eChapters

Introduction

Corcyra cephalonica commonly called as rice meal moth or rice moth is a pest of stored foods, viz., cereals, cereal products, oilseeds, pulses, dried fruits, nuts and spices. Many of the natural enemies mass-bred in the laboratory for use in field against crop pests are dependent on either egg or larval stages of Corcyra due to the simple reason that it is easier and cheaper to produce natural enemies on different stages of Corcyra than on their original hosts.

Morphology and Biology of Corcyra

The eggs are oval and measure 0.5 x 0.3 mm. The white surface is sculptured and has a short nipple-like structure at one end. The larvae are generally creamish – white except for the head capsule and the prothoracic tergite, which are brown. There are well-developed prolegs on abdominal segments 3-6 and 10. A fully matured larva measures 15 mm. The last-instar larva spins a closely woven, very tough, double-layered cocoon in which it develops into a dark-brown pupa. The anterior portion of the cocoon has a line of weakness through which the adult emerges. The adults are small. The hind-wings are pale-buff, and the fore-wings are mid-brown or greyish-brown with thin vague lines of darker brown colour along the wing veins. The males are smaller than the females.

Sexual activity usually begins shortly after adult emergence. There is a preoviposition period of about 2 days. Egg-laying mainly occurs during the night. The greatest numbers are laid on the second and third days after emergence, although oviposition may continue throughout life. Eggs take about 2-3 days to hatch. Optimum conditions for larval development of C. cephalonica are 30 – 32.5 °C and 70 per cent RH, at which, the period from egg hatch to adult emergence is only 26-27 days. There is considerable variation in the number of larval instars; however, males generally have 7 and females have 8. The last-instar larvae pupate within the food. The adults emerge through the anterior end of the cocoon, where there is a line of weakness. The sex ratio is 1:1. The adult moth is nocturnal and is most active at nightfall.

Entomopathogenic nematode (EPN) viz., Heterorhabditis, Neosteinernema and Steinernema have been recovered from many regions of the world. They selectively infect many insects and a few other arthropods but do not adversely affect mammals or plants. They are actually vectors of pathogenic bacteria, cause relatively rapid death of the host (24 – 48 h) and show considerable potential in biological control of insect pests in the integrated pest management systems.

EPNs are similar to insect parasitoids in that the immature form develops at the expense of one host individual; they are ecologically similar to both parasitoids and arthropod predators because the host individually killed. However, these nematodes differ from predators and parasitoids in two ways: (1) the nematode is mutualistically associated with a bacterial pathogen which actually kills the host, and (2) the pathogenicity of the bacterium has a great influence on the efficacy of the system (Ehler, 1990). The purpose of this chapter is to introduce EPN as biocontrol agents in this refresher course and to provide an overview of some current issues in biological control of insects with particular emphasis on their relevance to the use of EPNs.

Biological control is defined as the action of natural enemies which maintains a host population at levels lower than would occur in the absence of the enemies. Natural enemies will include parasitoids, predators, nematodes, microbial pathogens and their gene products. Entomologists generally divide biological control into two categories: (1) natural biological control which is effected by native or coevolved natural enemies in the native home (origin) of a given insect and (2) applied biological control which due to human intervention. Applied biological control is further divided into classical biological control (introduction of exotic natural enemies) and augmentative biological control (enhancement of natural enemies already in place).

Introduction

Studies on biocontrol agents have revealed the presence of a diverse range of antifungal metabolites derived from amino acid, polyketones and isoprenoid biosynthetic pathways, each of which has distinctive regulatory points and is subjected to different stimuli within organisms. In this experiment, the extraction of secondary metabolites from the culture of T. viride and Chaetomium globosum will be demonstrated.

Agarose gel electrophoresis is used for the fractionation and characterization of nucleic acids. It is a simple and highly effective method for separating, identifying and purifying DNA fragments of various sizes. DNA can be checked for size, intactness, homogeneity and purity by this technique. Agarose is a purified form of agar and forms a gel by hydrogen bonding of the agarose monomers. Increasing the Agarose concentration of a gel reduces the migration speed and enables separation of smaller DNA molecules. Shorter molecules move faster and migrate further than longer ones.

Aim: To study the size of the DNA extracted from the fungal culture.

Principle: Ethidium Bromide added to the gel interacts with the bases of DNA and fluorescence orange when irradiated with UV light.

Many Bacillus species are capable of producing a wide variety of secondary metabolites that are diverse in structure and function. The production of metabolites with antimicrobial activity is one determinant of their ability to control plant diseases. The activity is determined using PCR. PCR consists of an exponential amplification of a DNA fragment, and its principle is based on the mechanism of DNA replication in vivo. dsDNA is denatured to ssDNA, duplicated, and this process is repeated along the reaction according to the following formula

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) carries the genetic instruction for the biological development and functioning of all cellular forms of life. It is the blue print which contains the instructions to construct other cell components. Molecular biology experiments often require isolation of DNA for a variety of purposes like construction of DNA libraries, gene cloning, PCR and other marker technology, etc. The extraction of DNA from actively growing tissue is relatively easier yielding higher quantities of DNA.

Principle

The cell wall is ruptured and the proteins associated with DNA are removed by detergent like SDS or by interaction with phenol. Lipids are extracted with alcohol and DNA is precipitated by isopropanol.

Materials Required

Maize seed samples, Liquid nitrogen, CTAB (Cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide), Chloroform, isoamyl alcohol, Sodium chloride, Glacial acetic acid, Isopropyl alcohol and 70% ice cold ethanol, TE buffer (5X) (24.2 g of Tris base, 5.71 ml of galcial acetic acid, 10 ml of 0.5M EDTA (pH 8.0) , dissolved in 1000 ml of distilled water). Prepare 1X TE as per the requirement.

Shelf life for Pseudomonas fluorescens (TNAU Pf-1)

Aim: To find out the shelf life of P. fluorescens (TNAU Pf-1) using different carrier materials

Product: The talc based P. fluorescens (TNAU Pf-1) product is used for the study on shelf life.

Selective medium (King’B medium) for Pseudomonads

1. Raw Materials

Culture of Bacillus subtilis

Talc powder - 300 mesh

Bacteria are by far the common type of soil microorganisms, possibly because they can grow rapidly and have the ability to utilize a wide range of substances as either carbon or nitrogen sources. The bacteria that provide some benefit to plants are found near, on (or) even within the roots of plants (Kloepper et al., 1980) to protect the plants from pathogen attack called as antagonistic organism. Among the many potential bacterial antagonists associated with the plant roots the fluorescent pseudomonads have received prominent attention due to their abundance in plant rhizosphere and their ability to colonize roots of a wide range of crop plants. Pseudomonas fluorescens is a Gram negative, non spore forming, rod shaped bacteria producing pigments which are greenish, fluorescent and water soluble. It is found to be effective against the following fungal pathogens viz., Rhizoctonia solani, Macrophomina phaseolina, Fusarium udum, Pyricularia grisea, Fusarium oxysporum fsp. cubense. It is capable of surviving in the spermosphere, rhizosphere and phyllosphere of plants. The mechanisms of biological action exhibited inovles antibiosis, competition, lysis and induced resistance. Pseudomonas have an exceptional capacity to produce a wide variety of metabolites, including antibiotics, that are toxic to plant pathogens.

The discovery and use of synthetic chemicals has contributed greatly to the increase of food production industry by controlling pest and diseases. However, the use of synthetic chemicals has raised number of ecological problems apart from increasing the cost of cultivation. In recent years, scientists have directed their attention in exploring the potential of beneficial microbes for plant protection measures. Biocontrol agents exhibit antagonistic activity against plant pathogens and activate resistance mechanisms in the host despite improving plant growth. In agricultural soils the nutritional condition is depleted hence beneficial microbes decrease and increase the pathogenic microbes. To ensure the sustained availability of biocontrol agents mass production technique and formulation development protocols has to be standardized which also increases the shelf life of the formulation. Though these agents have a very good potential in the management of Pest and Diseases it can not be used as cell suspension under field conditions. The cell suspensions of these biocontrol agents should be immobilized in certain carriers and should be prepared as formulations. The organic carriers used for formulation development include peat, turf, talc, lignite, kaolinite, pyrophylite, zeolite, alginate, pressmud, sawdust, vermiculate, etc.

The isolation of microbes is commonly done using serial dilution technique.

1. Trichoderma

Trichoderma is one of the important biocontrol agents. The colonies first produce mycelial growth and then turn yellow and finally produce a dark green color mat.

To study the characteristics of microorganisms, it is essential to culture and growth them. Growth is the increase in cell number which can be obtained by providing proper physical and chemical conditions. Medium is a substance that provides nutrients for growth and multiplication of microorganisms. Any medium for the cultivation of bacteria and fungi must provide certain basic nutritional requirements which include a carbon, nitrogen, phosphate and various mineral nutrients. The following is the medium composition for the isolation and culturing of different biocontrol agents

Introduction

A sustainable approach to managing pests by combining biological, cultural, physical and chemical tools in a way that minimizes economic, health and environmental risks. The objective for IPM practitioners is to minimize risks to human health and the environment from the pest management actions implemented. IPM is a holistic approach that seeks to manage pests by using methods that are effective, economically sound, and ecologically compatible. IPM practitioners base decisions on information that is collected systematically as they integrate economic, environmental, and social goals. IPM promotes the use and integration of biological control agent as one of the strategies for pest and disease management. Because, biological control of plant pathogen is a potential alternative to the use of environment harming chemical pesticides in agriculture.

Introduction

Advances in pesticide were measured exclusively by the assessment of its efficacy in management alone. But today food production has ceased to be a major concern, due to stable increase in population levels and success of innovative agricultural technologies. At this juncture, the agrochemical industry that primarily recognized the farmers as their customers has failed to acknowledge the public as an important client. Perception of the public reflects that, the negative aspects of pesticides seem to outnumber their benefits. The increased reflection on environmental concern over pesticide use has been instrumental in a large upsurge of biological disease control. Development of fungicide resistance among the pathogens, ground water and foodstuff pollution and the development of oncogenic risks has further encouraged for the exploitation of antagonistic microflora in disease management.

Biological control of plant pathogens can be broadly defined as the reduction of inoculum density or disease producing activities of a pathogen or parasite in its active or dormant state by one or more organisms, accomplished naturally or through manipulation of environment, host or antagonist or by mass introduction of one or more antagonists. The decades of laboratory experiments have led to the explosion in the field of bio-control and introduced more than 50 commercial formulations comprising of fungi and bacteria. To have a successful management of plant diseases and to have a pollution free environment, the biocontrol agents has to be ensured for its availability for commercial use by the end users. To harness the potential of biopesticides by the stakeholders and end users the product has to be registered under Central Insecticide Board authorities concerned of the respective countries.

Introduction

The need of the agricultural community was the force of motivation for the development of broad-spectrum pesticides towards the management of pests and diseases of cultivated crops. Advances in pesticide were measured exclusively by the assessment of its efficacy in management alone. But today food production has ceased to be a major concern, due to stable population levels and success of innovative agricultural technologies. At this juncture, the agrochemical industry that primarily recognized the farmers as their customers has failed to acknowledge the public as an important client. Perception of the public reflects that, the negative aspects of pesticides seem to outnumber their benefits. The increased reflection on environmental concern over pesticide use has been instrumental in a large upsurge of biological disease control. Development of fungicide resistance among the pathogens, ground water and foodstuff pollution and the development of oncogenic risks has further encouraged for the exploitation of antagonistic microflora in disease management

Introduction

Plant parasitic nematodes are important pests, causing major damage to the world’s food and fibre crops. The management of nematodes is more difficult than that of other pests because nematodes mostly inhabit the soil and usually attack the underground parts of the plants. Nematodes in soil are subject to infections by bacteria and fungi. This creates the possibility of using soil microorganisms to control plant-parasitic nematodes. Biocontrol of nematodes was first studied by Duddington (1951). The development of biological control agents is also considered an effective alternative for nematode control on vegetables (Van Gundy, 1985; Kerry, 1987). There are more than 200 species of nematophagous fungi described. Based on the infection mechanism, they are commonly subdivided into three main groups: the nematode-trapping fungi that captures free living nematodes using specialized morphological structures (i.e., traps), the endoparasitic fungi that infects nematodes using adhesive spores, and the egg- and cyst-parasitic fungi that infect these stages with their hyphal tips (Barron, 1977). The nematophagous fungi that have received most attention for biological control of plant-parasitic nematodes include various species of the nematode-trapping fungi Arthrobotrys spp. (Stirling and Smith, 1998), and the egg-parasitic fungi Pochonia chlamydosporium (Kerry, 2001) and Paecilomyces lilacinus (Gaspard et al., 1990).

Introduction

The soil around plant roots that forms the rhizosphere is a dynamic, complex zone. All plant parasitic nematodes are obligate parasities and must enter this zone to reach their host and cause damage (Kerry, 2000). Nematodes in soil are subject to infections by bacteria and fungi. This creates the possibility of using soil microorganisms to control plant-parasitic nematodes. Bacteria are numerically the most abundant organisms in soil, and some of them, for example members of the genera Pasteuria, Pseudomonas and Bacillus have shown great potential for the biological control of nematodes. Nematophagous bacteria are distributed broadly, possess diverse modes of action, and have broad host ranges. A variety of nematophagous bacterial groups have been isolated from soil, host-plant tissues, and nematodes and their eggs and cysts (Siddiqui and Mahmood, 1999; Kerry, 2000; Meyer, 2003).

They affect nematodes by a variety of modes: for example parasitizing; producing toxins, antibiotics, or enzymes; interfering with nematode–plant-host recognition; competing for nutrients; inducing systemic resistance of plants; and promoting plant health (Siddiqui and Mahmood, 1999). They form a network with complex interactions among bacteria, nematodes, plants and the environment to control populations of plant-parasitic nematodes in natural conditions (Kerry, 2000).

The basic principles of biological control of pests and diseases remain the same, whether applied to insect pests, nematodes or plant pathogens. In the recent years, there is a paradigm shift towards studying antibiosis and its application in biological suppression of pathogens, yet the classical bio-control will remain as relevant as ever. The following discussion is based on recapitulating the basic principles of classical biological control as applicable to plant parasitic nematodes.

Biological control agents (BCAs) have been exploited for pest control in different ways. One way is to manipulate the naturally occurring BCAs by augmenting their populations to pest suppressive levels. In this approach no BCAs are introduced, but various means such as agronomic practices, introduction of organic matter etc. are adopted to favour the build-up of BCAs. The second way is the introduction of BCAs, either as inoculative or inundative release. In the former case, the BCAs are introduced in small quantities and allowed to build-up gradually in due course of time. However, in the latter approach, BCAs are introduced in large quantities so that quick pest suppression can be achieved. Each method has its own merits and demerits (Table 1).

Introduction

India is transforming from the phase of revolution to commercial mode of agriculture, a step ahead of self-sufficiency. It further evolves to reach a goal of self-reliant on agriculture and allied sector. The present phase demands several technological innovations, their application and implementation in the market. Meanwhile this phase needs due attention for handling the issues on conservation of natural resources, especially germplasm resource, biodiversity conservation, socio-cultural-economic values of our country, etc. The whole process requires good investment on research and development, various economic measures and implementation. It is only possible with vibrant governance and policy implementation of a Government. Already Government of India has taken several measures to transform agriculture. Recent analysis showed that Indian agriculture is the silent ever green revolution. Food production is kept pace with the growing population since independence. Further, it needs several innovations on technologies coupled with policy support to fill the demand. India is placed 49^th position in the world on innovations. Analysis suggested the huge potential for innovation due to its huge human capital, which perhaps need for the country like India to meet the food demand of 333 million tonnes by the year 2050. These innovations must be focussed for growth to efficiency, employment generation, food security to nutrition and health, shortage management to surplus management, input intensive to knowledge intensive agriculture, climate change and sustainability, production and producers, policy interventions, regulations and reforms. The Government emphasize usage of e-trading platforms to sell the farmers’ produce of their choice rather using mandis. This will enable contract farming and inter-state trade. However, major innovations and investment must be implemented on transportation, logistics, and digital access and payments to enable widespread prosperity. Thus, focus must be on the complete agricultural value chain. In fact, focus needed on value addition, rural infrastructure, logistics, warehousing, and quality certification of agriculture produce. India has greatest challenges to face in the future for food and nutritional security, adaptation and mitigation to climate change and sustainable use of essential and scared resources like water, land and energy.

Introduction

India is considered as one of the emerging superpowers of the world. This potential is attributed to several indicators, the primary one being its demographic trends and a rapidly expanding economy. In 2015, India became the world’s fastest growing economy with a 7.5% estimated GDP rate. But in the year 2020, the pandemic lockdown situation created adverse impact on the global economy. At this juncture, there is an urgent need to focus on native and indigenous resource mapping and judicious utilization of it to be a self-reliant. The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated a new set of reforms to strengthen the economy. The first mention of this came in the form of the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ or ‘Self-Reliant India Mission’ by the Government of India during the announcement of the coronavirus pandemic related economic package on 12^th May 2020. Almost 70% of India’s population depends directly and indirectly on agriculture for their survival. This means the country cannot have a development model that ignores agriculture.

It’s time to take a look at India’s agriculture economy. Over the last 10 years, (2008-19) India has been a net exporter of many farm produce. In fact, in 2018, the government has come up with a new agricultural export policy aimed at doubling farm income by 2022. However, in 2019-20, agri-exports were just $36 billion and the agri-trade surplus was $11.2 billion. The net agri-trade surplus has been falling over a period of time, making it difficult to achieve doubling of farmers’ income and doubling of agriculture exports by 2022as well.

India is not yet self-reliant in various essential agriculture commodities and depends heavily on imports. India imports around 15 million tonnes of edible oil every year — more than 9 million tonnes of palm oil and about 2.5 million tonnes each of soybean oil and sunflower oil. It buys palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, and soy and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Ukraine and Russia. There is a need to create self-reliance in theses commodities enhancing productivity of Indian farms to create competitive advantage for domestic producers. India can step up cultivation of sunflower, groundnuts, mustard and oil palms. Presently, India has about two million hectares of land that is suitable for oil palm cultivation.

Historical Perspective of Agricultural Education Policy in India

Pre-Independence Era

During the reign of the British Crown, vocational education and training suffered a great setback and there was a lack of emphasis on agricultural education, even though the Indian economy, to a great extent, depended on agriculture. In 1901, only five institutions were imparting theoretical and practical instruction in agriculture, but that education was not used in extension or fieldwork—it served only as an opening for government white-collar jobs (Crane, 1965).

Post-Independence Era

Prior to the establishment of agricultural universities, university-level education in agriculture, animal science, horticulture, agricultural engineering, and allied subjects were largely conducted by colleges affiliated with general universities that had no special commitment to the farming community. The University Education Commission of 1947, among other things, examined the state of agricultural education in India. The report of this Commission emphasized the need for having what was termed “Rural Universities.” In 1954, the First Joint Indo-American Team on Agricultural Research and Education fully endorsed the recommendations of the University Education Commission and strongly recommended the immediate establishment of agricultural universities in a few selected states. The U.S. agricultural advisors who began to arrive in India in the early 1950s were products of the land-grant university system, and many of them naturally believed India could benefit by creating a similar system (Goldsmith, 1988). The Government of India accepted this recommendation and the first agricultural university in Uttar Pradesh now named as Govind Ballab Pant of Agriculture & Technology was established in 1960, patterned on the land-grant university model of the United States. This was a significant turning point in the history of agricultural education in India. The Second Joint Indo-American Commission (1959) reiterated the recommendations of the First and recommended that at least one agricultural university be established in each state. Agricultural universities have now been established in 21 of the 28 states and the concept of the agricultural university now forms an essential part of the national policy on education.

Introduction

Agricultural Extension is as ancient as agriculture itself. When it moves in agricultural trends, the importance on extension has also been transformed. Firstly, agricultural extension was the component of the research-extension-farmer approach. In the Training and Visit (T&V) period, communication of innovation was the crucial concept and the role of extension was to successfully disseminate the technological interventions. However, after the green revolution, the gap between resource rich and resource poor farmers widened with information and extension reaching only a few of them. With the conceptualization of new models, like Agricultural Knowledge and Information Systems (AKIS), the focus of extension has changed to formation of groups and collective farming. In time, the private sector has also entered into the agricultural arena, introducing the concept of pluralism in extension. Emphasis on mass media has also increased. More recently, Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS) is introduced within the innovation systems framework. It focuses on the actors, their interactions, the institutions, and the policy environment to support or hinder it. Communication for innovation is the key AIS concept tried to identify the actors in systems, their core activities and bring them into an innovation platform for effective service and successful innovations (Saravanan, 2017).

Introduction

The food production in India has been on a rising trajectory and the country is among the top producers of several crops. It is the highest producer of milk and second highest producer of fruits and vegetables. Total food grain production in the country is estimated at record 291.95 million tonnes (MT; Second Advance Estimates for 2019-20) which is 6.74 MT higher over 2018-19. While enhanced field productivity is an essential component of agricultural sector, improved postharvest handling, marketing and processing is equally essential to reduce the waste, particularly in a country where such losses are substantial and add stress on limited farming resources, appropriate agrilogistic is needed. Post-production management and marketing infrastructure is therefore, not only vital but a priority. Such infrastructure and the services they provide are essential not only for the efficient performance of various marketing functions, but also for effective expansion of the size of markets which allows for growth.An efficient post-harvest logistics network not only ensures that produce will reach destination markets in quality and quantity, but should also trigger a steady reverse flow of market information to the source.

Introduction

India is predominantly an agricultural economy and about half of the workforce is engaged in agriculture sector. Around 48 per cent of households in the country are agricultural household and they derive the monthly income from crop cultivation. India is leading in production of many agricultural crops but finding a market for marketed surplus and getting fair prices have always been a major challenge. Long time ago, traditional market system was existed in India. Marketing implied greater magnitude as yields and production started rising after farmers embraced with advanced technologies such as high-yielding varieties, fertilizers, chemical inputs, block chain development, farmers business network, market linkages, diversification towards high value crops, integrated farming system approach, precision farming including digital agriculture, drones, GIS technology, remote sensing, soil health management, crop and livestock insurance, mobile apps, web portal, machine learning and many mores. These catered the need of efficient regulated marketing system to support the farmers and keep away from them getting manipulated in the market.

India has gained self-sufficiency in the agriculture production. There is need to translate this production into better remuneration for the farming community by focusing into agricultural marketing system. The agricultural marketing system is characterized by various short comings like heavy sale of commodities at primary level immediately after the harvesting period, absence of on-farm grading of produce, poor packaging, insufficient marketing infrastructure, long marketing channels, existence of various malpractices in the marketing of agri-produce, nontransparent price discovery mechanism, lack of market information system, low marketable surplus especially of small and marginal farmers, etc.

Rising population and increasing demand for food are prominent factors driving the digital farming market. Moreover, the growing demand to efficiently deal with pests, weeds, and other diseases is encouraging farmers to digitize their farm. In developing regions, cheaper internet data and strong penetration of smart devices (especially smartphones) are driving the digital farming market. Active participation of governments in digitizing farms through investment is also driving the digital farm market.

Introduction

The Indian fisheries sector is set in a unique and diverse set of resources ranging from the pristine waters of the Himalayas to the sprawling Indian Ocean. The fisheries biodiversity of the country encompasses a wide spectrum of physical and biological components that support the livelihoods of millions of people. Fisheries resources are set in different ecosystems. With growing population and the increasing demand for fish protein, the need for sustainable development of aquatic resources is now felt much more than ever before.

Fisheries and aquaculture remain important sources of food, nutrition, income and livelihoods for hundreds of millions of people around the world. Global capture and culture fish production during 2019 were 97 and 82 million tonnes, respectively with India being second largest producer of fish in the world after China. From 0.75 million tonnes in 1950-51, total fish production of India touched 12.59 million tonnes in 2018-19 with a contribution of 8.90 million tonnes (70.60%) from inland sector. The sunrise fisheries sector contributes about 0.96 % to National Gross Value Added (GVA) and 5.37% to agricultural GVA (2018-19) while engaging over 14.5 million people (2003 census) at the primary level and almost twice the number along the value chain. During 2018-19 the export of marine products that includes production from aquaculture reached 13,77,244 tonnes valued at INR 46589 crore (US $ 6.93 billion). The inland sector grew at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 6.5% between 1979 and 2018, while overall fish production witnessed 4.5% growth, which is double the growth rate of food grains production in India.

Introduction

Animal husbandry has been an integral component of Indian agriculture since time immemorial. It is still continuing as one of the major avocations in India contributing nearly 4.9% to the national GDP and 28.4% of the agricultural GDP. Livestock population in the country as per Livestock Census 2019 is 535.78 million which is an increase of 4.6% over Livestock Census 2012 (BAHS, 2019; DAHD, 2019). Cattle, buffaloes, sheep and goats are the major livestock in the country. Today, India is the global leader in milk and milk products with a production of 187.7 million tonnes (MT) and the availability of 394 ml milk per capita per day. The per capita availability of milk has increased substantially during last four decades. The anticipated milk demand is expected to be 266.5 MT by 2030 based on per capita consumption of 468 ml/day (Table 1). It has been made possible with the active involvement of farming community and by creating awareness about high yielding breeds of livestock, improved rearing methods and milking, management of pests and diseases and most importantly, the feeding of the animal. The crop residue constitutes a major chunk of fodder to the livestock in many parts of the country. However due to their low nutritive values and poor palatability, it is not helping to realize the full milking potential of animals. A huge opportunity exists in livestock sector as there is a growing demand for animal products particularly milk and meat (NDDB, 2019). In addition, for promoting organic farming particularly the need of farm yard manure has necessitated the farming community to keep livestock as a complementary component of his farming. It provides draught power and organic manure to crop sector and hides, skin, bones, blood and fibers to the industrial sector. Therefore, the importance of livestock goes beyond its food production function, and has become even more significant (Birthal et al., 2002).

Introduction

The post-harvest and marketing system comprised of a series of interconnected activities which starts after the harvesting process and continues until the distribution of food products to the consumers. An effective post-harvest system makes sure that the food product reaches the customer in a short time without sacrificing volume, quality, and safety of the food product (Gardas et al., 2018). Increasing population growth in the last few centuries and the requirements from industrialization forces the need for sustainable food production and better food processing technologies. There is a requirement of balance between sustainable food production practices, a healthy environment, and a healthy population due to the rapid changes in the climate and population. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), there will be a requirement of a 70% increase in food production in 2050 due to the growing population across the world (FAO, 2017).

The challenges such as improper land use, decrease in biodiversity, aquatic eutrophication by over-fertilization, global warming, water shortages due to improper irrigation etc. imposed awareness among the stakeholders to bring more efficient approaches in agricultural and food production practices. This brings the idea of terms such as recyclable and eco-friendly packaging, buy local, whole foods, free-from, and fair-trade (Boye and Arcand, 2013). Recent trends in climate and changes in the environment may pose challenges to achieve the required food production in the future. In addition to the steps taken for increasing food production, the steps to reduce food loss are important. In 2011, it was calculated that 11.3 billion tonnes of food was wasted in a year, which is almost one- third of the total food production (FAO, 2011).

Introduction

More than 380 million urban population living in town and cities generates 62 million tones of municipal waste every year out of which 75% is recyclable but only 30% is recycled and reused whereas less than 15% of municipal solid waste is treated. Generally municipal authorities of the country dump the waste outside the city to keep the urban area clean. According to World Bank report, by the year 2025, waste generation will reach 377,000 tonnes per day in India (CPCB 2020). The waste generated in industrial and urban area of the country is tangible and concerning. This is the high time to address this issue with a great sensitivity and planning. Ragpickers works as the informal waste collection and recycling sector which plays an important role in waste management and leads to lesser waste to the landfills (Gupta et al., 1998).

Waste management is the process of treatment and disposal of solid, organic and hazardous waste. It can be categorized based on the source sector i) urban waste; ii) electrical waste iii) medical waste; iv) waste produced by disasters; v) agricultural waste vi) industrial waste etc. The type of waste has variable potential harms for human health, social implications, policies and the environment (FICCI, 2011). Agriculture itself is a big source of waste generated at different paths of food supply chain that occurs as follows:

Introduction

The digital farming solutions by various advanced tools and technologies became a prime important to see the future smart agriculture in India with enhanced productivity and farmer’s lifestyle upliftment. The agriculture industry facing challenges from farm to market by climate interfacing and energy conservations practices during farming operations. The use of innovative industry 5.0 is targeting a farming society to achieve high productivity by hardware devices like Robots, Drones, Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) working on the basis of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Deep Learning (DL), Big-Data, IoT and Cloud-based software tools and interactive software programs.

The use of tractors, combine harvesters, power tillers etc. like advanced machineries are practiced in present farming practices by youth farmers; however the digital tools with an automation of existing advanced farm machinery became an attraction to see human comfort. The custom operative design and development of digital tools are essentially becomes a need to innovate and exercise in finding best technologies for Indian farming society. The agricultural society spent several years and now also synthesizing an operational description for digital farming. There are several ways of opting solutions by using new digital logistic tools with software and hardware engagements. As we know agricultural production is influenced by climate, weather, soil properties, plant genetic profile, plant peripheral environment, plant protection, plant nourishing, harvesting and post harvesting like operational tasks. All such a challenging task can be handled by advanced digital tools and technologies.

Introduction

The country’s population is growing at fast pace putting pressure on agriculture sector to grow more with declining resources. Proper planning and management become ever more crucial to ensure the sustainability of food production with minimal environmental footprints. Space technologies have unique advantages of providing large area synoptic coverage, with repetitive, objective and scientific datasets essential for monitoring a hugely vast and heterogeneous country like India. Agriculture being very dynamic and highly dependent on different natural resources needs continuous monitoring. Therefore these technologies have immense potential for application in the agriculture sector of the country. Space based technologies provide information on crops and natural resources on a real-time basis, proving unmatched opportunity for planning including in-season manipulation of crop production and management practices improving the resilience of farming against weather aberrations. Advanced estimates of regional agricultural output are critical to anticipate and mitigate the course of food shortage from sudden crop failure.

Incidentally, the first practical application of remote sensing in India was in the field of agriculture, wherein early detection of coconut wilt disease in Kerala was possible using air borne infrared cameras (Dakshinamurty et al. 1971). To explore the potential of space technology through satellites Joint Experiment Programme (JEP) started for defining the appropriate configurations of sensors in Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites during the early 1980s. After exhaustive field experimentation, the potential of remote sensing (RS) technology to estimate crop yield and area to forecast its productivity at district and regional level due to the multispectral, large area and repetitive coverage was established. By that time this technology was being used operationally used by a few advance nations. With the launch of the first IRS satellite IRS-1A in 1988, in India

Introduction

The protected cultivation aims to create a favorable environment for harnessing maximum potential even in adverse climatic conditions. Farmers in India are facing different challenges including small and fragmented land holdings, climate change, vagaries of weather, poor soil health and lack of knowledge and exposure to modern agricultural technologies. The protected cultivation farming is emerging as one of the better alternatives in agriculture and gaining foothold in India. However, for successful protected cultivation farming, one needs to understand the protected cultivation structures, climate control, production technologies, plant protection, water management, marketing, guidelines and policies. At present, various innovations are adopted under the greenhouse technology viz., Soil based cultivation and soil less cultivation. Soil less cultivation consist of solid media based and liquid media based. Solid media include coco-peat, vermiculite, perlite, rice husk, sawdust, mass grass, wheat - paddy straw, sand, gravels, rock wool etc. whereas liquid based media include hydroponic, aeroponic and aquaponics cultivation.

Introduction

The natural economic movement of a country goes from agrarian economy which is the primary sector to an industrial economy (secondary sector) and then only to the tertiary sector i.e., service economy. But due to various socio-economic factors, India has jumped from an agrarian economy to a service economy in the past and had a low growth in secondary sector.

Though primary sector is vital, there is a natural limit on how much can be extracted from this. The country is witnessing a peak in food grains production (285.21 million tonnes) nonetheless rupees 92,000 crores worth food grains are wasted annually (MOFPI annual report 2018-19). Hence, with an increasing population, decreasing arable land (52.6%), irrigation water resources and with present level of climate change scenario, food processing should be considered as a need to enhance the profitability and sustainability of agriculture in the country (Swaminathan and Bhavani, 2013). Thus, effective post-harvest management is one of the strategies for envisaging an evergreen revolution along with increasing yields. A well-developed food processing industry increases farm gate prices reduce wastages, ensure value addition, promote crop diversification, generate employment opportunities as well as export earnings.

Introduction

Bundelkhand is an important region of Central India which is often called as heartland of the nation. It is spread in the geographical area of 7.08 mha, includes 14 districts seven, each of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and supports 1.84 crore (as per 2011 census) of socio-economically and culturally diverse population. The present region of Bundelkhand lies between approximately 23°10’ and 26°27’ (north) latitude and 78°4’ and 810 34’ (east) longitude. It lies between the Indo-Gangetic Plain to the north and the Vindhya Range to the south. Bundelkhand is a hot and semi- humid climate with highly variable depending on the region and with gently sloping upland, distinguished by barren hilly terrain with sparse vegetation, although it was historically forested. As with the rest of the Indian sub-continent, Bundelkhand experiences two main seasons, monsoon and dry. The monsoon brings over 90 percent of the annual rainfall between the months of June and September with the highest precipitation occurring in July and August. On an average, the region receives 75 cm to 125 cm of rain each year. The dry plains in the north usually receive less rain compared to the south- eastern part of the region. Minimum temperature varies from around 6-12 ^?C and maximum temperature varies from 38- 48 ^?C.

The region is blessed with plenty of natural resources. It had truly been endowed by nature, with beautiful mountains, good perennial rivers, fast flowing seasonal rivulets, large rich forest areas with valuable timber, fruit trees, numerous medicinal plants / herbs in almost each district. The rainfall here had been on average much better than many parts of India. Bundelkhand is a part of the central zone of India with a group of north-bound perennial rivers flowing and paying tribute to river Yamuna. From west to east these are Sind, Pahuj, Betwa, Dhasan, Ken, Baghein Paisuni and Tons. Along with Chambal and Yamuna these are ten major rivers. Other water resources in Bundelkhand are in form of water stored / conserved on surface termed as ponds, tanks, lakes etc. Bundelkhand has, undoubtedly, been one of the regions in India very much known for its historical rain-water management through man-made ponds, tanks and lakes. Topography here helped to build such structures but more than anything it reflected fore-sight and positive attitude of those rulers towards conservation of nature.

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

Majority of the India’s population (about 70%) depend directly and indirectly on agriculture for a living, and thus, the sector must attain self-reliance for their future survival. The North Eastern Region (NER) of India comprising the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim covers a total area of 26.2 million hectare (7.97% of the India’s total geographical area). Of this area, hill and mountain region accounts for about 70% area that excludes Assam plains. The region is characterized by unique geophysical socio-cultural and environmental features. Drought and floods are the two miseries for the farmers of North Eastern Region of India (NER). The poorest people are likely to be the hardest hit by impacts of climatic factors and its change because they rely heavily on climate-sensitive sectors such as rainfed agriculture and fisheries. They are also less capable to respond due to limited human, institutional and financial capacity and have very limited ability to cope with climate impacts and adaptation options in agriculture sector to a changing hazard burden (Ngachan and Das, 2018). The NER of India is endowed with enormous water resources potential that accounts for about 34% of the country’s total water wealth. In spite of the abundant water resources, the ratio of percent irrigated area to net sown area varies from 5% in Assam to 28% in Arunachal Pradesh with an average of 10.6 % in NER. This is less than one-fourth of the national average of net irrigated area which currently stands at 43.2% (Sharma et al., 2010). The water scenario in the region is skewed and is characterized by plenty and scanty syndrome, i.e. excess water during rainy season and severe scarcity during post- and pre- monsoon season. There is wide variation of rainfall in space and time. It is projected that by 2021, an additional 15 million population will be added to the current 45 million in the region (Choudhury et al., 2012). Hence, adequate planning and management of these bountiful but most vital resources are required for overall sustainability of agriculture in NER.

Introduction

Expanding human and livestock population, fast-growing industrial requirements and urbanization are putting ever-increasing pressures on land resources, creating competition and conflicts which results in sub-optimal use of both land and its natural resources. With no additional land for horizontal expansion of agriculture, there is an urgent need to find viable technologies for enhancing productivity and resource conservation on a sustainable basis. In this context, Agroforestry offers huge potential not only to diversify and increase overall land productivity to meet the demands of fuel, fodder, timber, medicine and other non-woody forest products but also to enhance green cover, and reduce the pressure on forest (Chavan et al. 2016; Handa et al., 2016). Agroforestry offers an affordable alternative in place of expensive conventional conservation measures for providing insurance against risks caused due to weather aberrations, controlling erosion hazards and ensuring sustainable production of the land on a long-term basis. The main objective of agroforestry is to take the advantage of complementary relationships between trees, crops, and livestock in such a way so that sustainability, productivity stability, and profitability of the system is maintained. In India, agroforestry practices are important component in the various developmental programmes schemes like Flood Control/Management Programmes, Multipurpose River Valley Projects, Agriculture Development Programmes, Integrated Rural Development Programmes (IRDP), National Watershed Development Programme for Rainfed Areas (NWDPRA), Forestry Development Scheme, Drought Prone Area Development Programme (DPAP) and Desert Development Programme (DDP) from government sector and wood based industry from private sector. After 2000 a transitional shift in agroforestry observed to tackle the ill effects of intensive agriculture, climate change and nutritional security. Under changing climatic scenarios agroforestry rose as a silver bullet to offer not only single benefits but also a basket of multiple benefits. In the present chapter a journey of agroforestry research and developments, region-specific models, area under agroforestry, initiative of government on policy aspects and challenges are elaborated extensively.

Introduction

In India the economy is based on rural and agrarian and decline with land holding area poses a serious challenge to the sustainability and profitability of farming. In view of the decline in per capita availability of land from 0.5 ha in 1950-51 to 0.15 ha by the turn of the century and a projected further decline to less than 0.1 ha by 2020, it is imperative to develop strategies and innovate new agricultural technologies that enable adequate employment and income generation, especially for small and marginal farmers who constitute more than 80% of the farming community. The crop and cropping system based perspective of research needs to make way for farming systems based research conducted in a holistic manner for the sound management of available resources by small farmers (Jha, 2003). Under the gradual shrinking of land holdings, it is necessary to integrate land based enterprises like fishery, poultry, duckery, apiary, field and horticultural crops, etc. within the bio-physical and socio-economic environment of the farmers to make farming more profitable and dependable (Behera et al., 2004). No single farm enterprise is likely to be able to sustain the small and marginal farmers without resorting to integrated farming systems (IFS) for the generation of adequate income and gainful employment year-round (Mahapatra, 1992; 1994). Farming systems approach, therefore, is a valuable approach to address the problems of sustainable economic growth for the farming communities in India.

Introduction and Background

Agriculture at present has the trend of using an industrialized production model, where crops and animals are produced in systems that are increasingly specialized, simplified and concentrated, to address growing food, feed and fibre demands. Within this model, external inputs (e.g. irrigation, synthetic fertilizers chemical pest control, feeds, and growth hormones) have been utilized to achieve production goals, often at the expense of environmental quality and key ecosystem services. Continuation of this model of agricultural production has resulted in loss of ecosystem services, increased ecosystem simplification and species extinction. Responses to future challenges in agriculture should include the development of novel systems that are highly productive, minimize damage to the environment and effectively utilize renewable resources. Achieving these multiple goals will be a momentous task, as it will require development and implementation of more complex, diverse and management-intensive production systems than currently employed. Furthermore, future agricultural production systems will need to be adaptable to respond to unforeseen environmental challenges. Integrated agricultural systems have been purported to possess attributes to address these challenges. Agro-chemicals, fuel-based mechanization and irrigation operations are the heart of industrial agriculture which is derived entirely from dwindling and ever more expensive fossil fuels. Intensification of agriculture by the use of high yielding crop varieties, fertilization, irrigations and pesticides are impact heavily on natural resources with serious health and environmental implications. Practice of monoculture in some parts of the country and the world has an adverse environmental impact due to lack of ecological regulation mechanisms and heavily dependent on external inputs.

Introduction

With growing concern about climate change, environmental sustainability, soil health and food safety, conservation agriculture, organic agriculture and protected cultivation are emerging production systems being popular in India. The changing farm practices in these production systems invite many biotic stresses and demand novel approaches for their sustainable management for profitable farming. The dynamics of biotic stresses vary from system to system; therefore they require system specific approaches for sustainable management. The different agronomic/ plant protection measures practiced in above mentioned emerging systems are listed in Table 1. Protected cultivation is meant for the high value crops are grown, the management of biotic stresses is the foremost important to minimize losses. Organic farming demands more preventive measures for sustainable control of biotic stresses rather than curative measures because of complete restriction on use of harmful chemical pesticides. Conservation agriculture demands more of ecofriendly measures for biotic stress management with minimal use of pesticides. In this chapter, we discussed novel approaches for biotic stress management in emerging production systems.

Introduction

Surging food demand and shrinking land resources to produce more from the limited natural resources like soil and water is poised to environmental degradation. Increased production must be achieved mainly by increasing crop productivity per unit area while sustaining the environment and enhanced input use efficiency. Agricultural production systems are increasingly under pressure to adapt decision-making process to be make more informed and efficient use of irrigation water, fertilizers and pesticides. Adverse effects of climate change are added challenges to agricultural productivity. Efficient crop management strategies to improve resource use efficiency and reduce crop losses are vital issues to be taken care for a sustainable sustainably enhanced production system. Genetic improvement approaches involving high throughput phenotyping and genomics-assisted breeding enhancing resource use efficiency, stress tolerance, yield has become imperative. Precise crop health monitoring is one of the keys to the modern production system. Obviously, disease forecasting and surveillance systems are in great demand to adopt precise management against the losses caused by diseases. Predicting disease risk at regional and global scales is of great interest for on-farm management and for assessment of agricultural policies and practices.

Introduction

Agriculture is the backbone of India as 50% of its work is engaged in agricultural activities enabling India self-sufficiency in food production. However, agriculture sector is facing several challenges such as reduction in arable land due to urbanization and industrialization, decrease in farm size due to family division, climate change, yield loss due to abiotic and biotic stresses like pest, disease and weed, proliferation of non-genuine/illegal agro-chemicals etc (Murali-Baskaran et al., 2019). FAO estimates that a total annual loss of 20 to 40 percent of global crop production due to pests. Each year, plant diseases cost the global economy around $220 billion, and invasive insects around US$70 billion. While in India, yield loss to crops is estimated as 26, 20, 6 and 8% by insects, plant pathogens, rodents and others, respectively with an annual loss of Rs. 2,25,000 crores annually. Traditionally, ITKs have been practiced by farmers to control pests based on three categories viz., (a) cultural practices, physical, mechanical methods and use of botanicals. Later, IPM has been implemented in various crops to curb such losses caused by biotic stresses. Although cultural, mechanical and biological control strategies are in practice, insecticide application has been the most widely used tactics to reduce such losses to achieve quick control and particularly in case of outbreaks/upsurges. In India 76% of the pesticide used is insecticide, as against 44% globally (Mathur, 1999). First generation insecticides such as sulphur, arsenic, calcium arsenate, copper acetoarsenite, hydrogen cyanide, lead were introduced during 1950’s which are simple, persistent, usually very toxic chemicals used in large scale which harm almost everything they come into contact with. Later second generation insecticide molecules like DDT, chlorinated hydrocarbon, organophosphates, carbamates, and pyrethroids have been introduced with few advantages over first generation molecules. Subsequently, insect growth regulators (IGRs) that mimic insect growth hormones preventing natural young insect moulting which are less harmful to mammals have been introduced. Then, during past decades, newer insecticide molecules have been introduced which are target specific, relatively safe to non-target organisms and low residual activity. In terms of pesticide production and consumption, India is the fourth largest user of pesticides in the world (FAOSTAT, 2017). India is one of the lowest consumer i.e. 0.5 kg/ha (0.06 mt) of pesticides in the world as compared to China (13.06/ha), Japan (11.85 kg/ha), Brazil (4.57 kg/ha) etc. The United Nations has declared 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH). The main aim is to raise global awareness on how protecting plant health can help end hunger, reduce poverty, protect the environment, and boost economic development. FAO estimates that up to 40% of food crops are lost due to plant pests and diseases annually. This leaves millions of people without enough food to eat and seriously damages agriculture - the primary source of income for rural poor communities. .

Introduction

Disaster may be defined as a sudden event that causes damage to life, property and destroy the economic, social and cultural life of people. It could be of natural or anthropogenic origin. Disasters impact the poor and the most vulnerable section of the community. Over the past 30 years, more than 2.5 million people and nearly $4 trillion have been lost to natural disasters in India; globally the losses jumped from $50 billion a year in the 1980s to $200 billion in the last decade (NIDM, 2019).According to a World Bank report, nearly 75% of the losses are attributable to extreme weather events and climate change threatening to push an additional 100 million people into the extreme poverty by 2030 (Hallegatte et al., 2016). The Bank’s Unbreakable report finds that natural disasters had larger and long-lasting impacts on the poverty. Population growth and rapid urbanization are major driving factors for an increase in the disaster risks.

The United Nations estimates that more than two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050 (NIDM, 2019). This could put 1.3 billion people and $158 trillion assets at risk from river and coastal floods alone. According to the Bank’s Investing in Urban Resilience report (2016), by 2030, without significant investment into making cities more resilient, natural disasters may cost cities worldwide $314 billion each year.

Introduction

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) absorb long-wave radiation emitted from the Sun and the Earth’s surface, and radiate it back to Earth’s atmosphere, creating the greenhouse effect. Gases like carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O) occur in traces but play crucial roles in controlling the temperature of Earth’s atmosphere. The natural as well as anthropogenic activities have major impacts on the GHGs emissions that include continuously increasing concentration of CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O in the atmosphere. The heat-trapping properties of these above mentioned GHGs are well established. Different GHGs have different warming potential (radiative forcing) on the global climate system due to their different radiative properties and lifetimes in the atmosphere. Changes in the atmospheric concentrations of GHGs modify the energy equilibrium of the climate system which leads to subsequent climate change. They affect the absorption, scattering and emission of radiation within the atmosphere and at the earth’s surface. Globally agriculture is estimated to account for 10%–20% of anthropogenic GHG emissions (Smith and Olesen 2010). Share of contribution of these gases towards global warming are different such as CH₄ 20-25%, CO₂ 40-50% and N₂O 5-10%; with present pace of increment every year 0.41, 0.42 and 0.25%, respectively IPCC, 2019.

Introduction

Today, according to Global Assessment of Land Degradation and Improvement (GLADA), nearly one forth area of our world land has been degraded (Arora 2019). The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is leading the issues of soil or land degradation to restore valuable natural resources for achieving a land degradation neutral world by 2030 (Cowie et al., 2018; IPBES, 2018; Bhattacharya, 2020). Land degradation neutrality (LDN) can be achieved primarily through adoption of sustainable land management practices. Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays a multifunctional role and is sensitive to land management practices and a key indicator of soil quality, soil health and LDN. Soil is a major reservoir of terrestrial C in the biosphere and plays an important role in global C cycle. Therefore, a little change in SOC pool can significantly influence the atmospheric CO2 concentration. In general, 1 Pg of SOC stock is equivalent to about 0.47 ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere, and vice versa (Lal, 2018). Besides this it maintains overall soil sustainability and enhances food security.

Achieving carbon neutrality in Indian soils is a major challenge. Because, productive land goes out of cultivation and marginal or degraded land comes under cultivation due to urbanization, industrialization and various development activities. Also, it is very difficult to increase SOC because climatic condition prevails with a high rate of decomposition. According to an UN report, India will be the most populated country in the world and expected to add 273 million people between 2019 and 2050 which will exert huge pressure on natural resources, particularly soil and water to fulfil the increasing food demands of such ever-growing population. The extensive use of natural resources along with intensive cultivation will enhance greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission, slow down agricultural productivity, enhance land degradation, and decline factor productivity of major production systems. Due to change in distribution of rainfall and concurrent rise in temperature owing to climate change, the fertile top soil becomes more prone to degradation.

Introduction

Climate change effect is global and one of the most pressing issues of the 21^st century. It has now emerged as a significant global environmental challenge affecting crop, animal, fish, egg and milk production, water availability, human health, and terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Evidences of changes in climate, particularly to the spatial and temporal variability of precipitation and temperature are many and as a result, uncertainty, risks and farmers distress have increased manifold over the current years. India, a developing nation and primarily an agriculturally based country will be highly affected due to greater dependence on agriculture for livelihood of larger proportion of population (Johnson and Hutton, 2014). Anthropogenic forces like rise in population, economic activities, consumption patterns, social behaviour, energy resource utilization and land-use changes in terms of deforestation, use of fossil fuels, industrialization, and race towards development, high concentration of green house gases (GHG) has been released resulting in global warming, a major factor leading to climate change. This heat of climate change has been experienced globally and has affected all forms of life on earth in many ways (Campbell-Lendrum et al, 2015).

As per the fifth assessment report of IPCC (2014), proportional sharing in GHGs emission of various sectors are energy production (34%), and agriculture, forestry and land-use (AFOLU) (24%), mainly contributed by biomass burning and resource intensive agronomic activities (Houghton et al., 2012; Tubiello et al., 2015). Global food security has been threatened by climate change more so in developing nations through changes in soil properties, and is one of the most important challenges in the 21^st century to supply food for the increasing population.

Since climate change is inevitable, we must consider how best we can adapt it, so as to minimize its harmful consequences on the society. For subsistence farmers in India, adaptation in response to changes in climate patterns can be the difference between survival and calamity. There is a need to bring innovations on climate smart agriculture and also necessary agricultural reforms for emerging of a self-reliant India.

Introduction

The arid regions in India occupy 38.7 million ha (Mha), comprising 31.7 and 7 Mha under hot and cold arid region, respectively. The major part (90%) of the hot arid region lies in Northwest (NW) India and the rest in geographically isolated pockets in South India. The NW arid region extends from 22°30” to 32°50” N and 68°50” to 75°45”E , bounded by Aravalli hills in the east, Thar desert in the west the irrigated Indus plain in the north and the alluvial plains of the Sabarmati river in the south. The region mostly lies in western Rajasthan covering 12 districts (196150 km², 68.7%) followed six districts in northwest Gujarat (62180 km² 21.8%), five districts in southwest Haryana in (12840 km² 4.5%), and six districts in southwest Punjab in (14510 km², 5.0%) (Fig.1). The region is characterized by low rainfall (100 to 400 mm yr-1), that is also erratic and highly unpredictable (coefficient of variation, CV = 30 to 70%); high evaporation (1600 to 2000 mm yr-1); temperature extremes (-5.7° C to 50°C); frequent droughts (once in 2.5-5.0 years); strong winds (20-50 km h-1) during summer; and short crop growing period (8 to 15 weeks) (Moharana et al., 2016). Despite the common characteristics of aridity and extremes of temperatures, there are enormous spatial variations in terms of rainfall pattern, physiography, soils, amount of available surface and ground water, and extent of vegetation cover (Joshi, 2012). Accordingly, the NW hot arid region has been classified in 4 sub-regions, 11 zones and 34 sub zones (Faroda et al., 1999).

Despite these intimidating conditions, the region supports a large human and livestock population and biodiversity. However, the ever-increasing human and livestock population and developmental activities exert enormous biophysical pressure on the slender natural resource base of the region. A major challenge is desertification due to wind erosion/deposition, water erosion, water logging and salinity. Degradation of permanent pastures has led to loss of fodder resources constraining livestock husbandry, the backbone of the economy of the region. Of late, industrial effluents and mining are also contributing to desertification.

The introduction of high yielding varieties, additional irrigation facilities, a great input flow through fertilizers and pesticides, farm mechanization, credit facilities and other rural infrastructure facilities ushered in the green revolution. The food grains area under irrigation as a percentage to its total sown area has been increased from 20.9 to 51.2%, rice irrigated area from 36.5 to 58.3%, wheat from 43.1 to 93.4%, pulses from 9.4 to 18.6%, oilseeds from 3.7 to 28.6% during the period from 1965-66 to 2013-14 (DES, 2015). Despite the net sown area being stagnant around 140.80 M ha, gross cropped area has been increased significantly from 155.28 M ha in 1965-66 to 195.25 M ha in 2011-12 due to increase in net irrigated area from 26.34 to 65.26 M ha (Fig. 1), gross irrigated area from 30.90 to 91.53 M ha during the period. There has been a sharp decline in average size of operational land holdings. The scope for expansion of the area available for cultivation has become limited. The average size of holdings for all operational classes (small & marginal, medium and large) have declined over the years and for all classes put together it has come down to 1.16 ha in 2010-11 from 2.28 ha in 1970-71. Therefore, it is the urgent need to use the natural resource like water efficiently and in a sustainable manner.

Introduction

In the post-world trade organization (WTO) era, the fantastic imagination of “one world for self-reliance”, has been shattered by the Corona induced calamity and the expansionists approach of a few rouge nations. Though the global welfare and peace has always been part of Indian traditional philosophy, approach and the concept of self-reliance, the practical boundary of self-reliance in its present context, starts from the country level itself. The idea of self-reliance at multiple levels (individual, family, society, and nation) has driven human civilization for most of its efforts, inventions and actions across the world.

A very high dependency of a large number of population on the natural resources in the developing world calls for proper management of natural resources for self-reliance. Since the early days of civilization, natural resources in the form of land, soil, water, biodiversity and climate have remained the very basis of supporting and sustaining life of human beings, plants and animals on the earth. However, in recent times intensive use and over-exploitation of pristine resources have robbed them of their legendry resilience. To effectively tackle the complex problems and to fulfil basic needs of livelihood, food security, poverty, employment, equity and environmental services, efficient and judicious utilization of natural resources for enhanced and sustained productivity is a matter of serious concern for policy makers, planners, scientists, conservationists and environmentalists.

Edible oil scenario

Vegetable oil or edible oil is the main source of energy in humans and it also supplies nutrients for growth and maintenance of human body. Edible oil demand in India has been increasing progressively since last one decade, primarily due to population growth, improved standard of living and also changes in food habits. Presently, the area under oil seed production is between 26 and 27 million ha with an average yield of 1000 to 1100 kg ha^-1. This accounts to 7.5 to 8.0 million tonnes of vegetable oil production locally, as against the current demand of 22.5 to 23 million tonnes per annum.

Introduction

It is known and well documented that ‘biological diversity’ (i.e. diversity within species, between species and within ecosystems) has been declining at a much faster rate than earlier time in human history. The current rate of extinction is tens to hundred times higher than the average over the past 10 million years and it is accelerating (IPBES, 2019). The estimates of the number of species getting extinct every year vary from low (200 to 2,000) to high (10,000 and 100,000) (Bar-On et al., 2018). The delicate balance of clean air, water and biodiversity in nature which helps in survival on earth, is rapidly being destroyed due to humans’ activity like growing of food, producing energy, dispose of waste and consume resources (IPBES, 2019). The current human population of the world (7.6 billion) represents only 0.01% of all living creatures and attributed to be instrumental in causing loss of 83% of all wild mammals and half of plants (IPBES, 2019). These unprecedented changes in important components of biodiversity are likely to continue or increase in the foreseeable future, unless we take active corrective measures (IPBES, 2019).

Whilst all biodiversity has intrinsic economic or social value, it is the ‘agricultural biodiversity’ (‘agrobiodiversity’ in short) that has the greatest importance for food nutrition and health security of humans. The FAO has recently defined biodiversity for food and agriculture (BFA) as a subset of biodiversity that contributes primarily to agriculture and food production (FAO, 2019). It includes the domesticated plants and animals raised in crop, livestock, forest and aquaculture systems, harvested forest and aquatic species, the wild relatives of domesticated species, other wild species harvested for food and other products. It also encompasses “associated biodiversity”