eChapters

INTRODUCTION

Library networks and cooperatives were formed to provide support among libraries, leveraging staff and resources to provide cost-effective and efficient services that the libraries individually could not afford. By 1960s, the networks and cooperatives were focusing on automation; it was through them that library automation was introduced and pioneering efforts in resource sharing began. As the world of libraries changed, other services became the business of networks and cooperatives. Frequently, services initiated by networks were later integrated into the daily operations of individual libraries. Examples of such pioneering services included Internet connectivity and training; teleconferencing; services to special populations; distance learning; database licensing and training. Hence the discipline of LIS meant to manage and provide information service may not be taught effectively and practiced perfectly through a framed curriculum in the formal education stream alone. Driven by the market demands and user needs, the discipline is embracing other disciplines like computers, communication technology research etc. Library consortia and networking are not new to the library community as it is the latest phrase of the so-called library cooperation, library networks and so on. We have talked a lot about the issues that caused the lack of successful implementation of library networks in India. Of them, technology and economics are very important factors for realizing a successful cooperation. We talked about the solutions that are of global in nature but never suited Indian environments with its economic background. The result is that we developed library networks, but nothing to share. And then we realized that we need to develop information resources in the electronic form so that library networks become effective for the purposes they were setup. We have had number of conferences, meetings, publications etc on discussing the bibliographic formats, standards and the software to host these resources. There was a lot of initiatives by networks such as INFLIBNET, DELNET and other library networks supported by NISSAT to formulate bibliographic standards and formats that is suitable for Indian environment. And the database development activities started. Union catalogs of serials, thesis and dissertations were developed followed by catalog of books. Web enabled search interfaces were also developed for searching. However, union catalog system will be effective only when they are supported by efficient and timely document delivery system.

INTRODUCTION

Libraries are undergoing rapid changes due to the developments in Information Communication Technology (ICT). Paper based resources are giving way to electronic resources. The dynamic linking capability of web has provided users unrestricted access to information. ICT has brought massive changes in distance mode of education. ICT has helped to introduce many virtual universities in the world, which are operated through Internet and other telecommunication technologies. The e-learning library should organize and present the e-learning resources and services in a way that help users to locate and retrieve materials needed efficiently.

At present e-portals of various organizations come across as gateway for the websites that aggregates information from variety of sources, providing access to information network and set of services through the web. For examples the libraries of National Research Centers of India, Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Indian Institute of Management (IIM). The approach of learning of these institutes doesn’t mean composed, organized and packaged e-information resources in a blogging pattern but it is comprehensive and fully accessible to the user as reader and writer. Undoubtedly, a study of e-library environment of these institutes immensely helps us in evaluate the potential of proliferation of digitalization of libraries in India.

INTRODUCTION

Education, as is widely argued is a method of knowledge sharing and distance education is a concept in education that is widely prevalent. Several people around the world qualify themselves through this mode of education. Though widely popular, it has its limitations with respect to production, reproduction and distribution costs, however, the role of distance education is shifting (Caswell et al. 2008). This shift is accomplished with the help of technology, which reduces and almost nullifies the reproduction costs (Caswell et al. 2008). This is a step towards making the quality of life of learners around the world improve (Caswell et al. 2008). Further as Caswell et al. (2008), rightly quote that, this is also the beginning of a movement to ensure the Universal Declaration of Human Rights article 26, which declares that everyone has the right to education and “technical and professional education shall be made generally available” (United Nations, 1948).

Distance learning made possible through the help of technology specifically the internet or e-learning is not a new concept. Several individual course materials are available online (Baldi et al. 2003). However, systematically organizing and structuring the academic course materials from different disciplines and easy retrieval of such information is a sign of innovation (Baldi et al. 2003). This innovation which is currently made possible through initiatives of different Universities, institutes of learning and organizations is popularly titled Open Course Ware (OCW).

INTRODUCTION

Digital resources are growing at an exponential rate and uncountable stacks of resources are available on the web. Semantic based search engines and meta-search engines stimulate resource discovery on digital collections1. During recent years an increasing quantity and variety of digital material has been created or held by libraries, and consequently many standards have been developed to encode different catego-ries of metadata for specific object types. Metadata today is an essential phenomenon for electronic cataloguing, federated searching, and open URLs. Selecting metadata is perceived to be essential for the librarians in pursuing long-term management and preservation of digital objects in digital library. Metadata is also important for digital archivists, database developers, resource authors, web-page designers, aggregators, system designers, as well as seekers of electronic information. In fact, metadata is inevitable for digital resource management and for discovering information from a large distributed environment. Metadata is expected to improve matching by standardizing the structure2 and content of indexing or cataloguing information. The Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standards (METS) were developed to deal with diverse metadata is-sues. It is an XML Schema designed as an overall framework3 within which all the metadata associ-ated with a single digital object can be stored or referred to. It enables effective management of digital objects within the repository; acts as a standard for transferring metadata within repositor-ies, facilitates access and navigation by the researcher, and links the digital object and its meta-data inextricably together.

INTRODUCTION

Libraries are social institutions bestowed with the responsibility of storing preserving the cultural heritage of accounting and making them available for use to the community. The inherent characteristics of artifacts, the storage conditions and the type; intensity and amount of the processes of monitoring the physical condition of the library’s materials and taking action to prevent future deterioration are critical issues. Preservation issues can be defined as those that relate to the longevity of materials, while conservation issues include handling and storage. Ironically, books published since the beginning of the 20^th century are more likely to decay than the older books. Other modern materials such as microfilm, photographs, videotapes, and films have unique preservation need.

INTRODUCTION

The Digital Library concept has evolved to provide solutions for storage, access, dissemination, content delivery and it paved way to mobile library, as we can browse and share content while on the move. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has given a new shape to the learning process, which includes reading, understanding and gaining information, which becomes knowledge. As the type of format of information changed from written to e-format, libraries assumed the role of digital libraries.

The library is a place which holds the information resources in print and digital formats. The concept of digital library is a major success as it came out of closed four walls of library and reached readers in their home, workplace and even while traveling, with the help of mobile electronic gadgets like laptop, palmtop, e-Book reader etc. e-Learning technology is a wonderful gift provided by the present day technological advancement and innovations. e-Learning is the convergence of learning and the Internet’ and it has brought about profound changes around the globe in the way people learn and train, allowing them to do it anywhere, any time. Through the World Wide Web the users can access e-content from any point, off or in campus, through a computer and connectivity.

INTRODUCTION

Andries Van Dam of Brown University, USA coined the term electronic book. E-books are print versions of books, which exist in electronic formats and can be read on a machine. The development of e-book started around 1960s by Alan Kay, called the Dyna Book. Stephen King’s ‘Riding the Bullet’ was one of the most popular electronic books available on the web. The electronic documents are easy to access, easy to search, inexpensive and economy in storage. An e-book can be purchased/borrowed, downloaded, and used immediately, whereas to buy a printed book, one must go to a bookshop, or library etc. It can reduce photocopying activities. The concept of Digital library was created based on the electronic documents.

The transfer of ownership of an e-book author is very difficult, whereas such transfer is possible in printed books. It is cheaper and easier for authors to self-publish e-books when compared to printed form. In electronic format there is no hold on licensing. The problems with e-documents are lack of long term access, dependence on the computer, lack of standardization and less permanent. Digital Right Management system is one of the most important development of electronic publishing. It has control over intellectual property. The e-publishers are more concerned about rights. They are offering limited usage for printing, downloading and copying.

INTRODUCTION

Information services are keys to the development of agriculture education, research and extension education in India. The services are rendered by the agricultural department, university, college and ICAR institute libraries. In changing scenario the users of libraries access the information themselves from various sources such as computer, internet, television, e-governance, videoconferencing, call centers, mobile phones and other electronic sources from anywhere, at any time as and when required.

Agricultural trends are changing everyday with the development of new research techniques and technologies and in support of this a heterogeneous knowledge is available in the form of various electronic sources. To make the best of emerging technologies in agriculture, it is vital that agricultural students, scientists, research scholars, academicians, extension workers, agriculturalists receive continuous information on education, research, extension work, training and to the cultivators on topics such as pesticide management, use of better seeds, irrigation and use etc. for the development of farm and farming. With the introduction of new technology that affects both their processes and products, libraries become more and more hybrid organizations. Hybrid libraries are mixes of traditional print material like books and magazines, as well as electronic based material such as downloadable audio books, electronic journals, e-books, etc. Because of this shift, libraries face many challenges, the most important of which is the competition for scarce resources. In this competition libraries have to change the allocation of resources from the more traditional processes like circulation to more value added processes like direct self-services to their patrons. The FAO is also a source of knowledge and information, providing behind the scenes assistance to help people help themselves.

1. INTRODUCTION

With the rapid development of Information Communication Technology (ICT), many new services have been introduced in libraries to satisfy the need of users in a better way. Institutional Repository is a type of information service which involves collection, organization, preservation and dissemination of digital scholarly materials such as theses, dissertations, technical reports, journal articles and teaching materials. It is created and maintained by an individual library/ organization or a group of libraries/organizations with an aim to preserve the institutional knowledge .Thus basically it is an online locus for collecting, preserving and disseminating the intellectual output of an academic or research institution in digital form, created and maintained by the institution itself.

“Clifford Lynch defines “ a university based Institutional Repositories as a set of services that a university offers to the members of its community for the management and dissemination of digital materials created by the institution and its community members. It is most essentially an organizational commitment to the stewardship of these digital materials, including long-term preservation where appropriate, as well as organization and access or distribution” ¹

Similarly Mark defines IR as “An institutional repository (IR) is defined to be a web-based database (repository) of scholarly material which is institutionally defined (as opposed to a subject-based repository); cumulative and perpetual (a collection of record); open and interoperable (e.g. using OAI-compliant software); and thus collects, stores and disseminates (is part of the process of scholarly communication). In addition, most would include long-term preservation of digital materials as a key function of IRs”²

INTRODUCTION

Digital libraries are a set of electronic resources and associated technical capabilities for creating, searching, and using Information; they are an extension and enhancement of information storage and retrieval systems that manipulate digital data in any medium. The content of digital libraries includes data and metadata. Digital libraries are constructed, Collected, and organized by a community of users and their functional capabilities support the information needs and uses of that community.

A digital library is a library in which collections are stored in digital formats and accessible by computers. The digital content may be stored locally, or accessed remotely via computer networks. A digital library is a type of information retrieval system. Man is a communicator of information, not simply a user of tools. The history of civilization is the history of improved means of communication. Man always desires to improve the means of communicating. Documents are the artifacts of recorded knowledge that is information. Documents are meant for communication knowledge to larger audiences. Libraries have stored and served the documents to the users.

Thus, libraries have performed as one of the links between generators of information and its users. The developments of libraries from print paper based libraries to digital libraries seem an illustration of man’s never-ending desire to improve his means of communication. In the digital world highway, there is stress on three factors (a) Awareness of information: it provides breadth of vision (b) awareness of technology: gives the power to make the visions manifest, and (c) awareness of needs facilitates the insight to use professional skills and talents to greater effect.

INTRODUCTION

Information has now become one of the basic needs of human being in addition to air, water, food and shelter. There is no human activity in the world without information. It is a basic raw material for right decision making from the governmental level to the personal level. It is an indispensable tool for teachers and research scholars.

Now-a-days, ICT advancements and developments have changed the libraries from mere store house of printed materials into gateways to knowledge of the world of information. The collection of modern library is not restricted to print media only but libraries are adding e-resources to their existing collections. Users need not come to library to meet their information needs. They may use online catalogue, web based database, online e-journals etc remote from library. In view of the above, information need and seeking pattern of users particularly research scholars are likely to change. Based on this, an attempt has been made to study on use pattern of electronic resources by Physics and Chemistry research scholars.

INTRODUCTION

Library and information centers are primarily service institutions which are expected to provide information to the entire satisfaction of user groups. However, in recent times, it is observed that there is conglomeration of several services in a pin-pointed manner in which the libraries are facing problem of confusion. Therefore, leading library and information centers have started adopting emerging management principles and practices in their functions and operations. Among all these new traits of management the concept of quality management appears to have a dynamic impact upon the improvement of organizational objective and functions. Since agriculture libraries are vibrant information organizations their quality of services needs to be improved in the modern technological era. The application of Total Quality Management (TQM) is one of the vital aspects of the management techniques that appears to be very much applicable and can bring about a great transformation in quality of library services. The present paper makes an analytic discussion on the applicability of TQM in Agriculture Libraries in India.

INTRODUCTION

Research and teaching increasingly rely on global networks for the creation, storage, evaluate, and disseminate the knowledge. The 21^st century has brought enormous change in higher education throughout the world as a result of new information and technological developments. We are outfitting our schools, libraries, and homes with electronic technologies, but are we preparing our students and teachers for the onslaught of information that is provided by these technologies? What happens when the student can get more information from the Internet than previously conveyed by a teacher or a textbook? What should a student do when faced with so many informational possibilities ? Which of the information is credible and which is not?

The teacher’s role must evolve from the giver of knowledge into being more of a coach or guide. Teachers, librarians, administrators, and the community must collaborate to develop ways to involve the student not only in using classroom materials but also in using resources from the broader community and the mass media.

Teachers must be prepared to teach student to become critical thinkers, intellectually curious observers, creators, and users of information. In this context university libraries need to be dynamic, take a leading role in assessing the information literacy and computer literacy competence of the teachers and plan for conducting such programmes to improve the situation. One such attempt has been made by the Authors and the result is reported here.

INTRODUCTION

The emergence of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has made the libraries more powerful in the collection development, processing and retrieval of information. The advent of internet has not only made it possible to connect the libraries over the world, but also to search a huge repository of databases. The technology has developed to online system to connect commercialize vendors as well as learned societies with the databases to seek and obtain the needed information. The use of computer and digital technologies in teaching and learning has been evolved not just through the increase of distance learning or virtual courses but through the use of cyber education as an adjunct to the traditional classroom. This increased the trend of access to technology in Library and Information Centers and has given the opportunity to use those resources and improve the skill. In order to acquaint themselves with the new technological environment, the users are required to be more conversant with those skills.

Libraries & Information Centers play an important role in supporting the teaching, learning, research and extension programme of universities. These are made possible by building and developing good collection of selected documents both in print as well as digital form and by supporting it with various services for their dissemination. There is such an exponential growth of information in today’s era that students, faculties, research scholars often lack the scope of getting proper education or instruction to use those resources to the optimum possible limit. To overcome this difficulty and to maximize the use of such resources proper library instruction must be imparted to the user community which is otherwise known as Library User Education.

INTRODUCTION

Libraries have become Library and Information Centers (LIC) and Knowledge Resource Centers (KRC). Many LICs and KRCs have stepped forward towards establishing Digital Libraries and Digital Repositories. These wings require the professionals with adequate qualifications and should have good command over the latest technologies. The trained candidates prior to their recruitment may immediately take up a project with a challenge. The professionals who are in service may enhance their skills through sponsorships to long term / short term programs.

In the present era, LIS is treated as multi-disciplinary subject and has integration with all newly emerging subjects. The other side, the LIS departments in the Universities have to respond properly (towards requirement) in incorporating suitable latest topics in their curricula and implement it very strictly. The research activity in LIS field in the country has to grow suitably along with the developed countries. In Andhra Pradesh, similar response is needed from the Government in providing and releasing funds to the state universities to start LIS departments. The preference has to be given by the State Government to LIS research in public libraries in proportionate with Science, Humanities and Social Science libraries. In future, it is expected that the LIS research should lead.

USER EDUCATION

User Education can be defined as a program to guide and to instruct the potential users either individually or collectively. User education is an action taken by the Library staff to train / educate their users so as to make full use of the existing knowledge to develop their community.

ALA Glossary defines user education as it encompasses all types of activities designed to teach users about library services, facilities and organizations library resources and search strategy.

User education can be defined in the context of electronic sources of Information as educating the users how to operate computer and searching Information on Net using various search strategies and to educate them how to use electronic sources of information and various databases.

Users of the library must be convinced that continuing learning is worthwhile and that the process of education does not end with examination. They must have confidence to be learners and to stand of their own, to possess autonomy to select and to direct their own future study experience. User education has been defined by Mews as “instruction given to readers to help them to make best use of library”. User education was not solely to stimulate library use as this but one of the sources of Information. According to Nancy, Fjalbarnt and Lan Malley “ User Education is concerned with the whole Information and communication process and one part if this involves the total interaction of the users the library. This should be a continuous process starting with schools and public libraries and with possibility of extension to academic and specialized libraries. According to Jacques Tacathan, Director of UNESCO general Information Program “User Education is to include any effort or program which will guide and instruct existing and potential user in the recognition and information service and their assessment.

INTRODUCTION

During the last three decades, libraries have shown a considerable degree of momentum in the collection building and readership programme activities involving considerable expenditure of funds. This rapid development of libraries as a consequence, generated several evaluative studies on the usefulness of libraries to society. Until recently evaluations were subjective, based purely on opinions expressed by an individual or group. However, developments in the field of mathematics, statistics, operations research, management science, economics and system analysis have led to a minimization of this subjectivity. In particular, the systems analysis approach has led to the identification and application of appropriate quantitative measuring techniques for evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of the information services offered by the librarians. This has generated a new field in library and information science viz; ‘Bibliometrics’.

Bibliometric analysis which has now become a well established part of information research and quantitative approach to the description of documents and examination of services is gaining ground both in research and practice. Librarians are facing the problems arising out of ever increasing cost of different types of reading materials and decreasing budgets of libraries.

Bibliometric studies are helpful in solving the problems of librarians. Pritichard¹ defines Bibliometrics as “application of mathematical and statistical methods to books and other media of communication”.

INTRODUCTION

Knowledge Resource Centres play a very important role in this fast changing e-environment of publishing. Their role includes identification and selection of information, its organization and management, storage, retrieval and dissemination to right users at the right time at right place at right price and in right format. The dawn of information revolution is considered to be one of the marvels of 21st century. It is well known that paper and printing were originated in China in the 2^nd and 5^th century of Christian era, respectively.(1) There is a “ wordless heaven book”, “ published in oral or paper less form among the Chinese. The word less book is actually an adaptation and extension of “the song of baked dough by Pie-wen Lu” (2) of the 14^th century. The “elite” in every generation have access to the timelessly flexibly text of the heaven-book to interpret the contents and to predict, accordingly, the great events of the world, particularly when it is in chaos. The world refers to, of course, the “middle kingdom,” which is China in Chinese. Although the work is only a legend, the wordless heaven-book can be considered as the pioneer prototype of modern electronic publishing and as the earliest idea of the recently developed hypertext.

Another classic concept of e-publishing can be traced in Gullivers Travels by Jonathan Swift first published in 1726. The work has a passage describing a writing machine developed by the Lagadonians in the Grand Academy of Lagado. The Lagadonian writing machine used the method of a fixed syntactic structure and the filling in of that structure with contents by a random procedure (3).

INTRODUCTION

Providing access to the nascent information is the main motto of the library. Electronic resources management (ERM) is the latest phenomenon in the field of Library and Information Science. In a nutshell it is responsible for the evaluation, selection, pricing, securing, maintenance and provision of electronic resources to the users. As electronic resource collections continue to expand, allied workflows and processes encompass growth in complexity. Advances in printing technology and information communication technology (ICT) have resulted in transforming the publishing industry into e-publishing. It has resulted in considerable impact on the library collection building process in terms of print collection, electronic and online resources.

Now a days many reputed publishers have started e-publishing and many of them are now issuing their publications in electronic version besides conventional printing. The libraries are upgrading their collection in terms of documentary resources and electronic resources and infrastructure to sustain in the fast moving knowledge society.

INTRODUCTION

The 21^st century has witnessed the emergence of information revolution in a dramatic way that has shaped the human lives in a new direction. Information revolution has not only made tremendous changes in the social-economic and political life of the people but also given a dramatic boost for scientific community for its right uses in their research and academic work. The society has experienced a fast change. McGarry has presented the relative rapidity of such changes in saying that progress is at glacial speed. The striking changes in the information society are also depicted by Alvin Toffler in his three books. He advocated that the chief agent of transformation of society is information and its related technologies. Moreover, it is acknowledged that information and knowledge become the principal generators of wealth in the form of educational institutions, research and development organizations, scientific establishments and information dissemination agents.

With agriculture in the present century moving rapidly away from an artisanal, labour- extensive, traditional activity towards a sophisticated, information-intensive sector of the global economy, access to information and modern communication technologies has become a necessity for the farmers of the global sphere especially in developing countries. The agriculture of the future will entail more efficient and sustainable production systems, making optimal use of land, water and other natural resources. Sustainable food production will rely more and more on agricultural information management and communication technologies.

INTRODUCTION

The contribution of the church in the field of the health services has been well appreciated by all sections of the people as well as by government. Quite a few church personnel are fully involved in public health services, nutritional programmes and hygiene and sanitation programmes. There are mobile clinic and awareness programmes run in the rural areas. In the field of medical care the contribution of the Christianity is meritorious. The healing mission received some priority in the agenda of the missionaries and churches. Health centers run by Christians originally meant to serve the poor. Many of well equipped and well established hospitals render service in rural areas and slums others do not reach. Educational service of the Christianity has been a highly valued service to the nation.

CHRISTIAN MISSION HOSPITALS IN INDIA WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO TAMIL NADU

From the middle of the nineteenth century, the mission world in Britain began to change. There were many missionaries who held university degrees. They provided a wholly new context to evangelism by their emphasis first upon the importance of education and later, by being the pioneers at least in Asia and Africa, of Western scientific hospitals, organized by missionaries, ultimately developed. The full-fledged teaching hospitals were without doubt a high point of missionary achievement. American medical missionaries who were in Sri Lanka prior to the mid-nineteenth century did not belong to the artisan or mechanic class or other lower middle-class groups. John Scudder, a physician, grandfather of the founder of the Vellore College, left for the East in 1819 and worked first in Sri Lanka before moving to India. John Scudder’s father has been described by one of his biographers, as a ‘gentleman of the old school’ and his mother it is said was a ‘lady of high culture’.

INTRODUCTION

Digital divide is the gap in opportunities experienced by those with listed accessibility to technology especially, the Internet. This digital divide can be bridged by facility access to scholarly e-resources to the people of developing and undeveloped countries. Apart from the fact that most of the print journals are expensive and there is steep rise in the subscription price of journals and databases, financial constraint because of static/shrinking budget available to higher educational institutions have forced the libraries to cut their subscription drastically.

ELECTRONIC SUBSCRIPTION OF JOURNALS

With globalization of education and competitive research, demand for journals has increased over the years. Due to insufficient funds libraries have been forced to cut subscriptions of journals which has titled them towards the internet to cover the gap between demand and supply by way of e-journals that can be subscribed online. Most of the journals are available in electronic form. These journals are available over UGC INFONET to all the universities, thereby quality information is made accessible to the academic scholar-base speedily across the country, at an affordable price.

INTRODUCTION

The goal of the libraries is to provide an effective combination of print, non-print and electronic resources, and the integration of the use of these resources in support of teaching, learning and research at the university. Electronic resources, however, pose challenges not encountered with the acquisitions of traditional library materials, such as access, interface, technical support and licensing. The libraries therefore need to formulate separate Electronic Resources Collection Development policy to address these issues. The purpose of this policy is to provide guidelines in choosing appropriate electronic resources and to establish consistency and priorities in managing this important part of the libraries’ collection.

ELECTRONIC RESOURCES

“Electronic resources” refer to those materials that require computer access, whether through microcomputer, mainframe, or other types of computers, and that may either be locally mounted or accessed remotely via the Internet. These resources cover both free Internet resources and electronic resources purchased or licensed by the libraries from a commercial source, a non-profit organization, a professional organization or any external institution.

INTRODUCTION

Electronic books are one way to enhance the digital library with global 24X7 access to authoritative information, and they enable users access specific research material easily, quickly and effectively. Library users are also able to remotely search, locate and check out e-books from the libraries using online public access catalogs (OPACS). As with any new opportunity new challenges emerge and utilizing the internet to deliver book content is no exception. Integrating e-books into the digital library has created challenges and opportunities for LIS professionals; publishers and e-books providers.

E-BOOKS

An e-book is based both on emulating the basic characteristics of traditional books in an electronic format, as well as leveraging internet technology to make access to e-books easy and efficient to use.

Electronic books offer creative possibilities for extending access as well as changing learning behavior and academic research. Content can always be accessible regardless of time or place, to be read on Pc or on portable book readers, books need never go out of print and new editions can be easily created. One can carry several times at once on a portable reader and over time build a personal library, features such as full text searching, changeable font size, mark up, citation creation and note taking will enhance usability. Print text can be integrated with multi dimensional object, sound to create a whole new kind of monographic work.

Postharvest diseases caused by fungal pathogens are more numerous than those due to bacterial pathogens. Infection by these pathogens may be initiated in the field before harvest, during transit or storage. These pathogens may remain dormant and become active, when the physiological conditions of the produce and environmental conditions become favourable. Symptoms characteristic of the diseases are observed as the produce age or ripen.

Among the microbial pathogens, viral and phytoplasmal pathogens primarily depend on various vector species for their spread from infected plants to healthy plants in the same or distant locations. Hence, management of these diseases depends on the reduction of vector populations, in addition to the disease management strategies applicable to diseases caused by fungal and bacterial pathogens that are not transmitted by vectors.

19.1 Diseases caused by Viruses

Plant viruses are transmitted through seeds, propagative plant materials and vectors such as mites, insects, nematodes and fungi. Hence, the strategies to manage these diseases vary depending on the nature of vectors involved in the transmission of viruses.

Fungal and bacterial pathogens infecting either directly or causing secondary infection of inflorescence may be responsible for greater losses than the pathogens infecting stems or foliage, if they do not cause the death of plants. The extent of earhead infection by the pathogen(s) is directly correlated to the quantum of yield losses.

Several fungal and bacterial pathogens that are airborne settle on the foliar tissues of susceptible host plant species and initiate infection which spreads to other plant parts later. Fungal pathogens cause different types of leaf spots, downy mildews, powdery mildews and rust diseases commonly on various crops. The bacterial pathogens induce blights and rot diseases.

Plants have to transport water and nutrients absorbed by the roots from the soil and photosynthetic products from the leaves to other plant parts and storage tissues through the stem tissues. Infection by fungal and bacterial pathogens interferes with the movement of the essential materials leading to the derangement of several physiological functions to varying degrees and even collapse of the aerial plant parts.

16.1 Fungal Pathogens causing Diseases Affecting Stems of Plants

Fungal pathogens cause blight, stem rot, rust, anthracnose, die-back and canker symptoms on the stem tissues of several crops. These pathogens may be soilborne or airborne generally, while some of them may spread through water also.

Diseases are caused by different kinds of microorganisms which may primarily attack specific plant organs initially. They may be either confined to the organs in which infection is successfully initiated and may spread to other organs to cause secondary infection. The plant organs initially affected may not show characteristic symptoms in certain cases as in root rot and wilt diseases. The root infection is recognized much later, when yellowing (chlorosis) of the leaves is observed. It may become very difficult to save the infected plants at this stage, since the pathogen is well established in the deeper tissues of the infected plants. However, the spread of the disease to the adjacent plants may be prevented by protective treatments. Integration of various principles of management of crop diseases has to be followed for successful crop cultivation. The combination of practices that can be applied varies with different types of diseases and the crops affected. Hence, the integrated management of crop diseases is discussed for different groups of diseases affecting primarily different plant organs/ tissues. Fungal and bacterial pathogens remaining in the soil or plant debris left over after harvest of previous crops infect the root system initially and crown or the basal portions of the stem may also be affected later.

Resistance to diseases in plants may be enhanced by incorporating resistance genes in susceptible cultivars and this disease management strategy is considered to be the most desirable one. But unavailability of reliable sources of resistance and the requirement of long periods for development of cultivars with built-in resistance have limited the usefulness of this approach. Employing genetic engineering techniques for obtaining resistant cultivars appears to hold promise. However, in the light of expression of concern for the long term effects of genetically modified crops and plant products in several countries, the feasibility of exploiting the genetic engineering methods remains a question mark. In this context, the possibility of inducing natural disease resistance (NDR) mechanisms operating in existing cultivars with high yield potential to provide protection to crops and harvested produce against diseases, has attracted the attention of researchers in several countries. This approach does not involve the introduction of any foreign gene into the plant, but it regulates the expression of defense genes in the susceptible plants. Furthermore this approach is as safe as the use of genetically resistant cultivars for the preservation of environment, since the same mechanisms of resistance are activated in plants with either genetic resistance or induced resistance. Intensive research is being carried out to select effective agents that can be used as inducers of resistance in crop plants to contain various diseases, as alternatives to the development of resistant cultivars through conventional breeding and genetic engineering methods

Plant diseases caused by microbial pathogens have been managed by using different methods which need to be applied every year or season, when the susceptible cultivars are grown. These methods are grouped as nongenetic methods, since no change in the host genome can be expected, when physical, chemical, cultural or biological control methods are employed. On the hand, if a change in the host genome is accomplished by either conventional breeding techniques or by biotechnological procedures, the progeny may show higher level of resistance to the target pathogen (s). The genotype or cultivar thus generated will show resistance during subsequent seasons till a new race of pathogen capable of overcoming the effects of resistance gene(s) is produced. Disease management through host resistance is considered as the most preferable option because of several advantages. Crop production is less expensive ; there is no need to apply any procedure for every crop season ; and chances of environmental pollution are absent, when a crop cultivar resistant to the disease (s) is grown. In addition, the build up of pathogen population is progressively reduced. Management of diseases by cultivating resistant varieties may be more effective and economical, if the benefits accumulating over a period of time and enlarging area with lapse of time are taken into consideration.

Methods of crop disease management are based on the principles of exclusion, eradication and immunization. Various methods of excluding the pathogens primarily through establishing plant quarantines and production of disease-free seeds and asexually propagated planting materials have been discussed earlier (Chapter 8). The pathogens that have been introduced and those that have established in a geographical location have to be eradicated by employing different methods for removal of infected plants, plant debris and alternate and alternative host plants for reducing pathogen inoculum and consequent reduction in disease incidence. Other methods may be broadly divided into two classes as chemical and nonchemical methods. The chemical methods involve the use of chemicals that may act indirectly by creating conditions unfavourable for the development of the disease (Chapter 9) or chemicals that have direct inhibitory activity on the pathogens (Chapter 11). Pathogen populations may be kept under check by adopting cultural practices either alone or in combination with chemical and nonchemical methods (Chapter 10). Biological agents have been employed for reducing pathogen inoculum or for inducing resistance in host plants resulting in different degrees of reduction in disease incidence. The methods involving the use of biological agents as a strategy of crop disease management are discussed in this chapter.

Biological control methods aim to reduce the pathogen inoculum or disease producing activity of a pathogen by employing live microorganisms or using products of biological origin. Use of antagonistic microorganisms, avirulent strains of pathogens, cross-protection induced by mild strains of pathogens in susceptible host plants and induction of resistance in the susceptible crop cultivars are some of the approaches made to reduce the adverse effects of infection by microbial pathogens.

Chemicals have been in use to arrest the ill effects of plant diseases even in the prehistoric periods (1000 B.C.) (Ogawa et al. 1977), although the nature of the causative agent was not known at that time. A combination of chemicals was developed and demonstrated to be effective against the devasting downy mildew disease affecting grapevines by systematic investigations of Millardet (1882) in France. This mixture of copper sulphate and lime was named as Bordeaux mixture after the place where it was developed (Large 1940). Despite the development of hundreds of chemicals over the following decades, for the management of fungal diseases, Bordeaux mixture is still being used against certain diseases. Copper, sulphur - and mercury-based compounds were applied prior to the 1940s. After the end of World War II, several organic chemicals were released into the market to wage a losing war against the plant pathogens. The researchers and industry have now realized that microbial pathogens cannot be entirely suppressed or eliminated by chemicals or by any other means.

Crop husbandry includes various cultural practices aimed at enhancing yields from a given unit of land. To achieve this aim, practices such as growing high yielding cultivars which are fertilizer responsive, high density planting and application of large quantities of different nutrients and frequent application of pesticides have been followed. Consequently these practices have been found to be responsible for some problems which were not associated with crops raised by adopting traditional agricultural practices. Thus the benefits of modern methods appeared to be lost, because of the unforeseen problems for which the effective solution have to be found out. Various methods that could be dovetailed with regular cultural practices have been shown to be useful in either reducing the existing pathogen inoculum or avoiding build up of inoculum in the field.

Physical and chemical techniques have been applied either alone or in combination with certain cultural practices to enhance the effectiveness of reducing pathogen inoculums and consequent reduction in disease incidence. Seeds and asexually propagated planting materials have been treated with physical and / or chemical methods in order to eliminate the pathogens from them and to build up disease-free stocks. Physical and chemical methods may be applied to reduce the inoculum present in plant debris as well as in the soil and water. Enough attention has not been bestowed to tackle the pathogens that may exist on fallen leaves or shoots from which infectible spores may be produced later.

Management of crop diseases by various methods of exclusion in order to reduce the pathogen population in a geographical location / country may be achieved by either preventing introduction of pathogens or by growing disease-free seeds and planting materials. In addition, the inoculum of a pathogen reaching newly planted crops may be significantly reduced by adopting appropriate cultural practices also. The contributions of these factors for successful cultivation of crops are discussed hereunder.

8.1 Prevention of Introduction of Microbial Pathogens

Prevention of pathogen introduction is the primary responsibility of plant quarantines. Quarantines have been established by several countries by enacting appropriate laws that regulate the importation of plants, seeds and asexually propagated plant materials. These materials are placed in post-entry quarantines (PEQs) and examined by technical personnel for the presence of pathogens and pests. It is obligatory for the exporting countries to comply with the regulations of the importing countries. As the movement of plant products has increased enormously, following the adoption of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), vigilant enforcement of sanitary and phytosanitary measures has become essential. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) appointed an Expert Consultation on the Harmonization of Plant Quarantine Principles to formulate basic principles to determine standards for plant quarantine principles in relation to international trade (FAO 1991). According to the recommendations of the Expert Consultation, the sovereignty of the importing country is recognized and it has the right to implement the phytosanitary regulations deemed fit by that country. However, cooperation among countries was emphasized for the successful implementation of the recommendations by the member countries belonging to one of the eight regional plant protection organization set up after the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) held in 1951. A plant pathogen is recognized as of quarantine significance (QS), if its exclusion is considered to be essential to protect agriculture and natural vegetation of the importing country which has to be provide necessary infrastructure and trained personnel to prevent or delay its entry along possible routes. Lists of quarantine pathogens and the regulations to be followed are prepared by the importing country and made available to the exporting countries.

Various aspects of micorbial plant pathogens have been studied with the ultimate aim of gathering information that may be useful for development of effective disease management systems. Principles of management of crop diseases caused by microbial pathogens fall into three categories : exclusion, eradication and immunization.

7.1 Exclusion of Microbial Plant Pathogens

Exclusion of microbial pathogens may be expected to reduce the amount or efficacy of the initial population of pathogens that may be introduced into a geographical location / field. Exclusion is an important component of management of diseases, if the initial population of pathogen is large. This approach is particularly effective in the case of monocyclic pathogens that complete their life cycle only once during one cropping season. The methods with the aim of excluding the introduction of pathogens or to prevent the build up of inoculum required for disease spread are generally applied elsewhere. Hence, they have lower level of visibility compared to other approaches. Introduction of new pathogens present in plant and plant materials into another country or locations within a country may be effectively prevented by establishing plant quarantines. Build up of inoculum of microbial pathogens can be reduced considerably by the use of disease-free plants or planting materials supplied through certification agencies. These regulatory programmes have to be manned by trained technical personnel and supported by adequate infrastructure in terms of equipments and mobility (Chapter 8).

Crops are grown with the primary aim of maximizing the profit for the cultivators. To achieve this goal, high yielding cultivars and suitable agricultural practices are selected. But due consideration is not given for the levels of susceptibility of the cultivars and some of the agricultural practices may enhance the chances of disease incidence and consequent losses. Hence, it becomes obligatory to determine the effects of crop cultivar and agricultural practices on the extent of disease incidence and to assess losses caused by microbial pathogens in different crops in an agroecosystem. Crop losses reflect the effects of various factors such as use of disease resistant cultivars, application of chemicals, biocontrol agents and preventive measures to reduce inoculum levels, introduction of new diseases and restriction of disease spread. Assessment of crop losses is essential to choose the most effective short- and long-term strategies of disease management. Disease assessment enables the plant pathologists is to gather quantitative information for evaluating disease management strategies, for undertaking surveys of losses and breeding for disease-resistant cultivars.

Although thousands of plant species exist on the earth, only those that were found to be useful for humans as food, feed, fiber, timber and other utility materials have been selected for domestication. When these plant species were affected by various biotic and abiotic causes, the necessity arose to determine the ways and means of protecting the valuable plants species and to understand the host plant defense mechanisms and pathogenic potential of the microbial pathogens causing enormous losses to the cultivators. All plant species have built-in resistance to most microbial plant pathogens existing in the environment. Susceptibility of plants to some of them is an exception, since they are endowed with genes which effectively nullify the possible adverse conditions created by the microorganism. Likewise, microbial pathogens possess genes for survival and pathogenicity to survive in the absence of susceptible plant species and to successfully establish infection in suitable plant species. The microbial pathogens have evolved highly specialized tactics to overcome the defense responses and to rapidly multiply in plants for their survival and perpetuation in a geographic location / ecosystem

Plants are exposed to microbial pathogens at all growth stages from seeds to harvested produce. But they are resistant to numerous pathogens that are present in the environment and susceptible only to some of them. In other words, a plant species has built-in resistance mechanism to avoid or resist the invasion by many microbial pathogens. A pathogen may reach several plant species, but it can infect only a few plant species in the particular location or region. The process of pathogenesis or disease development is initiated when the pathogen reaches the plant surface that allows the initiation of infection. An organism is able to derive its nutrition from the susceptible host plant and becomes pathogenic. The physiological functions of such infected plants deviate from those of the healthy (normal) plants and suffer irreversibly to different magnitudes. The organism adversely affecting the plant growth and other functions to obtain nutrition is the pathogen. It develops rapidly or slowly in proportion to the levels of susceptibility / resistance of the host plant to the pathogen species concerned. Thus a plant species may be susceptible to some pathogens, while remains resistant / immune to other organisms that may be pathogenic to some other plant species. Depletion of compounds from the plants to meet the nutritional requirement of the pathogen leads to different kinds of external symptoms and internal changes due to derangement of normal metabolic functions of the host plant. The process of disease development in a susceptible host plant species is known as pathogenesis.

Detection and identification of the causes and diagnosis of the diseases rapidly and precisely are the basic requirements for developing effective crop disease management systems suitable for different ecosystems. Incorrect diagnosis leads to failure to contain the disease spread and consequent additional expenditure to the growers. Hence, it is essential that proper diagnostic procedures are followed to achieve the goal of reducing both quantitative and qualitative losses of agricultural and horticultural produce. Morphological, biological, biochemical, physiological, immunological and genomic characteristics of microbial plant pathogens have been carefully considered to develop rapid, sensitive and reliable methods of detection and identification of cause(s) of newly observed disease (s) in the locations concerned. Various methods of establishing the nature of microbial plant pathogens are discussed in detail in earlier publications

Occurrence of various diseases affecting agricultural and horticultural crop is known for several centuries. However, critical examination of crop diseases to understand the nature of the causative agents and extent of losses induced by diseases and development of effective disease management systems were possible much later. Any deviation from normal form and function of plants is considered as ‘disease’. Both pathogenic (biotic) and physiogenic (abiotic) causes are involved in diseases of plants. Adverse environmental conditions such as extremes of temperature, light and oxygen, soil moisture, pH and polluted air may alter the physiological conditions of the plants. Nutritional deficiencies also affect various crops leading to considerable losses. Microbial plant pathogens–fungus-like oomycetes, fungi, bacteria, phytoplasmas, viruses and viroids–form the major group of biotic agents that induce different diseases of crop plants in the field as well as during transport and storage (Narayanasamy 2002,2006). Presentation of information in this book is confined to various aspects of the microbial plant pathogens and the diseases caused by them.

Microbial pathogens may induce symptoms that may be visible externally and also in the deep-seated internal tissues which have to be examined using light or electron microscope. In the case of some diseases, the symptoms may be localized in different plant parts such as roots, leaves, stems, floral parts or seeds / fruits / vegetables. Such infections are known as local infection. On the other hand, the pathogen may spread from the point of entry into the host to other plant parts which exhibit characteristic symptoms. These diseases are termed as systemic diseases. In some cases, no recognizable visible symptom is produced although the pathogen is able to develop without inconveniencing the host plant species which are called as carriers and the infection is designated latent infection. Plant viruses are carried symptomlessly by many weed plant species which may serve as sources of infection for crop plants.

Human beings, considered to be the highly evolved living organisms, have been making consistent and constant efforts to lead comfortable life without much concern for the conservation of nature and adversities to other living and nonliving entities existing in the universe. To meet the requirements of food, feed, fibre, timber and other needs, the plants that could supply the above were selected and domesticated. When the useful plant species were cultivated over large areas repeatedly year after year, the problems afflicting plants that were not recognized earlier as constraints for crop cultivation, assumed monstrous proportions wiping out entire crops and ruining the livelihood of the people of that geographical location/country. World history is replete with numerous instances of huge crop losses caused by microbial plant pathogens resulting in malnutrition, hunger and death. Migration of millions of people to other countries for their survival, became unavoidable. Such historical evidences threatening the existence of humans necessitated to investigate the causes of destructive diseases like late blight and heliminthosporiose diseases affecting respectively potato and rice, the staple food of the largest populations of the world. In order to take appropriate measures for minimizing losses due to crop diseases and to mitigate the sufferings of man and the animals, application of various short- and long-term disease management strategies has become indispensable for the profitable cultivation of crops

Marketing is one of the most important factors in determining the success of any vegetable farming enterprise. Marketing includes all the operations and decisions taken by the producers. These decisions range from determining the most marketable crops for production to deciding how to best deliver quality produce to the consumers at a profit. However, contrary to popular belief, marketing does not begin after a crop is produced. Instead, marketing alternatives need to be considered even before the start of production.

However, vegetable marketing in India has not yet been organised so far. The long route from the grower to the retailer and ultimately to the consumer involves a chain of middlemen, transport contractors and wholesale merchants. Very often, there arises stagnation of the produce in the peak season or in the year of good production. The large number of intermediaries in the vegetable marketing channel grab maximum share of the consumer’s price and as a result, the producers’ profit becomes marginal. Vegetable cultivation is a capital intensive venture, and huge production alone cannot fetch profit for the growers. Organised marketing, storage and transport facilities are the key factors for making vegetable farming profitable which ultimatily boost vegetable cultivation.

Quality Components of the Produce

Various components of quality are used to evaluate the products in relation to specific grades and standards and responses to various environmental factors and post-harvest treatments. The relative importance of each factor depends upon the commodity and its intended use, fresh or processed. The main quality components of vegetables are mentioned below

Cropping system is defined as the cropping pattern followed on a farm and its interactions with farm resources, other farm enterprises and production technology. The yearly sequence and spatial arrangement of crops and fallow on a given area is termed as cropping pattern.

India has over 17% of world’s population living on 2.4% of the world’s geographical area. Per capita agricultural land has reduced by 67% from 0.48 ha in 1951 to 0.16 ha in 2008 due to explosive increase in population. In this situation, it is very difficult to get horizontal expansion in vegetable cultivation. Hence, total production per unit area can be increased by increasing the productivity per unit area through (a) growing improved high yielding varieties and hybrids, (b) adequate and scientific crop management practices and (c) increasing cropping intensities following different cropping patterns.

Potato

Potato, Solanum tuberosum L. under the family Solanaceae (Chromosome No. 2n = 4x = 48) is the most important non-grain food crop in the world, ranking 3rd in terms of total production with over 381 million tonnes per year in (FAOSTAT, 2017), after rice and wheat. It is grown in 150 countries spread across both temperate and tropical regions and at elevations from sea level to 4,000 m. It is extensively cultivated in China, Russian Federation, Ukarine, Poland, Ireland, Great Britain, Germany, Netherlands, France, Spain, South America, India and USA. Potato was brought from Peru to Spain by the Spaniards in 1565 when it was widely grown in Spain and Italy. They were probably brought to England in 1586 by Sir Francis Drake. Potato was introduced in India in early 17^th century probably by the Portuguese. Now it is one of the principal cash crops of India.

The crop

The subsection Potato is distinguished from all other subsections within the genus Solanum by “true potatoes whose tubers are borne on underground stolons, which are true stems, not roots”. The series tuberosa is characterised by “imparipinnate or simple leaves, forked peduncle, rotate to pentagonal corolla and round berries”.

The species S.tuberosum is characterised by “pedicel articulation placed in the middle third, short calyx lobes arranged regularly, leaves often slightly arched, leaflets always ovate to lanceolate, about twice as long as broad, tubers with well marked dormancy period”

Potato is an annual herbaceous plant and growth habit varies between and within species. The plant has a rosette or semi-rosette habit. The stem is erect in the early stage but becomes spreading and prostrate later on. The leaves are compound and alternate, irregularly odd pinnate. The tuber is an enlarged portion of an underground stem or stolon. Tuber eyes are the buds from which next season’s growth will emerge. Eyes are concentrated near the apical end of the tuber, with fewer near the stolon or basal end. Eye number and distribution are characteristic of the variety.

Potato is mainly propagated vegetatively by means of tubers and sometimes by botanical seeds, i.e., true potato seeds. Potato has a terminal inflorescence consisting of 1-30 (but usually 7-15) flowers, depending on the cultivar. The five petals give the open flower a star shape. A flower also has a pistil that generally protrudes above a cluster of five large, bright yellow anthers. The corolla colour varies from white to complex range of blue, red and purple. Flowers are self-pollinated but also cross pollination take place by insect. Seeds are produced in the fruit which is botanically called berry. Potato fruits, stems and leaves contain glycoalkaloids, the toxic compounds, of which the most prevalent are solanine and chaconine.

Protected cultivation can be defined as a cropping technique wherein the micro-climate surrounding the plant is controlled partially or fully as per the requirement of the plant species during their growth period. This cropping technique is the most modern approach to grow different horticultural crops mainly, vegetable crops and flowers for enhancement of both productivity and product quality. This technology has spread extensively the world over in the last few decades. This technology involves the cultivation of different crops particularly, horticultural crops in a controlled environment wherein the environmental parameters like the temperature, humidity, light, soil, water, plant nutrition, etc. are manipulated for enhancement of production as well as product quality even during off-season which ensures additional return to the growers.

Green revolution technologies such as greater use of synthetic agrochemicals like fertilizers and pesticides, adoption of nutrient-responsive, high-yielding varieties of crops, greater exploitation of irrigation potentials etc. has boosted the production output in most cases. However, continuous use of these high energy inputs indiscriminately now leads to decline in production and productivity of various crops as well as deterioration of soil health and environments.