eChapters

Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bangalore

Indian Institute of Vegetable Research (IIVR), Varanasi

Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR), Calicut, Kerala

Central Institute of sub-tropical Horticulture (CISH), Lucknow

Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture (CITH), Srinagar

Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI), Kufri, Shimla

Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (CTCRI), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI) Kasargod, Kerala

Central Institute of Arid Horticulture (CIAH), Bikaner, Rajasthan

Central Institute of Post Harvest Engineering and Technology (CIPHET), Ferozepur, Punjab

Importance of training and pruning

1. To control the habit of vegetative growth and regular bearing.
2. Remove all limbs and dead branches.
3. To improve flowering, fruiting and fruit quality
4. Remove all broken shoots, diseased, or pest infection branches from all trees and shrubs.
5. It is usually best to prune temperate fruits and shrubs during early spring before full leaf.
6. Maintain balance between shoots and roots at planting and nutrients uptake
7. Provide the basic tree form and to aid the development of a strong tree framework by encouraging strong wide crotch angles
8. Stimulate shoot growth near a cut.
9. Permit proper light distribution and penetration to the tree canopy.
10. Increase insect and disease control by allowing for better spray penetration.
11. Facilitate harvesting.
12. Achieve orchard uniformity.
13. Produce the proper amount of well distributed fruiting wood.
14. Encourage a structurally sound tree by removing branches with weak narrow crotch angles or those with diseased, damaged, or unproductive wood. Invigorate and renew the bearing area of older trees.

Selection of orchard soil in rainfed areas

A good or adequate soil for orchard production is to say that a given plot or area of land must possess the following qualities.

1. A deep and well aerated soil with good drainage.
2. Adequate nutrients for optimum tree growth and high yields.
3. Good Water holding capacity - the ability to store and feed the fruit tree with an abundant supply of water.

It is a scientific technique which provides maximum outputs of various inputs consistently without any loss of fertilizers and manure, plant, plant protection chemicals, produce etc. Therefore, one should understand the management of these qualities of both resource and output.

Plant Propagation

Plant propagation involves the formation and development of new individuals, which are used in establishment of new plantings. It is simply the reproduction or multiplication of a plant from a source that is often referred to as a mother plant. In general, two methods are employed: 1) sexual and 2) asexual. Sexual propagation is multiplication of plants from seed and asexual or vegetative propagation involves starting a new plant from some vegetative part of a plant. Propagation by seed results in seedling variability. It is an extreme disadvantage for a nursery operator trying to produce a uniform crop containing chosen desirable characteristics. Seed propagation is not practiced in fruit nursery as plants raised by this method fail to bear true to type fruits.

Germination of seed

The activation of the metabolic machinery of the embryo leading to the emergence of a new seeding plant is known as germination. Germination is essentially a quickening of the growth of the embryo. As germination proceeds, the growing points of the radical and plumule divide rather rapidly Usually the radical emerges from the seed coat first, proceeds downward, and develops into the root system, the plumule proceeds upward and develops into the shoot system. Germination is entirely a food utilization process. Processes going on in seed during germination are: 1) Absorption of water; 2) Secretion of enzymes and hormones; 3) Hydrolysis of stored food into soluble form; and 4) Translocation of soluble foods and hormones to the growing points. These processes are either wholly or in part influenced by the food reserves, hormone supply, water supply, oxygen supply and temperature level.

The plan reviewing the arrangement of fruit plants in an orchard is known as the orchard layout. Although several systems of planting are followed to increase the production of orchard, selection of root stocks, soil, system of training pruning and cultivars are very important factor influencing designing of layout. However, improper system results in overlapping of plant parts, competition for water, light, nutrient and unequal distribution of water etc., which ultimately results in poor performance or fruit orchard.

Layout plan

The marking of position of the plant in the field is referred as layout. The layout plan of the orchard should be prepared carefully, preferably in consultation with horticultural experts or fruit scientists. The orchard layout plan includes the system of planning provision for orchard paths, roads, water channels and farm building. A sketch of the proposed orchard should be prepared before the actual planting is taken up.

Minor fruit crops are considered important for their food, fibre, fodder, oil or medicinal properties, but have been reduced in value over time owing to particular supply and use constraints. These can include poor shelf life, unrecognized nutritional value, poor consumer awareness and reputational problems food or “poor people’s food”. The main products consumed by people are fruit cordial, jam, fruit drinks, chutney, candy, pickle and squash concentrate crop species. The entire country is mainly depend on handful of crop species neglecting large number of vegetables, fruits and other crop species with high nutritional and medicinal values which were grown traditionally in the past, resulting these valuable crop species are critically facing the state of speedy disappearing.

Soil

Soil is the upper most crust of earth surface which supports plant growth. It is defined as a three phase system in which plants grow. These phases are solid, liquid, and gas are essential. Solid part is frame which provides space for other two. It consists of minerals, clay minerals and organic matter. The soil is also a living system with millions of microbes that breakdown organic matter. The microbes are very essential and survive only when soil is well aerated and rich in organic matter and devoid of waterlogged conditions. Texture of soil depends on the size of solid particles and classified as gravel, coarse and fine sand, silt and clay. Soils are classified according to the relative distribution of these particles. Likewise, arrangement of these particles is referred as structure. Generally loamy soils and crumb structure are most growing preferred for fruit crops. According to level of organic matter, soils are classified as mineral soil or organic soil and soil having more than 20% organic matter is organic soil like peat and muck etc. Minerals and salts lend chemical properties to the soil like pH, alkalinity, sodicity, salinity and cation exchange capacity which influences the availability of nutrients in soil. Therefore, for making choice for soil, soil analysis in terms of following criteria isessential to decide on land capability. Maximum numbers of fruit orchards in India are depleted from micro and macro plant nutrients which interrupted the growth and development of the fruit plants and their quality. Therefore, like growers are not attain profit desired. To obtain marketable fruits, nutrients managements are highly beneficial to the fruit growers rainfed areas. Analysis of soil is useful to determine the level of the elements available in the orchards to get maximum yield.

Major field operations for horticultural crops viz., fruit nursery/seedling preparation, post hole digging for planting, intercultural operation, aeration, training and pruning, irrigation, plant protection, harvesting, handling, packaging transport are completed through field tools and implements. The cultivation of horticultural crops is predominantly dependent upon human labour, since commercial cultivation is only on a limited scale. So animal/power tiller or tractor-drawn mould board ploughs, disc ploughs, harrows, cultivators and rotavators are available for land preparation and development of new orchards. The fruit plants are generally perennial plants. So different types of sprayers and dusters are available from manually to power operated such as knapsack sprayers foot operated sprayers, power operated mist blowers and dusters or plant protection equipments used for application of insecticides, pesticides and herbicides in the fruit orchards. Some of important implements and sprayers are enlisted below

1. Fruit : Types and their Classification

Fruit:The botanical definition of fruit is a seed-bearing part of a flowering plant or tree that can be eaten as food

or

Fruits are matured ovaries plus any associated flower parts and contain the seeds of the plant. The ovary may be subdivided into two or more carpels (then termed compound ovary) each bearing one to many ovules. Individual carpels develop into sections of a whole fruit, as with citrus where each familiar segment of the fruit represents one matured carpel. If the ovary is not subdivided, then it is termed simple. The ovules will mature into seeds if fertilized. Fruit has three parts.

A. Multiple Choice Questions

1. While studying the history of domestication of various cultivated plants were recognized earlier:
   1. Centers of origin
   2. Centers of domestication
   3. Centres of hybrid
   4. Centres of variation
2. The quickest method of plant breeding is:
   1. Mutation breeding
   2. Hybridization
   3. Selection
   4. Introduction

Biostatistics are the development and application of statistical methods to a wide range of topics in biology. It encompasses the design of biological experiments, the collection and analysis of data from those experiments and the interpretation of the results.

Quantitative traits are polygenic meaning they are controlled by many genes and gene interactions. Examples: height, weight, length etc.

Qualitative character

Qualitative traits are under the controlled of one or few genes, also called oligogeneic traits. For example, black or red coat color, horned or polled, coat color dilution, leaf color are all qualitative traits.

Intellectual Property: Intellectual property is an intangible creation of the human mind, usually expressed or translated into a tangible form that is assigned certain rights of property. It includes, inventions, trademarks, industrial design and geographical indications.

Intellectual Property Rights: Intellectual property rights (IPR) are the rights given to people over the creation of their minds. They usually give the creator an exclusive right over the use of his/her creations for a certain period of time. It includes, creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce.

Marker Assisted Selection (MAS)

Marker Assisted Selection [MAS] is defining as the indirect selection for a desired plant phenotype based on the banding pattern of linked molecular (DNA) markers. It is based to infer the presence of a gene from the presence of a marker which is tightly linked to the gene of interest and high heritability of the gene of interest. Marker assisted selection (MAS) is also known by other names as marker aided selection and marker assisted breeding (MAB).

Molecular markers, including DNA based genetic markers have found their applications in almost all areas of biology, more so in evolutionary biology, genetics and breeding in order to identify a particular sequence of DNA in a pool of unknown DNA. For many applications, DNA markers are preferred over other molecular markers since DNA is stable within an organism over time and among stages of development whereas other molecules are dynamic. A molecular marker is a DNA sequence that is readily detected and whose inheritance can be easily monitored. The uses of molecular markers are based on the naturally occurring DNA polymorphism. Most commonly used molecular markers in biological science include:

1. Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP)

RFLP is the first molecular marker technique which was invented by Botstein et al. (1980). The technique is based on restriction fragment length polymorphism; a molecular marker based on the differential hybridization of cloned DNA to DNA fragments in a sample of restriction enzyme digested DNAs; the marker is specific to a single clone/restriction enzyme combination. It consists of the following steps:

Advances in molecular biology have sharpened the tools of the breeders, and brighten the prospects of confidence to serve the humanity. The application of biotechnology to field crop has already led to the field testing of genetically modified crop plants. Genetically engineered Rice, Maize, Soybean, Cotton, Oilseeds like Rape seed, Sugar Beet and Alfalfa cultivars are expected to be commercialized in the late of 20^th century. Genes from varied organisms may be expected to boost the performance of crops especially with regard to their resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses

Genetic engineering involves isolation of DNA fragments within a cell recombining them outside. The basic technique is quite simple. Two DNA molecules are isolated and cut into fragments by one or more specialized enzymes, the fragments joined together in a desired combination, then restored to a cell from replication and reproduction. This method also referred to as recombinant DNA technology. Genetic engineering developed in the mid 1970 when it becomes possible to cut DNA and to transfer particular pieces of DNA containing specific bits of information, from one type of organism into other.

Tissue culture is a technique used to culture cells, tissues, organs or whole plant under controlled environmental conditions that in vitro condition is known as plant tissue culture. Plant tissue culture exploits the totipotency nature of plant cells, ability to develop in to complete plantlet.

The term ideotype was proposed by Donald in 1968. Ideotype is a biological model which is expected to perform in a predicted manner in a defined environment. A crop ideotype is a plant model that is expected to perform better in a particular environment. The concept of ideotype changes from crop to crop, climate to climate and the concepts and policies of the community concerned. Ideotype breeding is the development of a plant type, expected more quantity of grains, with ideal character. Plant characters are selected from an agronomic point of view.

The prime objective of any plant breeder is to develop high yielding varieties and make the quantity of quality seed of those varieties to farmers for commercial cultivation to realize the benefits of superior varieties. This necessitates, the production of seed of improved varieties in large scale in order to make them available to farmers without losing their genetic purity. Seed production is a continuous process. The seed of improved varieties are produced in several stages, each class producing a special class of seed. The various classes of improved seeds are recognized in order to facilitate seed production and to ensure continuous supply of quality seed. A seed production programme for the production of quality seed has different classes of seeds viz; nucleus seed, breeder seed, foundation seed, registered seed and certified seed. The Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies (AOSCA) has defined these seed classes as follows:

1. Nucleus Seed

Basic or nucleus seed is the original seed of a released and notified variety. Nucleus seed is multiplied by single plant progeny system, using the concept of maintenance breeding, where purity of the original parental stock is maintained. It is available in very limited quantities and taken from the individual plant of a variety for purification. It is directly under the controlled of concerned crop breeder. This seed has hundred percent genetic and physical purity. Breeder seed is multiplied out of this material and about 500-1000 plants are kept for continued multiplication of nucleus seed.There is no need of any type of tag on nucleus seed but concerned breeder issue a certificate for purity.

Crop breeders are continuously engaged in the improvement and development of crop varieties, in search of a genotype which will prove superior to the existence cultivars. A strain is duly released by appropriate duly empowered legal organization. Only when it is officially released, it is called variety, Before release, it is said to be strain or line. The release of new crop varieties consists of the following major steps:

1. Development of new strains

The new strains are developed by ICAR Crop Research Institutes and State Agricultural Universities for specific purposes. Various breeding methods are used for development of new strains. Some varieties are developed by selection without hybridization such as pure-line variety, mass selected variety and clonal variety. Development of some varieties involves hybridization and selection. This includes varieties that are developed by pedigree, bulk and backcross methods including multiline cultivars and population improvement methods.

2. Evaluation of performance

This trial is conducted at the research station, where new strains has breed. The object is to make sure that new strains are better in performance than the existence variety, so that it can be promoted to the trials where new strains has to be compete with other strains, developed by other scientists/researchers.

The disease , referred as the disorder of crop plants caused by fungi, mycoplasma, bacteria and viruses. Plant resistance is one of the most effective and ideal approach to combat diseases and insect-pest. Resistance is the capacity of plants to resist, withstand and overcome the attack of pathotypes.

Mechanism of Disease Resistance

Different mechanism of disease resistance are as under:

1. Disease escape

The ability of susceptible host plants to avoid attack of disease due to environmental factors like early maturing varieties, shift in the date of planting, change the field, balanced application of NPK etc. Example., early maturing varieties of groundnut and potato may escape from ‘Tikka’ and ‘Late blight’ diseases respectively.

2. Disease tolerance

The ability of the plants to tolerate the attack of the pathogen without loss or little loss in the yield. This endurance is brought about by the influence of external characters. Generally, tolerance is difficult to measure since it is confounded with partial resistance and disease escape. Disease tolerance is of three types:

Abiotic stresses include salinity, drought, flood, extremes in temperature, heavy metals, radiation etc. They are the foremost factors that causes the loss of major crop plants worldwide. This situation is going to be more rigorous due to increasing desertification of world’s terrestrial area, increasing salinization of soil and water, shortage of water resources and environmental pollution.

The inadequacy of water availability, including precipitation and soil moisture storage capacity, in quantity and distribution during the life cycle of a crop to restrict the expression of its full genetic yield potential”. Generally drought stress occurs when the available water in the soil is reduced and atmospheric conditions cause continuous loss of water by transpiration or evaporation. Drought stress tolerance is seen in almost all plants but its extent varies from species to species and even within species.

Polyploidy, the condition in which a normal diploid cell or organism acquires one or more additional sets of chromosomes. In other words, the polyploid cell or organism has three or more times the haploid chromosome number. Polyploidy arises as the result of total nondisjunction of chromosomes during mitosis or meiosis. The somatic chromosome number of any species, whether diploid or polyploidy is designated as 2n. The somatic cells of plants are diploid that they posses two complete set of chromosomes, one received from seed parent and another from pollen parent. The gametic chromosome number is said to be haploid and denoted by n. Haploid is defined as cell with gametic chromosome number. While monoploid has the basic chromosome number and represented by x.

Classification of Polyploidy

Polyploids are classified in to two groups, euploidy and aneuploidy. Euploidy have chromosome number which is an exact multiple of basic number. Euploidy includes monoploids, diploids and polyploids. In aneuplod individual with other than exact multiple of basic chromosome number or change in chromosome number which posses one or few chromosomes of the genome.

Mutagenesis is the process whereby sudden heritable changes occur in the genetic information of an organism not caused by genetic segregation or genetic recombination, but induced by chemical, physical or biological agents.

Mutations were first identified by Hugo de Vries in the late nineteenth century, while experimenting on the ‘rediscovery’ of Mendel’s laws of inheritance. He coined the term ‘mutation’. Radiation-induced mutations as a tool for generating novel genetic variability in plants, advanced as a field after the discovery of the mutagenic action of X-rays demonstrated in maize, barley and wheat by Stadler. The discovery of X-rays by Rontgen in 1895 led to the application of X-rays for inducing mutations in fruit fly by Muller (1927). Mutation is of two types

Reproduction that does not involve the union of male and female gametes is known as asexual reproduction. Reproduction in which sexual organs or related structures take part but fertilization does not occur, or crops which are propagated asexually or by vegetative means are known as asexually propagated crops. Most of the fruit plants are propagated asexually which consist of large number of clones. Example: sugarcane, potato, sweet potato, banana, mango, citrus, pears, peaches, litchi, crops that propagates by asexual means. The procedure of selection used for asexually propagated crops is known as clonal selection, since the selected plants are used to produce new clones or superior clones can be isolated from local variety, introduced variety or inter crossed population.

Hybrids are produced by crossing two genetically diverse parents variety. Hybrid vigour is at its maximum in the F₁ generation and hence highest emphasis is placed on the F₁ hybrids. Hybrid varieties leads to maximum exploition of heterosis as compared to any other varieties. Beal in 1880 recommended the use of F₁ varietal crosses of maize for commercial cultivation.

The commercial exploitation of heterosis started only after the rediscovery of Mendel’s law of inheritance and consequent understanding of the theoretical basis of hybrid vigour. Heterosis is considered as a major revolution in classical plant breeding era. Utilization of heterosis has substantial influence in genetics to provide hybrid vigour, consequently high yielding hybrids in different crops and plants. Yield increase from heterotic hybrids due to the expression of heterosis is up to 30% superior to conventional varieties. The term heterosis was first used by Shull (1914) and represents the increase or decrease in fitness and vigour of the F₁ hybrid over the mean or mid parent values, produced by crossing two genetically different individuals for one or more traits. Generally, positive heterosis is desirable but in some cases like maturity duration and presence of toxic substances, negative heterosis is condiderable as desirable. Heterosis can be estimated in three different ways. When the heterosis is estimated over mid parent, it is called as relative heterosis or mid parent heterosis. Estimation of heterosis over better parent out of the two parents involved in the cross is referred as “Heterobeltiosis”, the term which was coined by Fonseca and Patterson (1968). “Standard Heterosis”, often called as useful heterosis which was coined by Meredith and Bridge (1972) and denotes the superiority of F₁ over the standard commercial check.

1. Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum)

Wheat has been traditionally grouped into the genera Triticum in the tribe Tritiaceae of the family Poaceae. Bread wheat, 2n=6x=42 is a hexaploid consisting of three distinct genomic complementary, namely, A, B and D, with the genome structure AABBDD. In the past there were 4 species, viz. Triticum aestivum, T. durum, T. dicoccum and T. sphaerococcum, under cultivation in India. T. sphaerococcum has now practically gone out of cultivation because of its low productivity and high susceptibility to diseases. The major wheat producing countries are China, India, USA, the Russian Federation, and Australia. These five countries together contribute more than half of the global wheat production. In India, Uttar Pradesh has registered the highest production followed by Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Bihar. These top six states together contributed around 90 per cent of the total wheat production in the country

Floral Biology

The inflorescence of wheat is known as spikelets. Spikelets are alternately arranged on the rachis; each spikelet’s has a small joint axis which bear two to nine flower known as florets. Close to the base of rachilla are two empty boat shaped bracts known as glumes. Above these inserted alternately on opposite side of the rachilla known as lemma. Opposite it’s a thin membrane bracts known as palea enclosed within the lemma and palea are a single pistil and three steamens. The pistil consists of an ovary bearing two short styles each carrying a feathery stigma. At the base of the ovary are two membranous scales known as lodicules. Each stamen consists of a thread like filament carrying a pollen containing anther.

The genetic organization of cross pollinated crops are different from that of self pollinated crops, because of differences in the reproductive system. Open pollinated populations are heterozygous with free inter mating individuals, heterozygous at most of the loci. Heterozygosity is an essential feature of commercial varieties of out breeders. It is maintained during breeding or is restored at the end. Population improvement involves selection, generation after generation, with recombination of selected individuals. Its aim to increase the frequency of favorable alleles in the population. The improved forms may be used for commercial cultivation or as a base germplasm for the derivation of inbred lines. The list of cross pollinated plants is presented in Table 10.1. The factors that promote the cross pollination are dicliny, dichogamy, herkogamy, self-incompatibility and male sterility. The breeding methods which are commonly used in cross-pollinated crops are population improvement, hybrid and synthetic varieties.

Population Improvement

In cross pollinated crops heterozygosity must be restored in the end product of any breeding programme. It is classified into the following types:

The prime object of plant breeder is to develop high yielding variety with superior characteristics. Selection is based on the phenotypes of the plants. Consequently the effectiveness of selection primarily depends on the degree to which the phenotype of plants reflects their genotype. These are all self fertilizing species. In these species development of seed take place by self fertilization. Hence self pollinated species are also known as autogamous species. Various plant characters such as homogamy, cleistogamy, chasmogamy, bisexuality etc. promotes self pollination. The self pollinated crops with their description are given in Table 9.1. The breeding methods used in self and often-self pollinated crops are discussed below:

Plant Introduction

Plant introduction consists of taking a genotype or a group of genotypes of plants into a new area or region or environment, where they have not being grown earlier. It is very simplest and fastest method of developing new variety. It is of two types:

The mating or crossing between two genetically dissimilar plants or lines is known as hybridization. In other words, hybridization is an artificial controlled pollination in which pollen grains of desired male parent is transferred on the stigma of the desired female parent.

Objectives of Hybridization

To create genetic variability, which is pre-requisite for crop improvement programme.

To transfer one or more characters into single plant.

To know the inheritance of the characters.

To estimate the general combining ability of the parents and specific combining ability of the crosses.

To exploit and utilize the hybrid vigour.

To produce hybrid/synthetic varieties.

Pollination can be defined as the pre-fertilization event or process where pollen grains from anther are transferred to the stigma of a flower. Pollination is the process that helps to unite the male and female gametes and thus helps in fertilization. It can be broadly classified into two, cross-pollination and self-pollination.

1. Self-Pollination

Self-pollination is the process by transferring the pollen grains directly from anther into the stigma of the same flower. It is called as self-pollination. This form of pollination is common in hermaphrodite or dioecious plants which have both male and female sexual organs on the same flower. In self-pollinating flowers, the anthers and stigma are of similar lengths to facilitate the transfer of pollen. Self – pollination can be further divided into two types:

Self incompatibility in plants is a mechanism preventing the seed set by self pollination, and is probably way in which out crossing is enforced. Other factors may cause selfed seed may not to set seed due to embryo abortion, but SI is prezygotic and prevents embryo formation. SI is, therefore prevention of fusion of fertile male and female gametes after fertilization. Koelreuter first time in 18^th century reported S.I in Verbascum phoeniceum plants. In self-incompatible pollen grains fail to germinate on the stigma of the flower that produced them. Self incompatibility has been reported in more than 300 plant species belonging to 70 family of angiosperm. It is important out breeding device (cross pollination) for normal fruit set. It is maintained high degree of heterozygosity and can take place at any stage between pollination and fertilization.

Male sterility refers to a condition in which pollen is either absent or non functional or unable to produce functionally viable pollen in flowering plants. Since it was first reported by Kolreuter as early in 1763 that anther abortion occurs naturally in some plant species or in their inter specific crosses, its occurrence was observed in several species. In the 19th century, Gartner (1844) and Herbert (1847) reported the occasional recurrence of anthers rudimentariness or abortion in many ornamental and vegetable crops in normal populations. During the early 20th century, a large number of species were shown to possess male sterility, for example, Suturela hortensis, Lathyrus odoratus, Merculalis annua, Solanum tuberosum, Vitis vinifera, Linnum usitatissimum, Zea mays, Antirrhinum majus, Prunus persicaer and Rubus idaeus. Following the rediscovery of Mendel’s Laws of Inheritance, study of the genetic main basis of inheritance of male sterility attracted the attention of several workers. The main impetus for the study of inheritance of male sterility came from the elucidation of heterosis in maize by G. H. Shull, in 1908 and its exploitation through the use of male sterility by Jones and Clark (1943). The male sterility based scheme of hybrid seed production in corn opened up a new era for the hybrid corn industry as it could overcome the necessity of detasseling of female (parent) lines in the hybrid seed production process.

The male sterility may arise due to malformation of male sex organs, lack of normal anther sac, and inability of anthers to release mature pollens, lack of development of normal microspore.

Apomixis is an asexual method of reproduction through the seed. Apomictic reproduction is widespread and found in over 300 species of plants in 30 families. Interest in apomixis as a reproductive mechanism has increased as its potential and role are being recognized in genome preservation, polyploid build up, propagation of derivatives of wide crosses, permanent fixation of hybrid vigour, evolution, speciation and plant breeding .

Winkler (1906) defined apomixis as “the substitution for sexual reproduction of another asexual reproductive process that does not involve nuclear or cellular fusion.” One of the chief barriers to an understanding of the apomictic phenomenon has been the highly complex terminology as well as the differences of opinion among specialists as to the correct usage of these terms, probably because the phenomenon by itself is complex and in many ways quite different from that of amphimixis. Convincing evidence for the presence of apomixis can be obtained by tracing the steps that are involved in embryonic development. It should be amply clear that as the prerequisite for apomixis, fertilization does not take place at all in any form. Thus there is no normal development of embryo from the egg cell. However, the embryo may develop from an unfertilized egg cell other than the egg cell within the embryo sac.

Apomixis is widely distributed among higher plants. More than 300 species belonging to 35 families are apomictic. It is most common in Gramineae, Compositae, Rosaceae and Rutaceae. Among the major cereals like maize, wheat and pearl millet have apomictic relatives.

Germplasm is the sum total of all the genes and their alleles present in a crop and its related species. Germplasm is also termed as genetic resources. It may be release as a variety, subjected to selection for developing a variety, and may be used as a parent in hybridization programme. They may be obtained from gene banks, center of diversity, gene sanctuary, farmer's field and seed companies.

Types of Germplasm

1. Land races

These are primitive varieties/cultivars. They are storehouse of genetic variability. Land races were first collected and studies by N.I.Vavilov in rice. They are the source of development of varieties in many valuable crops.

2. Obsolete varieties

The improved varieties of recent past are called as obsolete varieties. These varieties were breed by systematic breeding methods, were once commercially cultivated, but are no more grown. For example, wheat varieties K65, Ph591, many NP series etc.

Centre of origin are also known as centre of diversity. N. I. Vavilov in 1926 has proposed that crop plants evolved from wild species in the areas showing diversity and termed them as primary centers of origin. Primary centers, crops moved to other areas with the movements of man. But in some areas, certain crop species show considerable diversity of forms although they did not originate there. Such areas are known as secondary centers of origin of these species. Genetic diversity is essential for crop improvement. Vavilov has suggested eight main centers of origin of crop plants.

1. Chinese Centre

This centre is considered to be one of the earliest and largest independent center of origin of cultivated plants. This centre includes mountain regions of central and western China. The endemic species listed from this centre include, soya bean, radish, turnip, pear, peach, plum, colocasia, buckwheat, opium poppy, brinjal, apricots, oranges, china tea etc.

2. Himalayan Centre

This centre is also known as the Indian centre of origin. This centre includes regions of Assam, Burma, Indo-china and Malayan Archipelago. The crops originated from this centre are rice, red gram, chick pea, pea, mung, brinjal, cucumber, sugar cane, black pepper, moth bean, rice bean, cotton, turmeric, indigo, millets etc.

Plant breeding is the art and science of changing and improving the heredity of plants. The art of plant breeding lies in the breeder’s skill in observing and selection of superior plants. The value of selection largely depends upon the skill of the breeder. The skill that a breeder develops though a close and deep study of the concerned crop species. Before the rediscovery of the Mendelian Laws in 1900 AD, the plant breeding is as an art. The modern age of plant breeding began in the early part of the twentieth century, after Mendel’s work was rediscovered. Today plant breeding is a specialized technology based on genetics. It is now clearly understood that within a given environment, crop improvement has to be achieved through superior heredity. Plant breeding developed into a science as knowledge progressed towards the genetics, cytogenetic, physiology, pathology, biochemistry, biotechnology and biometry. The fundamental of plant breeding was based on recognition of the genes. The genes were identified by their effects on the visible expression of plant traits such as whether a plant was a dwarf or tall, or the flower color was white or pink. Through systematic hybridization, a desirable gene could be transferred from one to another cultivar. More recently the science of molecular genetics proposes to advance plant breeding. Molecular genetics was ushered in with the description of chemical structure of deoxy-ribonucleic acid (DNA), the material that constitutes the genes. DNA carries the instructions for synthesis of specific proteins that determine the visible expression of particular characters. The new technology does not supplant nor diminish the importance or need for traditional selection and crossing procedures in the breeding of improved cultivars. The performance of today’s cultivars reached at high levels through refined selection and hybridization breeding procedure.

The early developments in plant breeding that took place are based on archaeological evidence. The first efforts to grow wild plants probably occurred in Southeast Asia culminated in the domestication of some of the many plants with which humans experimented in 13000 BC. By 10000 BC, advanced knowledge existed of such plants as rice (Oryza sativa), several legumes such as pea (Pisum sativum), runner bean or broad bean (Phaseolus or Vicia spp.) and possibly soybean (Glycine max). At this point crops became domesticated.

Although the beginning of civilization in China and Southeast Asia are obscure and fragmented. The number of successful species domesticated indicates considerable success in plant breeding. The third site of independent agricultural development and plant breeding was in south-central Mexico between 6700 and 5000 BC. Squash and avocados were domesticated first and a number of species of maize. Domestication in the Middle East and China included the self-fertilized crop like cereals and soybean.

Meaning – Points to be considered in public speaking – Effective public speaking: Group Discussion: Meaning – Procedure – Advantages – Limitations; Seminar Conferences: Definition and meaning – Steps in organizing seminar / conferences/ symposium / workshop

Definition

Public speaking is the process and act of speaking or giving a lecture to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain a listening audience. Public speaking is commonly understood as face-to-face speaking between individuals and an audience for the purpose of communication. It is closely allied to “presenting”, although the latter is more often associated with commercial activity. Most of the time, public speaking is to persuade the audience.

Public speaking can serve the purpose of transmitting information, telling a story, motivating people to act or some combination of those. This type of speech is deliberately structured with three general purposes: to inform, to persuade and to entertain. Knowing when public speaking is most effective and how it is done properly is a key part in understanding the importance of it.

Points to be considered in public speaking

1. Prepare to succeed

The single most important thing you can do to make your next presentation successful is to be prepared. That means make time for some serious practice. Experts suggest you spend 60% of your time to prepare your content and slides and 40% of your time to practice.

2. Say it correctly

Part of good preparation is double-checking the pronunciation of any tricky words—especially jargon. Your correct pronunciation and knowledge of industry terms lends credibility to your presentation.

Meaning-Steps for individual presentation; Group presentation-Meaning-Stages of group presentation; Impromptu presentation.

A Presentation is the process of presenting a topic to an audience. It is typically a demonstration, introduction, lecture, or speech meant to inform, persuade, inspire, motivate, or to build good will or to present a new idea or product.

Individual Presentations allow a person to completely control the thoughts, ideas, and methods of presenting without outside influence. Individual presentations allow someone to work at their own leisure and pace.

The practice of showing and explaining the content of a topic to an audience or learner is known as presentation. A presentation is a process of offering for consideration or display.

Presentations can also be categorized as expository or persuasive. They can also be impromptu, extemporaneous, written, or memorizes. But it’s more important to focus on their purpose. There are three basic purposes for giving presentations:

Definition-Purpose of abstract-Types of abstract-Abstract Styles-Steps for Writing Effective Abstracts- Some Do’s Don’ts in preparing abstracts.

Definitions

The word abstract comes from the Latin word abstractum, which means a condensed form of a longer piece of writing. Abstracts are important parts of reports and research papers and sometimes academic assignments. The abstract is often the last item that you write, but the first thing people read when they want to have a quick overview of the whole paper. We suggest you leave writing the abstract to the end, because you will have a clearer picture of all your findings and conclusions.

An abstract is a paragraph that provides an overview of a paper. Abstracts should be between 100 and 200 words long and usually contain a list of keywords at the end to help readers identify the main points of the paper. While abstract requirements differ across academic disciplines, there are two main types of abstracts: humanities abstracts and scientific abstracts.

Purpose of abstracts?

Abstracts typically serve five main goals:

Derivation & Meaning-Skills required-Method or procedure-Guidelines; Summarising-Meaning-Steps to write a summary.

Derivation

‘Precis’ is a French word which means to cut off, to be brief.

Meaning

A precise is a summary or the gist of the main ideas of written matter. Thus, precise writing means summarising. It is an exercise in concentration, comprehension and condensation. In order to make a summary of an article, a speech or a story, one has to read it carefully and grasp its meaning. Precise-writing forces one to concentrate on the material which is to be summarised. In summarising a passage, though the length of the precise is not fixed, it is generally expected that the it should be one third the length of the passage. The summary is known as precise and precise writing means summarising. A precise is not a paraphrase. At the same time, the essential points of the main passage must be presented in the precise in such a manner that reader may easily grasp the main ideas of the passage.

A better precise can be written with more and more practice. Before writing a precise, it is important that you take care of a few essential points.

Also, make sure that all the important points of the passage are conveyed in the precise. Focus on language and try and make it as clear, crisp and concise as possible. There is no fixed pattern to write a precise. But we must follow certain rules and procedure so that the precise can be more effective. Follow the right diction and you will be able to write a good precise.

Reading is a means for language acquisition, communication and sharing information and ideas. Reading skill is considered to be most rewarding skill. Reading is not merely going through a book or a magazine or a journal. Reading is the process of gaining meaning from print. It Demands different types of skills depending on readers’ needs & requirements. Though lot of books discuss quite a number of reading skills-major part of reading skills - useful to students both for academic & professional purposes.

There are different types of reading.

They are:

1. Intensive reading

It’s a detailed reading. When we read our text books/newspaper/ report of great interest, we read sentence by sentence, trying to find out meaning of difficult words by reading in detail. Intensive reading has to be done when we do close texts or reading comprehension passages in exams or in classroom sessions.

2. Extensive reading

It contains longer texts. It should not be read sentence by sentence but we skip certain portions and find out overall meaning of text. When we read novels, magazines & newspapers, etc. we can do this type of reading. Extensive reading texts are generally meant for pleasure and they need overall global understanding.

3. Selective reading

Select to read news items that interest us. For many students sports page interests them. Within this column, another selection by reading about the game in which they are interested. Similarly scientists read topics which belong to their field. In these examples prior knowledge, technically called schema, acts. Sometimes people make a survey and find out what text is about. At times people make a survey when they do scanning.

A footnote is a notation at the bottom of the page in a printed document. Footnotes are usually presented in smaller print than the dominant text, and they are used for a variety of purposes. The “foot” in “footnote” refers to the fact that the notation is located in the “footer” or “bottom” of the document. A similar concept is the endnote, a note which is provided at the end of a document, rather than at the bottom of a specific page. When a text has footnotes, they are indicated with various symbols or superscript numbers. The asterisk symbol, *, is a common symbol for footnotes, but a variety of symbols including daggers, †, may be used. In a text with a lot of footnotes, numbers are usually used to indicate footnotes, so that the reader can keep track of what is going on. Endnotes are typically indicated with numbers, to make it easier for people to look them up.

Different style manuals have different rules about using footnotes, and it is important to follow style guidelines when submitting material for publication. Because footnoting can get very complicated, most style guidelines devote at least a few pages to the footnote. Some people avoid using footnotes at all, while others relish footnotes, because footnotes provide a great degree of freedom when they are used well.

Indexing is the act of describing or classifying a document by index terms or other symbols in order to indicate what the document is about, to summarize its content or to increase its findability. The function of indexing in libraries and information retrieval systems is to indicate the whereabouts or absence of items relevant to a request. It is essentially a time-saving mechanism. Theoretically, we can always find the relevant items by an exhaustive search through the whole collection (assuming that we can recognize what is relevant when we see it). Since this is economically impossible, the size of the store to be examined is reduced by classification, using this term in its very broadest sense, i.e., as the recognition of useful similarities between documents.

Indexing performs an indispensable service to the filing function. Index, is a reference list used for locating a particular document in the filing equipment. Similarly, while filing a document, the index aids tracing out the place where the particular paper should be filed. Particularly when a large number of files are maintained for various purposes, index is very essential.

Indexes are constructed, separately, on three distinct levels: terms in a document such as a book; objects in a collection such as a library; and documents (such as books and articles) within a field of knowledge. Subject indexing is used in information retrieval especially to create bibliographic indexes to retrieve documents on a particular subject. Examples of academic indexing services are Chemical Abstracts and PubMed. The index terms were mostly assigned by experts but author keywords are also common.

Definition-Importance of keeping a lab record-Features of a lab record - Contents of lab record-Guidelines for keeping a lab record

Definition

It is a primary record of research. Researchers use a lab note book to document their hypotheses, experiments and initial analysis or interpretation of these experiments.

Laboratory Record

The following is a general description of how to keep a proper laboratory notebook. Requirements for different teaching, research, clinical, or industrial labs will most likely vary. Some institutions/labs will require less stringent record keeping, others will hold you to a very strict protocol. A well kept notebook provides a reliable reference for writing up materials and methods and results for a study. It is a legally valid record that preserves your rights or those of an employer or academic investigator to your discoveries. A comprehensive notebook permits one to reproduce any part of a methodology completely and accurately.

Definition – Components to be included – Parts of field diary – Field diary in social sciences.

The field diary is the basic document which contains all the data collected. Facts and interpretations are to be written separately and conversations to be noted in the vernacular languages. Two kinds of field notes are to be observed a) Taking notes on the spot b) Writing detailed diary.

Daily field diary

It is instructed to write the field diary everyday in which a) Detailed notes of observations b) Field notes on discussion and conversations c) Details of Interpersonal communication, gossips, fold history‘s similar events d) Specific details of special events Specific reference about the main field of study for instance, the details about the process of message diffusion, various kinds of channels of communication were described in detail.

Field diary for research process documentation

The most useful tool for a process documenter is a field diary. The documenter uses a field diary to record his or her observations and thoughts in an orderly fashion. Recording observations and impressions enables a researcher to pick up clues about how the system is operating. A field diary should help the investigator understand the systems physical and social setting. It should help describe who, what, why, where, when and how. Who refers to the people or system being studied. What concerns the information gathered. Why, where, when and how provide important details about the observation.

There is no special format in writing a field diary but entries should be written daily in chronological order so information is not forgetten or changed because of forgetfulness. The critical concern is that observations are recorded in a diary regularly.

Basics of effective oral presentation : Planning , preparing (Introduction, Body and conclusion), Delivery, Body language and Handling anxiety-Strategies for giving oral presentation

Oral presentation means delivering an address to a public audience. It also refers to public speaking and/or speech-making. It is a brief discussion of a defined topic delivered to a public audience in order to impart knowledge or to stimulate discussion. The skill in oral presentation is equally as important as effective writing. Almost every oral presentation contains an introduction, main body and conclusion like a short paper. Though it is a formal speech in nature or vocal performance to an audience, it may occasionally require adequate planning and thorough preparation in using one’s voice, body language and visual aids such as slideshows to present and illustrate the points more effectively and to achieve the desired results.

Body languages such as eye contact, facial expression, posture and gesture plays a significant role in oral presentation process. The proper use of the voice and the ability to adjust it to suit the slightest differences of meaning are also very important in oral presentation. In addition to correct pronunciation, variation in pitch and cadence, free from speech mannerism, fluency in delivery are also very important in oral presentation.

Importance-Effective writing -Components of writing : Introduction , Audience and format, Composition and style, Structure, Grammatical errors, Proofing and Conclusion-Ways to improve writing skills -Technical writing.

A written communication is always put into writing and generally used when the audience is at a distance or when a permanency or record is required or where its preservation is essential in case it is needed as a evidence in cases of dispute. It is generally in the form of instruction, orders, rules and regulations, policies, procedures, posters, memos, reports information bulletins.

Importance of writing skills

1. Expression

Writing is one of the important ways of expressing your thoughts, and communicating ideas and views to others. Some have the innate ability to put their thoughts into words. Writing is more beneficial, specifically for those who are emotional, and do not express verbally. This tool allows them to express their ideas, thoughts or their existing mental condition, which otherwise, may not be possible. People express themselves by writing novels, short stories, biographies and even personal diaries, etc.

2. Judgment of a person

Often, a person is judged by the quality of writing, he/she possesses. Be it a school, college, workplace or a society, writing has become a vital yardstick to assess one’s knowledge and intellectuality. When we come across a person who is prim and proper, we immediately make an impression about that person being careful, responsible and sincere. Similarly, if the writing is devoid of mistakes, we tend to create a good impression about the writer.

Definition – Listening vs Hearing – Active listening – Types of listening – Guidelines for effective listening – Developing listening skills - Barriers to listening – Listening misconceptions.

Listening skill is key to receiving messages effectively. It is a combination of hearing what another person says and psychological involvement with the person who is talking. Listening is a skill of Language. It requires a desire to understand another human being, an attitude of respect and acceptance, and a willingness to open one’s mind to try and see things from another’s point of view. It requires a high level of concentration and energy. It demands that we set aside our own thoughts and agendas, put ourselves in another’s shoes and try to see the world through that person’s eyes.

Introduction

Listening is a language modality. It is one of the four skills of a language i.e. listening, speaking, reading and writing. It involves an active involvement of an individual. Listening involves a sender, a message and a receiver. It is the psychological process of receiving, attending to constructing meaning from and responding to spoken and/or non verbal messages.

Definition and meaning – Proxemics, Chronemics, Movement and body position, Posture, Facial Expression, Gestures and Eye Contact – importance of non verbal communication

Meaning

A message can be sometimes expressed without the help of words. Nonverbal communication is the process of communicating without the use of words.

Definition

It is defined as non-word human responses like facial expressions and gestures and the perceived characteristics of the environment through which the human verbal and nonverbal messages are transmitted. Nonverbal communication is also known as “silent language.” It involves the use of cues, gestures, vocal characteristics, facial expressions, and spatial relationship between the sender and the receiver to convey a message. For example, a smile, glance, stare or a frown convey different meanings.