eChapters

Abstract

Agriculture, which was once a livelihood for millions, is now turning into a not -so-profitable occupation. The interest has reduced especially among the youth because of its input intensive nature. Among all other  things, the most important input in profitable and sustainable agriculture is timely information. However, with the increasing value of the ratio of farmers to extension personnel, getting timely information is a challenge. Then again, rationally used, we are surrounded by communication devices and the most essential and affordable of all are mobile phones. They have made communication easier, faster, affordable and profitable. The boom in mobile based agro-advisory services in the developing countries around the world has found its own subscriber base among the bottom of the pyramid farmers in rural areas and has been developing their economic conditions. Their services range from crop information, market price alerts to holistic agricultural information which are available free of cost and under subscription.

2.1 Introduction

Microbes are the oldest form of the life on earth. These organisms date more than 3 billion years to a time when they were discovered with oceans. They are so tiny in size that million microbes can fit into the eye of a needle. Without microbes, we can’t live. Thus, understanding microbes is vital to understanding past and future. Microbes play many roles in the earth’s environment recycling dead plant and animal matter through the soil, removing CO2 from the atmosphere by photosynthesis in the oceans and nitrogen from the atmosphere to form nitrogenous fertilizers plants. Microbes play an important role in nutrient recycling, management, organic matter, decomposition and increasing the crop productivity and quality and protection against diseases (Panwar et al., 2009). Over the past century, many of the basic scientific principles of plant nutrition and soil fertility have been explained. In developed countries, inorganic chemical fertilizers have been widely accepted as a major source of improving and maintaining soil fertility.

Kerala, popularly known as the God’s own country, is situated at the southern tip of India between latitude range 8°15‘ N to 12°50’ N and 74°50’ E to 77°30’ E longitude. The State is graced with 44 rivers and numbers of streams and has rich biodiversity and tropical rain forests spread in 13 agro-ecological zones under humid tropics. Kerala is the Gateway of monsoon in India. Though Kerala is identified as Plantation State, the major staple food is rice. The annual rainfall in Kerala is about 2.7 times the national average. More or less assured amount of rainfall is being received in almost every year over the State, though inter-annual variability is felt more in recent decades. Uncertainties in rainfall are also felt much in the recent decades. Droughts during summer and floods during rainy season are frequent. Natural disasters like landslides/mud slips during rainy season are common across the mid and high lands of Kerala as the intensity of rainfall is high. Atmospheric temperature across the State is increasing. 1983 was a disastrous drought year in Kerala. The severe summer affected the State’s plantation crops economy to a considerable extent. Insignificant rainfall led to the severe summer drought during 1982–83.

Introduction

Vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizae are fungi that exhibit symbiosis with roots of higher plants. The term vesicular arbuscular is derived from characteristic structure i.e. ‘branched hyphae or arbuscles’ that are formed with in the root cortical cells and vesicles or ‘swollen lipid storing organs’ that occur with in or between them.

Introduction

Today we are part of a highly complex and dynamic society. The complexity and dynamism are primarily due to the chain of changes induced by the scientific and industrial developments. The impetus provided by the information explosion coupled with scientific and technological developments to human life has triggered several unimaginable developments in the number, structure and functions of formal organizations. Realization of the supremacy of human mind over the tangible and exhaustible organizational resources like money, material and machine has led to the concept of ‘human capital’, which is now being considered as the most critical organizational resource to ensure organizational effectiveness and efficiency. Analogously huge investments are going in towards servicing and developing this critical resource of human capital in organizations. In this context, the concepts of human resource development (HRD) and training assume greater significance. In fact, training has been considered as a potential tool for HRD since ages. However, as a distinct profession, and also as a critical management tool, training is still in its early years. At the same time, there have been significant changes in the way training is conceived, understood and practiced.

Agricultural colleges and universities were first formed in the belief that farm production could be increased as a result of the systematic application of current technology and agricultural research findings. The mission of these early educational institutions was to scientifically study agriculture with the participation of the farming community; to carry the results to a broad range of farmers who could use them; and to train farmers, extension workers, agricultural teachers and researchers so that agricultural production could continue to be increased on a sustained basis. In many of the developing countries, agricultural education and training have failed to adapt and respond to the realities of rural societies. In response to the urgent need to review and adjust teaching and training in agriculture at all levels. The training is an important tool to overcome the problem faced by the rural people all over the world. The availability of the resource is the crucial determining factors to strengthen the training Programme for the needy people.

Rice is the principal crop of the region and cultivated in 3.9 million hectares area with an average productivity of about 1.3 t ha-1, which is very low. Irrigation resources are limited and confined to only 26 per cent and utilized for rice crop only. The region has rice based cropping system, in which lathyrus (grasspea),  is grown as utera (relay crop) in 0.46 million hectares. However, its productivity is not more than 2 to 3 q ha-1. Pulse crops are cultivated in an area of 0.44 m ha in kharif and 0.81 m ha in rabi season. The main pulse crops of the region are lathyrus, black gram, pigeonpea, chickpea, horsegram (kulthi), lentil and field pea. Area-wise, urd in kharif and lathyrus in rabi occupy the top position but as far as productivity is concerned, pigeonpea and chickpea are important. Pigeonpea and chickpea together can contribute a lot in increasing the pulses production in region. The average productivity of pigeonpea is 5.19 q ha-1 . It is also grown on rice bunds, which may give an additional production of 0.06 mt. Mung and urd are grown throughout the year in the region, however, powdery mildew and yellow mosaic virus diseases pose severe threat to these crops.

Weed control methods may be classified into two groups as follows:

    1.    Preventive method
    2.    Curative or remedial measures. Curative measures are sub-divided into eradication and control.

(a) Preventive Methods

Prevention is the measures taken to prevent the introduction or spread  of the weeds to new areas and to check the infestation prior to the germination of weed seeds. To achieve this, a wise step to be followed the principle- “Prevention is better than cure”.

Storage Systems

    1.    Low cost storage technology

        ·    In situ : Means delaying the harvest until the crop is required and employed 
    for the root crops.
        ·    Sand and Coir : Used for the Potatoes
        ·    Pits used for the Potatoes
        ·    Clamps used for the Potatoes
             Wind breaks used for the Onions – 6 months 1m height wooden stakes
        ·    Cellars : under ground / partly under ground. Ex: Apples, cabbage, 
    onions and potatoes during winter.
        ·    Barns : In Sudan onions are stored in palm leaf barns called “Rakubas”.
        ·    Evaporative Coolers
        ·    Zero energy cooling chambers
        ·    Night ventilation.

    2.    As a general rule, air circulation of storage room is designed to provide about 25m² / min / 3000 K cal of refrigeration predicated on a 5.5ºC

    3.    Frozen storage refers to storage at temperature where food is maintained in frozen conditions.

    4.    Good frozen storage generally means - 18ºC / below.

    5.    Below – 9.4ºC, there is no significant growth of microorganisms in food.

1. Tyson Foods Inc. 
2210 W. Oaklawn Drive, Springdale, AR 72762-6999 
Phone  : 479-290-4000; Fax  : 479-290-4061; Web site  : www.tyson.com

Executives : Chairman : John Tyson; Pres./CEO : Richard Bond; SVP-Intl. Ops. : Mike Baker; SVP-Commodity Trading & Risk Management : Jean Mrha Beach; Group VP-Research & Development, Logistics & Tech Services : Hal Carper; SVP & CIO : Gary Cooper; Group VP & International Pres. : Rick Greubel Jr.; SVP, Controller & CAO : Craig Hart; VP, Assoc. General Counsel & Secretary : R. Read Hudson; Group VP-Ops : Donnie King; SVP-Human Resources : Ken Kimbro; EVP & CFO : Dennis Leatherby; Group VP-Food Service : Bernard Leonard; Sr. Group VP-Fresh Meats : James Lochner; SVP-External Relations : Archie Shaffer III; Group VP-Consumer Prods : Donnie Smith; EVP & General Counsel : David Van Bebber; SVP-Renewable Products : Jeff Webster; VP-Investor Relations & Asst. Secretary : Ruth Ann Wisener

The Andaman and Nicobar group of Islands, popularly known as the Bay islands, consists of 572 islands, islets and rocks, situated off the Eastern coast of India. The Islands are covered from coast to coast with an almost impenetrable growth of luxuriant tropical rain forests. The luxuriant growth of dense forests with tangled mass of climbers, lianes, canes and plant communities provide an additional source of income. Many species of bamboos, bushes, shrubs and stunted trees have tremendous values (Mondal, et al 2000). Most of the diversity is still collected from wild forest habitats largely composed of trees, shrubs and other perennial vegetations. Underutilized fruits provide food, nutrition and sustenance to the natives. Broadly, such underutilized diversity in edible fruits falls into four categories (Groot et al 1993).

INTRODUCTION

Many economically important diseases are caused by Phytophthora spp. There are as many as 60 described Phytophthora species, most of which are primary invaders of plant tissues with limited saprophytic ability. Some important diseases with respect to symptoms, etiology and management have been described in this chapter as given below.

1. Introduction

 Banana is the developing world’s fourth most important food crop (after rice, wheat and maize) accounting for 70 million metric tons per annum (FAO stat, 2007 faostat.fao.org/site/567/Desktop Default.aspx?). Banana is also the second highest fruit crop in the world, representing a wide range of varieties of cooking and dessert types, providing a staple, nutritious inexpensive food for millions of people. The word “banana” is a general term embracing a number of species or hybrids in the genus Musa of the family Musaceae known simply as the banana family. Two Musa species namely Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana, out of the 28 described were first noted in 1865 by Kurz as being the origin of most of the commercial clones (Stover and Simmonds 1987). Cultivated clones are parthenocarpic, mostly sterile with starchy fruits. Indeed, wild types are very fertile; their fruits are full of seeds with little starch, and are seldom fit for human consumption. Its abundance, varietal diversity, availability round-the-year and low cost make banana an important commodity for the religious occasions in many tropical countries. The vegetable bananas, generally grouped under ‘Plantains’ are larger, more angular than dessert type and are generally intended for cooking unripe, although ripened ones are quite like dissert bananas.

Some basic informations about genera of Family Pythiaceae, Peronosporaceae and Albuginaceae;

Pythiaceae

Indeterminate (grows continuously) sporangiophores, have sporangia that are borne variously, but not in chains, on somatic hyphae or on sporangiophores. This family includes the genera Pythium and Phytophthora.

Peronosporaceae

Determinate sporangiophores, form sporangia on well-defined, branched sporangiophores of determinate growth. There are seven genera in the family including Basidiophora, Bremia, Bremiella, Peronospora, Plasmopara, Pseudoperonospora and Sclerospora.

Albuginaceae

Club shaped sporangiophores, catenate sporangia, produces chains of sporangia on club-shaped sporangiophores of indeterminate growth. The Albuginaceae contains a single genus Albugo.

Growth and development of plants are dependent upon the temperature surrounding the plant and each species has a specific temperature range represented by a minimum, maximum, and optimum. These values were summarized by Hatfield et al. (2008, 2011) for a number of different species typical of grain and fruit production. The expected changes in temperature over the next 30 to 50 years are predicted to be in the range of 2 to 3°C Intergovernmental Panel Climate Change (IPCC) (2007). Heat waves or extreme temperature events are projected to become more intense, more frequent, and last longer than what is being currently been observed in recent years (Meehl et al., 2007). Extreme temperature events may have short-term durations of a few days with temperature increases of over 5°C above the normal temperatures. A recent review by Barlow et al. (2015) on the effect of temperature extremes, frost and heat, in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) revealed that frost caused sterility and abortion of formed grains while excessive heat caused reduction in grain number and reduced duration of the grain- filling period. Analysis by Meehl et al. (2007) revealed that daily minimum temperatures will increase more rapidly than daily maximum temperatures leading to the increase in the daily mean temperatures and a greater likelihood of extreme events and these changes could have detrimental effects on grain yield. If these changes in temperature are expected to occur over the next 30 years then understanding the potential impacts on plant growth and development will help develop adaptation strategies to offset these impacts.

Definition

Plant breeding can be defined as an art, a science, and technology of improving the genetic makeup of plants in relation to their economic use for the mankind.

OR

Plant breeding is the art and science of improving the heredity of plants for the benefit of mankind.

OR

Plant breeding deals with the genetic improvement of crop plants also known as science of crop improvement.

OR

Science of changing and improving the heredity of plants

7.1. INTRODUCTION

The word ‘significance’ in statistics does not describe the strength of association. Statistical significance is simply related to the probability of the result being commonly or rarely encountered (If the probability of chance occurrence is low the result is likely to be determined by the set of circumstances under study and not by chance). If conclusions are to be drawn that a difference exists between two groups of subjects, then we have to ensure that they are equal in all respects except the one under test.

‘P’ values are used to assess the degree of dissimilarity between two (or more) sets of measurements. The ‘P’ value is the probability of obtaining a result as extreme as or more extreme than the one observed. The ‘P’ value is actually a measure of surprise and the smaller the value, the more surprising is the result. When ‘P’ value is between 0.05 and 0.01, the result is usually called statistically significant; when it is less than 0.01, it is usually called highly significant and if, values are lower than 0.005, then it is called very highly significant. Traditionally, the approach had been to indicate the level of significance by rounded off ‘P’ values e.g., P < 0.01. Now it has become a fashion to calculate the exact probabilities and thus arrive at a particular decision.

Biotechnology in the food processing sector targets the selection and improvement of microorganisms, including bacteria, yeasts and moulds with the objectives of improving process control, yields and efficiency as well as the quality, safety and consistency of bioprocessed products. They perform a series of processes such as fermentation, hydrolysis, etc. and even spoilage of food, depending upon the species of organisms, nature of raw material (food), environmental factors (temperature, pH, salt concentration, etc.), duration, etc.

Fermentation
Is the process of bioconversion of organic substances by microorganisms and/or enzymes (complex proteins) of microbial, plant or animal origin. It is one of the oldest forms of food preservation which is applied globally.

INTRODUCTION

Plant propagation involves three main aspects: knowledge of mechanical manipulations and technical skills which constitutes the art of propagation; knowledge of plant growth and structures which constitutes science of propagation and knowledge of different kinds of plants and their methods of propagation. The basic objective of plant propagation is to increase the number of desirable types and to preserve the essential characteristics of the plant. Generally, sexual propagation or the seed propagation is used to raise the seedling rootstocks on which to graft or bud the desirable types. The clonal rootstocks are multiplied through vegetative means- layering, cutting etc. Various sexual and asexual methods such as use of seeds, apomicts, specialised plant parts, cuttings, layers, grafts and buds are employed to multiply plants of different fruit crops. In this chapter, the techniques used for raising rootstocks and multiplying the desirable types of different fruits have been discussed.

INTRODUCTION

Grape (Vitis vinifera L.) is one of the important fruit crop in world grown commercially in temperate, tropical and sub-tropical regions. At present, it is one of the major horticultural industries over an area of 7.5 million hectares. Grape berries are attractive for their unique flavour and are utilized in many different ways, so its cultivation is becoming more popular. Approximately 71% of world grape production is used in wine industry, 27% as fresh fruits and only 2% as dried fruit. China is the largest producer of grapes followed by Italy, USA, France and Spain. In world, India hold 9th position in grapes production with an annual production of 2822.78 thousand MT.Peninsular India comprise of accounts for 90 % area under grapes. India has the distinction of having highest productivity (21.4 MT/ha) of grapes in the world

INTRODUCTION

The apple ( Malus x domestica Borkh.) is an important temperate fruit, grown in areas experiencing cold winters, frost free springs and mild summer. The genus Malus has 25 species. Apple is considered best premier table fruit of the world. The commercially grown cultivars of apple are sweet, juicy and have a pleasing grainy texture. Apple is the most important crop or cash crop of hilly states and occupy 49 per cent of the total area under fruit crop.

Nutritive and Cultural Significance

Apple fruit is in rich source of proteins, minerals, potassium, thiamine, vitamin B6 and carbohydrates. Apple fruits contains sugars (sucrose, glucose, fructose), dextrins, starch, hemicellulose, cellulose and pectin substances. Maleic acid is the major acid of apple fruits. The fruit contain Carbohydrates 14.5 per cent, protein 0.3 per cent, potassium 110 mg, phosphorus 10 mg, iron 0.12 mg and calcium 6 mg per 100 g of fruit. Among the vitamins, it contain vitamin C 10-40 mg, vitamin A 90-120 1U, thiamine (B1) 0.017 mg, Riboflavin 0.026 mg per 100g of fruit. Apple fruit contains 86 per cent water content.

1.1. Characteristics and categories
                
1.2. Litter
    Patterns of accumulation
    Successional trends
    Seasonal variations
    Fluctuations in accumulation

1.3. Dissolved organic matter
    Sources of DOM
    Fluxes of DOM

1.4. Woody detritus

1.5. Soil organic matter

19. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS

Def : The minerals are naturally occurring solid bodies having definite chemical composition and certain atomic arrangement, and are formed by inorganic processes in the nature.

All the minerals possess certain physical properties which are considered as follows.

1.Characters depending upon light such as colour streak, luster, transparency, translucency, phosphorescence and fluorescence.

2.Characters depending upon certain senses such as taste, odour and feel.

3.Characters depending upon the atomic structure and state of aggregation such as form, hardness, tenacity, fracture, cleavage and surface tension effects.

On the basis of these three characteristics, the minerals are identified and distinguished.

Cells Contain 4 Major Types of Giant Molecules (Macromolecules, Polymers)

Carbohydrates

Lipids

Proteins

Nucleic Acids

BIOLOGICAL POLYMERS ARE MADE FROM ABOUT 60 SMALL BUILDING BLOCKS

Cells contain thousands of types of giant molecules (macromolecules, polymers)

Polymers are macromolecules made from a single building block molecule Most of the macromolecules are made from about 60 types of small building block molecules

Most macromolecules are linear: building blocks linked head to tail- a few have branches (some polysaccharides)

This is what you would get if you heated cells in hydrochloric acid overnight at 110 degrees C:

8.1 Economic Geology and Ore Mineralogy

8.1.1 Economic geology

Economic Geology deals with the comprehensive study of mineral deposits including their processes of formation and uses. By applying the principles of geology, a mining engineer is able to exploit such deposits profitably for the use of Man.

8.1.2 Ore mineral

An ore is a term applied usually to that part of a metalliferous mineral deposit that can be utilized profitably as a source of one-or-more metals, this term now is widely used for the usable part of many non-metallic (non-metalliferous mineral) deposits, like barite, fluorite, sulphur, etc.

8.1.3 Gangue mineral

An ore is usually a mixture of one or more usable minerals (ore minerals) and one or more unusable minerals (gangue minerals). The usual gangue minerals are quartz and other forms of silica, calcite, dolomite, siderite, barite, feldspars, garnet, chlorite, kaolin, fluorite, apatite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, arsenopyrite, and sometimes the gangue material is the country rock or host rock itself in which the ore minerals occur. Sometimes, the gangue minerals may also be utilized as by-products of the ore deposit. The nature and proportion of the gangue influence the economic value of an ore to a great extent.

India is a major exporter of vegetables with 10th position in the world. In the past, the Dexport of Indian vegetables was restricted to potatoes and fresh onions, however, now, the Government of India finds great opportunities for expanding exports of several vegetables including lettuce, fresh peppers, tomatoes, squashes, gherkins, etc. Under World Trade Organization (WTO) regime, the development of stronger seed industry and improved production technology will give India a competitive edge in global market. New opportunities and challenges are emerging every day in the dynamic and global vegetable-based industries. However, such opportunities can be harnessed only if assured quality, in terms of organic farming and reduced pesticide residues, is maintained (Shanmugasundaram, 2004).

The Agromet/Livestock advisories are issued on the basis of weather forecasts made at the meteorological centers. These forecasts are made by numerical methods which employ the process of solving the equations governing the motion of the air. For solving the equations, observations of various meteorological parameters such as pressure, temperature, wind direction and speed and other weather variables are required. The observations are taken at specified times called synoptic hours in all the observatories located throughout the World. The instruments used to measure the weather parameters are housed in the observatory. Instruments used for the measurement of different elements are given below:

The floriculture industry, at present, comprises of the cultivation and trade of cut and loose flowers, potted plants, foliage and bedding plants and dried flowers under open field as well as under protected environment conditions. Globally, more than 145 countries are involved in cultivation of floriculture crops. Though the art of growing flowers is not new to India, large scale commercial cultivation especially protected cultivation in poly houses is relatively new in India. Enormous genetic diversity, varied agroclimatic conditions and versatile human resources offers India a unique scope for diversification in to new avenues which were not explored to a greater extent. India also has a strong dry flower industry which contributes a major share to the overall trade. Other segments like fillers, potted plants, seeds and planting material turf grass industry and value added products also contribute a share in the overall growth of floriculture sector.

Cut flower production is a growing business in most Asian countries as the result of higher per capita income of people. Technology for production is well known and has been utilized to the maximum in many countries. As a consequence, cut flowers are commercially produced in larger quantities in these countries resulting in surpluses during normal periods of blooming, end result of which is a lower price for cut flowers. On the other hand, such prices are much higher during periods of needs such as certain special occasions, or off-season.

Heterosis

The superiority of F₁ hybrid over both its parents in terms of yield or some other characters or heterosis is increased vigours, growth, yield or function of a hybrid over the parents, resulting from crossing of genetically diverse organisms. The term heterosis was first coined by Shull in 1914. Generally heterosis manifested as an increase in vigour, size, growth, yield or some other characteristics. But in some cases, hybrid may be inferior to the weaker parent this is also regarded as heterosis.

2.1 Some Useful Formulas Related to Farm Power

Abstract: Orchids, one of the largest commodities in international cut flowers and ornamental plant market, in which genera Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Phalaenopsis, and Vanda are most traded. Orchids occupy prime position among ornamental plants of the modern world. Both warm and cool temperature cultivars are grown in vitro germinated seeds or clones. Breeders have created polyploid cultivars (amphidiploids, triploids) which have greater flower number/raceme, large flowers and other valuable traits. Numerous genes have been identified in the genus with some sequenced genes being used to create genetic transformants. Genome breeding and wide crosses are routinely used to create new genetic variability. Future crop ideotypes are proposed to continue transformation of this crop during the next millennium.

Maps make it easier to interpret and communicate the results of any GIS analysis. R has a large number of packages for making thematic maps. Static mapping is straightforward with plot()methods provided by core spatial packages sf and raster. The use of plot() function have been discussed in the previous chapters. Another package for mapping isspwithspplot() having enough options for producing good quality thematic maps.It is also possible to create advanced maps using ggplot2. This chapter discusses, separately, preparing thematic maps from vectors and rasters with the above mentioned packages. A dedicated map-making package tmaphas been given special focus in this chapter.

1. Introduction

Hazel nut also called as European filbert or Bhotia badam (Corylus avellana L.). Apparently the word ‘filbert’ has been derived from Middle English which in turn was a derivation of Philbert - the Saint Philibert, whose feast day in late August coincides with the ripening of the nut. Others believe that the term filbert came from the nut’s long husk being referred to as a full beard in Old English. The name “Hazel” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for bonnet, “Haesel”; this probably derives from the greek “korys” (as in Corylus), for helmet or hood. The term “filbert” may have derived from “full beard”, descriptive of the long, leafy husk. The scientific name avellana derives from the town of Avella initially and was selected by Linnaeus from Leonhart Fuchs’s De historia stirpium commentarii insignes (1542), where the species was described as “Avellana nux sylvestris” (“wild nut of Avella”). Hazelnut is the 4^th economically important nut crop (748,000 MT/yr) of world after cashew, almond and walnut.

History of Genetics

Lamarck (1744-1829): Proposed theory of “Inheritance of acquired characters”.

Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882): published his classic book “Origin of Species” in 1859 and proposed theory of evolution and survival of the fittest.

Johann Greger Mendel : Gave laws of heredity in 1866 and is considered as Father of Genetics.

W. Flemming: The term mitosis was first used by Fleming in 1882.

W. Waldeyer: Coined the term “Chromosome” in 1888.

August Weisman: Gave the “Theory of Germplasm” in 1889.

Abstract

Since pre-historic times plants have tendered their services to mankind in the form of food, shelter and medicine. Due to the advancement of human civilization, various folklore systems of medicines were developed across the globe. Among the various folklore system of medicine, Sowa-Rigpa” is one of the oldest well recognised and widely accepted system of folk-lore medicine in the world. It is one of the commonly used of system of medicine in different parts of Tibet, Bhutan, China, former Soviet Union (some parts), Himalayan ranges, Magnolia and, Nepal. The exact origin of Sowa-Rigpa system of medicine is still not known. In the present scenario due to the awareness among the people about the determental effects of the modern chemical drugs, people preferred to use herbal based system of medicine to treat diseases. So, it is needed to understand the floristic wealth of tradional system of medicine to identify the important plants with potential source of drug candidate molecules. In the present chapter an attempt has been made to study the folklore plants used in Tibetan Mountain based Sowa-Rigpa system of medicine and food. Total 332 plant species presented as the most important in Sowa-Rigpa system of medium.

Nitrogen (N) is an essential element for all forms of life because it is a major component of amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins, nucleic acids such as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and other cellular constituents. It is a structural component of chlorophyll in plants, which is used in photosynthesis to make their food. Nitrogen ranks first among the essential nutrient elements required for plants. Its careful management is very important for crop production.

Nitrogen exists as two main stable isotopes (isotopes of a given element have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons in each atom) namely, ¹⁴₇N (abundance 99.63%) and ¹⁵₇N (abundance 0.37%). These can be separated by chemical exchange or by thermal diffusion. Both ¹⁴₇N and ¹⁵₇N isotopes of N are stable isotope which do not disintegrate as in case of other radioactive isotope like ³² ₁₅P. There are four other isotopes of N viz. ¹²₇N, ¹³₇N, ¹⁶₇N and ¹⁷₇N, mostly are radioactive having very short half-life and not used in agriculture. The ¹³₇N has a half-life of about 10 min, while other three have half-life of only few sec. The ¹⁵₇N (tracer) isotope is used as a tool for determination of pathways of transformation of N in soil or plant or animal.

The major part of N comes from atmosphere (air). On the basis of volume by volume (v/v), air contains about 78-79% N₂, 20-21% oxygen (O₂) and 0.03% carbon dioxide (CO₂). Most living organisms cannot utilize N₂ gas present in the atmosphere directly because it is present as di-nitrogen form or di-atomic form (N≡N). It is called as an inert gas. Therefore, to break this triple bond, huge amount of energy is required. After breaking of triple bond of N₂ molecules, it combines with other element particularly with O₂ or hydrogen (H) to form oxides of N (NO, NO₂, NO₃ and N₂O) or ammonia (NH₃). Thus, breaking of triple bond is must for forming NH₃ which further can be used as the key material for almost all fertilizers. Therefore, the fixation of N₂ is vital for production of all nitrogenous and complex fertilizers like NP/NPK and nitrophosphates.

Introduction

Coastal zone represents a broad transitional zone between land and sea which is strongly influenced by both the shoreline ecosystems and the near shore sub-littoral land-based ecosystems. The coastal areas of the country occupy about 10.8 million ha of land and are spread over the 7517 km long coastline along the Bay of Bengal in the East coast, Arabian sea in the West coast and two islands territories. The coastline of the country in its journey covers 9 states (West Bengal Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat Goa) 2 union territories (Puducherry and Daman and Diu) and 2 groups of islands (Andaman & Nicobar group in the Bay of Bengal and Lakshadeep and Minicoy group in the Arabian sea) in the country. The region has varied geomorphic and topographical features of mountains, valleys, coastal plains, riverine systems climatic conditions, soil conditions, water budgets and a wide range of cultivated crops. It also supports diverse vegetation ranging from rich tropical rain forests to coastal mangroves and highly rich in biodiversity. The entire coastal ecosystem is highly fragile and vulnerable to climate change and highly endangered by the sea level rise following global warming. Agriculture is the major occupation of the people in the rural areas of coastal regions of the country but it is highly complex risk-prone and entirely dependent on the vagaries of nature.

Since, the problems of coastal agriculture are widely variable there is no universally applicable remedial measure for self-reliant coastal agriculture and it is likely that the remedial measures or the technological interventions will be variable according to the problems associated with the concerned area. It is highly necessary that technological improvement aimed at enhancement of the productivity of coastal agriculture and the livelihood of the farming communities must be simple in use to suit the skill and resource poor farmers and, to be operative at small scale farming as the majority of the farmers are in marginal and small categories with very poor landholdings.

Introduction

It is a very important chapter as many questions are asked in competitive examination based on time and work relationship. This topic deals with the simultaneous performance involving the efficiency of an individual or a group and the time taken by them to complete a piece of work. Work is the effort applied to produce a deliverable or accomplish a task. A certain amount of time (T) is taken to complete a certain work (w). The number of units of work done per unit time is called the rate of work (R).

Hence, Work (W) = R x T

Whenever some work is done, the total work itself can be taken as one unit. Hence, we assume the total work done as one unit in the problems we encounter in order to simplify the computations. In these cases, R = 1 / T or T = 1 / R. In other words, R and T are inversely proportional as R T = W, which is a fixed quantity.

Introduction

Foods prepared by fermenting raw ingredients of plant or animal sources naturally or mixing it with the starter culture (s) containing functional micro flora is called fermented foods. The functional micro flora used in starter culture is responsible for biochemical and organoleptic alteration of the substrates into edible yields which are socially and culturally appropriate to consumers (Tamang et al., 2010a, Tamang et al., 2010b). Fermented food has its own characteristic microflora and this group of micro flora increases the nutritional value by increasing the levels of essential amino acids, vitamins, proteins, etc.

Fermented foods play a major role in meeting nutritional requirement and socio economic development of developing countries. They are important components of the diet as staples, adjuncts to staples, condiments and beverages. A wide variety of fermenting substrates are available such as cereals, pulses, soya beans, flowers, milk, fish, meat, etc. A wide majority of plants and their parts are often utilized in the preparation of starter culture (Deori et al., 2007, Deka and Sarma, 2010).

6.1 INTRODUCTION

Water in soils is essential to plant growth, being the medium through which inorganic nutrients are translocated to the root surface and carried through the plant. Most of the water in soils at or near field saturation can be considered as equivalent to bulk water, and only bulk properties need be considered in discussing its movement through soil interstices and its retention in soil capillaries; this is the field with which soil physics deals. But, in the first molecular layer in contact with soil particles, and perhaps for several molecular layers beyond, the behaviour of water molecules is very different from that in the bulk. Strong adsorptive forces can reduce the volatility of these molecules and restrict their mobility. Such an adsorbed layer of water competes with other polar molecules for adsorption sites, and so has an important role in determining the release and retention of fertilizers and pesticides. Such strongly adsorbed layers confer wettability on soils, but hydrophobic surfaces can also be present and these lead to non-wettable soils with serious consequences in run off and inefficient use of precipitation. This region of distinctive molecular interactions between water and soil particles falls within the field of soil chemistry.

6.1 Introduction

Plant breeding is the indispensible component of elevating production and productivity of spices by evolving high yielding and/or with good quality type. Thereby, the practice of identification and selection of desirable traits and introgression of those characters in a single plant is being done since the beginning of organized agricultural activities by humankind. The act of plant breeding was reshaped and got a momentum with a scientific basis after the discovery and rather rediscovery of Mendel’s laws. Worldwide, humankind could enjoy the direct benefits of methodical plant breeding during green revolution. Manipulation of genetic architecture for creating variation in the population and successive selection is the basic of all kinds of crop breeding. But the process of creation of variability and selection differs from crop to crop depending on their mode of reproduction. It is comparatively easier to get a new homogeneous population in self pollinating plants. Therefore, segregating generations are handled differently in these two categories of self and cross pollinated crops.

7.1 Plant Tissue Culture

Spices have great socio-economic impact in moden food habit of human but loss of resources day by day due to various reasons (industrialization, high population pressure) make the access of these valuable spices limited to people. Low production is general phenomena of common spices due to lack of high yielding varieties. Hence there is a need to improve the propagation method to meet the gap between demand and supply. Conventional vegatative propagation method is common approach for propagation but low multiplication rate, seasonal dependency and susceptible to abiotic stresses and diseases are major problems to achieve the optimum productivity. To overcome these drawbacks scientists have chosen the plant tissue culture technique (a modern approach of biotechnology which deals with the propagation the valuable/endangered plants under laboratory condition). Details about this technique and its role on spices are given below.

Plant Tissue Culture: Basic Components and Objectives

The technique of growing of a whole plant cell, tissue or organ under an aseptic condition in suitable synthetic medium is termed as plant tissue culture (Thorpe, 2007). De-differentiation and re-differentiation are two essential fundamental processes which help in the physio-morphological development of the plant.

Introduction

Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.), also known as common flax or linseed, is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. Linseed is an annual oil crop that is grown either for its fibre (fibre flax) or for its oil. The area under annual cultivation is 3 million hectares, accounting for 1% of the total world production of plant oil. The five major flax-producing countries are Canada, China, India, the United States, and the European Union.Canada with 614,000 metric tonnes of flaxseed produced in the year 2013-2014, is the world’s largest producer of flax and accounts for nearly 80% of the global trade in flaxseed (Oomah 2001; Bhatty, 1995)

Flaxseed, of Mesopotamic origin, has been cultivated in Mediterranean region and India since 5000 BC, being used principally for the fabrication of cloths and papers (Soni, et al., 2016).

With the adoption of cotton as a fibre crop for cloth preparation, fibre flax production declined and the major use of flax was switched from stem fibre to seed oil. It is a food and fibre crop cultivated in cooler regions of the world. Textiles made from flax are known in the Western countries as linen, and traditionally used for bed sheets, underclothes, and table linen. Its oil is known as linseed oil. In addition to referring to the plant itself, the word “flax” may refer to the unspun fibres of the flax plant. The plant species is known only as a cultivated plant and appears to have been domesticated just once from the wild species Linum bienne, called pale flax. (Allaby et al.,2005). Fibre flax is currently grown in the cool-temperate regions of China, the Russian Federation and Western Europe while linseed cultivars are grown in Canada, India, China, the United States and Argentina (Green et al., 2008).

Damage to arable land tends to attract most attention but degradation of non-arable land can also have serious effects, whether economic, or social, or on the food supply. In dry seasons, loss of grazing capacity is a common and serious problem, forest land may suffer through over-exploitation, roads can cause much damage particularly on steep land. In this chapter we will look at the more important erosion problems on non-arable land.

13.1 Erosion on grazing land

On well-managed high-yielding pasture it is unlikely that there will be any erosion, for the ground will have a good uniform cover. But land which is not arable because it is too poor, too infertile, too stony, or too arid, and is only described as grazing land because it is unfit for more intensive use, is a very different matter. Again, erosion control can be directly and precisely equated to improved management - anything leading to a better water balance and a better ground cover will lead to reduced erosion.