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Newer technologies involve fermentation by specific strains of lactic acid bacteria which bring specific fermentation under controlled conditions to a specific fermented product with enhanced organoleptic, nutritional and therapeutic qualities. Today health is of primary concern. It is important to have nutritionally balanced food with good bacteria. For this, probiotic foods top the list. The functional food concept was initially developed in Japan in 1990‘s as there were many side effects of allopathic medicines. A regulatory system has been initiated by the ministry of health and welfare to approve certain foods to improve health. These are now recognized as Foods for specialized health use (FOSHU). According to American dietic association (ADA) these foods are potential healthful food or food ingredients that may provide health benefits beyond the traditional nutrients. Probiotics are beneficial microorganisms. Probiotic foods as yogurt and sauerkraut are very well known. Fermentation increases the nutrient content and taste with the shelf life.

Even since, the man adopted plant cultivation; he attempted various methods of propagation. In ancient time, the only source of plant multiplication was by seeds. Hence, techniques for higher seed germination, improved seed vigour were developed by giving pre-treatment. However, as the knowledge advanced and demands for having true to type plants was realized to man shifted his cultivation practices for some plants from seed to vegetative propagation such as cutting, layering and grafting. The use of cuttings, corm, bulbs, tubers  for multiplication were known to ancient peoples as mentioned in old literature. This method also gave an edge to conserve the genetic gain once developed in a cultivar, since all vegetatively multiplied plants will have some genome and will produce true to type plants. Thus, the development of vegetative propagation method because it is easy method to multiply plants on large scale and develop uniform quality produce.

The term ‘Spices and Condiments’ applies to such natural plant or vegetable products or mixtures thereof, used in whole or ground form, mainly for imparting flavour, aroma and pungency to food. They are low volume high value crops which play a pivotal role in our national economy and provide a strong footing in the international market. According to the latest report of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), there are about 109 spices grown in different parts of the world. India grows about 52 of them. The list of those spices with botanical and English names which come under the purview of Spices, Board, Ministry of Commerce, Government of India is given in Table 1.

India is famous as the ‘Land of Spices’ world over. Spices are nature’s gift to humankind for flavoring our food. They are also used as preservative and in pharmaceuticals. India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of seed spices and their value added products. About 63 different spice crops are cultivated in the country. Among them, seed spices are annual herbs, whose dried seeds or fruits are used as spices. These crops share 21.87% in terms of quantity and 7.42 % in terms of value to total spices export in the country. The country grows a wide variety of seed spices like coriander, cumin, fenugreek and fennel as major crop, while, dill, nigella, ajwain, anise, celery, caraway, parsley, black cumin and few other are categories as the minor seed spices.

Soil acidity is a major constraint for crop production. The production of acid in soils is a natural process, especially in the high rainfall areas. The removal of basic cations especially Ca and Mg, by leaching and erosion results in their replacement by acidic cations, H, Al and Fe on cation exchange sites and in the soil solution, which are in dynamic equilibrium with each other. Soils, that develop from weathered granite are likely to be more acidic than those developed from shale or limestone. Organic matter decay produces H+ in soils, which also contribute to soil acidity. Intensive cropping and use of hybrid & high yielding crop varieties remove large quantities of basic elements essential for their growth i.e. Ca, Mg and K & deplete the soils. Rate of acidification is also accelerated by  faulty fertilizer (especially Nitrogen) management practices.

Cell culture has become one of the major tools used in the life sciences today. Viruses replicate only within the living cells. With the advent of cell culture technique, it has become easier to grow the viruses under in vitro condition (cell culture). Viruses are usually propagated in cell culture, embryonated hen’s egg, laboratory animals or natural hosts. In 1949, Enders, Weller and Robbins first reported that polio virus could be grown in cultured non-neural cells with the production of recognizable cytopathic changes. Although the cell culture technique has been evolved long back, it is only since the advent of antibiotics that cell culture became a matter of simple routine technique. Aseptic precautions are still essential, but the problems of contamination with bacteria, mycoplasma, fungi and yeasts can be checked by antibiotics and anti-fungal agents. The term in vitro literally means ‘in glass’ although today most cell culture is performed in or on plastic.

Agriculture encounters a complex dynamic system of natural conditions. The meteorological factors among these natural conditions play a pivotal role so far as agriculture is concerned. The rate of growth and development of a bio-system is largely depending upon its ambient temperature and moisture. The plant productivity per unit area, total production, quality of the produce, operational efficiency as well as econometrics are solely governed by the meteorological parameters. Therefore, their through understanding including the computation and the measurement techniques is absolutely essential. It is no less important to have sufficient workable information on weather phenomena as well as climatic resources to determine realizable potential and an appropriate solution for a number of problems faced in agriculture.

Weeds are the plants which grow where they are not wanted or simply plants growing out of place. A plant may be desirable in one situation and a weed in another situation. Those plants that interfere with human activity in crop and non-crop areas are considered weeds. Weeds compete with crops for soil nutrients, water and light; they host insects and plant pathogens harmful to crop plants, and their root exudates and/or leaf leachates may be toxic to crop plants. Weeds also hinder crop harvest and increase the costs of such operations. In addition, at harvest, weed seeds often contaminate the crop produce. Thus, the presence of weeds in crop areas reduces the efficiency of inputs such as fertilizer and irrigation water, enhances the density of other pest organisms, and finally severely reduces crop yield and quality (Labrada and Parker 1999).  Weeds are serious menace in crop production.

Abiotic stresses are major constraints for many crop plants in specific areas over the globe which limits the crop production. Dudal (1976) estimated that only 10% of world’s arable land may be categorized as free from stress. The rapid change in environmental conditions likely to override the adaptive potential of plants, this environmental changes mainly originated from anthropogenic activities, which has caused soil and air pollution, plant are exposed to natural climatic or edaphic stresses, such as, high irradiation, heat, chilling, freezing, drought, excess water and waterlogging and nutrient imbalance. Among abiotic stresses drought is the main abiotic factor as it affects 26% of arable area (Table 1.1). Water stress is a single most severe, limitation to the productivity of rice in the rainfed ecosystem (Widawgky and O’Toole, 1990). Mineral toxicity/deficiencies are second in importance. Among mineral toxicity, salinity is wide spread and is estimated to affect 10% of the world land surface (Richards, 1995).

All living organisms are basically made up of chemical components. The chemistry, composition and energy management of living organisms is what we call biochemistry. It tries to explain life processes at the molecular level. Although different organisms differ outwardly in their life processes, there are striking similarities in executing the different tasks. Genetic code, metabolic pathways, enzymes, coenzymes and even regulatory mechanisms are similar to a large extent in all the living organisms. Living organisms have certain extraordinary properties. They can grow, respond to stimuli and replicate themselves with high fidelity. All these activities are ultimately interpretable in chemical terms. The components that constitute organisms are all inanimate. The lifeless organic molecules with appropriate complexity and properties make a living being.

Biochemistry helps us understand how the inanimate molecules that constitute living organisms interact with each other to maintain life. The basic life processes or the biochemistry remains broadly the same in either the unicellular microorganism or the higher organisms such as the plants or the human beings. Life is nothing but thousands of ordered chemical reactions. In other words, chemistry is the logic of all biological phenomena.

Some cyanobacteria (Blue-green algae) like Nostoc are known to work as one of the two coponenents (photosynthetic partner or phycoboint) of lichens. The second partner of lichen is a lichen fungus or mycobiont. The lichens have not been described as a therapeutic agent in Charak Samhita, the monumental work on materia medica prepared by great Acharya Charak and his group in India more than three thousand years ago. However, these have been used in folklore medicine in many countries of the world and have been regarded to bear antibacterial properties (Katiyar and Katiyar, 2009). They are found in tundra even, the treeless plain of the arctic regions of Russia, Siberia, marshy in summer and frozen hard in winter. It is common to see gunny bags full of lichens for sale in the Masala market near Kesa House, Express Canal Road, at Kanpur. They also comprise a part of meat masala (spices for meat). There are references that Raja (King) Todarmal studied algae in relation to purification of water.

However, the search for antibiotics began in the late 1800s, with the growing acceptance of the germ theory of diseases; a theory which linked bacteria and other microbes to the causation of a variety of ailments. As a result, scientists began to devote time searching for drugs that would kill these disease-causing bacteria.

The concern for nature and the focuss for all things which are basic and natural has been spearheading to a green movement of everything natural and nature-based consumer products all over the world. God has given diseases and remidies also in the nature only we have to properly find out. In today’s world of consumer boom, the role of essential oils has increased many folds. Uptil now known applications of essential oils, more and more areas are opening up which will benefit the industry. Use of essential oils in therapeutics is becoming popular in India, China, Japan and European countries. Aromatherapy involves the use of essential oils and aromatics derived from plants to cure diseases. These plants are known as aromatic plants. Aromatic plants possess odorous volatile substances which occur as essential oil, gum exudate, balsam and oleoresin in one or more parts, namely, root, wood, bark, stem, foliage, flower and fruit. The characteristic aroma is due to a variety of complex chemical compounds. The term essential oil is concomitant to fragrance or perfumes because these fragrances are oily in nature and they represent the essence or the active constituents of the plants. They are called volatile or ethereal oils as they evaporate when exposed to air at ordinary temperatures. Essential oils are highly concentrated, low volume, high value products.

Reproduction is one of the most serious biological problems that markedly influence the efficiency of livestock production. Immunology is a powerful tool for studying both normal fertility and infertility of farm animals. Reproductive immunology is in turn is an important tool for unlocking normal fertility problems and various forms of infertility or reproductive disorders. Although the immune and reproduction systems have been considered independent of each other, the cooperation of both the systems is crucial for initiation and maintenance of mammalian pregnancy. Therefore, reproductive immunology has now become a mature discipline and a major theme during advances in the field of reproductive immunology is to explain the successful gestation of the histcompatable mammalian embryos within the uterus of its immunologically competent mother.
 
Immune responses play an important role in various reproductive processes, including ovulation, menstruation and parturition. Clearly, during pregnancy, when the mother must accept a semi-allogeneic foetus, immune responses also play a very important role which  was first recognized by Medawar in 1953, when the concept of the foetal allograft was presented in order to explain the immunological relationship between mother and foetus. Since then, the immunology of pregnancy has been the leading subject within reproductive immunology research.

India is fortunate in terms of natural wealth, which is manifested in its great plants diversity. Since time immemorial medicinal plants nature hidden and to a large extent unexplored treasure has been used virtual in all human cultures around the country. The wide spread use of herbal remedies and health care preparation from commonly used traditional herb and medicinal plants as those described in ancient texts such as Vedas, the Quran and the Bible have been traced to the occurrence of natural products with medicinal properties. Ancient people used plants as purgatives, sedatives, antitussives, and to alleviate a wide range of ailments such as fever and insanity. According to WHO, 3.5 billion people in developing countries use plant based medicines for their primary health care. WHO also indicates that over 30% of the world’s plants species have at one time or another been used for medicinal purpose.
 
The people of India have been using thousands of medicinal plants for curing various diseases suggesting that Ayurveda has been widely use to maintain human health. Ancient Indian medicinal heritage is based on 7000 plant species and about 8000 herbal remedies have been codified in the Ayurveda. Plants in Ayurveda have Sanskrit names the synonyms; each plant may have synonyms ranging from five to hundred.

Answer the followings
    Q.1.    What is mastitis?
    Ans.    It may be defined as inflammation of mammary parenchyma and characterized by physiochemical changes in the milk and pathological changes of the glandular tissue.
    Q.2.    What are the cardinal changes of milk and udder in mastitis?
    Ans.    Changes of milk includes discoloration, presence of clot, and presence of huge leukocytes whereas, mammary gland becomes hot painful swelling and induration.
    Q.3.    What is sub clinical mastitis?
    Ans.    In subclinical mastitis, normally mammary gland is normal by physical examination; however, cellular constitution only indicates presence of mastitis (i.e. increased somatic cell count).
    Q.4.    What is the basis of diagnosis of sub clinical mastitis?
    Ans.    Diagnosis sub clinical mastitis depends largely on indirect tests which are related to leukocyte content of milk.

Introduction

Pomegranate is emerging as one of the important fruit crops owing to its hardiness and ability to withstand adverse soil and climatic conditions. Today out of world production of ten Lakh tons; India contributes 40-45 percent. Currently the export of pomegranate is around 10,000 tones, which is just 5 percent of the total export. With the increase in population the domestic demand of fruits has also increased substantially. As on date out of total area of 1,25,000 ha. area, under pomegranate major area under the crop is found in the state of Maharashtra. The state has 85,000 ha. (68 % area) under the crop, of which only 51,000 ha is under production, followed by Karnataka 12,727 ha. Gujarat 3,787 ha. up to 2003 –2004.

Toxicology is defined as the study of chemical or physical agents which interact with biologic systems to produce a response in the organisms. Toxicity is the relative ability of a substance to cause injury to biologic tissue. Given the broad range of toxicities any substance might eventually invoke in an organism, it is easy to understand the wisdom of Paracelsus (1493-1541) when he said, “All substances are poisons; there is none which is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison and a remedy”.

Toxicology is the study of the harmful effects of chemical compounds on biologic systems, including their properties, actions, and effects. The toxic agent is referred to as a toxicant or poison. The term toxin refers to poisons produced by a biologic source (eg, venoms, plant toxins); the redundant term biotoxin is occasionally used. Toxicosis, poisoning, and intoxication are synonymous terms for the disease produced by a toxicant. Toxicity (sometimes incorrectly used instead of poisoning) refers to the amount of a toxicant necessary to produce a detrimental effect. Hazard describes the likelihood of poisoning under conditions of use.

Food is basic to human being and agriculture is the catalyst between the two which is basically supported by natural resources. The human being is entirely dependant on food and food is fully dependent on agriculture and humanity. Eventhough food, agriculture and humanity have their own entity; they are inseparable for the survival and existence of each other. Hence, the three pillars of food, agriculture and humanity forming a triangle symbolize the roots of human civilization.

I find myself fortunate to have the opportunihj to live and experience the working life of the farmers and the farming in Kansas (USA), Nigeria (Africa), Saudi Arabia and Yemen (Middle East), Italy (Europe) and India, Myanmar and Thailand (Asia). It zvas fiirther strengthened by visits to farmers in another about 100 countries. Day after day and month after month and even years, it made me to realize that community culture, language and farming in each state, country and continent are different from each other but some things are common and that they are all doing farming, they are growing food and they all doing for the livelihood of their families, neighbors and communities near and far (Nath, 2011).

The foundation of agriculture is laid on available natural resources e.g. land, water, sunlight, air, plant, animal and human beings. The human beings, being the leader to manage the resources have contributed to redefine agricultural science and promote and develop technology. This has led to augment agriculture and its science and technology. At the end, the human efforts have brought about changes and improved agriculture production at the cost of excessive use of natural resources, knowing well that without natural resources, without good soil and water hardly anything will survive.

Presently world produces enough to feed the present human population, but it is not available to millions of people. It is not the lack of availability of food but is the unequal distribution and lack of entitlement which are causing hunger and malnutrition in millions of population.

Twenty first century is the century of entrepreneurship and every individual can be an agent for innovation and change. Entrepreneurship is regarded as one of the most crucial factors in the economic development of every region of the country. It widens the horizons of economic development even in the socially and industrially backward regions. Dynamic entrepreneurs are considered to be the agent of change in a society. Entrepreneurs play a very important role in generating new employment and setting up new business. The problem of poverty, inequality and regional imbalances can be tackled with the development of entrepreneurship. However, in all economic development activities more and more focus is being centered on entrepreneurship of the people. Entrepreneur has been now recognized as a concept, not only for starting industries but also in the development of dairy enterprise. In India, it is believed that tremendous latent entrepreneurial talent exists which, if properly harnessed, could help in solving many of the serious problems facing the country.

Seed technology is defined as “that discipline of study having to do with seed production, maintenance quality and preservation (Cowan, 1973).

Feistritzer (1975) has defined seed technology as the method through which the genetic and physical characteristic of seeds could be improved. It involves such activities as variety development, evaluation and release, seed production, seed processing, seed storage, seed testing, seed certification, seed quality control and seed marketing etc.

So seed technology in widest sense, includes development of superior crop plant varieties, their evaluation and release, seed production, seed processing, seed storage, seed testing, seed certification, seed quality control, seed marketing, seed distribution and the related research on these aspects,

The major goal of seed technology is to increase agricultural production through the spread of good quality seeds of high yielding varieties. To achieve this goal, the quality seeds must be rapidly multiplied and supplied to the farmers at proper time with the reasonable price.

1.    The term Horticulture is derived from two Latin words  Hortus meaning = Garden and Cultura meaning = Cultivation.

2.    In ancient days the gardens had protected enclosures with high walls or similar structures surrounding the houses.

3.    The enclosed places were used to grow fruit, vegetables, flowers and ornamental plants. Therefore, in original sense “Horticulture refers to cultivation of garden plant within protected enclosures”.

Definition: Horticulture is the branch of science which deals the cultivation, utilization and management of horticultural crops eg. fruits, vegetables, flowers, spices, plantations, medicinal and aromatic plants.

1. GEOLOGY

Geology : Earth Science

 Geo = Earth + Logos = Science

 Def : The science which investigates the history of the earth is known as geology.

 Following are the important branches of geology.

1.Coal Geology : it is related with natural gas, coal deposits and their formation.

2.Crystallography : includes the crystal and atomic structure of the mineral. 3. Drilling Technology : it is related with the cores, core logging and coorelation of the lithology.

4.Engineering Geology and Surveying : it is related with engineering aspects of the earth.

John William Harshberger codified ethnobotany as ‘the study of plants used by primitive and aboriginal people ‘in a popular lecture on 4 December 1895. Later it was published in the Botanical Gazette in 1896 and now he is regarded as “Father of Ethnobotany”. Subsequently, Walter Fewkes (1896) adopted the word ethnobotany after Harshberger for the title of a research paper. Another term ‘Arboriginal Botany’ coined by Steven Powers (1873- 1875) was in use for about two decades before Harsh Berger. In brief, “Ethnobotany is the study of interrelations between primitive human cultures and the plants and animals in its environment, which is regarded as the branch of ethnobiology”. There are some other definitions of ethnobotany by various authors:

Jones (1941) defined as “Ethnobotany is the study of interrelationship between man and vegetation”.

Faulks (1958) considered it as “The total relationship between man and vegetation” in his book entitled “An Introduction to Ethnobotany” It was the first book specially published on ethnobotany. Schultes (1962) explained as “Ethnobotany is the study of relationships which exist between people of a primitive society and their plant environment”. Gadgil and Vartak (1976) considered it as “Branch of economic botany which deals with the role of plants in life and culture of arboriginals and tribal people”. Alcorn (1984) states “It is the study of contextualized plant use”. Wickens (1990) defined ethnobotany as “The study of useful plants prior to their commercial exploitation and eventual domestication”. According to Ford 1994, ethnobotany is concerned with a wide range of interest of plants in cultural and ecological context as men in his edited book “The Nature and Status of Ethnobotany”. According to Martin 1995, ethnobotany is the part of ethnoecology, which concerns plants. Turner 1996 was given the appropriate definition “the science of people’s interaction with plants”. In context of Indian ethnobotany the first book published by Jain, S.K., 1981 entitled “Glimpses of Indian Ethnobotany” and Dr. Jain (2001) defined ethnobotany as “It deals with the study of total natural and traditional interrelationship between man and plants and his environment”.

Agriculture continues to be the occupation and way of life for more than half of the Indian population even today. Sustainable prosperity of this class-the farmers, the landless agricultural labourers holds the key for improving the overall human resource development scenario in the country. Indian agriculture had been on traditional lines till the first waves of Green Revolution gave a sudden boost to the production and productivity of major cereals in the assured irrigated areas. Quick dissemination of technological information from the agriculture research system to the farmers in the field and reporting of farmers feed back to the research system is one of the critical inputs in transfer of agricultural technology. The information and communication support during last 50 years has mainly been conventional. The extension personnel of the departments of agriculture disseminated the technological message to the farmers through personal approach. This approach has not been able to reach and satisfy majority of the farmers who are spread across the whole country with varied interests. This gap remains a challenge for the Extension System even today.

To reach over 110 million farmers, spread over 500 districts and over 6000 blocks is an uphill task. The diversity of agro-ecological situations adds to this challenge further. The success of Green revolution was mainly achieved due to concerted homogenous extension strategy. Farmer’s needs are much more diversified and the knowledge required to address them is beyond the capacity of the grass root level extension functionaries.

There are basically two aspects of extension: the education function which aims to help farmers gain knowledge, acquire skills and change attitudes for their own benefit; and the communication function which transfers information about suitable technologies to farmers and growers and offers them alternative solutions to improve their situations. The aim is to transform the information into knowledge timely and accurately to create an environment for farmers to use it. IT will be indispensable in transferring information between research and extension organizations.

Over the past 12,000 years Homo sapiens have moved from the hunter–gatherer life-style to settled agriculture to advanced civilization in urban society with improved quality of life. Livestock has played an important role as an instrument of bringing out this change. Farmers all over the world, attach great importance to livestock ownership as a source of nutrition, as a mechanism for capital accumulation, and concomitantly, as a symbol of wealth and status in the community. Just as in today’s society, money is used to exchange goods and services, livestock including goats used to play the same role in times gone by. Most farmers consider livestock as a important resource for income generation. Livestock sector plays a significant role in supplementing family income and generating gainful employment in the rural sector, particularly among the landless, marginal and small farmers and women, besides providing cheap nutritional food to millions of people. History indicates that livestock has been not only a resource, but also an instrument of dominance and a source of conflict in the society. Livestock especially small ruminants have often served as a means for exchange of goods and services and thus becoming increasingly important in the growth of agriculture in developing economies.

Livestock species which man domesticated for improving the quality of human life include goat, sheep, cattle, buffalo, pig, poultry, horses and camels. Among these goats were the first among livestock species domesticated by man. Goats are among the smallest domesticated ruminants and have served mankind longer than cattle or sheep. Goat is an important source of meat, milk, skin, fiber and manure since then. Traditionally goats have been an important source of income generation among small households. Goats have been used to buy salt, cloth and groceries in many communities. Goats provide a large part of the cash income for smallholder farmers. Goats are friendly animals; with proper attention they maintain good health and can be managed easily even by children.

Sailors and other explorers out on the high seas kept goats as a ready stock of meat & milk on long voyages. Captain Cook’s goat had already sailed around the world before it entered on its first voyage with Cook, and helped save everyone on board the ship from scurvy. Goats are some times kept as pet or companion animal. Their use as pet is common in European countries especially U.K. Some owners keep goats for purpose of goat shows.

The term hydrogeomorphology can be divided into three terms hydro- means water including both surface and groundwater; geo- means the earth and morphology- is the surface expression of the features in the form of landforms. This means that the hydrogeomorphology is dealing with the aspects of water, rocks and earth’s morphological features (land). Of these water and land are most important natural resources for human beings.

Water is synonymous with life. This is a natural resource and an absolute necessity for the survival of the living beings. Human beings have an organic relationship with water. For living and livelihood, human beings solely depend upon the availability of water. They have an inalienable right on water. This is a community resource and cannot be made a tradable commodity, violating normative law of nature. Water is among the most precious gifts of nature to mankind. Most of the ancient towns of the world grew on the banks of the river, and some of the ancient civilizations are known by the names of rivers. Rivers have always been important sources of drinking water and the means of sustaining human, animal and plant life. Whenever one is dealing with water resources development and utilization, it has to be kept in mind that not only quantity of water but also quality of water is very important. The well being and development of our society is dependent on the availability of water.

Vegetables are rich source of nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Phytochemical contents in vegetables and their strong antioxidant potential in scavergering ree radicals have generated tremendous attention among the consumers. Consumption of vegetables has significant health-promoting effect and can reduce the incidence of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and various other degenerative diseases. Human health, in recent years, has assumed an unprecedented status. The rising population levels, increase in mental stress and changes in dietary habits have resulted in various forms of degenerative diseases including cardiovascular, cancer and ageing. As a result, there has been an alarming explosion in consumers’ interest in health. In recent past, tremendous progress has been made for increasing vegetable production in the country. India has emerged as the second largest producer of vegetables next to China. During 2000-2001, India produced 93.92 million tonnes of vegetables from 6.24 million ha of land, accounting a productivity of 15.0 tonnes/ha. During 1991-1992, total vegetable production was 58.54 million tonnes from 5.59 million ha of land, with productivity of 10.5 tonnes/ha. Thus, in last one decade country has multiplied its vegetable production one-and-a-half times. Presently, India’s share is more than 13.60%. Our country will need to produce 215 million tonnes vegetables by 2015 to meet the demand of domestic and export markets. The increase in vegetable production by increasing area under vegetable cultivation is limited due to continued decrease of land holdings. Hence, it is essential to increase vegetable productivity to fulfill country’s requirements for food and nutritional security and poverty alleviation.

1.1 Introducution

Growing of vegetables is one of the most profitable allied activities of agriculture especially in small-medium land holdings and with limited water resources. Use of improved varieties and hybrids is very critical to make smaller land holdings profitable. Seeds of improved varieties and hybrids not only increase income to the tune of more than 30% but also reduce the use of plant protection chemicals. India being the second largest producer of vegetables in the world with 6.2 m ha of land and 85m MT production-use of improved seed is very important. The annual requirement of vegetables is estimated to be over 135m MT which can be only achieved through use of quality seed. India is predominantly vegetarian country and depends upon vegetables for their nutrients and minerals.

Vegetable cultivation is labour intensive, gives high returns and ensures nutritional security. To ensure these the supply of quality seed is very vital. Apart from seed production, its processing for seed quality to give the end user is of high importance. Unlike seed processing of field crops, vegetable seed processing is very technology driven since the volume is less and involve costly material. Improved processing efficiency brings more income for the grower and seller. The vegetable seed being low volume needs better technology for upgrading, size grading, blending, conditioning, processing, treatment and packaging. Vegetable seed processing is set of activities as mentioned here each of having a special focus on the quality.

1.1 Importance of Food Process Engineering

Food occupies the first position among the hierarchal needs of human beings. It is more important than shelter and clothing. After production and be forec on sumpti on, food commodities are subjected to nume rous unfavourable physical, chemical, microbial or parasitic factors which may cause their spoilage or disease when consumed. To prevent such spoilage, a process engineer has to understand these and provide remedial measures. The two primary goals of processing operation are first to minimize post harvest losses and second value addition of raw food commodities through preservation and processing.

Present level of production of different types of food commodities and their estimated post-harvest losses along with monetary values are given in Table 1.1. It shows that various food items get lost, to the tune of 65 million tonnes, worth Rs. 76,000 crores per annum, during post-harvest phase. A substantial amount of these losses could be prevented if appropriate agro processing centers, having backward linkage with farmers to ensure constant supply of quality raw food materials, are established and operated. Profit generated through value addition must also be shared with farmers, who are only people in the world to create wealth every year, in the form of food, fiber and other commodities necessary for human survival. It can bring sea change in rural areas, where 65-70% population live, in respect of economy, health and happiness.

It sounds simple, but the above process is fairly complex and requires lot of coordination in order to succeed. The major challenge is to minimize the losses during the various post harvest operations and keep the food as fresh as possible. In order to do so, one must first try to understand the various causes of post harvest losses of food commodities and the various factors that influence theses causes. Secondly, we must use those food processing operations that will not only extend the shelf life of the produce but also convert the raw food commodities to more acceptable product to the consumer.

Association of human beings with plants is much older than the dawn of civilization. Use of plants as source of food, cloth and shelter started first for fulfilling basic needs. Aesthetic use by way of growing flowers and ornamental plants came much later. Gradually, it was felt that ornamental plants need to be grown in a systematic manner and that yielded the concept of designing gardens. With the advancement of time, gardening styles metamorphosed in various ways influenced by climatic conditions, geographic locations, rulers and most predominantly by people. At present, plants and gardens are part and parcel of our daily life. The scope of developing gardens is simply enormous, be it home, office, institute, temple, factory, ‘samadhi sthal’ etc. Growing plants and developing gardens are now considered a necessity wherever scope exists.

Preserving the productivity of agricultural land over a long term requires sustainable food production. Sustainability is achieved through alternative agricultural practices informed by in-depth knowledge of the ecological processes occurring in farm fields and the larger landscape of which they are a part. From this foundation, we can move towards the social and economic changes that promote sustainability of all sectors of the food system. Sustainability means different things to different people, but there is a general agreement that it has an ecological basis.

In recent years, all eyes seem to be focused on visions of the future. High-tech, bio-tech, and info-tech are the key words most frequently used among those who are concerned with future agriculture development. Many also forecast increasing vertical integration of production, processing distribution functions-including activities from molecular level to consumer preference i.e. from seed to table, thus increasing dependence on biotechnology and information technology at all levels in world agriculture.

Conventional farming systems vary from farm to farm and from country to country. However, they share many common characteristics viz.,rapid technological innovation; large capital investments in order to apply production and management technology; large-scale farms; single crops/ row crops grown continuously over many seasons; uniform high-yielding hybrid crops; extensive use of pesticides, fertilizers, and external energy inputs; high labour efficiency; and dependency on agribusiness. In the case of livestock, most production comes from confined, concentrated systems.

Agricultural development in independent India can be divided into 3 distinct phases. The phase I started during 1950, wherein local cultivars, indigenous technology, green manuring being the inputs and the expected output was quite low. Alarming rise in the population rate forced the scientists to think of alternatives to the local cultivars with higher response to fertilizers & jump in yield levels. This marked the beginning of phase-II (1965), wherein high yielding varieties, fertilizers, mechanistion & irrigation were used as the inputs and production increase was lucrative. And this phase was popularly called as ‘Green Revolution’ phase in the History of Indian Agriculture. But after 20-25 years the impact of high input technology was reflected in the degradation of agro-ecosystem & once again forced the scientists to think of a viable option to keep intact the resource base & to harvest more/sustain yield levels to feed the burgeoning population. This being the third phase is popularly called as phase of sustainable agriculture organic farming phase started from 1980’s onwards. This gave an impetus to environmentalists, to think seriously regarding protection of the ecosystem.

Microbiology

Study of microorganisms, a large and diverse group of microscopic organisms, that exist as single cell or cluster. It also includes virus, which are microscopic, but not cellular.

Sustainable development and efficient management of water is an increasingly complex challenge in India. Increasing population, growing urbanization, and rapid industrialization combined with the need for raising agricultural production generates competing claims for water. There is a growing perception of a sense of an impending water crisis in the country. Some manifestations of this crisis are:

(a) Increasing costs of developing new water resource – Many major and medium irrigation projects seem to remain under execution forever as they slip from one plan to the other with escalating cost and time overruns.

(b) Siltation of reservoirs and owing to lack of maintenance, the capacity of the older irrigation systems seems to be going down.

(c) Declining groundwater table due to over-exploitation imposing an increasing financial burden on farmers who need to deepen their wells and replace their pump sets and on State Governments whose subsidy burden for electricity supplies rises.

(d) Water pollution and degradation of water-related ecosystems - Water in most parts of rivers is not fit for bathing, let alone drinking. Untreated or partially treated sewage from towns and cities is being dumped into the rivers. Untreated or inadequately treated industrial effluents pollute water bodies and also contaminate groundwater,

(e) Wasteful use of already developed water supplies, often encouraged by the subsidies and distorted incentives that influence water use,

(f) Besides in many rural habitations there are pockets where arsenic, nitrate, and fluoride concentration in drinking water are posing a serious health hazard

(g) Rise in water-logging and salinity resulting in degradation of soils in irrigated areas,

(h) Increasing water conflicts about water rights between upper and lower riparian states in a river, conflicts about quality of water, people’s right for rainwater harvesting in a watershed against downstream users, industrial use of groundwater and its impact on water tables and conflicts between urban and rural users etc

(i) The gross irrigated area does not seem to be rising in a manner that it should be, given the investment in irrigation. The difference between potential created and area actually irrigated remains large. Unless we bridge the gap, significant increase in agricultural production will be difficult to realize.

Human beings have been concerned about the concept of food safety since time immorial. Around the globe there has been major improvement in food safety management in the last twenty years. Looking into the progress made on the ways to make food safe and how to make them free from pathogens, this book, will explain food hygiene, the journey of research been taken in food safety till date and the challenges that we are going to face in future to ensure food safety and its wholesomeness. It also includes the role and responsibilities of the various sectors of society, namely governments, food industry, consumers and academia.

In the beginning of the twentieth century many modern food safety policies have been established. In the packing of meat and in food processing industries a lot of work has been done (Sinclair 1906). Another second generation policy includes the outbreak in the United States in early 1990s’ of pathogen E. coli O157:H7 and the BSE scandal of the late 1990s in the UK Lopman et al., (2003) have discussed on viral outbreak in europe. Currently, the crisis has come due to the economic and technological transformations which have taken place in food and the food supply system. As these changes have many health risks the public is very concerned. Therefore, the control forms of safety regulation and food safety laws have come into the picture. These policies include continuous line inspection, visual product inspection and detailed specification of approved hygiene practices. There is a need of a public health-focused policy which works towards the preventive integrated management of foodborne hazards from farm to table. This includes the use of modern science based risk management tools which will increase the efficiency accurately towards public health. A lot needs to be worked out for better implications. Current efforts to modernize food safety policy around the world are being worked out by the use of risk analysis and cost-benefit analysis in public administration and also the quality management in industry. The role of public economics plays an important role in food safety policies. For the social benefits the policy makers need to take decision on the costs and strengthening of the risk assessment. Today there are globalized markets and this can influence the health globally. Emerging economies like China are industrializing and urbanizing rapidly like that of Europe and North America.

Climate Change has emerged as one of the most serious environmental concerns of recent times. The most imminent climatic change is increase in atmospheric temperature due to increased levels of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O) and hydrochlorofluoro carbons (HCFCs). Because of increasing concentrations of the greenhouse gases in atmosphere, there is much concern about future changes in the climate system viz., Atmosphere, Lithosphere, Biosphere, Hydrosphere and Cryosphere. Direct or indirect effects on the society linked sectors like water, forestry, agriculture, animal agriculture, fisheries, land and marine biodiversity and health due to climate change/variability are many-fold and economic impact of climate change is enormous. The recurrent drought and desertification threaten seriously the livelihood of over 1.2 billion people who depend on land for most of their needs. The global economy has adversely been influenced due to droughts and floods, cold and heat waves, forest fires, landslips and mudslips, icestorms, duststorms, hailstorms, thunder clouds associated with lightning and cloudbursts, unusual rains and the sea level rise (Fig.1.1). Increase in aerosols (atmospheric pollutants) due to emission of greenhouse gases including black carbon and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs), Ozone depletion and UV-B filtered radiation, eruption of volcanoes, the “human hand” in deforestation in the form of forest fires and loss of wetlands in the process of imbalanced development are causal factors for climate variability and change. The carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration was in the steady state at 280 ppm till the pre industrial period (1850). It was rising since then at the alarming rate due to industrialization and burning of fossil fuels and the concentration of carbon dioxide is almost currently touching more than 400 ppm. Global increases in CO₂ concentrations are due primarily to fossil fuel use, with land-use change providing another significant but smaller contribution. The loss of forest cover and wetlands, which normally intercept rainfall and allow it to be absorbed by the soil, causes precipitation to reach across the land, eroding top soil, causing floods and droughts. Paradoxically, the lack of trees also exacerbates drought in dry years by attaining soil to dry out more quickly. For the first time the world over felt the effects of global warming and climate change during the year 1998 in the form of weather related disasters.

Pesticides offer one of the best means of controlling plant diseases and pests and subsequently improving the yield. They have been used since the 19^th century. Pesticides, undoutly are poisonous and their indiscriminate use and abuse may result in ecological imbalance resulting in pest resurgence, aggravation of minor pest, pesticides resistance, environmental pollution, poising serious health hazards to man and animals. However, if used judiciously, following the guide line of Pesticide Action Network (PAN), such problems are not likely to occur, and instead improve crop yield. It is however unfortunate that many of us really lack the insight in Materia Medica of plant diseases and pests and most of the problems have occurred due to misuse and abuse of pesticides for which man is responsible and not the pesticides.

The term “nutraceutical” was coined from “nutrition” and “pharmaceutical” in 1989 by Stephen DeFelice, MD, founder and chairman of the Foundation for Innovation in Medicine (FIM), Cranford, NJ. According to DeFelice, nutraceutical can be defined as, “a food (or part of a food) that provides medical or health benefits, including the prevention and/or treatment of a disease”. In other words, nutraceuticals are chemical or natural feed ingredients which may enhance health by providing a physiological benefit by the provision of basic nutrients. Enzymes, prebiotics, probiotics, yeast and fungal extracts, predigested hydrolyzed carbohydrates and fats, phytogenic additives, acids etc are included in nutraceuticals. However, the term nutraceutical as commonly used in marketing has no regulatory definition.

Human being as a hunter has depended mostly on animal food and some fruits. With the progress of civilization, he settled down and

started agriculture around 7000-10,000 B.C. He started depending on plant grains to take care of his energy and nutritional requirements in addition to animal foods. Initially cereal grains must have mostly accounted for his staple food requirements. Taste and health requirements must have prompted him to diversify his crop production programme. It is this need that must have made him to cultivate oilseeds, fibre and other crops.

Oilseeds, thus, have been under cultivation since antiquity. Rapeseed and sesame have been described in the Indian Sanskrit writings of 2000 BC. Historically, extraction of oil seems to have been a batch process. Seeds kept in gunny bags or boxes were pressed to remove oil. The separated oil on clarification was used for food and non food purposes. The resulting cakes were utilized as animal feed or thrown away into fields which helped in improving the soil fertility. Human beings slowly discovered the uses of oil and other oilseed products for various food and non-food purposes.

There are several species of plants in the world whose oil can be utilized for human consumption. Though around 40 oilseeds are known, only around a dozen oilseed crops have become commercially important. There are ten seed crops and three tree crops. The seed crops are groundnut, rapeseed- mustard, sesame, soybean, sunflower, cottonseed, safflower, niger, castor and linseed. These are mostly annual crops. The three major tree oil crops are palm, olive and coconut.

“Hydrology is the science that treats the waters of the earth, their occurrence, circulation and distribution, their chemical and physical properties, and their reaction with their environment, including their relation with living things. The domain of hydrology embraces the full life history of water on the earth.” (Federal Council for Science and Technology, “Scientific Hydrology”, Washington, 1962)

This definition puts in a nutshell what is most often inadequately done before undertaking exploitation of water resources. In short, it is the scientific inputs that are likely to be missed while planning water resources management projects. It is the “full life history of water” part of the above definition that is of specific relevance to the theme of this book, Isotope Hydrology.

Conventional hydrology is strong on measurement and quantification of different parts of the hydrological cycle (Fig.1.1), be it precipitation, run-off, evaporation, transpiration, infiltration, groundwater dynamics etc. Through chemistry and isotopes, we try to understand the processes themselves in order to delineate the history of that part of the hydrological cycle that is being studied. For example, if we are measuring river flow, we would like to know the contribution of different components; base flow, rainfall run-off and snow melt, if any.

Let’s see what we know and what do not know in the conventional hydrological practice. We know surface waters evaporate, form into clouds and precipitation occurs under favourable weather conditions. What we often do not know is the source of moisture, oceanic or inland.

Plants are used for many purposes apart from food such as industrial products like perfumes, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, food additives, cosmetics and also for rectifying the side effects of allopathic medicines, etc. Interest was taken in the chemical constituents of plants in the very early days of modern science. Plants were used for very many purposes besides providing food, such as for treating medical ailments and for dyeing in textiles.

To the agricultural chemists, any biological organism is ultimately constituted from the elements like C, H, O, N, P, Ca, Mg, S etc. Two or more elements combine to form complex organic compounds such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, enzymes, alkaloids, glycosides, organic acids and many more complex compounds. These biomolecules can be classified into two main major metabolites. (1) Primary metabolites and (2) Secondary metabolites.

Plants are used as medicine since time immemorial. One of the area of Ethnobotany, Ethnopharmacology is considered as the scientific evaluation of traditional medicinal plants (Cotton, 1996). Cox (1994) has suggested that the ethno-directed sampling is most likely to succeed in identifying drugs used in the treatment of gastrointestinal, inflammatory and dermatological complaints. The Plant kingdom is a virtual goldmine of potential drug targets and other active molecules awaiting to be discovered. It has been estimated that only 10 - 15 per cent of the 7,50,000 existing species of higher plants have been surveyed for biologically active compounds. Natural products produced by plants, fungi, bacteria, insects and animals have been isolated as biologically active pharmacophores. Approximately one-third of the top-selling drugs in the world are natural products or their derivatives often with ethnopharmacological background. Moreover, natural products are widely recognized in the pharmaceutical industry for their broad structural diversity as well as their wide range of pharmacological activities.

New medicines have been discovered with traditional, empirical and molecular approaches (Harvey, 1999). The traditional approach makes use of material that has been found by trial and error over many years in different cultures and systems of medicine (Cotton, 1996). Examples include drugs such as morphine , quinine and ephedrine that have been in wide spread use for a long time, and more recently adopted compound such as the antimalarial artemisinin. The empirical approach builds on an understanding of a relevant physiological process and often develops a therapeutic agent from a naturally occurring lead molecule (Verpoorte, 2000). Examples include tubocurarine and other muscle relaxants, propranolol and other adrenoreceptor antagonists, cimetidine and other histamine H₂ receptor antagonists. With the development of molecular biological techniques and the advances in genomics, the majority of drug discovery is currently based on the molecular approach.

Part A

1. Pesticides

A pesticideis defined as anysubstance intended for preventing, destroying, attracting, repelling or controlling pests including unwanted species of plant, or animals duringthe production, storage,transportation, distributionand processing of the food, agricultural commodities or animal's feed or which may be administered to the animals for the control of ectoparasites. Pesticides include insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, acaricides, nematicides, etc.

According to food and agricultural organization (FAO) 1986, the term pesticidehas been defined as“any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing or controlling any pest and includes anysubstance or mixture of substances intended for use as plant growth regulator (PGR), defoliant or desiccant. The term excludes fertilizers and antibiotics or other chemicals administered to animals to stimulate their growth or to modify their reproductive behaviour”. Pesticides are the largest group of poisonous substances that are widely broadcast today.

Meteorology is derived from the Greek word meteoro which means above the earth’s surface; i.e., the atmosphere. The state of the atmosphere experienced at a given time, in any location on the surface of the earth is known as weather. Thus meteorology is the scientific study of the atmosphere or the weather. It is a branch of physics dealing with atmosphere and it is often quoted as the ‘physics of the lower atmosphere’. The main focus of meteorology is to understand the weather processes and forecast the weather. Solar radiation, the air mass and moisture are the three key ingredients that make up weather. The exchange of heat, moisture and momentum between the earth’s surface and the atmosphere determines the characteristic of weather. The observable weather events are known as meteorological phenomena and are defined by a set of variables called weather elements. Atmospheric temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, precipitation, cloudiness, wind and visibility, etc. are examples of such weather elements. The weather elements are not separate entities. They are closely related with each other and are highly variable in nature. Meteorology explains and analyses the changes of these weather elements.

Meteorology

The major subdivisions of meteorology are dynamic meteorology (or atmospheric dynamics) and physical meteorology (or atmospheric physics). The dynamic meteorology is concerned with the analysis and interpretation of the three-dimensional, time-varying, macro scale motions and energy transformations in the atmosphere. The science of dynamic meteorology is meant to develop models based on the hydrodynamic and thermodynamic equations. The physical meteorology is concerned with the processes that alter the physical properties and the chemical composition of air parcels as they move through the atmosphere.

Flowers, the aesthetic creations of God over the earth and symbolize beauty, purity, peace and love. Flowers have been associated with progress and prosperity from ancient times. They have long been associated with each civilization and culture in the world, and are integral part of traditional, religious ceremonies and rituals and no function, from birth till death, are complete without the use of flowers. They play a cardinal role in human behaviour and culture, bringing tranquility and peace of mind. Sensory elements of flowers like fragrance, colour, texture, softness, freshness, etc. influence human psyche in different manner.

From a symbol of love, flowers have transformed into an industry generating both income as well as employment. In the flower industry, significant changes are occurring in the competitive relationships worldwide due to increasing habit of “saying it with flowers” to celebrate major life events, expressing emotions in ways that words are deficient. Estimate of the annual consumption of commercially grown flower vary by source and range from 40-60 billion USD. Global exports over the last few years have grown by more than 10 per cent annually. Flower growing and its value addition viz., essential oils, natural dye extraction, dry flowers, floral ornaments, bouquets and artistic garlands, etc. is associated with variety of employment generation activities. Besides the traditional centres of production, new production centres are also developing.

In the beginning, human kind selected some of the useful wild flowers and brought them to gardens for decoration; mainly used for their floral and other values. The rose, which is an high value flower today, has long history, perhaps older than man. Carnation was grown in Greece during 300 B. C. Orchids were known for their attractive flowers and scent in China about 2500 years ago as mentioned by Confucius. Chrysanthemum is the another oldest flower grown in China as early as 500 B. C. At the time of Confucius, only a wild single-flowered type was known in chrysanthemum. Later on many new varieties arose and in Japan, the flower reached a high stage of development and popularity. From Japan, the chrysanthemum spread to Europe. Now some of the best known modern varieties have been developed in Europe, America, and Australia. Lotus, an aquatic ornamental flower, is native to India and is associated with religion, art and culture of Indian civilization. Eloquent references to the aesthetics of these ornaments are available from ancient literature and sculptures. Most of the garden flowers were introduced into Europe for cultivation from their wild habitats between 16^th and 19^th centuries.

Spices are non-leafy parts (e.g. bud, fruit, seed, bark, rhizome and bulb) of plants used as a flavoring or seasoning, although many can also be used as a herbal medicine. They are those plants, the products of which are made use as food adjuncts to add aroma and flavour or they are derived vegetable substances which are used for seasoning the food imparting distinctive flavour and fragrance that gives zest or piquancy for enjoyment. The term ‘spice’ originated from the Latin word ‘species’, meaning of specific kind. A closely related term, ‘herb’, is used to distinguish plant parts finding the same uses but derived from leafy or soft flowering parts. For example Black pepper, Ginger, Turmeric, Chilli, Cinnamon, Nutmeg etc. Spices are generally composed of fiber, carbohydrate, fat, sugar, protein, gum, ash, volatile (essential oils), and other nonvolatile components. All of these components impart each spice’s particular flavour, colour, nutritional, health, or preservative effects. The flavour components (volatile and nonvolatile) are protected within a matrix of carbohydrate, protein, fiber, and other cell components. When the spice is ground, cut, or crushed, this cell matrix breaks down and releases the volatile components (Raghavan, 2007).

India is endowed with abundant natural resources and diverse agroclimatic conditions, which are ideal for cultivation of a number of annual or perennial crops, in different areas. Meticulous planning, extraordinary scientific support, judicious use of inputs and focused policy thrust have led to manifold increase in production and productivity of fruit trees. The horticultural crops, particularly fruit crops, are high-value and technology- intensive crops. Appropriate technologies are gaining popularity in entire country in view of their high potential of productivity, land utilization and more income. Today, our country is producing different kinds of fruits, but quantum of total fruit production is unable to cope with the present day demand. Various constraints, biotic and abiotic in nature, pose hindrances to meet the fuel potential. The poor productivity of fruit trees is the main reason of low availability of fruits. The low productivity of fruits is compounded by several environmental, genetic and conditional factors. Besides, productivity and quality of perennial fruits continued to remain low and there exists a wide gap in between actual and potential production. Visualizing the problems of perennial commercial fruit production, the main reason comes in forefront/top is a large number of old and senile orchards turning even unproductive, due to lack of information regarding non-adoption of appropriate agro-techniques and canopy management (Hare Krishna, 2012). Though, we have made rapid strides in fruit production, the productivity is very low compared to developed countries. The present scenario of production in our country is still technology deficit and what so ever the technologies are available very poor in adoption level and the situation still go worse even in the era of climate change.

Present situation demands that new technologies are needed to push the yield frontiers further by utilizing inputs more efficiently, diversifying to more sustainable and yielding higher quantum of quality production, particularly by integration of invasive and non-invasive medium-term strategic technologies. There are still challenges ahead in the way of the research which require concerted efforts in organizing, conducting and developing the technology as well as the proper way they are transferred to growers. The new generation of technologies will have to be much more site-specific, based on high quality science and a heightened opportunity for end-users, participation/adoption in identification of targets and achieving the objectives. These must be not only aimed at increasing the growers/farmers technical knowledge and understanding of science-based timely operations. It will also need to take on challenges of integrating the socio-economic context and role of markets for profitability and economic viability.

1.1 General

Access to energy is a crucial enabling condition for achieving sustainable development. Prudent energy policies and research can play an important role in steering both industrialized and developing countries onto more sustainable energy development paths. Specifically, they can strengthen the three pillars of sustainable development: the economy, by boosting productivity, social welfare, by improving living standards and enhancing safety and security, and the environment, by reducing indoor and outdoor pollution and remediating environmental degradation.

1.2 Energy and it’s Requirement

Energy in any form is necessary to meet many of our requirements. It’s varying definitions shows the importance of energy in our life.

With increase in population, demand for basic needs has been steeply rising during the past decades in most of the developing countries of the world. The growing population needs food, clothing, shelter, fuel and fodder for them and their livestock. In India, 50 to 70% of the people are living in rural areas that neither have adequate land holdings nor alternate service opportunities to produce or procure these basic commodities.

The present day living demands quality life. The quality life can be maintained provided our surroundings remain intact or improved to provide means for better living. With increasing advancements in science and technology, we have manipulated our environment without paying adequate attention to consequences. The result has become so alarming that now all the countries of the world are trying to actualize the meaning and concept of sustainability. It is more so in case of agriculture as it forms core base of life supporting system.

The magnitude of manipulation varies from country to country depending upon level of development. It goes without saying that development and manipulation of environment are interrelated having positive and negative effects. To eradicate ill effects of manipulation, we need to understand the meaning of actualizing of sustainability.

Crop production broadly depends on the fertility of the soil where a crop is raised. There are several factors like the kind and quality of seed, climate, water supply, and plant protection measures etc. that affect the crop production. Among these factors, the fertility status of the soil largely determines the ultimate yield even if all these factors are optimum for crop production. A clear distinction should be made between soil fertility and soil productivity. Soil fertility deals with the inherent capacity of soil to provide nutrients in adequate amounts and in proper balance, for the growth of specified plants when other growth factors such as light, water and temperature, and the physical condition of the soil are favourable. Soil productivity is concerned with the capability of soil to produce a specified plant or plant parts or a sequence of plants under well defined and specified systems of management inputs and environmental conditions, viz. climatic conditions. It does not mean that a fertile soil is always productive. A fertile soil, under a bad management system, may be unproductive for a crop. In this book, plant nutrient elements and their available forms, functions and deficiency symptoms are briefly described for the better understanding of soil testing and fertilizer recommendation.

The role of plant nutrients in crop production is well established. Estimation of nutrients contents and forms in materials, which are involved in nutrient supply and dynamics is a crucial step in scientific nutrient management and crop production. There are 16 essential plant nutrients. These are carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), sulphur (S), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), boron (B), molybdenum (Mo) and chlorine (Cl). These nutrients have to be available to the crops in quantities as required for a yield target. Any limiting or deficient nutrient (s) will limit crop growth.