eChapters

Abstract

This paper sets out to describe key results and experiences obtained during the assessment of the crop response to water which varies strongly from crop to crop depending on its specific genetic characteristics and adaptation to ecological conditions. The specific crop water information for the different crops is compiled in a crop-based data base. This includes crop water parameters, yield response to water, as well as selection of economy crops. Existing natural water resources can sustain the crop production with high yield as well as economic value with minimal environment impact. Most of the crop varieties get all of its required water from rainfall- water but due to climate change there is always a demand of irrigation water from the ground water resources. Thus, there is a need to evaluate the crop water information in relation to ground water extraction as a source of irrigation.

A research methodology is the logical and systematic planning and directing of a research process to accomplish research goals. The components of research methods used in the present study are as follows:
5.1 Hypotheses
5.2 Sampling plan 
5.3 Variables and their measurements
5.4 The interview schedule
5.5 Statistical analyses

Organic matter and its composition 
Decomposition  
Types microorganisms involved 
Enzymes involved in decomposition process?

Synonyms : Hog eholera, European swine fever

It is an acute highly infectious viral septicaemia of swine of all ages characterized by rapid and sudden onset, high morbidity and mortality and generalized  haemorrhages. A chronic course  followed by recovery after treatment has been reported in older pigs and appearance of new born pigs with congenital defects.

Etiology : The etiological agent causing hog cholera is a linear  single stranded positive sense RNA virus under the genus Pestivirus and family Flaviviridae. The virions are spherical, 40-50 nm in diameter  and consist of a tightly adherent lipid bilayer envelope covered with glycoprotein peplomers surrounding an icosahedral capsid of 28-35 nm in diameter. The genome is 12 kb in length with 5’end capped but  3’end  not  polyadenylated. The genes for structural proteins are located at 5’ end of genome. The virus replicates in the cytoplasm and matures within cytoplasmic vesicles. Though there is only one antigenic type of the virus, a number of strains of variable virulence and antigenicity has been reported. The causative agent was first thought to be a gram negative bacterium named Salmonella cholera suis. Later, it was confirmed that the disease is caused by a  virus.

Canine parvovirus 2 (CPV-2), the causative agent of  acute haemorrhagic enteritis and myocarditis in dogs, is one of the most important  pathogenic viruses. It is a highly contagious  and often fatal disease.  CPV-2 was first recognized in 1977 and since then it has been well established as an enteric pathogen of dogs throughout the world causing  high morbidity (100%) and frequent mortality up to 10%.   The disease is characterized by 2 prominent clinical forms (i)  enteritis with vomition and diarrhea in dogs of all ages (ii) myocarditis and subsequent heart failure in pups of less than  3 months of age. The virus was named CPV-2 in order to differentiate it from a closely related parvovirus of canine known as CPV-1 or minute  virus of canine (MVC). MVC, a completely different parvovirus, had not been associated with   natural disease until 1992.

Introduction

Since 1990, there has been a lot of interest in functional foods and nutraceuticals, particularly because of their impact effects on human health and the prevention of certain diseases. Apart from growing good quality natural products, there are challenges in extracting, refining, analyzing active ingredients, and evaluating safety before an effective, reliable product is made [1,2]. Special attention needs to be focused on separation and purification mainly because 40-80% of the cost of production is assigned to separation and purification unit operations in making functional foods and nutraceuticals. There are also several carotenoids and polyphenol products that have been identified from various plants and a single plant could contain highly complex profiles of these compounds. These are labile to heat, air, and light, and they may exist at low concentrations in the plants. This makes the separation and detection of nutraceuticals a challenging task. The membrane techniques used for the separation of nutraceuticals from the natural products, as well as their applications and influencing factors are discussed in this chapter [3, 4].

Introduction
 
Diabetes shows a wide range of variation in prevalence around the world and it is expected to affect 300 million by the year 2025. In a prevention framework where banning policies and educational strategies lead the interventions, functional foods (FFs) with their specific health effects could, in the future, indicate a new mode of thinking about the relationships between food and health in everyday life. Functional ingredients, such as stevioside, cinnamon, bitter melon, garlic and onion, ginseng, Gymnema sylvestre and fenugreek, have been addressed for their specific actions towards different reactions involved in diabetes development. New strategies involving the use of FF should be validated through large scale population trials, considering validated surrogate end points to evaluate the effect of FF in prevention of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus.

MUTATION BREEDING

Mutation refers to sudden heritable change in phenotype of an organism or permanent change in the number, kind and sequence of nucleotides in genetic material, while individuals showing these changes are known as mutants. Mutation was first discovered by Wright in 1791 in male lamb which had short legs. Hugo de vries coined the term mutation. In crop improvement the breeders are always look for wide range of variability and stabilization of desirable traits. Mutation breeding is very useful in inducing new variability, which is an essential requirement of any plant breeding programme. The modern day cultivars are the resultants of various breeding techniques like selection, hybridization, tissue culture and mutagenesis including some biotechnological tools. Novelty in commercial traits like colour, size, shape, length, post harvest life of flowers etc. are always valued and preferred by consumers. Mutation breeding by exposing planting material with irradiation has play vital role in inducing novelty in a number of flower crops.

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) are legal rights, which result from intellectual activity in industrial, scientific, literary and artistic fields. These rights safeguard creators and other producers of intellectual goods and services by granting them certain time-limited rights to control their use. Protected IP rights like other property can be a matter of trade, which can be owned, sold or bought. These are intangible and non exhausted consumption. The term “intellectual property” denotes the specific legal rights which authors, inventors and other IP holders may hold and exercise and not the intellectual work itself (Chadha, 2013). Intellectual property rights are essentially territorial in nature so, where registration is necessary, for patents, registered designs and trademarks, these will not exist in other countries unless registration has been sought and obtained there.

China aster (Callistephus chinensis L. Nees) belongs to family Asteraceae. It is a half hardy and branching annual. Its generic name Callistephus is derived from two Greek words “kalistos” meaning beautiful and “stephos” meaning a crown alluding the large colourful flower heads. Plant is erect having hispid-hairy branches (Bailey, 1963). It is propagated through seed. It is cultivated as cut flower both in the field and under protected condition in temperate countries (Post, 1956 and Warren Auman, 1980). Whereas, in India it is widely grown in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Maharastra for cut as well as loose flower production (Janakiram et al., 2001).

Freesia is ornamental flowering plant belongs to family Iridaceae subfamily Ixioideae. Freesia is named after a physician and botanist from Germany named “Friedrich H.T. Freese” (1795–1876). Dr. Christian P. Ecklon, a collector of plants from South Africa, named the flower after his friend and student. Modern freesias are known as Freesia × hybrida and cultivated for cut flowers. Freesia is grown for two purposes i.e. cut flower and pot plant.
 
It is excellent cut flowers because of its appealing shapes and found suitable for various types of arrangements and bouquets. Wide range of colour increases its beauty. Hence, its flower demand increased dramatically in recent year in global market. Forced freesias are grown as pot plant. Colours in freesias consist of pink, red, orange, yellow, blue, lavender, cream and white. Some flowers are multicoloured and possess several variations of colour within the same bud. Because of their delectable fragrance, Freesias have been drafted as a vital ingredient in many fragrance oils. Freesia fragrance oils are utilized for many oil burners and vaporizers. It is used as an essential fragrance in potpourris. Freesia essence oil is high grade essence oil. This is because it is undiluted, alcohol free, and long lasting. The oil is used for aromatherapy to scent candles, soaps, massage oils, bath oils and perfumes.

Stock or Gillyflower (Matthiola spp.) belongs to family Brassicaceae. It is a hardy annual, biennial and perennial plant, flowering in terminal clusters. Matthiola incana is ornamentally important and grown for various purposes i.e. cut flower, fragrance, pot culture, etc. This species develops a woody base in areas where it grows as a biennial or short-lived perennial, hence the name of stock. Generic name “Matthiola” was given in the honour of “Dr. Pietro Andrea Gregoria Matthiole” (1501-1577), personal physician of Emperor Maximilian of Austria. “Incana” means “hairy or gray-white” in reference to plant leaves. It exists as both single and double forms and is valued for fragrant flowers that can be used as fresh or dried cut flower. They are excellent pot plants for the greenhouse in winter and spring and provide good cut flowers. Flowers are well arranged on a long column and colours are variable from white to rose, crimson, purple, yellow, mauve, pink, etc. The highly fragrant flowers are used as a garnish, especially with sweet deserts. Many old names were given to Matthiola incana including stocks, sea stocks, wallflowers and wall or gillyflowers.

Paphiopedilum is a genus of the orchid subfamily Cypripedioideae  and family Orchidaceae. It is derived from Paphos and ancient Greek word “pedilon” means “slipper”. Paphiopedilums are often called “slipper orchids” because of their unique pouch. The pouch traps insects seeking nectar and to leave again they have to climb up past the staminode, behind which they collect or deposit pollinia. Paphiopedilum has a highly ornamental value being the treasure of Orchidaceae. They are easily grown as houseplants and their care is very similar to African Violets.

Wild relatives of cultivated plants constitute a part of crop genepool, which possess genes that have great potential for their utilization in crop improvement programmes. Wild genepools especially those occurring in biotically disturbed habitats are under threat of genetic erosion and require immediate collection to make use of their wider adaptability, tolerance/resistance to disease, insect-pests, yield, quality attributes and other biotic and abiotic traits. The wild relatives of crop plants occur in all the major phytogeographical regions of India as component of different vegetation types and exhibit variable life forms and habitat specificity. High priority demand is towards collection of those that are at the risk of erosion due to habitat disturbance by manmade/natural causes and over-exploitation of species for commercial use.

Abstract

The strenuous field trekking, inaccessibility, perception of geology only within the visibility range of the eyes etc. have remained matters of major constraints in the past in field based geological mapping. The remote sensing technology not only eradicated these but also provided lot many newer vistas in the field of geology. In addition, the application of such unique technology has brought out a hierarchy of newer concepts in the field of geology. The paper narrates the newer knowledge gathered on the geology of South India in the post remote sensing Era.

Abstract

The study area falls in the southern part of the Indian Peninsular comprising hard crystalline rocks of Archaeozoic and Proterozoic Era. In the present study, the GIS based 3D visualizations of gravity, magnetic, resistivity and topographic datasets were made and therefrom the basement lineaments, shallow subsurface lineaments and surface lineaments/faults were interpreted. These lineaments were classified as category-1 i.e. exclusively surface lineaments, category-2 i.e. surface lineaments having connectivity with shallow subsurface lineaments and category-3 i.e. surface lineaments having connectivity with shallow subsurface lineaments and basement lineaments. These three classified lineaments were analyzed in conjunction with known mineral occurrences and historical seismicity of the study area in GIS environment. The study revealed that the category-3 NNE-SSW to NE-SW lineaments have greater control over the mineral occurrences and the N-S, NNE-SSW and NE-SW faults/lineaments control the seismicities in the study area.

Abstract

The emergence of Remote Sensing and GIS technologies has substantially eased the problems of groundwater targeting in hard rock aquifer systems. Proper utilization of these can provide more vital information in managing such scarce resource. In this context, a new technique of GIS based visualization of groundwater levels of different periods (1985- 1990 -1995) was attempted for a part of Western Ghats hill-plain region of Tamil Nadu and various groundwater features viz: ridges, valleys, domes and basins were interpreted. The integration of such groundwater features of different periods and their analysis with structural features provided some newer information on geosystem processes and their interface dynamics with hydrosystems, from which, certain strategies were suggested for better groundwater management in hard rock areas.

Abstract

The Pudukkottai district located in the southeastern tip of Tamil Nadu, India provides a complex geological setting with three litho-tectonic blocks membered by the hard Crystalline rocks of Archaeozoic-Proterozoic Era in the west,Mio-Pliocene Sandstone/Cuddalore Sandstone in the centre and Quaternary sediments in the east. While the western and central blocks are separated by a well-defined NNE-SSW trending fault, the central Mio-Pliocene Sandstone block is cut into two parts by a N-S fault with western static block and the eastern uplifted counterpart. Besides the above, the various drainage anomalies viz; Annular, Deflected and Eyed drainages and compressed meanders interpreted using the raw and digitally enhanced satellite multispectral data show that the N-S oriented faults with oscillations from NNW-SSE to NNE-SSW, NE-SW and E-W orientations are tectonically active in the area. The integration of these active faults with known geothermal springs and the maxima axes drawn from the contours deducted from the temperature of groundwater measured during the predawn hours from the wells revealed that the N-S and NE-SW faults are the probable locales for geothermal resources in the study area. Thus the study demonstrates a newer methodology for locating the geothermal prospects.

Introduction

North East India, a mega-biodiversity centre and a hotspot (Myer et al., 2000) occupy 7.7% of India’s total geographical area supporting 50% of the flora (ca. 8000 species) (Rao, 1994), of which 31.58% (ca. 2526 species) are endemic (Nayar, 1996). It is a transitional zone between the Indo-China and Indo-Burma–Malaysian regions. This region is also a part of the vavilovian centre of biodiversity and origin of many important cultivated plant species and some domesticated animals (Agarwal, 1996). North Eastern Hilly (NEH) region of India supports a rich biodiversity spanning from tropical rainforests to alpine scrubs.  Takhtajan (1969) described the region as the “Cradle of Flowering Plants” because of its diversified angiosperms.  This rich biodiversity has a significant role to balance the ecosystem and has been used ethnologically by locals for various socio-economic and developmental purposes (Yumnam, 2008).

INTRODUCTION

The North Eastern Hill (NEH) Region of India comprising the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim lies between 20º5’ to 29º30' latitude and 89º49' E to 97º3' E longitude. The region possesses a great diversity in soil and climate as influenced by varied altitudes ranging from 18m MSL to more than 3000m MSL. In the entire region due to high rainfall (1800 mm to 3000 mm/year) humidity is very high (50-100%). The average minimum and maximum temperature is also comparatively low and ranges from below 0°C to a maximum of 35ºC. This region is very rich in natural resources with diverse flora and fauna.

INTRODUCTION

Over the past decades, as concerns about declines in local habitats, species, and livelihoods related to agriculture and allied sectors have increased, the potential contributions of local and traditional knowledge (LTK) to ecosystem research and management have been increasingly recognized (Thornton and Scheer, 2012). North Eastern region is well known as one of the 18 hotspot areas of the world and hence is blessed with rich biodiversity and fish fisheries resources. With more than 90% of population being fish eaters, there is heavy demand of fish but a wide gap exists between supply and demand. The region produces over 0.214 million tonnes of fish annually, with almost 50% coming from aquaculture.

INTRODUCTION

Fishing is one of the oldest professions of humans. As the day went by, the fish farmers carry out their own indigenous technology as a common practice through natural resource management. In this line, different traditional fishing communities of West Bengal gained a vast experience in every sphere of aquaculture. Their innovation is based on their own knowledge derived from their day to day effort of solving problems. Actually this indigenous knowledge is the accumulated information, skill and technology of the local farmers derived from the close interaction with the nature. The intimate interaction of the farmers with aquatic ecosystems through their age old practices has developed huge expertise which is essential to be documented and disseminated. It will be helpful for aqua resource management as they can be shared in a, cost effective, eco-friendly as well as socio economically viable proposition.

INTRODUCTION

The enemies of plants have been harming the organized agriculture ever since man started depending on plants for food. Fossil evidence indicates that plants were affected by disease since 250 million years ago. Conditions of food shortage and famines have been created by these enemies of plants. Naturally, the man had been obvious of their presence and proposed explanations and methods of combating them according to the knowledge available at that time all over the world. It is not true that attention to plant diseases was first given in the western countries. In the ancient Indian literature many plant diseases and their remedies were mentioned.

Black caraway (Bunium persicum Boiss. Fedtsch ) commonly known as kala zeera is a low volume,  high value, under-exploited and  non-perishable crop that finds place  in cold arid  North -Western Himalayan regions of Indian sub-continent. Its fruits are expensive spice and are used in indigenous system of medicine for curing various ailments and disorders. The proper information on botanical identity of the species, its description and distribution, active ingredients, standardized agro-techniques, processing and value addition and marketing potentials, etc. are very scanty. An attempt has been made to gather information on various aspects of kala zeera to promote its cultivation in the cold arid regions of the Himalayan states and its role in improving the socio-economic conditions of the people by cultivating the cash crop.

Kale (Brassica oleracea L. convar. acephala (DC.) Alef.) is a representative of cole group of vegetables and cool-season cooking green somewhat similar to collard and non heading cabbage that has gained recent widespread attention due to its health-promoting, sulfur-containing phytonutrients. Kale is grown for its large foliage which is mainly used as leafy vegetable. This leafy vegetable is helpful in reducing the chances of cancer if taken regularly. Among the vegetable crops, kale is the richest source of carotenoids which is the precursor of vitamin-A. Besides, it also contains good amount of different minerals essential for human diet. There are several varieties of kale, all of which differ in taste, texture and appearance.

Examination of rumen fluid was introduced for clinical diagnosis during the 1950’s. The stomach of ruminant harbor beneficial microbes required for digestion of feed consumed. Stomach maintains an ideal environment (pH 6.8 to 7.2 and temperature 39-40°C) for growth and proliferation of these microfloras. In any of the ruminal disorder this homeostasis get upset resulting in shifting of microbial population (Gram negative to Gram positive) and formation and accumulation of toxic products of abnormal metabolism. This further leads to an array of pathologic process in the body. Hence physical, microbial and biochemical examination of rumen fluid can be considered as an important diagnostic tool for wide variety of disorders.

Abstract

Climate is changing naturally at its own pace, since the beginning of evolution of earth, 4–5 billion years ago, but presently it has gained momentum due to inadvertent anthropogenic disturbances. Global climate is changing and it can have serious implications for our food security through its direct and indirect effects on crops, soils, live stocks, fisheries and pests. In the developing countries including India there has been relatively less attention paid to this topic in an integrated manner. Agriculture is the largest human activity in the world which depends on climatic parameters. We can manipulate soil, water and nutrient management practices but manipulation of climate is beyond our control. It influences crop-pest equilibrium. More than 50% differences in yield are due to climatic variation. Different causes of climate change are: A) Natural cause: Earth orbit, Global warming, Mountains, Sun, and Volcano. B) Anthropogenic cause: Global warming, Deforestation, Change in land use pattern. Climate change is a present reality and a major risk for future generations. Implementing energy conservation methods and utilizing renewable resource such as green power (power from moon, hydrogen fuel, nuclear power, sewage power, geothermal power and power of the mighty sun). Government should also encourage the use of mass transit; provide tax rebates for people who buy low and no pollution vehicles and subsidies to fossil fuels and the nuclear industries.

Abstract

The breeding potential of Ompok bimaculatus is declining day by day due to decrease of rainfall and increase of atmospheric temperature. As a result, the population of Ompok bimaculatus is significantly reducing in the fresh water bodies of Tripura.
 
The results of reproductive biology of O. bimaculatus were based on the fish samples collected from different locations of some rivers and Hurijala wetland of Tripura. Total weight of the sampled fish varied from 22 g to 171.50 g and the females had a greater weight and length than males. Total length of the males varied from 16.50 cm to 29.50 cm, while the females ranged from 17.0 cm to 33.0 cm. Female dominance over male was observed in the species. The ratio of males to females was 1:1.58. Significant correlation exists between fish length and weight in both males (R² = 0.943) and females (R² = 0.827).

Abstract

Rice blast disease (Pyricularia grisea cavara) which is very much weather sensitive, continues to be an enigmatic problem of West Siang District of Arunachal Pradesh, owing to its geographical location and climate. There is an urgent need of a forewarning system which can provide advance information for outbreak of the diseases attack so that protection measures can be implemented before the actual economic damage of the crop occurs. Two most important statistical techniques for disease forecasting viz. regression analysis and artificial neural network were chosen and forecasting models has been developed for the area and analyzed with local weather data to find best fit for the area and also compared with the Support Vector Machine (SVM) based model RB-Pred developed by Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh. The model based on artificial neural network was found to be best with accuracy of 75-80%, with the present data and algorithm. The accuracy can be improved with long archive records and proper implementation and algorithm selection of the hidden layer, of both ANN and SVM based (being special case of ANN) models, for site-specific forecasting.

1. Introduction

With the advent of globalization and subsequent economic liberalization, the focus of Indian agriculture is shifting from “subsistence” to “commercial” mode, where farming is viewed as a “business” rather than “life-support” system of poor farmers. Enabling farmers “decision-making” capacity is a primary driver of success in the market-oriented agriculture. This “commercial focus” has brought tremendous changes in the “nature” and “mode” of extension work. On the other hand, extension work organizations in developing countries like India, are being impacted by sharp decline in public sector funding, rapid technological innovations especially in the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), and the shift to a knowledge-based workforce. These developments created new opportunities for the extension workers to perform the information dissemination, capacity building and technology application more effectively. 

C3 Plant : A plant in which the first product of CO₂ fixation is the 3-carbon compound; phosphoglyceric acid and is comparatively photosynthetically less efficient than C4 plants e.g. wheat, rice, barley etc. 
C4 Plant : A plant in which the first product of CO₂ fixation is the 4-carbon compound oxalo acetic acid (OAA) and is photosynthetically more efficient than C3 plants e.g. sugarcane, maize etc.
Calibration : Calibration with respect to models refers to the adjustments made to model parameters so as to give the most accurate comparison between simulated results and results obtained from field measurements. 
Calm : Absence of appreciable wind : On the Beaufort Scale of wind force calm is accorded the figure 0 and has a wind speed equivalent or less than 1 knot.

Introduction

Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances to kill, injure or incapacitate an enemy.

Chemical warfare is different from the use of conventional weapons or nuclear weapons because the destructive effects of chemical weapons are not primarily due to any explosive force. The offensive use of living organisms (such as anthrax) is considered to be biological warfare rather than chemical warfare; the use of nonliving toxic products produced by living organisms (e.g., toxins such as botulinum toxin, ricin, or saxitoxin) is considered chemical warfare under the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Under this Convention, any toxic chemical, regardless of its origin, is considered as a chemical weapon unless it is used for purposes that are not prohibited (an important legal definition, known as the General Purpose Criterion)

Definition
 
Radiation poisoning, also called “radiation sickness” or a “creeping dose” is a form of damage to organ tissue due to excessive exposure to radiation. The term is generally used to refer to acute problems caused by a large dosage of radiation in a short period, though this also has occurred with long term exposure to low level radiation. Many of the symptoms of radiation poisoning occur as ionizing radiation interferes with cell division.
 
The clinical name for “radiation sickness” is acute radiation syndrome. A short exposure can result in acute radiation syndrome; chronic radiation syndrome requires a prolonged high level of exposure. A chronic radiation syndrome does exist but is very uncommon;

After the patient has been radiographed, the exposed X-ray film is processed to produce the consistent quality radiographs. Film processing can be manually, or use an automatic film processor.  Manual film processing is a multi-stage process involving five basic steps in processing X-ray film: 
    i)    Developing 
    ii)    Rinsing 
    iii)    Fixing
    iv)    Washing
    v)    Drying. 

Ensiling is the term given for all physical and chemical changes that take place when forage with sufficient moisture content (60-65%) is stored in the absence of air for silage preservation. Silage fermentation is an exceptionally complex process involving biochemical interactions among the forage, microbial populations and the ensiling environment. Successful silage production depends upon the promotion of the fermentation brought by beneficial bacteria. The process is based on spontaneous lactic acid fermentation under anaerobic conditions. The lactic acid bacteria ferment the water-soluble carbohydrates in the crop to lactic acid, and to a lesser extent to acetic acid. Due to the production of these acids, the pH of the ensiled material decreases and spoilage micro-organisms are inhibited. The ideal characteristics of material for silage preservation are: DM content above 20% and an adequate level of fermentable substrate (8-10 percent of DM) in the form of water soluble carbohydrate. The ensiling material should also ideally have a physical form that allows easy compaction in the silo. Materials such as maize stover, sorghum stover and grass can be ensiled successfully, while crop residues such as rice and wheat straw, with low water soluble content, do not fulfill these requirements, and therefore pre-treatments, such as fine chopping or use of additives, or both, may be necessary.

Successful preservation of high-moisture forage and other crops depends upon the controlling the activities of microbes, particularly bacteria. Ensiling generally controls microbial activity by a combination of an anaerobic environment and a natural fermentation of sugars by lactic acid bacteria on the crop. The silage microflora plays a key role in the successful outcome of the conservation process. Therefore, it is important to understand both the microorganisms that are present on the crop at ensiling and how ensiling preserves the crop, inhibiting detrimental microorganisms. The crop at ensiling contains both aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms and a range of both bacteria and fungi that affect silage quality.

Quality of silage is determined by nutrients content and intake potential of the silage. High quality silage is a stable feed, made from high quality pasture, which is preserved in the absence of oxygen by a high quality fermentation, to minimize any loss of feeding value. It is not possible to produce high quality silage from low quality pasture, no matter how good the fermentation is. The silage quality is generally used to indicate the success of fermentation and not to evaluate the feeding value of the silage. However, the fermentation quality and nutritional value of the silage are usually highly correlated because a poor fermentation can result in great loss of the digestible nutrients (Sutoh et al., 1970; Uchida and Sutoh, 1973). Therefore, both the quality of the ensiled pasture and the quality of the fermentation must be considered.

Silage fermentation is a dynamic process involving interactions among the forage, microbial populations and the ensiling environment. A good fermentation process is not only dependent on the type and quality of the forage crop, but also on the harvesting and ensiling technique. There are various factors that influence the fermentation process and ultimately the nutrient composition and quality of ensiled feed. These are as follows:

1. Plant Factors

Forage characteristics at the time of ensiling are the predominant factor which determines the final quality of silage. Factors such as type of forage to be ensiled, maturity, DM content and WSC content of that forage, all influence the ease of ensiling and ultimately the quality of silage that is produced.

Feeding silage is also an important part of the process. Silage can be fed to all kinds of animals. Silage is suitable for feeding 6-7 weeks after ensiling. Purposes of silage feeding are drought feeding, production increases, an aid to pasture or crop management, utilization of excess growth, balancing nutrients in the diet, and the storage of wet feed products. Silage is most likely to be profitable when used to increase productivity or balance nutrient content of the diet.
 
Feeding value of silage is defined as the product of the nutritive value and potential voluntary intake of the forage (Wheeler and Corbett, 1989).

Storage of hay at higher moisture contents may lead to some heating due to the activity of aerobic micro-organisms and possibly some plant respiration. The warm, moist conditions in hay will provide the ideal environment for growth of spoilage bacteria, e.g. Bacilli and yeasts, moulds and fungi. These organisms utilize the energy and protein of the hay and can lead to a substantial increase in their respective populations. Their action leads to the following reaction:- 

Hay (plant sugars) + oxygen ® Carbon dioxide + water + heat
 
The resultant heating causes a reaction between the carbohydrates and proteins rendering both less digestible as temperatures continue to increase. The best opportunity to reduce hay-harvesting losses is by shortening curing time. A combination of mechanical conditioning, chemical conditioning and high-moisture baling help accomplish this goal (Collins, 1988; Mahanna, 1994).

Surgical Plan
i. Pre-operative Course of Action 
    a.    Client communication.
    b.    Clinical laboratory evaluation, radiograph, treatment for fluid or blood volume deficits. 

ii. Intra-operative Plan of Action 
    a.    Surgical approach 
    b.    Material and equipment needed 
    c.    Technical and support personnel

A hernia is the protrusion of an organ through a defect in the wall of the abdominal cavity in which it lies.

Classification
1. On the Basis of Anatomical Site
    Abdominal (umbilical and ventral)
    Diaphragmatic

Historical Aspect
    Curare was the first known muscle relaxant which was used by South American Indians to immobilize wild animals. Hence the term curariform has been applied to the action of this group of drugs. 
    In year 1958, a plant alkaloid alcuronium was introduced but there were difficulties in reversing the action of this drug.
    Succinylcholine was first used in 1906. However, its paralyzing property was discovered in year 1949.
    Pancuronium was introduced in 1964.
 

Abstract

The data for the present investigation were obtained from the performance records of 1081 crossbred cattle progeny of 65 sires maintained at Instructional Dairy Farm Nagla of G.B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology Pantnagar, distributed over a period of 40 years from 1966-2005. A total of 65 sires were evaluated on the basis of single and multi traits of their progeny. For single trait sire evaluation, FLMY was considered as principal trait under univariate models viz- simple daughter’s average () method, least squares method (LSM), DFREML-I method and BLUP-I method. However, for evaluation of sires by multi traits FLMY+AFC, FLMY+FLP and FLMY+AFC+FLP, the multivariate models viz. DFREML-II, DFREML-III, DFREML-IV, BLUP-II, BLUP-III and BLUP-IV method were used. The lowest average breeding value (2616.25) for the trait was obtained by () method and the highest average breeding value (2660.42 kg) was obtained by the rest nine methods. The accuracy, efficiency and stability of different sire indices were compared to judge their effectiveness. The evaluation method that gave the lowest error variance was considered to be most efficient.

Dairy buffalo production has been a tradition in parts of the world like the Caucasian countries. Asia and Egypt, where fresh buffalo milk, dahi (cultured sour milk), ghee (butter oil) and yoghurt are popular. In Italy the dairy buffalo industry is flourishing thanks to the popularity of buffalo mozzarella cheese. Because of the market for Mozzarella, buffalo farming is a profitable enterprise and is carried out in an organized manner with modern equipment. In South American countries like Brazil and Argentina, buffalo reared for both milk and meat. In recent years buffalo milk and milk products, especially Mozzarella cheese, have become immensely popular and dairy buffalo production has founds its way into non traditional areas with the number of buffalo farms mushrooming.

Abstract

Estimates of genetic parameters are needed for the prediction of breeding values and planning of selection strategies for desired genetic advancement. Even animal breeders feel lost when confronted with the huge set of different methods. This paper describes an overview of latest methods for the estimation of genetic parameters in a simplest possible way avoiding complex mathematical expressions.

Nursery is a place like a crèche, where young tender seedlings are nurtured before planting in the field. The healthy, sturdy, vigorous and diseas free seedlings can establish well in competitive environment. Generally, vegetables like tomato, brinjal, chilli, pepper, cauliflower, cabbage, knol khol, lettuce, onion, Brussel’s sprouts are raised through seedlings. But skyrocketing cost of hybrid seeds and high premium of early harvest warrant the attention of cucurbits growers to produce the nursery, Nursery raising has certain advantages over the direct seeding like:

Though a large number of insect pests are reported to attack mango, which cause considerable damage to mango crops in India. More than 492 species of insects, 17 species of mites and 26 species of nematodes have been reported to be infesting mango trees, about 45 per cent of which have been reported from India. Almost a dozen of them have been found damaging the crop to a considerable extent causing severe losses and, therefore, may be termed as major pests of mango. These are hopper, mealy bug, inflorescence midge, fruitfly, scale insect, shoot borer, leaf webber and stone weevil. Of these, insects infesting the crop during flowering and fruiting periods cause more severe damage. The insects other than those indicated above are considered as less injurious to mango crop and are placed in the category of minor pests. A brief description of the biology and control of major pests of mango is given below. Mango suffers from several diseases at all stages of its life. All the parts of the plant, namely, trunk, branch, twig, leaf, petiole, flower and fruit are attacked by a number of pathogens including fungi, bacteria and algae. They cause several kinds of rot, die back, anthracnose, scab, necrosis, blotch, spots, mildew, etc. Some of these diseases like powdery mildew are of great economic importance as they cause heavy losses in mango production. Major pests and diseases of mango and their control measures are discussed below.

The presence of moisture in atmosphere is termed as humidity and plays an important role in formation of weather system and plant as well as insect-pest growth and development. An abundance of moisture results in a rich natural flora and makes possible a wide choice of crops. Deficiency of moisture, on the other hand, permits only narrow range of crops. Humidity also affects the water requirement and the rate of transpiration. Reduction in transpiration reduces the translocation of food material and uptake of nutrients. High humidity with high temperature favours the outbreak of pest and disease. Moisture stress condition reduces the cell size and shape and ultimately plant growth and yield is reduced. High soil moisture and humidity condition cause failure in establishing stand of legumes and pulses. Excess of soil moisture in earlier growing season may result in more vegetative growth and delayed flowering.

The history of plant breeding is divided into 4 periods- knowledge of plant breeding before 1900, application of genetic principles (1900-1940), plant breeding research after 1940 and the recent developments in plant breeding. Emphasis is given on the land marks in genetic improvement of vegetable crops.

The major land marks  in genetics and breeding of crop plants are listed below.