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The growth pole theory was developed by French regional economist, Francois Perroux, in 1955. He was concerned with the phenomenon of economic development and with the process of structural change. Growth pole is a central location of economic activity. It is an urban location where economic activity ignites growth and better quality of life in the urban periphery.

He attempted to explain how modern process of economic growth deviated from the stationary conception of equilibrium growth. His arguments were based on Schumpeter’s theories of the role of innovations and large scale firms.

In Schumpeter’s analysis, development occurs as a result of discontinuous spurts in a dynamic world. The cause of discontinuous spurts is the innovative entrepreneur whose activities take place in large-scale firms. These firms are able to dominate their environment in the sense of exercising reversible and partially reversible influences on other economic units by reason of their dimension and negotiating strength, and by the nature of their operations.

Scale of operations, dominance and impulses have close relationship to innovate. This is the most important feature of Perroux’s theory and leads to the concepts of dynamic propulsive firm and leading propulsive industry. The dynamic propulsive firm is relatively large and belongs to a relatively fast growing sector. It has a high ability to innovate and intensity of its interrelation with other sectors of the economy is important enough for the induced effects to be transmitted to them.

11.1 INTRODUCTION

Plant growth regulators have remained an important component in horticulture from time immemorial because they were effective means of quantitative as well as qualitative improvement in growth and development of crops. Plant Growth Regulators (PGR) are diverse group of organic compounds other than nutrients, produced artificially or by plants which in low concentrations promote, inhibit or modify the physiological process in plant. The term includes both naturally occurring phytohormones as well as synthetic compounds. These are produced naturally in higher plants, controlling growth or other physiological functions at a site remote from its place of production and active in minute amounts. Plant Growth Regulators are used in different forms like liquid, powder, paste etc. “Hormone” is Greek word derived from “hormao”, which means to stimulate. Thimone (1948) suggested the use of term ‘phytohormones’ as the organic substance, which are produced naturally in plants, synthesised in one Part And usually translocated to other part wherein every small quantity affects the growth and other physiological function of the plants. To distinguish them from the animal hormones they are termed as phytohormones. Auxin was the first hormone to be discovered in plants and at one time considered to be only naturally occurring plant growth hormone. The role of plant growth regulators in various physiological processes such as seed germination, f lowering, fruiting, seed development, fruit ripening and yield etc. in different crop plants is well established (Kiran et al., 2011). There are five classical phytohormones: auxins, gibberellins, cytokinins, ethylene and abscisic acid. Besides classical phytohormones a variety of other compounds that play roles in plant growth and development have also been identified, including jasmonic acid, salicylic acid, brassinosteroids and polyamines (Basra, 2000). The application of plant growth regulators in agriculture has started in 1930 in the United States. Ethylene, a naturally occurring substance, is one of the first plant growth regulators being discovered and used successfully for enhancing f lower production in pineapple (Fishel, 2006). Its toxic effects to human beings are low.

Growth and differentiation are regulated by a group of organic compounds known as growth regulators. These growth regulators regulate growth not only at the organ level but also in the plant as a whole. They can be broadly defined as organic compounds synthesized in one part of a plant transported to another where at very low concentration they cause a physiological response.

There are five major groups of growth regulators, namely, the Auxins, Gibberellins, Cytokinins, Ethylene andAbscisic acid. Endogenously synthesized growth regulators are often referred to as plant growth hormones. However, a number of synthetic compounds eliciting similar response as that of the growth hormones have been identified and extensively used. These synthetic hormones effectively substitute the endogenous hormones to understand the basic mechanisms of hormones and also for commercial use.

If frost has hit an orchard during winters, it does not always imply that permanent loss has occurred. Plants do possess natural protective mechanisms due to which they survive the stress to a variable extent depending upon their nature and organ being exposed to the stress.

•    A corn plant requires a certain number of growing degree units (GDUs) to reach maturity, regardless of the number of calendar days it takes to accumulate.
•    The relationship of GDU accumulation and corn development, along with utilizing the estimated number of days to reach a certain growth stage, can help predict when important growth stages will occur.
•    Growth stages can be used to help growers make timely applications of herbicides and fungicides. The following information is on corn growth and development from emergence to R6 growth stage.
•    Corn growth stage development can vary according to corn maturity. An early maturing product may produce fewer leaves or develop through growth stages faster than a slower paced late maturing product. This is important to remember when staging corn in relation to accumulated GDUs.

Guar [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.], internationally known as guar, is extremely drought hardy, deep rooted, summer annual legume of great economic and adaptive significance. Virtues of guar effectively match with low and erratic rainfall pattern and high ambient temperature habitats of arid regions. The crop may thrive very well in rainfall range of 250-450 mm with 3-4 spells, temperature range of 25-40°C, RH values of 50-65%, longer days with 8-9 hr sunshine, particularly at maturity. Guar is ideally suited to light to medium textured soils, with no water logging conditions. The crop tolerates less inputs and restricted after care, matching with the arid farmers’ livelihood conditions. It is grown for grain, vegetable, fodder, cattle feed and green manure purposes, mainly in rainfed habitats of Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat and to some extent in Punjab and Madhya Pradesh. This crop has recently been introduced in non-traditional regions of Annantpur, Kadappa and Chittoor dry region of Andhra Pradesh. Only duringcurrent summer season of 2012, guar has been successfully cultivated with 4-5 irrigations in parts of Chattirgarh and Vidarbha and in non traditional summer seasons of Rajasthan. The cultivation in non-traditional regions and seasons have increased possibility of two crops in rainy and summer seasons. Even though, guar is cultivated on marginal lands, with marginal inputs in these regions, yet it has occupied the status of international, export oriented cash crop. The same has been due to presence of natural polysaccharide galactomannan gum content in seed endosperm. The gum content has wide industrial uses. Almost 80-85% guar gum produced in India is exported and rest is used for inland commercial demands. Of late, increasing demands of guar gum for USA alone to the tune of 5.0 lakh tonnes annually has led to sky rocketing prices resulting in economic benefit of Rs. 1.0 lakh to 1.5 lakh/ha in 90-100 days only. Hence, guar is rated as a source for providing livelihood security to arid farmers in practical reference. Relevant information on guar have been provided in this chapter.

Introduction

Seaweed, a diverse group of marine algae, thrives in a variety of aquatic environments across the world’s oceans. Found in both shallow coastal waters and deeper offshore regions, seaweed plays a crucial ecological role in marine ecosystems. It attaches itself to rocky substrates, sandy seabed, or even other marine organisms, utilizing the rich nutrients present in seawater for growth. Seaweed populations are influenced by factors such as water temperature, light availability, and nutrient levels.

Guava is one of the most common fruits grown widely throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Guava is hardy in nature, prolific bearing and highly remunerative even without much care (Mitra and Bose, 1990). Because of its excellent adaptability and exceptional performance in the tropics, it is regarded as the ‘apple of tropics’.

In India, guava is the fifth most important fruit crop in terms of area and production. It is cultivated over 1.51 lakh ha area with a total production of 18.0 lakh tones (Chadha, 2001). It is rich in pectin and used for jelly making. It is useful as table fruit and also for processing purpose.

It is known by different names viz., madhuri (Assamese), peyara (Bengali), phanas (Gujrati), amrood (Hindi), sebe (Kannad), soh-priya (Khasi-Meghalaya), komperam (Garo-Meghalaya), pera (Malayalam), peru (Marathi), pijuli (Oriya), amrud (Punjabi), koyya (Tamil) and jama (Telugu).

Guava (Psidium guajava. L), a highly nutritious fruit very popular as poor man’s apple. Guava belongs to the family Myrtaceae. Guava is native to tropical America and is found growing wild from Mexico to Peru. Spaniards introduced guava in Phillippinnes and the Portuguese in India. Besides India, it also grown in Sri Lanka, Hawaiian Islandsm and Cuba. Guava had been introduced in India by Portuguese in 17^th century, and ever since it is an important fruit crop of India. In many countries it has been spread by birds, where it has been naturalized long back. In India it is cultivated in the plains in almost all the states but the major guava growing states are Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Punjab, Karnatak, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Chhatisgarh.

Cultivars: Allahabad Safeda, Lucknow-49, Chittidar, Nagapur Seedless, Bangalore, Dharwar, Akra Mridula, Arka Amulya, Harijha, Hafshi, Allahabad Surkha CISHG1, CISH-G2, CISH-G-3, Harija, Baruipur, etc.

Uses

Guava fruit is relished when mature or ripe and freshly plucked from the tree. Excellent salad and pudding are prepared from the shell of the ripe fruit. Ripe and unripe juicy fruits are eaten fresh. The fruits after removal of seeds, are used for preparing jam, jelly, paste, juice and nectar. It is also canned in sugars syrup and made into fruit butter. In some countries, the leaves are used for treating diarrhea and also for dyeing and tanning.

Guava (Psidium guajava L) is an important fruit crop of India. It has gained considerable prominence on account of its high nutritive value, availability at moderate prices, pleasant aroma and good flavour. It is one of the commonest fruits liked by the rich and the poor and is popularly known as the ‘apple of tropics’. It is one of the hardiest fruit trees adaptable to a variety of soil and climatic conditions. It comes up well even under neglected conditions and in fact it is even considered sometime as a weed in Fiji and Hawaii. Guava fruit is relished when mature or ripe or when freshly plucked from the tree. It is also used for many commercial products like jelly, fruit butter, juice, etc.The guava is said to have originated from tropical America (Hayes, 1953). De Candolle (1904) stated that it originated in Mexico, while Purseglove (1968) opined that it originated in Brazil. It is widely distributed all over the equatorial regions of tropical and sub-tropical climate. It was introduced to India during the 17th Century. In Spanish, the tree is known as guayabo, or guayavo, the fruit guayaba or guyava. The French call it goyave or goyavier; the Dutch, guyaba, goeajaaba; the Surinamese, guave or goejaba; and the Portuguese, goiaba or goaibeira. Hawaiians call it guava or kuawa. In Guam it is abas. In Malaya, it is generally known either as guava or jambu batu, but has also numerous dialectal names as it does in India, tropical Africa and the Philippines where the name, bayabas, is often applied. Various tribal names–pichi, posh, enandi, etc., are employed among the Indians of Mexico and Central and South America.

Material balance data

Guava pulp : 5.00 kg

Amount of sugar added : 4.50 kg

Amount of glucose added : 500 gm

Amount of SMP added : 700 gm

Guava is native to tropical America, commonly known as ‘Apple of Tropics’ and it has got much greater health benefits than apple, therefore, it is also known as ‘Poor man’s Apple’. It is widely grown in the tropics, enriching the diet of million of people in the world. Guava has spread widely throughout the world because it thrives in a variety of soils, propagated easily and bears fruit relatively quickly in comparison with other fruits. At the beginning of the 16th century the Portuguese introduced it throughout the Pacific as far as the Philippines and the Spanish took it to India. 

Spiralling whitefly : Aleurodicus dispersus : Aleyrodidae

A. dispersus originated from the tropical countries in Central and South America. More recently, it has been reported from Asia and Africa. In India, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu faces its problem. A. dispersus is a highly polyphagous species. Its wide host range includes many vegetable, ornamental and fruit crops, as well as numerous trees and shrubs, including Capsicum, Citrus, Cocos nucifera (coconut), Euphorbia pulcherrima (poinsettia), Glycine max (soybean), Hibiscus, Lycopersicon esculentum (tomato), Mangifera indica (mango), Musa (banana), Persea americana (avocado), Prunus spp., Psidium guajava (guava)and  Solanum melongena (brinjal) etc.

Genus : Psidium 
Species : guajava L.
Family : Myrtaceae
Chromosome No. : 2n = 22, 33

Guava (Psidium guajava) for its high adaptability to varied soil and climatic conditions along with plants hardy nature, in short period of time has naturalized so much to the Indian condition effectively that today it is a common backyard fruit in almost every house. The round topped plant with wide crotched branch and light green foliage has an added advantage as landscape plant. From horticulture perspective it is one of the most common fruits grown commercially in India and is ranked next to mango, banana and citrus in respect of area and production. Guava fruit is often referred to as apple of tropics probably as it is the only tropical fruit which matches the high nutritive values of more commercially important temperate fruit apple. In the present tropical fruit culture scenario guava is considered to be the precocious, most prolific and highly paying fruit crop and the horticulturist admire this specie as it is least

Origin and history: Guava (Amrud) is one of the most common fruits in India.  It is a very hardy sub-tropical plant and prolific bearer. In India, it is commonly called as “poor man’s apple” widely naturalized in the country. Allahabad has the reputation of growing the best guava in the country as well as in the world. Area wise guava comes under 4th position after Mango, Banana, Citrus, in India. Uttar Pradesh has the largest area fallowed by Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and West Bengal, however it is generally grown all over India and also grown in South Asia that is Srilanka, Myanmar and tropical and subtropical country. Beside Psidium guajava some other important species which are commercially grown for rootstock purpose that is :

Guava (Psidium guajava L.), belonging to family Myrtaceae, is cultivated and naturalized in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. It occupies fifth place in area (0.15 million ha.) and fourth place in fruit production (1.80 million tonnes) in India. It has gained considerable prominence owing to its high nutritive value, availability at moderate price, a pleasant aroma and good flavour. Its fruits are used for both, fresh eating and processing. It excels most other fruit crops in productivity, hardiness, adaptability and vitamin C content. Besides its high nutritive value, it bears heavy crop every year and gives handsome economic return involving very little inputs. This has prompted several Indian farmers to take up guava cultivation on a commercial scale (Chadha, 2003). Guava trees are not difficult to grow and can survive in a range of soil and climatic conditions. However, precise management is required to produce a highly profitable crop.

Guava is the fifth most important fruit crop of India in area and production after mango, banana, citrus and papaya and also fifth most important fruit crop of India in area after mango, banana, citrus and apple (Anonymous, 2018). It is also called apple of tropics because it is sold at moderate prices. It is widely grown in different part of the tropics and subtropics. It is quite hardy, prolific bearer and highly remunerative crop which requires less care. Guava is an important fruit crop of India and has gained considerable importance because of its high nutritive value, availability at moderate price, a pleasant aroma and good flavour. Guava is one of the most common fruit liked alike by both the rich and the poor. Guava is a rich source of vitamin C and pectin. It is very rich and cheap source of vitamin C. The fruit is relished when mature or ripe and freshly plucked from the tree. It is also used for many preparations like jelly, cheese and juice.

Origin and Distribution

The world leading producer of Guava is India. It contributes 40.4% production of guava followed by china with 10.0% production. It is cultivated in India since early the 17^th century. Its origin is Tropical America. It has been spread throughout the tropics and subtropics. Guava is also cultivated in Israel but it is not common in the Mediterranean area and United States. However, Guava is growing widely in Southern Asia. It is cultivated in Ceylon at altitude of 1500 m and it also grown throughout Myanamar. In Florida, the first commercial guava planting was established around 1912 in Palma Sola. It is common throughout all warm areas of tropical America and in the West Indies (since 1526), the Bahamas, Bermuda and southern Florida where it was reportedly introduced in 1847 and was common over more than half the State by 1886. Apparently it did not arrive in Hawaii until the early 1800’s. Now it occurs throughout the Pacific islands. Generally, it is a home fruit tree or planted in small groves, except in India where it is a major commercial resource. In 1972, Hawaii processed, for domestic use and export, more than 2,500 tons (2,274 MT) of guavas, over 90% from wild trees. During the period of high demand in World War II, the wild guava crop in Cuba was said to be 10,000 tons (9,000 MT), and over 6,500 tons (6,000 MT) of guava products were exported. Brazil’s modern guava industry is based on seeds of an Australian selection grown in the botanical garden of the Sao Paulo Railway Company at Tatu.

Guggul (Commiphora wightii Arnott.) commonly known as guggul, is a much branched shrub yielding gum-resin generally obtained by incision of the bark. Its plant is drought hardy and can  be grown in wasteland,  gravelly, desertic soils of arid parts of the country. This resin, normally referred as guggul, has been shown to have diverse medicinal properties like lowering of lipid activity anti-inflammatory  activity , diuretic, expectorant, diaphoretic  activity, etc (Atal et al.,1975). Its description and uses is mentioned in ancient literatures Ayurvedic treatise Charak (1000 B.C.), Sushruta Samhita (600B.C.). It has  a historical use in  folk medicine and today it ‘s highly commercially important target species .In the last few decades there has been  a sharp  decline in natural population of this species. There is hardly any commercial cultivation of this species. However, at Mangliavas near Ajmer in  Guggul Herbal Farm, more than 15,000 plants have been planted on the rocky site and the material  so  established  is being used for  research purpose on tapping of guggul and other related aspects.

Introduction

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a global federation of national standards bodies. Its primary goal is to promote the development of standardization and related activities worldwide, thereby facilitating the international exchange of goods and services. Additionally, ISO focuses on fostering cooperation in intellectual, scientific, technological, and economic fields. The outcomes of ISO’s technical work are published as International Standards.

ISO 9000 The

ISO 9000 family of standards represents an international consensus on good management practices, aiming to ensure that organizations consistently deliver products or services that meet clients’ quality requirements. These practices are condensed into standardized requirements for a quality management system, applicable regardless of the organization’s nature, size, or whether it operates in the private or public sector. The ISO 9000 standards family includes:

1. Introduction

Organic farming is gaining a lot of importance in recent years owing to raising awareness among the consumers of the agricultural commodities about the health concerns of the indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides (Anonymous 2015; Lakhsman et al., 2024). The increasing demand for organically produced agricultural commodities and the premier prices have attracted the farmers’ interest and motivated them to switch over to organic production systems. The shifting to organic farming by the farmers needs careful consideration of several issues starting from the suitability of soils, selection of crops, adoption of package of practices, processing, storage and marketing. There are several finer aspects which the farmers have to gloss over before they decide to change their production system to organic farming. Although the broad contours are known to all the farmers, there is a need to look into the research findings in the areas of farmers’ interest for changing over to organic farming. The research evidence on the practical viability in a newer area will boost the confidence of the farming community for undertaking the organic farming. It further helps in systematic planning by the policy makers. The traditional research carried out with the modern agricultural practices may not be appropriate for organic farming. There are fundamental differences in the approaches followed in the organic farming research where the emphasis is on using all the natural resources in a complementary way so that there is hardly any need for synthetic inputs in the form of fertilizers and pesticides. It calls for systematic inventorization of resources available and additional organic inputs needed to make organic farming successful. It begins with assessing the suitability of soils, agro-climatic conditions, selection of crops, adoption of management practices, harvesting, processing, storage and marketing of organically-produced food commodities. The practical feasibility, economic viability and social acceptability of organic farming in newer areas need to be established through sound organic farming research before it is taken to the farming community.

11.1 Planning

• Upon receipt of production program verify that crop sowing dates fall into crop windows identified for the particular area and allot accordingly. Check the quality of lots produced in previous season, if available.
• Assign crop location (Open field, Green house, Insect Proof Net / Cage etc) according to crop needs, site conditions and degree to which these conditions can be manipulated efficiently to meet the crop needs. Always adhere to optimum crop conditions.
• Identify material and personnel needs based on the production program and coordinate timely arrival of both. Material and personnel must meet standards established by the production site.
• Identify material quality like A, B, D (First, Second and Dirty) based on the specs.
• Refer standard procedures or formulate some of them. Do not proceed if proper documentation does not exist.
• Plan training for laborers regarding crossing, flower morphology, anthesis, time of stigma receptivity etc.

1 Introduction

The purpose of these Guidelines on Audit Quality is to assist Supreme Audit Institutions assure the high quality of their work and the resulting products. This Section describes the background of the document, provides key definitions applicable to these guidelines, discusses the types of SAIs and audits to which the guidelines apply, lays out the form in which the guidelines are presented and identifies some other sources of useful guidance for assuring quality. Section 2 then deals with quality control as the “hot review” ofthe audit process. Subsections 2.1 — 2.6 set forth some basic premises for establishing effective quality controls, discuss the nature of the controls required to assure quality in the areas of selection and timing of audits, planning specific audits, executing audits, reporting the results of audits, and following up on audits, respectively. Section 3 describes the procedures necessary to assure that needed quality controls are in place and operating effectively, that is it presents the characteristics of post-audit quality assurance. Finally, Section 4 focuses on institutional measures to enhance quality, especially management of human resources (recruitment, training, staff development and ethical standards), institutional risks and external relations. The Annexes provide other information that was considered potentially useful, including reference material, checklists and excerpts regarding quality controls from other guidance documents. The list of reference documents is contained in Annex A.

Audit quality is obtained by a process of identifying and administering the activities needed to achieve the quality objectives of an SAI. All types of SAI need to understand the benefits that can be realised once audit quality is made a priority. Improving audit quality requires a systematic SAI- wide approach. Piecemeal efforts by individuals and individual audit teams are not enough and will not work. There are no quick fixes to be obtained where audit quality is concerned. SAIs needs to proceed methodically in an organised way to fix each quality issue and problem in turn. As new problems will always emerge, this should be a continuous process for the SAI. It is also evident that most audit quality related problems are mainly the result ofpoor management of the audit process or the SAI itself.

Introduction

The present world wide situation of food items calls for a broad range of poultry alternatives to meet increasing demand of quality protein. Besides, complication involved in managing chicken, emergence of new diseases, increase in feed cost and increasing demand of poultry meat bound us to search for alternative species of poultry. In this circumstance rearing of Guinea fowl framed for centuries to meet poultry production requirements of diversified agricultural milieu. The traditionally reared Guinea fowl could become a significant source of food and also a source for substantial supplement income.

History
 
Guinea fowl a bird of West African origin came to India during mediaeval age. Now guinea fowl are being raised in the districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh and in some parts of Tamilnadu. The birds are very popular with marginal farmers and poor classes and are being largely kept as foragers and insectivorous under semi-range and range conditions.

Introduction

Guinea fowl has been domesticated in the recent past as a meat producing birds. Guinea fowl species are found across sub Saharan Africa. Guinea fowls found fairly in large numbers in wild type. Guinea fowl is from the family Numididae in the order Galliformes. They are endemic to Africa and rank among the oldest of the gallinaceous birds. Guinea fowls are hardy, sociable in habit, move in flock and thrive well in tropical as well as in temperate climates. They survive well even under the subsistence agriculture through scavenging. Guinea fowls are resistant to some of the diseases which may fatal to chicken. Guinea fowl meat is tender but slightly darker than that of chicken. Its special gamey flavor makes it a special table delicacy. Guinea fowl meat is drier and leaner than chicken meat and has a gamy flavor. They have marginally more protein than chicken or turkey roughly half the fat of chicken and slightly fewer calories per gram. Their eggs are substantially richer than those of chicken.

Guinea fowl are the insect and seed eating, ground nesting birds with featherless head. Under natural condition, they are monogamous in nature. Wild guinea fowl are strong flyer. Their breast muscle are dark, enabling them to sustain themselves in flight for considerable distances if hard situation. Guinea fowl hens are not known for good mother, but in the wild the guinea fowl cock may help the young keets during the day by keeping them worm and finding feed. Sometime more than one cock will help to raise the young.

Gujarat grows more than half a dozen pulse crops on  7.84 lakh hectares  area with an annual production  of 6.09 lakh tonnes and a productivity of 777 kg/ha. Amongst these, pigeonpea, chickpea, greengram, blackgram, cowpea, mothbean and clusterbean are the important pulse crops grown in the state. Mothbean, greengram and clusterbean are the predominant pulse crops grown in arid region of North Gujarat, though other pulses are also grown on a sizable area. Despite this distinction of being the largest producer, the availability of pulses is far from satisfactory which is evident from the fact that per capita availability has not kept pace with the population increase and has declined to merely 28 g/capita/day as against the mandated minimum and optimum quantity of 80 and 104 g/capita/day, respectively, as per WHO standards. As a result, with 11 per cent of the world’s import, it is also the largest importer of pulses.

The plant gums are the neutral salts and complex polysaccharide acids which contain methyl pentose, pentose, hexose and uronic acid residues joined glycosidically by linkages involving various carbon atoms within one molecule to form branched chain structure. Uronic acid is generally present in all cases. The sugars include L-fructose, D-xylose, L-arabinose, D-rhamnose, and D-galactose.

General Properties of Gums

They have high molecular weight. Some are linear while some are branched. They are generally viscous in nature. Some forms a gel also. They have tremendous commercial application in food industry. Gums may be an exudates gum produced by the plant or may be a seed gum, which is accumulated during the seed maturity. Gums of polysaccharide origin are obtained from Acacia spp. (gum Arabic), Cymopsis tetragonolobus (guar gum), Guggle gum, Ficus indica, chia gum etc (Table 7.1).

Diabetes mellitus is a severe endocrine illness that affects almost 10% of the world’s population and is a serious public health concern. In its most severe form, the disease affects major body systems, resulting in multiorgan problems. Oral hypoglycemic medicines such as sulphonylureas and biguanides are the most commonly used treatments, although their negative side effects are a significant drawback. Herbal medications are gaining popularity as a result of their superior outcomes and safety when compared to commercially available drugs, as well as their ability to address health problems more effectively.

Plants with anti-diabetic qualities are of particular interest to the ethnobotanical community since they are known to contain useful medicinal properties in various parts of the world, and a number of them have demonstrated variable degrees of hypoglycemic and antihyperglycemic action. Several plant species that are high in terpenoids, flavonoids, phenolics, coumarins, and other bioactive compounds have been found to lower blood sugar levels.

Gudmar (Gymnema sylvestre Retz) is a valuable medicinal woody climber from the Asclepiadaceae family. The medicinal climber is well-known for its antidiabetic qualities. Its formulations have potent taste modifying properties, reducing sweet taste sensations in particular. Gymnema sylvestre is known in Hindi as gurmar, which means “sugar destroyer.” The plant has become vulnerable as a result of increased demand and destructive harvesting. The genus is classified into 40 species, some of which like G. sylvestre, G. montanum, G. yunnanense, and G. inodorum have medicinal properties. The leaf extracts contain gymnemic acids, the major bioactive constituents that interact with taste receptors on the tongue to temporarily suppress the taste of sweetness.

Introduction

Improvement of growth rate and feed efficiency through formulating effective diets are mostly considered for its effect on gut health. Several factors need to be well thought-out such as genetic makeup of the birds, feed source and quality, environmental condition and disease incidence. Apart from these factors, maintenance a good gut ecosystem or enhancement of it is essential for the welfare, optimum performances and productivity of birds. 

21.1. Origin and distribution

• Native to tropical Asia and China

• Widely growing in tropics of Africa, Asia and Malaysia.

• In India, it is grown in forests of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Bihar.

• Due to raising demand in South East Asia, plant is endangered particularly in Tamil Nadu.

21.2. Economic importance

• Madhunashini - Important medicinal climber acclaimed for its anti-diabetic properties.

• Preparations - Profound actions on the modulating taste suppressing sweet taste sensations.

Key Points

• In dairy cows, anestrus is a prevalent reproductive condition.

• In dairy farm animals, infertility, pyometra, and repeat breeder cows are the main reproductive syndromes.

Introduction

Farm animals have been raised and chosen specifically for the production of meat and dairy over the years. The livestock business suffers significant f inancial losses as a result of farm animal infertility. If the open span is extended by one estrous cycle as a result of infertility, this explains the 20–25 day loss of output in addition to the expense of treatment, missed work, etc. Farm animals can become infertile for a variety of reasons, including nutritional deficiencies, physiological disorders, and viral infections. These factors can act alone or in concert.

Introduction

Climate change and pollution are the two major concerns that retard growth in animal sector particularly in a developing country like India. Pollution is directly contributed by human beings, while the former is also an after effect of continuous abuse of nature and natural resources. Hence these two areas are to be looked into seriously for country’s growth in general and animal production in particular.

Stress Effect

Stress is nothing but inability of an animal to cope with its environment, a phenomenon that is often ends up with a failure to achieve the full genetic potential. Stress may be from any origin and can even be a disease itself. There exists a variety of endocrine regulatory points of stress which limits the efficiency of production and reproduction. A simple transport produces an immediate constant increase in arginine, vasopressin and corticotrophinreleasing hormone secretion in animals. However, adenocorticotrophic hormone reaches a maximum in the first hour, while cortisol is highest during the second hour. Contrastingly, the hypothalamo–pituitary–adrenal response is delayed occurring only after glucose decreases below a threshold in an insulin treated animal. Negative feedback effects appear to operate mainly at the pituitary level during transport but at the hypothalamus during hypoglycaemia.

Gypsophila is herbacaeous annual or perennial flowering plant belongs to family Caryophyllaceae. It contains several ornamental species of which Gypsophila paniculata L. is the only species used as a cut flower (Zvi et al., 2008) and it is applied as filler in flower arrangements (Jones, 1995 and Rehman, 2002). Gypsophila derived from “gypson” meaning chalk and “phylos” meaning lover, an etymology which alludes to its preference for calcareous soils (Vettory et al., 2013). Mainly found in temperate or warm-temperate regions in the Northern Hemisphere, best developed in the Mediterranean region and Near East (Ataslar et al., 2009 and Cronquist, 1981). It is a perennial plant often grown commercially as an annual crop. Root is rich source of triterpine saponins (Henry, 1993, Hostettmann, 1995 and Gevrenova et al., 2010) which are used for commercially in medicines, detergents, adjuvents and cosmetics (Hostettmann, 1995, Tschesche and Wulff, 1973 and Gevrenova et al., 2010).

Gypsophila is herbacaeous annual or perennial flowering plant belongs to family Caryophyllaceae. It contains several ornamental species of which Gypsophila paniculataL. is the only species used as a cut flower (Zvi et al., 2008) and it is applied as filler in flower arrangements (Jones, 1995 and Rehman, 2002). Gypsophila derived from “gypson” meaning chalk and “phylos” meaning lover, an etymology which alludes to its preference for calcareous soils (Vettory et al., 2013). Mainly found in temperate or warm-temperate regions in the Northern Hemisphere, best developed in the Mediterranean region and Near East (Ataslar et al., 2009 and Cronquist, 1981). It is a perennial plant often grown commercially as an annual crop. Root is rich source of triterpine saponins (Henry, 1993, Hostettmann, 1995 and Gevrenova et al., 2010) which are used for commercially in medicines, detergents, adjuvents and cosmetics (Hostettmann, 1995, Tschesche and Wulff, 1973 and Gevrenova et al., 2010). G. paniculata is one of the ten best selling cut flower species worldwide and thus becomes for the genetic improvement and selection of new varieties of commercial interest. Main regions of gypsophila production are Italy, Israel, Belgium, Germany and Holland while currently its cultivation is spreading across to other countries such as Ecuador, Egypt and Kenya due to lower labour costs. Infact, Gypsophila is among one of the most important varieties of cut flowers in Israel, where it is grown in more than 200 hectares of greenhouses and is almost entirely exported. For these reasons, the competition has increased dramatically, making the world market increasingly difficult for companies which feel the need to introduce new varieties that respond better to characteristics desired by consumers and florists.

The H.C.F and L.C.M are very important and many questions are asked in almost all competitive examinations to judge the students ability and also capability to solve the problem. This concept is useful in the chapters of time and distance, time and work, pipes and cisterns, etc. The tricks used to find L.C.M and H.C.F of two or more numbers help in finding out quick solutions and thus reduce time during exams. L.C.M concept is important to solve problems related to racetracks, traffic lights, etc. H.C.F. concept is useful in calculating the largest size of tile/room in particular area, largest tape to measure the land, etc.

Half life: The time required for the disappearance of one half of a given component of a system.

Halochromism: It occurs when a substance changes color as the pH changes. This is a property of pH indicators, whose molecular structure changes upon certain changes in the surrounding pH. This change in structure affects a chromophore in the pH indicator molecule.

Halomorphic soil : A suborder of the intrazonal soil order, consisting of saline and sodic soils formed under imperfect drainage in arid regions and including the great soil groups Solonchak or Saline soils, Solonetz soils, and Soloth soils.

Hatch-Slack pathway: It is one of the carbon fixation pathway used by certain group of plants (C₄ plants) where the first stable compound is oxalo acetate, a C₄ dicarboxylic acid compound. In the first carboxylation reactions, atmospheric CO₂ combines with phosphoenol pyruvate (PEP) to oxalo acetate and then to malate. These plants posses kranz anatomy with mesophyll and bundle sheath cells.

Halerpestes tricuspis (Maxim.) Hand maz. (Ranunculaceae): LadakhiChitaka [W] Annual herb of alpine zone of above 3500 m altitudes. Whole plant used as stomachic and for gastrointestinal problems.

Halo effect: When making an observation, some observers may be influenced to rate an individual on one aspect of the interaction by the way he was rated on another. This is similar to something that can happen in teaching when a teacher’s assessment of the performance of a student in one subject may influence his rating of that student’s performance in another.

HACCP: The Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) is a scientific, rational and systematic approach to identify, assess and control hazards during production, processing, manufacturing and use of food. It ensures safety of the food. HACCP presents a good opportunity for the food industry for upgrading quality and bringing uniformity and consistency in their supplies to international market. or It is a systematic preventive approach to food safety that addresses physical, chemical and biological hazards as a mean of prevention rather than finished product inspection. It involves identification, evaluation and control of hazards which are significant for food safety.

HACCP plan: A document prepared in accordance with the principles of HACCP to ensure control of hazards which are significant for food safety throughout the food chain under consideration.

Haemagglutinins: A group of proteins of plants that are not antibodies and do not originate in an immune system but bind specifically to carbohydrate containing receptors on cell surfaces (red blood cells). It is also known as Phytoagglutins / lectins.

Objective: To study the habitat, habits, and key morphological characteristics of Dermaptera (earwigs).

Objective: To study the habitat, habits, and key morphological characteristics of Embioptera

ABSTRACT

Tropical wet evergreen and tropical moist deciduous forests were the preferred habitats of the Brown-hawk Owl. Detection rate and response to the broadcasted calls were highest during the breeding season and in all the census points, more than one individual i.e. either in pair or three individuals were detected. Besides conspecific species, some heterospecific species were also found to respond to the broadcasted calls of Brown-hawk Owl, where the Brown-hawk Owl was not detected during the Initial Quite Listening survey. Moreover, approach of the sympatric species was observed only in the riparian strip and in rest of the habitats they responded only with calls. No significant seasonal difference was observed in the habitat utilization but seasonality was observed in the response and the approaching distance to the conspecific calls broadcasted. Additionally, the response to the conspecfic calls indicated that the owls were responding to the conspecfic calls throughout the year.

Habitat is the most valuable variable in ornithological studies as it provides food and cover essential for the survival of the population (White and Garrott, 1985). Habitat is an area containing or influenced by the suitable resources and environmental conditions that determine the presence, survival and reproduction of a population (Morrison et al., 1998). Cody (1985) described habitat as areas where an organism’s need for food and shelter are met. Habitat selection and use by birds is fundamental in understanding their biology and management and it has been one of the most well studied aspects of avian biology, particularly as habitats are altered by human activities (Pain and Pienkowski, 1996).

According to the optimal foraging theory, animals may use the areas offering higher food extensively (Stephens and Krebs, 1987). By using the most productive patches, birds may have a high ingestion rate, allowing to reduce the time exposed to predators and having more time to other activities. However, some authors have obtained contradictory results also. They have not found clear relationship between bird abundance and food availability (Wiens, 1984 and Herrera, 1988). The ability to exploit food resources is one of the most frequently suggested reasons for habitat selection by birds (Caraco, 1980) and would be expected to be primary basis for selection of foraging habitat.

In this chapter utilisation of habitat by the birds of the Silent Valley National Park has been analysed. Usually three questions are asked in the habitat utilisation studies (1) whether the species form well defined assemblages, quite apart from the geographical distribution patterns? (2) Whether ecologically or taxonomically similar species segregate by habitat? (3) Whether habitat characteristics attribute for the variations in the distribution or abundance (Wiens, 1989).

METHODS

Whenever a bird was observed in the period of study, its exact location and activities were recorded. The concept of habitat as described by Odum (1974), “the habitat of an organism is the place where it lives or the place where one would go to find it” is adopted for this study. Four main habitats were identified in the study area, depending on the vegetation type namely, Evergreen Forest (EF), Moist Deciduous Forest (MDF), Coffee Estate (CE) and Agricultural Area (AA). In each of the above habitats, “microhabitat” of birds was also recorded (Odum, 1974). Microhabitats identified at Silent Valley were the tree trunk, foliage, branch, bushes, dead tree, ground, grass and open area. Microhabitats identified at Mukkali were tree trunk, foliage, branch, bushes, ground, rocky areas and open area.

Introduction

Over centuries, spices have been used as an important addendum for colour, flavour and preservation of foods. In addition, their medicinal and cosmetic utilities have been widely recognized (Purseglove et al., 1981; Srinivasan, 2005). All these benefits made them extremely desirable with an ever growing demand in the international market. India holds the title of the largest producer and exporter of spices with major share for pepper, capsicum, turmeric, ginger cardamom, seed spices, curry powders, spice oils and oleoresins. The other primary producers of spices includes China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt, Turkey Brazil and Mexico while USA, Europe, Japan, East Asian and Middle East countries are their major importers.

Spices are made from diverse plant parts viz. rhizomes, barks, leaves, fruits and seeds and hence its processing methods vary depending on the raw material. However, the basic unit operations namely harvest, pre-treatment, drying, cleaning, particle size reduction, packaging and microbial decontamination in sequence remains common for the production of most of the spices. Inappropriate conduct of basic unit operations often lead to high microbial load, aflatoxin contamination, losses of valuable compounds, change in sensory characteristics, physical damages and incorporation of contaminants in spice products (Table 1). Moreover, spices being natural products, they may be fraught with a large number of microorganisms including several pathogenic species of bacteria and fungus depending on the prevailing conditions in their cultivation areas. In addition, poor food sanitation awareness and practices in spice producing countries may worsen their microbiological safety. Although spices are nonperishable in nature due to their low moisture contents after drying, they may act as a source of microbial populations upon contact with moist food products with no further thermal treatment. The outbreak of ‘salmonellosis’ in Germany (1993) due to contaminated paprika and paprika-powdered potato chips is an example. The aforesaid disadvantages related to conventional spice production may confound their international trade unless desired objectives of food safety management schemes such as International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods (ICMSF) are met. Moreover, international agencies have set standard to guarantee safe spices and augment business interests of their adherents. For example, both the European Spice Association (ESA, 2015) and American Spice Trade Association have set a maximum level of 1% w/w extraneous matter in spices (ASTA, 2017). These challenges associated with the conventional production system may be effectively addressed by preventive risk management strategy by which suitable control measures are enforced at earlier phases of food chain prior to consumption. The control measures must guarantee that the level of contamination has not exceeded the maximum permissible limit at every phase of spice production from farm to table.

It is a benign tumor of endothelial cells. It is a common tumor of dogs. Solar induction is one of the cause for development of this tumor.

Haemangiosarcoma is a malignant tumour of vascular endothelial cells. It is more commonly seen in aged dogs.

Clinical examination of animals regardless of domestic or wild ones is of utmost significance during the assessment of health status in animals. Prior to collecting samples, it is important to determine the capabilities and submission criteria of the laboratory receiving the samples.