaches the gills through the blood (Evans and More, 1988), excreted through the epithelium (Evans and Cameron, 1986) and finally released into the water body. The accumulation of nitrogen may induce alternations in branchial tissue and causes fish mortality (Peters et al, 1984; Woker and Wuhrmann, 1950).

Ammonia is a weak base, in the acidic range almost all the ammonia gets converted to ammonium ion (NH₄ ⁺) but only a fraction of ammonia forms such ion at alkaline pH. However, in physiological ranges (pH: 7 to 8) about 2.5% of ammonia exists in a unionized form (Paley et al, 1993). The toxicity of ammonia in water is mainly the result of its unionized form (Richardson, 1997). The unionized ammonia accounts for the major part of metabolic ammonia excretion by diffusion down its concentration gradient (Cameron and Heisler, 1983). The unionized ammonia determines the toxicity level in the water and brings about great problems in pisciculture by causing various diseases (Burrows, 1964; Smart, 1976) and alternations in normal physiology (Cairns et al, 1975; Sarkar and Pramanik, 1986). The ratio of unionized ammonia to the total ammonia mainly depends on the pH and temperature of the freshwater. The concentration of unionized ammonia increases with increasing pH and temperature (Emerson et al, 1975). A rise in temperature and pH from 20⁰C to 25°C and 7.5 to 8.5 respectively gives the fifteen-fold increase in the amount of unionized ammonia.

Introduction

In fish culture, anesthetic agents are commonly used in vaccination, labeling, and various measurements (Gomes et al, 2006; Collymore et al, 2014). But no agents have been able to obtain long-duration anesthesia in fishes. The use of conventional anesthetic agents in fisheries is not beneficial in terms of environmental safety as the discarded solutions directly reach oceans and rivers. The use of anesthetic agents presenting a risk of staying in the tissues of cultivated fish has been warned against. For example, the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries caution against the use of anesthetic agents within 7 days before fishes and shellfishes are caught.

The use of anaesthetics has gained considerable importance in Fishery Science particularly during spawning (Colesante, 1977; Kidd and Banks, 1990) and transportation of live fishes or their early developmental stages (Maheshwari 1990; Jhingran, 1991; Pandit and Ghosh, 2012). This is because handling causes stress and physical damage to the fish, loss of mucilaginous covering, which in turn makes the fish susceptible to attack by bacteria and fungi (Brown, 1987). The anaesthetics are soothing medicines that reduce the metabolism and control the excitability as well as stress in a fish. Recently, Kugino et al, (2016) investigated whether the addition of nano oxygen-carrying bubbles to water at the same time as dissolved carbon-dioxide could result in safe, long-duration fish anesthesia.

Introduction

The global population is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050, with seafood making up about 15% of the animal protein consumed, averaging 20.2 kg per person in 2020 (Boyd et al., 2022). Due to the overfishing of fish stocks, estimated at 93.8%, aquaculture is seen as crucial to meet future seafood demand (FAO, 2022). Aquaculture offers a promising solution to food security challenges by leveraging our oceans, seas, and freshwater bodies to produce healthy and nutritious food. However, it's worth noting that aquaculture has been linked to the loss of mangroves, with shrimp farming accounting for 38% of historical global mangrove depletion (Friess et al., 2019).

Mangrove forests play a crucial role in supporting diverse ecosystems and providing essential services, primarily in tropical and subtropical coastal areas where they thrive in intertidal zones. However, these same areas are often utilized for aquaculture activities, leading to significant mangrove forest conversion. For instance, aquaculture has been responsible for converting approximately 5,44,000 hectares of mangrove forests in eight tropical countries (Hamilton, 2013). To address the challenge of balancing mangrove conservation with aquaculture production, integrated mangrove aquaculture (IMA) has been proposed. IMA involves planting mangroves within or alongside shrimp or f ish ponds. However, it's important to note that mangroves within IMA shrimp systems typically do not provide the same level of biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services as intact mangrove forests.

Abstract

Abiotic stresses lead to the overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plants which are highly reactive and toxic and cause damage to proteins, lipids, carbohydrates and DNA which ultimately results in oxidative stress. The arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF)-symbiosis can confer a greater degree of tolerance against drought stress in many cash crops. The significance of heat shock proteins (Hsps) and chaperones in abiotic stress responses in plants, and co-operation among their different classes and their interactions with other stress-induced components is well known. Soil salinity is a major abiotic stress adversely affecting plant growth and crop production worldwide. Phyto-mycoremediation utilizing AMF as plant inoculants is regarded as a promising strategy to heavy metal pollution remediation. Plants have stress specific adaptive responses as well as responses which protect the plants from more than one environmental stress. The potential of phytoremediation of contaminated soil can be enhanced by inoculating hyper-accumulator plants with mycorrhizal fungi most appropriate for the contaminated site.

Abstract

The experiment was carried out to study the effect of  BA and GA3 on in-vitro raised plants of African violets. The studies revealed that BA 150 ppm spray increased the number of leaves and duration of flowering, whereas, GA3100 ppm increased leaf area, plant spread and resulted in earliest flowering. Number of flowers was maximum in GA3 100 ppm treated plants and was at par with BA 150 ppm. Maximum pot presentability (82.85 days) was found with BA 150ppm which was at par with GA3 100 and 50 ppm treated plants.

ABSTRACT

Senna (Cassia angustifolia), a traditional medicinal crop in Tamil Nadu warrants the modern quality guidelines viz. Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) for marketing overseas. Buyers of developed countries insist on GAP and organic certification for medicinal plants. With this in view, an experiment was conducted at Medicinal Plants Unit, Botanic Garden, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore to study the effect of various biostimulants on yield and yield attributing characters to standardize the biostimulant(s) for higher yield. The treatments included different concentrations of panchakavya (2% & 4%), moringa leaf extract (2 & 4%) and humic acid (0.2 & 0.4%). The field was laid out in randomized block design. Vermicompost @ 4 t ha^-1 was applied commonly to all the plots. Spraying with the above said chemicals was done at 15 days interval from 30 days after transplanting for four times. The observations were recorded for growth a yield characters and were statistically analyzed. The treatment 2% panchakavya + 2% moringa leaf extract + 0.2% humic acid recorded the highest value of growth and yield characters like plant height (44.58 cm), number of branches (6.1), number of pods (53.0), dry leaf yield (560.8 kg / acre) and dry pod yield (6. 72 g / plant).

Introduction

Climate change is threatening food security globally. Countries like India are more vulnerable in view of the tropical monsoon climate and poor coping capacity of the small and marginal farmers. Several agricultural practices like indiscriminate use of agro-chemicals and crop residue burning contribute to emission of greenhouse gasses leading to warming of the atmosphere. Sequestration of carbon both in the vegetation and soil is the most effective means of mitigating GHG emissions. There are several strategies of soil carbon sequestration which can be adopted at farm level. These include: conservation agriculture, biomass recycling, crop rotations and use of organic amendments. One of the recent developments is the conversion of crop residue biomass into biochar and using the char as a soil amendment rather than directly using the crop residues. Several studies show that biochar has a long life in soil and is more effective in sequestering carbon besides improving other soil properties like water holding capacity and nutrient availability. In Indian conditions, there is an immense scope for converting millions of tonnes of crop residues which are not used as fodder into biochar and use the same for enriching soil carbon.

The coastal salt affected soils are low in productivity due to various soil fertility constraints that affect the crop growth and yield. The high salt content &/or high pH cause changes in solubility, availability and efficiency of plant nutrients, besides deteriorating the physical condition of soil. The soil biology (microbial population and enzymatic activities) also severely affected in these salt affected soils. The bio-resources are known to improve soil physical, chemical & biological properties of the soil. The maximization of rice production and considerable improvement in quality and composition of rice in coastal salt affected soil with the use of bio-resources have been reported by several research workers.

During orthopaedic surgery, it is very difficult and sometimes impossible to stop the flow of blood from fractured bone. For this reason, there has been a longstanding interest in haemostatic agent for osseous tissue surgery. Bone –wax, oxidized cellulose, sanguistat, bone dust, marrow paste and combination using polyethylene glycols have been tried for osseous hemostasis, however, bone wax appears to be the most promising bone haemostatic agent and is widely used today. But, very littlie work has been done to define the local effect of bone wax on healing and osteogenesis and its eventual fate in animals.

The objective of this study is thus, undertaken in this chapter to investigate the effects of bone wax on cortical bone healing.

Clinically healthy adult New Zealand white rabbits (10) of either sex are divided equally in to two groups A and B, consisting of 5 animals each. All animals are kept in standard diet and management throughout the experiment. In all animals’ mid-shaft simple transverse fracture are created in both the ulnae under Xylazine-Ketamine anaesthesia. In animals of group A, bone wax packed in between two fracture ends, whereas, in animals of group B, fracture site kept as it is.

Lateral and anterio-posterior radiographs are taken on days 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 post-fracture. The radiographs are observed for progress of fracture healing and complication, if any at different interval. The specimens for histopathological study are collected from the healed site of test bone immediately after euthanizing the animals on day 40. Every specimen is consisted of both healing site and adjacent host bone. The bone sections are preserved in 10% formalin for 9-10 days and then are decalcified using Goodling and Stewart’s solution (15% formic acid, 5% formalin and 80% distilled water). Completely decalcified bone sections are then processed routinely for H&E staining. These sections are observed for the status of healing at the fracture site at cellular level.

Abstract

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), an important cash crop of India, is prone to many diseases and amongest these, late blight [Phytophthora infestans (Mont) de-Bary] is one of the highly destructive diseases and a major constraint in the profitable cultivation of potato. After realizing the significance of controlling the devastating disease for the sustainability in potato production and thus ensuring more profitability, the present investigation has been conducted with an objective to select the most effective fungicides and botanicals for the management of the disease. The present study was carried out by KVK, Saharsa during rabi season for consecutive two years (2015-16 and 2016-17) as On-Farm Trial mode at farmers fields of an adopted village of Saharsa district in Bihar. In each trial, there were four treatments including one control i.e. farmers’practice. The study concludes that the best treatment option to combat late blight disease is Seed treatment with Trichoderma viride @ 5g per kg of seed and spray of Ridomil @ 2g per litre of water starting from 30 DAP alternating with Dimethomorph 1g + ridomil 2g per litre of water at 10 days intervals. The results of economic analysis reveal that the net return as well as benefit cost ratio was also highest in Seed treatment with Trichoderma viride @ 5g per kg of seed and spray of Ridomil @ 2g per litre of water starting from 30 DAP alternating with Dimethomorph 1g + ridomil 2g per litre of water at 10 days intervals.

Abstract

The relationship between development of P. leucotricha with different weather parameters (i.e. temperature, relative humidity and rainfall) was ascertained by computing multiple regression equations between these factors along with coefficient of determination (R2). Multiple regression analysis revealed that weather parameters altogether accounted for 31.88 to 94.45 per cent variations in Shimla district (Himachal Pradesh) during 2002-03. The accumulated variation due to weather parameters during the years accounted to different levels of primary inoculum and infection conditions under the field conditions.

Cancer, according to current opinion, is a multitude of different diseases and is no more a “one disease’. Myriads of tumour types and plethora of their patho-physiology in different species necessitates species wise study of tumours in detail. Of all species, dog develops neoplasms twice as frequently as humans, with incidence of skin and mammary tumours being the highest. Tumors of mammary gland are the most common tumors of female dog representing approximately 30-50% of all tumors in bitch and it is the second most common tumour in dog after skin neoplasms and most common malignant tumour in dog.