eBook Chapters

INTRODUCTION

One of the most dangerous ecological crises being faced by all living organism now-a-days is the pollution of the environment. It is easier to describe pollution rather than to define it. It is presumed that the environment in past was more or less pure. But due to various activities of man such as industrialization, urbanization, agricultural practices etc, composition of the environment gets changed which is called environmental pollution. Any substance that creates pollution is called ‘pollutant’. There are different types of pollution among which pollution caused by toxic level of heavy metal pollutants is called heavy metal pollution.

Heavy metal pollution is a problematic field of research and is gaining immense importance now-a-days. We have 104 elements in the periodic classification of which 80 are metals. According to Passow et al. (1961), heavy metals are those having densities more than five (5 g cc^-1) and atomic weight twenty three. The term ‘heavy metal’ is imprecise but is widely used although others such as ‘toxic metal’, ‘trace element’ are possible alternatives. Sources of these heavy metals are varying; some of these are encountered in water, air effluent, solid waste and sewage. They are emitted out from various sources e.g. waste water from electroplating industry (Cr, Ni), air emission from fluorescent lamps (Cd, Be), paint pigment waste (Pb, Cr), auto-exhaust emissions (Pb, Te) etc.

4.1 Introduction

There is no widely accepted methodology for evaluation of IPM programmes. It would be fair to say that commonly accepted methodology for evaluation of the IPM programmes is still under development. Three international workshops supported by the Global IPM Facility were held to discuss and review progress in the development of methodologies and guidelines for the evaluation of IPM, particularly of those programmes/projects using the FFS approach (van den Berg and Jiggins, 2007). The need to combine economic and social science approaches was identified by the participants as a major challenge (Waibel et al., 1999). The recommendations of these workshops are:

“Firstly, the methods of impact assessment and evaluation presented by experts from different fields revealed that despite for the many definitions’ about IPM, there was broad consensus that IPM is about avoiding pesticides dependence and about achieving a socially defined level of pesticide use even though there are many types of IPM intervention. They range from ordinary farmer training to sophisticated ‘Farmer Field School’ approaches. Effective communicated research results that challenge existing paradigms and case studies that draw the attention of politicians and civil society can be subsumed under IPM intervention.

Secondly, need for a document that outlines good practices for IPM evaluation is urgent, because of the diversity of IPM intervention that already exist and that can be further expected. Virtually all groups involved in crop protection, including the chemical companies, label their own concept of IPM as it is a free good that can be taken, reproduced and modified by anyone. Hence, IPM can only be measured by its results and no longer by its inputs.

Thirdly, the different groups who participated in the workshop advocated different approaches to evaluation. There were those who see cost-benefit analysis (CAB) as the major tool of evaluation and wanted to refine this tool by adding economic evaluation of environmental impacts and by applying contingent valuation methods and willingness to pay concepts. Others believe that evaluation should not be a checking procedure but should be designed in the spirit of a joint learning experience. Thus, there was a difference of opinion among the economists on the one hand and anthropologists’ and extension specialists on the other hand. But, lastly, it was concluded that there is a need to set standards which must be met if CBA is going to provide the information that facilitates decision-making.

Introduction

Technological advances of the past two decades have profoundly reshaped and enhanced all aspects of medical research and practice. Concepts, methodologies, tools, and applications of medical informatics with the latest technique and approaches are essential for every one pursuing in the medical IT field. Improvements in healthcare delivery in recent years are rooted in the continued industry-wide investment in information technology and the expanding role of medical informatics. The main goal of this chapter is to collate and provide innovative and creative ideas so far published on healthcare in one article for use by the researchers, practitioners and other related with health care system for improving communication environments in health and to explore all new technologies in medical informatics and health care delivery systems.

Medical Informatics can be defined as a discipline concerned with all aspects of understanding and promoting the effective organization, analysis, management, and use of information in health care (American Medical Informatics Association, 2007). In recent years, medical informatics has become a well-recognized branch of medicine.

Over the past few decades, the fields of science and engineering have been seeking to develop new and improved types of energy technologies that havethe capability of improvinglifeall over the world. In order to make the next leap forward from the current generation of technology, scientists and engineers have been developing Energy Applications of Nanotechnology. Nanotechnology, a new field in science, is any technology that contains components smaller than 100 nanometers. For scale, a single virus particle is about 100 nanometers in width.

An important subfield of nanotechnology related to energy is nanofabrication. Nanofabrication is the process of designing and creating devices on the nanoscale. Creating devices smaller than 100 nanometers opens many doors for the development of new ways to capture, store, and transfer energy. The inherent level of control that nanofabrication could give scientists and engineers would be critical in providing the capability of solving many of the problems that the world is facing today related to the current generation of energy technologies.

People in the fields of science and engineering have already begun developing ways of utilizing nanotechnology for the development of consumer products. Benefits already observed from the design of these products are an increased efficiency of lighting and heating, increased electrical storage capacity, and a decrease in the amount of pollution from the use of energy. Benefits such as these make the investment of capital in the research and development of nanotechnology a top priority.

SYNOPSIS

After the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1992, the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus (CAC) began making the transition from controlled to market economies. All of the countries have programs for economic and social development as well as food security. Over the last decade, the regional population increased 11%, from 72 million in 2002 to 79 million in 2012. Agricultural production has increased throughout the region. For example, vegetable production per decade has nearly doubled due to an increase in the area of the crops grown and to increased yields, and was more than 19 million t in 2011.

INTRODUCTION

Inspite of recent technological developments which have helped to increase agricultural production in many countries, growth of plants and animals continue to depend to a large extent on the weather conditions. Each plant has its own climatic requirements for growth and development and any large scale deviation from it exert negative influence.

Growth of plants is most sensitive to temperature just above a threshold value and near the maximum value, where growth normally stops. Therefore, periods of extreme temperature i. e. low temperatures below the threshold value and high temperatures above the maxima are hazardous to plant development and growth. Extreme temperature conditions during cold spells cause stress and frost; high temperatures lead to heat stress, and both affect agricultural production. Snow and ice storms in late spring or early autumn are very hazardous to many temperate crops.

Similarly extremes of moisture conditions namely dry desiccating winds, drought episodes and low moisture conditions as well as very humid atmospheric conditions including wet spells tend to affect agriculture. High soil moisture situations of water logging and flooding associated with heavy rainfall and tropical storms have adverse effect on plant growth and development since they influence the rate of transpiration, leaf area expansion and ultimately plant productivity. Drastic changes in rainfall variability can have very significant impact, particularly in climatically marginal zones such as arid, semi-arid and sub-humid areas where incidence of widespread drought is frequent. Dry desiccating and strong winds reduce agricultural production as a result of very high evapotranspiration rates. It also causes mechanical damage to plant with weak stems by lodging such as the sugarcane and the banana.

1. Introduction

The Indian government’s New Education policy (NEP 2020) is apositive improvement in this covid-19 scourge. The main NEP for India happened in 1968, trailed by NEPs in 1986 and 2020 under Narendra Modi. India passed the NEP 2020 on July 29, 2020. It tries to reform education and make the countrymoretaught. K Kasturirangan, the previousheadofISRO, led- the NEP 2020 arrangement council. The decision Government of India vowed to modernise Indian schooling in it selection pronouncement (Saha Mushkan, 2020). Educationassumes a fundamental part in building a country; it chooses the nation’s future and its kin’s fate. The effect will be sturdy concerning the development and advancement of the stateandsubject. In this day and age, schooling is urgent. Pre-freedom and post-autonomy periods show the extension and progress Indian Government. It will alter the way India studies; this is the third correction to the instruction strategy. National education policy 2020 plans changes for all gatherings (Kalyani Pawan, 2020).

Abstract

During the past five decades, the role of nitrogen (N) fertilizer in augmenting foodgrain production has widely been recognized the world over. In Indian soils, N deficiency is recognized as a universal problem and its consumption has increased by more than 300 times during the last 60 years.

Introduction

Sheep and goats have a vital economic importance in India, inhabitant in semi-arid region and mostly rose under harsh environmental conditions (high ambient temperature, scarcity of feed and water). The arid and semi-arid regions of India are drought prone due to low and uneven rainfall.  The vegetation of arid and semi-arid tract is more acute during summer when the quality of the pastures becomes vulnerable which in turn decreases the body condition score of animals and reproductive efficiency is being compromised (Maurya et al. 2009a & 2010).  The small ruminants are widely distributed in comparison of other domesticated species. These species of livestock is also a source of employment for marginal and land-less farmers particularly in the arid and semi-arid region of India. Most of the Indian farmers have limited resources and small ruminants production offers an opportunity to alleviate financial conditions and improve living standards.

Rice is a staple food for millions of people in the world, particularly in developing countries like India. The demand for rice is growing with ever increasing population. In India more than 70 per cent of the ground and surface water is being used for Agriculture and out of this 70 per cent is allocated to rice cultivation. Each kg of rice produced with irrigation requires 3000- 5000 litres of water (Anonymous, 2011). The demand of rice in India is increasing with increase in population and is expected to be 140 m.t. by 2025 (Pandey et al., 2008).

Background and Technology Intervention

To increase the water use efficiency coupling piped network and micro irrigation, Department of Agricultural Engineering along with the Tamil Nadu Government introduced a project on “Water conveyance works of modernization of on-farm irrigation network in 5(R) and 7(R) sluices Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP)” covering a total area of 109.86 acres in both the sluices.

Significance of this project is to improve the water use efficiency in canal command areas where the farmers were unable to cultivate annual / long term crop due to alternate supply of water in each zone. PAP command area has 4 zones and each zone receives water once in 135 days in a 2 year span through open channel leading farmers to adopt flood irrigation.

Introduction

One of the triumphs of modern agriculture is the increase achieved in the productiveness of land, measured by yield of crops per hectare or per acre. This has enabled the earth to support a much greater population than would have been possible in past centuries. The increased productivity of the land is a result of scientific and technological progress in plant breeding, in control of pests and weeds, in irrigation and in fertilizers to supplement natural reserves of plant foods. But this progress makes it more difficult to fulfill one specific requirement of many crops: pollination. Pollination of flowers is an essential step in the sexual reproduction of angiosperms. Most angiosperm species rely on insects or other animals, rather than wind, for transfer of pollen among individual plants. The pollinators in turn benefit by obtaining floral resources such as nectar or pollen. Pollination is not only mutually beneficial to the interacting plants and animals, but also serves humanity directly through the yield of many crops, and indirectly by contributing to the healthy functioning of unmanaged terrestrial ecosystems (Costanza et al.,1997; Nabhan and Buchmann, 1997; Klein et al., 2007; Abrol, 2007 and 2008).

Introduction

The integrated nature and high diversity of the soil health system may contribute a significant degree of resilience under conditions of disturbance, particularly at lower (largely microbial) trophic levels. Nonetheless, the conversion of natural vegetation to agricultural land results in major changes in both physical organization and community structure in the soil, including species loss and changes in dominance among the surviving biota. This then becomes the resource with which agriculture must work and any targets should realistically be set in relation to the potential equilibria in agricultural systems rather than the natural systems from which they are derived, as has sometimes been advocated. More importantly, it is clear that subsequent agricultural practices may also impair soil health through significant impacts on the composition and structure of the soil biological community and consequently on soil-based ecosystem functions and services. Damage to ecosystem functions can arise both owing to an inadequate supply of resources (carbon, energy, nutrients or water) and through the impact of intensive substitutive practices such as continuous mechanical tillage, the use of pesticides and excessive amounts of fertilizers. These interventions may also impact on soil functions by destroying or changing the habitat of the soil organisms and their capacity to repair it.

Introduction

With the introduction of chemical pesticides in India during 1947 when 250 tonnes of DDT was imported for Malaria eradication programme, there is a steady increase in consumption and at present about 25 per cent of the cropped area is covered by pesticides. Their use has helped in increasing the productivity over the years. The consumption pattern of different groups of insecticides has indicated the same trend. The Indian pesticide industry with 85,000 MT of production in is ranked second in Asia (behind China) and twelfth globally. The Indian pesticides industry is dominated by insecticides where herbicides and fungicides are the key segments globally. Among the pesticides, insecticides account for 57 per cent, fungicide 28.7 per cent and herbicides 14.0 per cent during the year ending 1997-98. Owing to the ban of highly persistent organochlorine pesticides, there is decrease in the trend. Among the different crops, cotton consumes 44.5 per cent of the pesticide worth of Rs.2462.13 millions, even though it occupies only 5 per cent of the cropped area. Cotton is followed by rice (22.00% of pesticides) and other crops.

Apart from insects, pests and diseases, physiological disorders are one of the major threats to fruit industry which cause financial losses global. Over-all, the problems rise due to unfavorable environmental conditions and improper cultural practices which affect the normal plant growth and development is called as physiological disorders of plant. Ladaniya (2008) stated that the physiological disorder is that it is a function of physiological processes fruit tissue abnormality or failure due to abiotic stress, such as temperature, relative humidity, water stress, chemicals/ nutritional excess and deficiency.

Farmer Field School (FFS) is a capacity building method based on adult education principles for group of farmers. FFS is best described as a ‘school without walls’, where farmers learn through observation and experimentation in their own fields. FFS methodology is potential extension approach to enhance farmer’s knowledge which is a basis for adoption of improved practices (Manoj and Vijayaragavan, 2014). In Andhra Pradesh Department of Agriculture initiated FFS programme in the name of Polambadi during 2006.

Introduction

In India, the marginal, small and semi-medium land holding constitutes more than 90% of the land holdings in the country. They are caught in a vicious cycle of low investment, low productivity and low income with little chance to get out of it. In general, majority of farm families possess limited and scattered land holding with a low productivity and they have very limited accessibility to the improved agricultural information because of their illiteracy and lack of participation in extension programmes. The development of entrepreneurship in subsidiary activity like vermicompost production and Dairying will definitely help the small and marginal farmwomen to increase the farm income. The entrepreneurship among farmwomen in vermi composting and dairying will definitely encourage them to start self employment in addition to the agricultural income. Farmwomen perform -multifaceted role in various fields such as production, processing and marketing. In spite of their significant contribution to production they have virtually remained invisible as farmers, home makers and the ultimate by protecting the whole family. Their role has become critical in the process of moving their family out of the vicious ‘circle of poverty’ Nataraju and Perumal, (1990). Farmwomen generally have lower income and less leisure time than men and seldom have equal opportunities to develop their capabilities. Farmwomen have been considered unorganized and inferior to men, Lelamma (2001).

Introduction

''Sewage, also known as domestic or municipal wastewater, is produced by communities of people. It is characterized by its volume or flow rate, physical condition, chemical and toxic constituents, and bacteriological status. Sewage primarily consists of greywater (from sinks, tubs, showers, dishwashers, and clothes washers) and blackwater (water used to flush toilets, combined with human waste)."

The four primary types of wastewater are domestic, industrial, agricultural, and urban. Domestic wastewater comprises black water containing human and animal feces, along with gray water from household tasks such as bathing, washing, cooking, and gardening. Industrial wastewater consists of industrial byproducts like pulp, paper, petrochemical runoff, chemicals, salts, and acids. Agricultural wastewater originates from agricultural practices, contaminated groundwater, and farming methods, particularly those involving fertilizers and pesticides. Urban wastewater is a blend of domestic and industrial wastewaters, compounded by sewage infiltration and rainwater.

The performance of plants is affected by the soil in which it grows and climate and micro climate of its surroundings.

Impact of soil

The soil provides anchorage, nutrients and water for plant growth. Soil fertility status, structure and texture influence the plant growth and productivity.

Classification of soil

On the basis of the organic and inorganic contents and particle size and texture, the soils have been classified. The inorganic matter in the soil constitutes of varying amount of sand, silt and clay, on the basis of which the soils are classified as follows.

Sandy soil

These soils have coarse textured and large pore spaces, have poor water holding capacity. Retention of nutrients in this soil is very poor. This type of soil is suitable for precocious crops. Sandy soils initiate rapid root growth, hence good as propagating medium. Since sandy soils has low in nutrient content, supplementation of adequate nutrition is imperative to achieve good plant growth.

Introduction

High population pressure has forced us to plough 46% of our country area for food production. The present productivity of 12.36 tones/ha of fruits needs to be raised to 40.0 tones/ha by using N, P₂O₅, K₂O with other inputs, since recommended ratio is 0.75:0.50:1.00. To achieve this target, the present day requirement of 0.67 million tones N, 0.46 million tones P₂O₅ and 0.91 million tones K₂O has been raised to 1.07, 0.58 and 1.14 million tones, respectively in order to supply the recommended ratio of fertilizers to an area of 3.65 million ha growing fruits (Yadav, 1999). Similarly in vegetables, the present production level of 13.41 tones/ha to be raised to 40 tones/ha requires 1.25 million tones of N, P₂O₅ and K₂O combined at the ratio of 1.33: 0.88 and 1.00.

In a country like India where the economy is dominant by agriculture and its allied sectors, nearly 75% of women are engaged in agriculture in comparison with their male counterparts. Among rural female workers, 50% comprises of agricultural laborer and 37% are cultivators. Not only this, around 70% of total farm work is performed by women folk. Majority of agricultural works are done by women farmers (FAO, 2011) and thus empowering them will have far-reaching effect on agricultural development. They usually operate multiple livelihood f ields, including farming, animal husbandry, and marketing along with doing the household chores and are closely involved in social issues. Among these activities when we look specifically into the agricultural tasks, it is very clear that approximately 70–80% of women are participating in all agriculture activities from raising seedlings, weeding, harvesting and, processing and value addition activities and sometimes their involvement extends to marketing their product. To compete in this fast-growing industry with others, the rural women need to be up-to-date with new technologies to foster the reach of innovations to the farm women. Training is one of the most important means by which farmers and rural women can upgrade their professional and technical skillset. This is an essential component in the area of agriculture where technology is changing day by day and the knowledge of the farming community including women needs to be upgraded at a comparatively quicker pace.

Introduction

On 26^th December 2004, out of the 7516 km long coastline of India, more than 4500 km stretch was badly affected by the 9.0 magnitude earthquake- triggered tsunami, resulting in the total destruction of living environment along the coast. The worst affected areas along the Indian coast were in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh states. Tamil Nadu state suffered maximum loss with the damage concentrated in 4 districts.

It was reported that due to 26 December, 2004 Tsunami in Tamil Nadu state, 8.96 lakh people were affected, 376 villages had heavy damage, 7951 human lives lost, 1000 KM coastal length is affected, the sea water penetrated 1-1.5 KM distance into the main land, 128394 dwelling units affected, 9559 cattle lost, 10245 ha cropped area affected, 42655 boats damaged. (GOI, Ministry of Home Affairs, 09.01.2005). Many felt that impact will be very serious and it will take years to resume normal activities in the region. This paper presents an analytical study of the impact of tsunami on agricultural production, household income of the farm households on a continuous basis from 2005 to 2008.

ABSTRACT

The continuing depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer mainly due to release of man-made atmospheric pollutants such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) have resulted in the increase of solar ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B; 280-315 nm) reaching to the Earth’s surface. UV-B is a small (less than 1% of total energy) but highly active component of the solar spectrum that can penetrate to biologically significant depths in lakes, ponds, rivers and oceans. It has been demonstrated that UV-B can cause wide ranging effects including mutagenesis, destruction of proteins/enzymes, inhibition of a number of vital metabolic processes and formation of thymine dimers in DNA leading to death of a number of organisms. A number of microbes including strict photoautotrophs always grow in lighted habitats and thereby always sense and face the stress of solar UV-B radiation. Similarly, humans are also exposed to varying levels of UV-B radiation depending upon the altitudes and latitudes of the location. A wide ranging effect of UV-B such as cataracts, skin cancer, immunosupression etc. has been reported in human. Damaging effects of increased UV-B radiation has also been shown in a number of microbes. These effects include inhibition of growth and survival, decrease in photosynthetic pigments, loss of PS II and RuBISCO activity, inactivation of nitrogenase enzyme and inhibitory effects on several other metabolic processes. Among photosynthetic pigments, phycobiliproteins seem to be the primary target of action since phycobilisomes are completely disintegrated after UV-B exposure. In this contribution an attempt has been made to put in perspective the main effects of UV-B radiation on microbes and human health.

1. Introduction

No doubt Village library is a part of public library. Village library plays an important role for creation knowledge in different field. As we know that maximum people in the village area not aware about their right, even they not know reading and writing. so the rate of literacy is poor. Therefore it can be mentioned that the illiteracy is the main barrier for their development and it will harm their day to day life. Many people in the villages is involve themselves in farming. Agriculture is the main of earning sources. Villagers do not have adequate knowledge in farming and fertilizer that they used for better result even they not know the bad affect of fertilizer that they used. Their life style is not hygienic because of illiteracy.

Web-education Technology

“Educating the people through web” this process is called web-education. The World Wide Web provides new opportunities and hopeful future for distance education over the Internet and the distance education is becoming a widespread used for quite a long time through Newspapers, Radio and TV. Now-a-days mostly the World Wide Web (WWW) getting vital role in distance education, e-learning and distance learning since the networking technologies are emerging very rapidly in the media dominant era. The connectivity of the internet to different kind of people around the world is increasing steadily, like TV and Radio. The World Wide Web and other Internet–based collaborative modern communication technology tools have significantly enhanced the ability to train and educate people electronically.

Introduction

Women in India constitute nearly half of the population. They contribute 75% to the development of our society as compared to men who only 25%. According to the census 2011, nearly 98 million women in India have agriculture jobs, but around 66.1 million of them are depended on others’ farms as agriculture labours. They are engaged largely in cotton, tea, oil seeds and vegetable production. It is also worth mentioning that from the basic level of work concerning farm related activities to unskilled farm jobs like sowing, transplanting, weeding, harvesting and post harvesting activities like winnowing, processing, storage etc. women are engaged right from the start.

Woman’s contribution to the fisheries sector is 22% according to the FAO. Food security, horticulture, sericulture, livestock production and collection of non- timber forest are some of the allied sectors in which they are involved. They are also involved in other allied sectors which include cattle management, milk and poultry farming, and fodder collection. At the same time, women’s domestic activities include cooking, child rearing water collection from the nearby and far-off places, fuel wood gathering and the overall upkeep of household. Ironically, women face disparities in terms of compensation, their share in properties and in representation in local bodies. Much of their contribution in the food production system as food producers and providers has not received effective recognition. This affects their lives and familial conditions in terms of poor health of children and low educational attainments.

Abstract

One of the major distinctive agriculture extension concepts is the Intensive Agricultural Development Village concept or Village Adoption System, where in the Extension Guides who are working at taluk level select a suitable village and disseminate the need based and innovative technologies released by the University. In this connection Extension Education Unit of University of Agricultural Sciences at Mangalore has adopted Irvathur and Renjala villages of Karkala taluk in Udupi district and several educational activities like Field Trials, Result Demonstration, FLD, Block Demonstration and Integrated Farming System Demonstrations were carried out. Training programmes were conducted on Vermiculture, Dairy farming, Paddy cultivation, Cashew demonstration, IPM on Areca nut, Coconut etc., Besides establishing Milk Producer’s Co-operative Societies in the villages, the key programme observed in the village was Vermiculture. To start with, Vermiculture was tried with one farm woman with 100 worms.

Wheat (T. aestivum) is a staple food of the vast majority of the human population in most part of the world; Europe, West Asia, South East Asia, Americas and North Africa. It provides more nourishment than any other food crop and leads all other food crops-rice, maize and potato on a global basis. The wide varieties of food products prepared from it make the crop popular and also a reason for its expansion even to non-traditional wheat cultivated areas. As a leading cereal crop, it is cultivated widely under varied agro-ecological regions and cropping systems throughout the world. It is one of the first plants domesticated and cultivated by humans, which played a critical role in the transition from hunter–gatherer groups to stabilized societies with an agrarian foundation.

Introduction

Conservation tillage is a model of sustainable agriculture as it leads to profitable food production while protecting and even restoring natural resources. Conservation agriculture benefits farmers because it reduces production costs and increases yields, but it also has positive impacts on the whole society: enhancement of food security thanks to a better soil fertility, improvement of water quality, reduction of erosion and mitigation of climate change by increasing carbon sequestration. Conservation agriculture (CA) systems are also less sensitive to extreme climatic events and therefore contribute to the adaption of climate change and the resilience of agricultural systems. Hence, CA becomes a fundamental element of sustainable production intensification, combining high production with the provision of environmental security.

CA is based on healthy functioning of the whole agro-ecosystem with a maximum attention and focus on the soil. The soil is the entry point and it has to be considered not only as simple physical support to roots and plants, but as a living entity with its physical, chemical and biological characteristics. The focus of CA embraces not only the nutrient contents of the soil but also its biological and structural status, which are determinants of sustained productivity.

The paradigm of CA is that an undisturbed soil has the opportunity to develop and produce healthier plants. Soil life can develop in a stable habitat in quantity and quality better than on tilled soils, the structural integrity of soil is maintained, so continuous vertical macro-pores are not destroyed and remain as drainage channels for rainwater into the soils. Seeding under conditions of minimum soil disturbance is achieved by direct seeding through the mulch cover without tillage.

Introduction “Xenobiotics” are “foreign compounds,” which are alien to the organism and removed from their natural environment. Xenobiotics are substances that are either alien to an organism or do not form a natural part of its diet. Compounds including pharmaceuticals, food additives, & environmental toxins are examples of xenobiotics. Normally, these substances are removed from the body by being broken down into compounds and then being expelled through the kidney, bile and lungs. For the pharmaceutical business, enzymes that metabolize xenobiotics are crucial because they are in charge of breaking down medicines. Similarly, xenobiotic transporters influence how long medications remain in the body.

Impatiens is the most popular bedding plant grown worldwide. The genus Impatiens is estimated to contain about 850 species (Grey-Wilson, 1980b). The majority is native to tropical and subtropical regions of India and Africa. The popularity of Impatiens walleriana is mainly due to its propensity for producing large numbers of flowers under low light intensity (Simmonds, 1980). Due to the high economic value and consumer demand for bedding impatiens, there has been a concerted effort by plant breeders to release a wide range of cultivars having different flower colours and distinctive foliage. Previously known as I. sultanior, I. holstii, it has several common names including “Busy Lizzie” and “Patience Plant”. It is one of two important groups of Impatiens in the horticulture industry with the New Guinea Impatiens (Impatiens hawkeri) group being the other. Despite being Impatiens walleriana is one of the most important bedding plants in the world, information on I. walleriana relatively scarce. Impatiens walleriana continues to lead as one of the three most important bedding plants worldwide. It is available as both seed and vegetative products. The history of its development, marketing success, wide adaptability, a large palette of flower colours and forms and unparalleled garden performance as a bedding plant for shade are described as an aid for continued crop development with breeding lessons for other flowering crops.

ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION

Jones and Smith (1966) proposed the Himalayan region as the centre of origin. Khoshoo (1957) and Gill and Chinnappa (1977) stated that the genus Impatiens contains over 600 species half of which occur in the Indian subcontinent. The major centers of diversity are in the highlands and mountains of tropical and sub-tropical India, Africa and Southeast Asia. There are only a few Holarctic species and none indigenous to South America or Australia (Zinov’ea-Stahevitch, and Grant, 1984). Impatiens walleriana also known by the names I. sultani Hook. f. and I. holstii Engl. is native to areas of Eastern Equatorial Africa including Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique Malawi and Rhodesia; as well as Zanzibar and Pemba Islands.

Typically, African impatiens are highly endemic forest species, which thrive in moist semi-shade areas, and often in high altitude regions that receive ample rainfall (Grey-Wilson, 1980). Nearly all African Impatiens are native to habitats above 800 m and one third can only be found in habitats above 1500 m. However, I. walleriana may also thrive at lower elevations provided that these areas receive increased rainfall from monsoons (Grey-Wilson, 1980).

Impatiens is the most popular bedding plant grown worldwide. The genus Impatiens is estimated to contain about 850 species (Grey-Wilson, 1980b). The majority is native to tropical and subtropical regions of India and Africa. The popularity of Impatiens walleriana is mainly due to its propensity for producing large numbers of flowers under low light intensity (Simmonds, 1980). Due to the high economic value and consumer demand for bedding impatiens, there has been a concerted effort by plant breeders to release a wide range of cultivars having different flower colours and distinctive foliage. Previously known as I. sultanior, I. holstii, it has several common names including “Busy Lizzie” and “Patience Plant”. It is one of two important groups of Impatiens in the horticulture industry with the New Guinea Impatiens (Impatiens hawkeri) group being the other. Despite being Impatiens walleriana is one of the most important bedding plants in the world, information on I. walleriana relatively scarce. Impatiens walleriana continues to lead as one of the three most important bedding plants worldwide. It is available as both seed and vegetative products. The history of its development, marketing success, wide adaptability, a large palette of flower colours and forms and unparalleled garden performance as a bedding plant for shade are described as an aid for continued crop development with breeding lessons for other flowering crops.

Introduction

Rick (1984) used the term pre-breeding or developmental breeding to describe the same activity. Thus "genetic enhancement" or "pre-breeding" refers to the transfer or introgression of genes or gene combinations from unadapted sources into breeding materials (FAO, 1996)

However, enhancement has been more popularly adopted by PGR scientists. It is an emerging concept emphasizing the use of plant genetic resources

• To meet the market requirement, plant breeders have to develop improved cultivars.

• Crop improvement has led to narrowing down of genetic base resulting in slower progress (genetic gain) in plant breeding and increased risk of genetic vulnerability

Need for Genetic Enhancement

• In improving the level of resistance to biotic and abiotic stress.

• In improving quality characters such as fibre length, strength, fineness, maturity and uniformity.

• In developing early maturing genotypes, which can fit well in multiple cropping systems.

• In developing plant types suitable to machine picking etc.

• Use of germplasm will help in broadening the genetic base of cultivars as well as in creating vast genetic variability.

Abstract
 
Drying is one of the most popular methods used for preserving products and extending their shelf lives by reducing moisture content to a low level to prevent microbial spoilage and moisture-mediated deteriorative reactions. As an efficient technology with high heat and mass transfer rates, impingement drying has been commonly used in various industrial drying such as tissue paper, textiles, photographic films, coated paper, nonwovens, carpets, lumber etc. In the past two decades, air impingement technology has got more and more attention in the field of food and agricultural products processing.

Fracture healing is a complex process in which damaged bone restores its original architecture through a cascade of molecular and cellular events. The process of fracture healing is unique, in that it does not form a poorly organized replacement matrix, otherwise known as scar tissue, but rather regenerates the original matrix and retains its mechanical properties. Normal fracture and bone repair follows a known sequence of events includes: haematoma formation, inflammation, angiogenesis, osteogenesis, and bone remodeling.

For the repair of bone defects, a tissue engineering approach would be to combine cells capable of osteogenic (i.e. bone-forming) activity with an appropriate scaffolding material to stimulate bone regeneration and repair. An ideal tissue-engineered bone substitute should possess 3 elements: osteoprogenitor cells, osteoinductive factors, and an osteoconductive scaffold, and is considered as a potential substitute for autologous bone transplantation. Tissue engineering approaches have proven very effective in bone regeneration recently, and the successful repair of bone defects has been demonstrated in larger animals like canine, goat and sheep.

Stem cells from adult tissues are attractive materials for cell therapy, gene therapy, and tissue engineering. These cells generally have restricted lineage potential when compared to embryonic stem cells, and this may be advantageous in certain therapeutic applications. Till and McCulloch in 1961 describes the presence of hematopoietic progenitor cells in bone marrow. After this, the concept of MSCs is brought to light by Friedenstein and co-workers who demonstrated the osteogenic potential of BM cells by heterotrophic transplantation.

Introduction Rice cultivation is a means of livelihood for a large number of people from the state of Assam, India (Saikia, 2019). It is related to the cultural aspects in rural Assam where people indulge themselves in traditional as well as modern ways of farming. Like any other north-eastern states in India, rice majorly dominates the Assamese cuisine. It is the primary source of diet in Assam. There are more than 100 varieties that are genetically modified breeds in which indigenous varieties contribute to 20 germplasm (https://www.rkbassam.in/). The different rice varieties of Assam have different culinary applications in both savoury and sweet cuisines. The intermediate and high amylose rice, parboiled or nonparboiled are consumed as staple for major meals while the low amylose rice is mostly consumed as snacks, breakfast cereals and desserts. The major constituent of rice is starch consisting of about 90% of the mass. Thus, the major compositional changes occurring in rice is due to starch. Starch is a polymer of glucose linked by glycosidic bond. It consists of amylose (linked by alpha 1- 4 linear chains) and amylopectin (alpha 1-4 & alpha 1-6 branched chains). On the basis of composition, rice is classified as high amylose (>25%), intermediate amylose (20 -25%), low amylose (7-20%) and waxy or glutinous (1–2%) types (Juliano, 1979).

The eventual objective of promoting IDM is to empower its users to engage sustainable agricultural production with long term positive impacts on human being, poverty and environmental health.The impact of successful implementation of IDM approaches cannot be achieved if IDM is not strategically placed within national policies for agricultural production and protection. There are number of the national policies and related regulations that have direct impact on IDM adoption and scaling up in India.

It is a process by which a act of predetermined activities is carried out in a planned manner, with a view to achieve certain establish objectives.

To implement a project means to carry out activities proposed with the aim to achieve project objectives and deliver results and outputs. It is a highly complex process and it involves a relationship among several system and variables

1. Introduction

Radio Frequency Identification popularly known as RFID is a term used for a radio-enabled device that communicates with or interrogates a tag or smart label, which is embedded with a single microchip processor and an antenna. "This is an automatic identification method that relies on storing and remotely retrieving data using devices such as RFID tags or transponders (Mamdampur and Rajgoli, 2011)". This technology is similar in concept to a cell phone (Singh and Midha, 2008) which refers to the subset of automatic identification that uses radio waves to automatically identify bulk or individual items (Chavan, 2012).While the origin of RFID lie more than 50 years in the past, passive RFID technology is actually only in its infancy (Sarma, 2008).

Abstract

The upsurge in global population rates has triggered a significant escalation in food demand across the world. This is accompanied by urbanisation and a pressing need for sustainable agriculture. In this context vertical cultivation of plants as well as breeding of livestock on vertically inclined surfaces, such as in skyscrapers and other high-rise buildings in urban regions has gained prominence. The dynamics of urban agriculture is captured through the case study of Urbagrow Aquaponics, an urban, aquaponic, soil-free, food garden based in Kolkata. The garden exhibits an assortment of aquaponic systems for growing a variety of vegetables as well as the tilapia and catfish. The systems make use of less water, require less work in man-hours and can grow vegetables in greater density than a traditional soil based food growing endeavour. A feasibility study has been conducted to explore the potential of scaling such a venture across myriad other high-rise buildings across Indian cities.

The major challenge of the present time in agriculture is implementing sustainable development and meeting the food needs of increasing population simultaneously. Agricultural extension always remains an integral part of National Agricultural Policy. At present, agricultural extension has a crucial role to play in the context of growing demands of agricultural production in a sustainable manner. In this situation extension’s traditional task of transferring and disseminating appropriate technologies and agronomic practices would not be sufficient. There is need to view extension for sustainable development in an institutional strengthening context, both in functional and structural.

Variation is inherent in almost all biological populations. In any science, research work, that is, the study and explanation of development changes in a phenomenon can be theoretical as well as experimental. Thus, in order to have solution to a problem the need arises to collect relevant information (called data) their analysis and interpretation through appropriate statistical tools. Statistical analyses help the biologists to draw appropriate conclusions. For instance, in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) the entomologists are primarily concerned with the estimation of insect-pest population, its distribution pattern over time and space, its relationship/fluctuation in population with the prevailing weather parameters and ultimately its control measure through the judicious use of chemicals, biological control agents and resistant varieties etc. There are two broad modes of collection of data:

Introduction

Growth enhancement technologies have been widely embraced in the livestock industry to improve growth, efficiency and carcass traits. For over 50 years, estrogenic and androgenic hormone implants were widely used in the cattle feeding industry, and it is estimated that approximately 97 percent of feedlot cattle in the U.S. receive one or more implants during the finishing phase (Barham et al., 2003; Tatum, 2006). There is a large body of literature that indicates the positive growth enhancement effects which implants impart on growing and finishing cattle and producers have extensively used implants to increase live body weight, improve average daily gain and feed efficiency, and reduce the number of days cattle are on feed (Apple et al., 1991; Duckett et al., 1997;Milton and Horton, 1996; Perry et al., 1991). Likewise, there is a growing body of literature that indicates the positive response on growth and carcass characteristics that finishing cattle have to beta-adrenergic agonists. The hog industry, and more recently, the cattle feeding industry have increased utilization of beta-adrenergic agonists to improve the efficiency of production. While the use of Ractopamine hydrochloride (Paylean^®, Elanco Animal Health, Greenfield, Indiana) has been used extensively in hog production since its approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1999, similar pharmaceutical feed additives have only recently been implemented in commercial cattle feeding operations. Beta-adrenergic agonist use in fed cattle has substantially increased following the FDA approval of Ractopamine hydrochloride (Optaflexx^®, Elanco Animal Health, Greenfield, Indiana) in 2003, and the approval of Zilpaterol hydrochloride (Zilmax^®, Merck Animal Health, Summit, New Jersey) in 2006. The use of both Ractopamine hydrochloride (RH) and Zilpaterol hydrochloride (ZH) have shown to elicit similar improvements in live weight gain, average daily gain, and feed efficiency as those reported in hormone implants (Allen et al., 2009; Avendano-Reyes et al., 2006; Beckett et al., 2009; Elam et al., 2009; Gruber et al., 2007; Kellermeier et al., 2009; Scramlin et al., 2010). In addition, these compounds have been reported to have profound effects on hot carcass weight, Longissimus muscle area and carcass cutability (Gruber et al., 2007; Hilton et al., 2010; Rathmann et al., 2009; Scramlin et al., 2010; Shook et al., 2009; Vogel et al., 2009). It is because of this that cattle feeders have drastically increased use of beta-agonists since their FDA approval, and a growing portion of the fed cattle population receive a dietary beta-agonist supplement that is provided within the final 20 to 30 days of finishing.

The most important use of R programming lies in importing of data files which serves as input for the analysis work. After the analysis is over by using R codes, operators and functions, the output result must also be exported in form of files. The files are imported in form of csv files (comma separated variable), text files or excel files.

Before going to the actual content of the chapter we have to have an idea about csv files. CSV stands for Comma Separated value. It is used to store tabular data, such as a spreadsheet or database. CSV is delimited text file in which the values are separated by commas. CSV files occupy much less space than excel files and also gets imported in a program at a much faster rate than Excel files. CSV Files also does not manipulate data and stores as it is.

Let us consider that an excel file named as ‘plant’ which stores three variables, named as ph, pd and yield is created inside the folder named as ‘My Data’ which is placed in the desktop. Thus the path of the file is “C:\\Desktop\\My Data\\plant”

To import excel file the package will be readxl and the command will be library(readxl)

1. Determination of qualitative nursery planting materials

1.1 Quality assessment of seedlings

Nursery is a place where young/infant seedlings are kept under intensive care until they are ready for planting. The production of quality seedlings begins with the collection of quality seed, nursery establishment, and after-germination maintenance. The quality of plant propagation structures may not be a qualitatively gradable criterion, but it can be indirectly assessed by their relationship to growth, productivity, and vigour. The Dickson Quality Index (DQI) is very useful for assessing the quality of a specific group of seedlings. This is done by selecting some seedlings at random from that group and computing Dickson Quality Index (DQI).

The Export-Import (EXIM) Committee was constituted in the Seeds Division to deal with application for exports/imports of seeds and planting materials in accordance with the New Policy on Seed Development and EXIM regulation.

The Policy reiterated that all imports of seeds and planting material would be regulated under the Plant Quarantine Order 2003 and amendments made their under, Import licences would be granted by DGFT/PPA on the recommendations of DAC.

The composition of the EXIM Committee is as under: (i) Secretary (A&C) - Chairperson (ii) Agriculture Commissioner (iii) DDG (CS), ICAR (iv) DDG (Hort.), ICAR (v) JS (IC) (vi) JS (PP) (vii) Horticulture Commissioner (viii) Animal Husbandry Commissioner, Deptt. of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (proposed to incorporate by the 94th Exim Committee) (ix) Director, National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) (x) Plant Protection Adviser (xi) Economics and Statistical Adviser (xii) JS (Seeds) - Member Secretary

A small quantity of seeds sought to be imported would be given to ICAR, or farms accredited by ICAR, for trial and evaluation for one crop season. On receipt of applications for commercial import, DAC would consider the trial/ evaluation report on the performance of the seed and their resistance to seed/ soil borne diseases. DAC is required to either reject or recommend the application to DGFT for grant of import licence within 30 days of receipt.

Agriculture plays a key role in the overall economic and social well being of the country. Though the share of Agriculture in both GDP and employment has declined overtime, Agriculture still forms the backbone and occupies a pride of place :

1. Agriculture contributes 24 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product. GDP was declined from 39 per cent in 1983 to 25 per cent during 1999-2000 and now it 17.32 per cent.
2. Provides livelihood support for more than half of the population in the country. The sector provides employment to 56.7 per cent of the India’s work force.
3. Agriculture has been the source of raw material for industries. Majority of the industries depending on agriculture for their raw materials. Ex: Textile (Cotton, Jute), Sugar (Sugarcane, Sugar beet), Small & medium scale industries like soaps, dyes, medicines, vitamins, preservation of fruits and vegetables, dhal milling, rice husking, Jaggery making, oil crushing, handlooms etc.
4. It provides large part of market for industrial goods viz., seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, implements, machines like pump sets, trucks, tractors, power tillers, sprayers etc.
5. Support roadways, railways, airways and shipways for transport of inputs & produce.

1.1. Definition

Alteration in one or more of physiological processes culminating in a loss of coordination of energy utilization in a plant as a result of the continuous irritation due to presence or absence of some factor or agent.

A plant is said to be diseased when there is a harmful deviation from normal functioning of physiological process (Federation of British Plant Pathologists, 1973).

The association of flowers with mankind is evidenced since dawn of the civilization. For many centuries, flowers play an important role in each and every occasions of life and no social function is considered complete without the use of flowers. Flowers are regarded as the symbol of love, beauty and a gift of nature. In India, there is a popular saying that flowers are associated with man from birth till death.

Floriculture can be defined as a specialized branch of horticulture which deals not only with the cultivation of flowers, foliage plants, climbers, trees, shrubs, cacti, succulents, etc., but also their marketing and production of value-added products from them.

Floriculture is increasingly regarded as a viable diversification from the traditional field crops due to higher returns per unit area. Flowers play a cardinal role in human behaviour and culture, bringing tranquillity and peace of mind. From a symbol of love, flowers have transformed into an industry, generating both income as well as employment. During the past few decades, appreciation of the potential of the commercial floriculture has resulted in the blossoming of this field into a viable agri-business option. The varied agro-climatic conditions prevailing in India and wide availability of natural resources are conducive for production of a large number of flowering and ornamental crops almost throughout the year. The commercial production and marketing of flowers and floriculture products have also increased during recent years due to improved marketing and communication facilities, making availability of these throughout the country and generating a huge employment.

Horticulture is the science and art of production, improvement and utilization of fruits vegetable, ornamental, aromatical medicinal, spices and plantation crops. The word horticulture derived from latin words ‘Hortus’ means garden and culture means cultivation.

The horticulture science can subdivided into different following branches on the basis of product utilization and crop involved.

Pomology: This word is derived from latin word pomus ‘Fruit’ and Greek term logy ‘Science’. The branch deals with the cultivation of fruits called pomology.

Olericulture: It is the branch of horticulture which deals with cultivation of vegetable crops product of which is utilized for culinary purpose after cooking. Olericulture word is derived from the latin word oleris means pot herbs and the english word culture means the culture of succulent vegetables.

Plantation crops: Cultivation and processing of tropical crops grown on a large scale centered around a factory constitute the plantation crops e.g., tea, coffee, black pepper.

Spices crops: These crops are grown and used for providing fragrance and flavouring to various food stuffs e.g., cinnamon, clove, pepper, coriander etc.

Medicinal plants: These plants are rich source of alkaloids and steroids having prophylactic and curative properties for treatment in several diseases e.g., Aloe, Isabgol.

Aromatic plants: Aromatic plants are rich source of essential oil which is used for cosmetic industry e.g., Rose, lemon grass etc.