eChapters

Introduction

The area under salt-affected soils in India is estimated to be 6.73 Mha spread over a number of states across the country. This 6.73 million ha are lying barren or produce very uneconomical yields of crops due to excessive accumulation of salts. These soils are agriculturally unproductive because of the high content of soluble salts which had harmful effects on plant growth due to moisture stress and toxicity/deficiency of some of the ions and the exchangeable sodium ions in clay complex lead to the unfavorable physical conditions of for the plant growth and water movement (Bhumla 1977). Saline and sodic soils have excess concentration of either soluble or exchangeable sodium, calcium and magnesium primarily in the form of chlorides and sulphates. Salt affected areas an expected to increase with spread of waterlogging and salinity due to increase in canal irrigation, and intensive exploitation of poor quality ground waters for agriculture in non canal commands. Certain states like Rajasthan and Haryana located in the western part of the country are endowed with 84 and 62% of poor quality ground waters, respectively. Continuous use of such waters for irrigation to agricultural crops is bound to increase the problem of salinity and sodicity in India (Yadav 1989; Minhas and Bajwa 2001). Introduction of irrigation without making proper provision for drainage is the major cause for the development of salinity in canal commands.It is severe on irrigated lands of the dry zone. It reduces crop yield and in severe cases causes complete abandonment of agriculture (Joshi and Dhir 1989; Joshi et al. 2000; Mahesh Kumar et al. 2016). The present paper deals with extent, causes, characteristics and management options of these soils for sustainability of agriculture in the area.

Introduction

Desertification is affecting the livelihoods of millions of people, mainly poor in the dry lands, which occupy nearly 41% of the Earth’s land area and are the residence of more than 2 billion people of the world. In India, the western part of Rajasthan is mostly affected by desertification process dominated by wind erosion. Kar et al. (2009) reported that 15.2 mha land in western Rajasthan is affected by wind erosion out of total 22.96 mha area under desertification. A brief account on issues and priorities related to wind erosion processes in Thar desert was reported in Santra et al. (2006). Plenty of incident solar energy in the region makes the desert surface very hot especially during summer months. Wind speed also remains very high in the region for most of the time in a year. Therefore, the loss of top fertile soils through wind erosion process is very active in the region. Eroded dust particles during severe wind erosion events commonly known as dust storms not only create the soils poor but also pose several environmental threats through generating aerosols in atmosphere. 

Introduction

Agroforestry is a land-use management system where trees or shrubs are grown around or among crops or in pasture lands. It combines agricultural and forestry technologies to create more diverse, productive, profitable, healthy, and sustainable land use systems.
India has been at the forefront of agroforestry research ever since organized research in this area started worldwide about 25 years ago. Considering the country’s unique land use, demographic, political and socio-cultural characteristics as well as its strong contributions to agricultural and forestry research, India’s experience in agroforestry research has proved important to agroforestry development especially in developing countries.

Agriculture is very intensely influenced by weather and climate. While farmers are often compliant in managing weather and annual variability, there is however a high degree of adaptation to the local climate. This may be in the form of conventional infrastructure, native agricultural practices or personal experience. Climate change an in this way be relied upon to affect the agriculture, possibly threatening established characteristics of farming systems and provide chances for improvements. The role of climate change in influencing human activities and the natural environment is all around acknowledged. This may go from an extreme event enduring just a couple of hours (i.e. hurricane, thunderstorm and showers) through to the multi-year dry spells (Maracchi et al., 2005). Increase in concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere further contribute to climate change. This results in a strong impact on human activities and natural environments. Essential areas, for example agriculture and forestry, will be more susceptible than auxiliary and tertiary segments, for example manufacturing and retailing (Parry et al., 1998).

Agricultural production in India is still vulnerable to vagaries of monsoon rainfall in spite of rapid technological advancements like 1) Availability of high yielding varieties 2) Improved crop management practices and increased irrigation availability and effective control of pests and diseases and etc, over last few decades. Majority of Indian farming community which broadly comprising of small and medium farmers are often subject to climate extremes such as droughts, floods, heavy rainfall events, heat and cold waves, frost, hail storms during the crop growing season. The probabilities of occurrence of such climate extremes and associated crop damages and production losses are common in tropical countries like India. Compensation to the resource crunched farmers in the form of crop insurance seems to be the best option for speedy recovery from the losses incurred during the season. It provides security and stability to farm income by protecting the farmers’ investment in crop production and then improves their risk bearing capacities. Crop insurance scheme is based on the fundamental principle of insurance business in which risk is distributed across space and time. For successful implementation of any crop insurance scheme operating presently in the country, proper monitoring of accurate weather parameters at the identified locations throughout the crop life cycle is important.

Introduction

Among vertebrate pests such as birds and wild animals, Well-known rodents include mice, rats, squirrels, dogs, gerbils etc., are great importance. Among rodents, rat and mice come under class Mammalia. They are small mammals belonging to order Rodentia and under sub family Murinae in the Family Muridae. Rat and mice cause severe damage to various crops like sugarcane, rice, maize etc. both directly and indirectly by gnawing, spoilage, contamination and hoarding activities. Beside this, it is big problem in house, store godown, warehouse, urban cities and industries. Rats and mice have caused more human suffering and more economic damage than any other vertebrate pest. It is also known to introduce secondary pest like fleas, mites and ticks into premises cause additional problem.  Statisticians estimate that rats and mice destroy 20 per cent of the world’s food supply every year directly by feeding and indirectly through contamination. It has adapted to nearly all human environments. They live in granaries, fields, city sewers, attics, basements, street trees, on top of 30-story buildings, and inside subway tunnels. Rats may be also responsible for the spread of many diseases. Some of the more important diseases associated with rats are plague, murine typhus fever, rat bite fever, salmonella food poisoning, and trichinosis. Adult mice have a small, triangular head with a small nose and little delicate feet as compared to the body. The mouse ears are very large relative to their heads. Rat ears are smaller relative to their heads. Rats have thicker tails than mice.

Introduction

Agriculture is the mainstay of livelihood activity of about 70% of the state’s population. Madhya Pradesh is an agrarian state and the state’s economy is highly dependent on agriculture. Considering the sector’s sensitivity to climatic parameters it can be easily understood that the sector would be highly impacted by any change in these parameters.

Madhya Pradesh has a subtropical climate with three distinct seasons’ viz. winter from December to February, followed by summer season from March to May and rainy season extending from June to October. During winters the mean temperature remains around 10ºC and mean maximum temperature remains 25ºC and the minimum temperature goes down to 1°C in some regions. During summers, the mean minimum temperature is 22ºC and mean maximum is 38ºC. The maximum temperature during summer can go up to 48ºC, especially in May and June which are the hottest months.

Conservation Agriculture (CA) is defined as a process of ‘sustainable intensification of agriculture’ for enhancing and sustaining production at low cost, without deteriorating soil health and flow of environmental services. The process of agricultural intensification increases food production and spares land for the other uses including eco-system services. In line with the vision of Norman Borlaug, agricultural intensification is also known as ‘The Borlaug Effect’. Frameworks such as ‘Conservation Agriculture’, ‘Ecological Intensification’ and ‘Ever Green Revolution’ share a common view of cropping systems as agro-ecosystems designed to make maximum use of fixed resources (land, light and temperature etc.) with optimum use of agri-inputs for attaining sustainable production levels (Cassman 1999)’. Conservation agriculture is also considered as an important component of the overall strategy for ensuring food security, poverty alleviation, health for all, rural development, enhancing productivity, improve environmental quality and preserve natural resources. With limited scope for further expansion of area under agriculture, production gains can be accomplished through intensification of agriculture, achieved by pursuing one or more strategies (with rationale use of natural resources as well as external production inputs) enumerated as under:

Global warming is the most prominent environmental issue across the world. It is caused by the increased concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere and leads to a phenomenon widely known as ‘greenhouse effect’. Amongst various sources of greenhouse effect, agriculture is considered a major contributor primarily through the emission of greenhouse gases such as methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide.

Introduction
Climate change has become an issue of global concern and has a direct large scale impact on land and marine biosphere. The expected and unlikely events like increase in temperature, melting of glaciers and rising of sea level, increase in magnitude  and frequency of drought and floods, cyclones/tsunamis, desertification, heat and cold waves, snow fall are most threatening challenges that are being witnesses in the present era. Rain fall is likely to decline by 5-10 % over southern parts of India where as 10-20% increase likely over the other regions. There is probable decrease in number of rainy days over major parts of the country pointing at likely increase of extreme events of floods or drought. In India, salt affected soils currently estimated to be 6.73 M ha in different agroecological regions and  the area is likely to be almost turn to 20Mha by 2050. Framing breeding strategies to develop climate resilient varieties is necessary to mitigate adverse effects of climate change.

Introduction

Climate is one of the main determinants of agricultural production. Throughout the world there is significant concern about the effects of climate change and its variability on agricultural production. Researchers and administrators are concerned with the potential damages and benefits that may arise in future from climate change impacts on agriculture, since these will affect domestic and international policies, trading pattern, resource use and food security. The climate change is any change in climate over time that is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods (IPCC, 2007).

The camel is an important animal component of the fragile desert eco-system. With its unique bio-physiological characteristics, the camel has become an icon of adaptation to challenging ways of living in arid and semi-arid regions. The proverbial Ship of Desert earned its epithet on account of its indispensability as a mode of transportation and draught power in desert but the utilities are many and are subject to continuous social and economic changes. The camel has played a significant role in civil law and order, defence and battles from the ancient times till date. The world famous Ganga-Risala of erstwhile Bikaner State was accepted as Imperial Service Troup and participated in World War I and II.

Abstract

Present water scarcity is one of the most important world issues, and according to climate change projections, it will be more severe in future. In several parts of the world, freshwater crisis is largely due to increasing water consumption and pollution by rapidly increasing population and aspirations for economic development, but, attributed by and large to the climate change.  Climate change is considered as one of the most serious challenges confronting the present world and is expected to impact hydrological processes such as precipitation, and evapo-transpiration.  Increasing human activity and industrialization have led to a broad range of physical, chemical, and biological pollutants entering water bodies and affecting human lives. The groundwater crisis is reaching an alarming stage in many parts of the country. The indiscriminate and every now and then excessive use of groundwater has led to questions concerning its sustainability.  The sustainability of groundwater utilization must be assessed from an interdisciplinary point of view, where hydrology, ecology, geomorphology, and climatology play a very vital role. Further, water management strategies ought to be specified keeping aquifer-scales in mind. 

Abstract
 
Adoption of agricultural practices is cost effective bioremediation techniques to mitigate arsenic problems and can contribute substantially to the cause of removal of arsenic and other heavy metal contamination of soils and water thereby quality enrichment in marketable agricultural produce leading to increased crop productivity in the area of intensive cropping under irrigated eco system. Though the farmers are already practicing some traditional techniques to mitigate the arsenic problems in soils and water, like cultivation of crops which are less affected to arsenic and heavy metals pollution, growing hyper accumulating crops and so many practices wherein the modern methods are not prevalently used by the farmers due to the lack of scientific validity of these techniques, particularly in the context of prevailing socio-economic conditions. Moreover, acceptance of these improved practices by the small farmers of this region is an evolutionary process and should be intensively proved. Hence, extensive studies need for bio or phyto-remediation of heavy metals including arsenic contamination for quality marketable agricultural produce, which ultimately can realize better crop productivity.

Abstract
 
The climate is one of the main determinants of agricultural production. At present, climate change has been appeared as a tremendous global crisis and modern agriculture is responsible for anthropogenic emissions of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) which are important causing factors.  The ill effects of global warming and climate change have been reflected adversely in agriculture causing threat to food productivity and security. Thus there is an urgent need for adoption of ecologically sound and economically viable farming practices to mitigate the adverse effects of global warming as well as climate change. Organic agriculture is one of the most prominent and widely practiced ecologically sound farming systems and it might be a suitable option as it is based on the principles of ‘care, health, ecology and fairness’ with the capability to reduce emission of GHGs. Moreover, organic agriculture provides several gains like contribution to the conservation of biological diversity and animal welfare, supply of local products of natural origin, reduction of fossils fuel energy and protection of the environment from pollution with chemicals, carbon sequestration and restoration of soil fertility, assurance to agricultural sustainability, and thus ensuring food security to ever growing population of the world.

Abstract

More than 73% of its total population lives in rural areas and depends primarily on agriculture for livelihood. The performance of agriculture determines food and nutrition security which is important for reducing poverty and achieving sustainable growth. Production and productivity has increased manifold and yields of major crops like paddy, pulses, oilseeds and vegetables have more than trebled in the last four decades. The impressive long term growth in agriculture helped in taking the state out of famines and serious food shortages into one of the food surplus states and ensuring food, nutrition and livelihood security. The state is characterized by wide diversity and considerable spatio-temporal variations in growth and productivity. In fact, agriculture isincreasing with public investment in infrastructure including irrigation, establishing appropriate farming systems, developing suitable and affordable technologies and crop varieties, augmenting credit delivery and designing region and crop-specific plans. In this backdrop, a study was conducted to document the indigenous and organic farming technologies in selected communities of the state in tribal dominant Gajapati district of Odisha intended to help the farmers to be aware of their own innovative technologies for weakening balances on the environment due to intensive use of fertilizers and agrochemicals. 

Abstract

Chhotanagpur plateau is well-known for its quality vegetable production, however, indiscriminate uses of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in different vegetables lead to more yields but of their inferior quality of produces. The over uses of agro-chemicals also drastically affect the soil bio-physico-chemical properties. In this context, an alternative approach was taken into account through present study in order to address such problems. For the purpose, cabbage cv. Golden Acre was grown in organic experimental plots of the university by using ‘Sasyagavya liquid organic formulation’ to observe its effects over the crop and soil bio-chemical properties of the experimental site.Theexperiment was designed after CRBDby adoptingseven treatments i.e.T1: 1% Sasyagavya; T2: 5% Sasyagavya; T3: 10% Sasyagavya; T4: 15% Sasyagavya; T5: 20% Sasyagavya; T6: 25% Sasyagavya and T7: Absolute Control withtheir three replications. Different growth, yield and quality attributes of the crop and soil bio-chemical properties of the experimental soils were studied. 

Abstract

A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also widely used to distinguish plants with little or no woody growth from trees and shrubs, which are also technically perennials. in vitro technologies are continuously expanding in the field of biology. Plant tissue culture has become a general title for a very broad subject. Commercial use of micropropagation is still limited, because of its relatively high production cost resulting mainly from high labor costs, low growth rate in vitro, and poor survival rate of the plantlets during acclimatization. Micropropagation of woody perennials is essential due their importance in production of secondary metabolites, which are playing a vital role now a days. Stages of micropropagation i.e mother plant selection, establishment of the aseptic culture, multiplication, root regeneration and transfer to the natural environment, which are systematically reproduced in many protocols which will aids in micropropagation studies of many woody perennials. Thus the review of present study attempts to provide a comprehensive account on micropropagation of woody perennials complementing conventional programmes for improvement.

Introduction

Healthy seeds and seedlings are the first and essential requirement for achieving full yield potential of any vegetable crop. In recent years, vegetable growers have become highly conscious of the importance of quality seeds or seedlings. A major portion of the area under vegetable cultivation in India is now sown with hybrid seeds, which are costly but give higher yields and quality produce. In view of the high cost of seeds, some vegetable crops like tomato, brinjal, capsicum and cucurbits are being transplanted after growing nursery under protected conditions to achieve maximum germination count and healthy plant establishment. Raising of seedlings in plug trays or portrays is one such technology that achieves the above requirement. This technology is fast emerging as agro enterprise in India for its obvious advantage to both the nursery grower and the farmer. Soil-less substrate consisting of coco-peat and vermiculite is filled in plug trays and one seed is manually placed in each cell of the plug tray. However, manual seeding is labour-intensive operation requiring about more labour and time consuming. Mechanized precision seeding of plug trays is, therefore, necessary to enhance the capacity of rapidly growing nursery industry in India.

Introduction

Any kind of garden established on the roof top of building is known as roof garden, which provides the opportunity to cultivate the quality vegetables, fruits and flowers in home. In this system plants and grasses are grown on a nutrition medium placed above a waterproof membrane. Roof gardening is mostly adopted in urban areas. It uses for decorative benefit, roof plantings make available food, manage temperature, hydrological remuneration, architectural improvement, habitats  for wildlife, frivolous opportunities, and in large scale it may even have ecological benefits (Louise, 2009). This considerably increases human health as adding organic cultivation.

It is a well known fact that natural disasters strikes countries, both developed and developing, causing enormous destruction and creating human sufferings and producing negative impacts on national economies. Due to diverse geo-climatic conditions prevalent in different parts of the globe, different types of natural disasters like floods, droughts, earthquakes, cyclones, landslides, volcanoes, etc. strikes according to the vulnerability of the area. India is considered as the world’s most disaster prone country. It has witnessed devastating natural disasters in recent past like droughts, floods, cyclones, earthquakes, landslides, etc. 

Continental drift is the theory that continents move slowly about the earth’s surface, changing their positions relative to one another and to the poles of the earth. It includes the idea that former continents may have broken apart and that the fragments have recombined in different patterns (Fig. 15.1). Some authorities have considered that this happened only once, beginning within the past 200 million years; others believe that it has long been a continuous process, so that all existing continents are mosaics. Those who accept the theory believe that the rates of motion have been only a few inches a year. Earlier, it was considered that the continents moved like ships through a slightly plastic ocean floor. Today some consider that the continents are frozen into the earth’s surface like rafts in ice, and that the motions are the result of growth of the sea floor along certain midocean ridges and reabsorption of the sea floor elsewhere beneath deep ocean trenches and young mountains. The continents are carried passively about embedded in moving plates of the surface. Some authorities  now  agree  that  there  is  a  deformable  layer,  called  the asthenosphere, at depths of from about 50 to 400 kilometers within the earth. It is white hot, and slightly viscous, and many believe that the surface can break into plates which slide over it.

Energy, food production and various other natural resources are the limiting factors on this earth. The result of this bitter truth has been published in a book titled ‘The Limits to Growth’ in 1972. If the enormously growing population and the industrial process is not checked, then the earth’s civilization may come to an end within next hundred years.

By considering the space travel, we can very well understand about the Ecosystem. When we go away from the biosphere, it will be appropriate to develop unlimited environment through the energy accumulated from the sunlight in space. For the space travel for some days to moon and back to earth, we need not establish the entire ecological system as greater quantity of O₂ and food stuffs can be stored and CO₂ and other unwanted materials can be fixed for establishing space colonies, we have to build a special space ship with important abiotic components which can be recycled for use again and again. The vital processes of production, consumption and decomposition can be established and balanced through biotic components. In other words we are creating a complete mini human ecological machine. Before we established this system, we should be quite familiar about the space problems and its implications.

Introduction

Climate change and climatic variability are expected to reduce agricultural productivity and threaten food security of the world, particularly in developing countries. Producing enough food for the increasing population in a background of decreasing resources and a changing climate scenario, is a challenging task. Agriculture, forestry and land use change account for about 30% of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions. Therefore, mitigation of GHGs emission while enhancing production is another challenge in agriculture.
 
Conservation agriculture (CA), with the three core inter-linked principles of minimizing mechanical soil disturbance, enhancing organic matter cover on soil and diversification of crops, is a viable option for sustainable agriculture with an effective solution to climate change adaptation and mitigation. The principles can be integrated and applied into most of the rainfed and irrigated production systems including horticulture, agro-forestry, organic farming, rotational farming and integrated crop-livestock systems to strengthen ecological sustainability. Worldwide about 105 Mha land is under CA and the area is increasing. However countries like USA, Brazil, Argentina, Canada and Australia occupy about 90% of the area under CA. The CA, which is advocated as an alternative to the conventional production system for improving productivity and sustainability, is now adopted by many countries and agencies as a lead model for sustainable agricultural intensification.

Introduction

In India out of the total 142 million ha of arable land around 67 per cent of them are affected by some form of land degradation due to development of salinity/sodicity or acidification, erosion by water or wind or chemical contamination. Frequent use of tillage operation under conventional cultivation system particularly in rolling terrain is one of the major causes of land degradation through accelerated water and wind erosion. The basic purpose of primary tillage operations are to control weeds, increase the availability of nutrient to plant through accelerated mineralization of organic matter, and to keep the field clean and pulverized for ease of sowing of the next crop. However the bare and pulverized top soil made them vulnerable to accelerated soil loss through runoff and also to erosion loss of soil by wind in drier agro-climatic regions. Besides soil loss, conventional tillage operation breaks the soil aggregates and exposes the soil organic carbon locked inside the aggregates to accelerated microbial degradation and thus results in net loss of organic carbon from the arable ecosystem.

The productivity of agricultural ecosystems depends on the interactions and interdependence of numerous species, such as other plant species, micro-organisms, pollinators, predators of agricultural pests and livestock. Agricultural ecosystems serve as an important habitat for many plant and animal species. Wild species are sometimes used to provide valuable genetic resources, for instance for certain plant breeding. When preserved, these can help to meet future food and livestock production challenges, including adaptation to climate change. Conservation agriculture provides an ample opportunity for the maintenance of agricultural biodiversity. This paper discusses the agricultural development phases, their consequence on the environment and cropping system diversification opportunities in conservation agriculture.

Introduction

“Conservation agriculture (CA) is a concept for resource-saving agricultural crop production that strives to achieve acceptable profits together with high and sustained production levels while concurrently conserving the environment” (FAO, 2007). Aspects of conservation that we normally deal are the management of soil, water, crop diversity, animals, storage of produce (seed, fertilizer, etc.), and maintenance of tools, implements, machinery, etc. Some of the important key principles of conservation agriculture are illustrated as (i) Tillage: practice of minimum mechanical soil disturbance which is essential to maintaining minerals within the soil, stopping erosion, and preventing water loss from occurring within the soil. (ii) Crop residues/Mulch: Managing the top soil to create a permanent organic soil cover for growth of organisms within the soil structure. (iii) Crop rotation: The practice of crop rotation with more than two crop species (iv) Economics: Secure farm level economic viability and stability. To achieve this will involve the development of innovation systems focused on the needs of farmers and will include multiple agents who will use their comparative advantages to adapt the principles of CA to the farmers’ various biophysical and socioeconomic conditions. Crop diversification could also be proved as remunerative.  (v) Environment protection:  The CA has a role to conserve the environment in terms of climate resilient agriculture and emission of green house gases (GHG).

Introduction

The subject of conservation agriculture CA has emerged as a need given the declining productivity of land and increasing costs of input that is putting tremendous pressure on the farming community. Higher yield expectation from land given also brings pressure to the subject of food security. Considering the markets with the globalisation influence is beyond a farmer’s means of influence and price realisation is not a point of control, the situation has deteriorated to their disadvantage. Climate change and soil degradation on the other hand is a reality and agriculture is both a sufferer and contributor, and cannot ignore this reality. Good physical management of soils is one of the key factors to maintain or improve agricultural productivity, in tropical and subtropical regions, and to reduce soil and environmental degradation (Lal, 2000). Tropical soils often have a stable structure and are well aggregated but management practices like intensive ploughing or avoiding the use of cover crops can lead to rapid deterioration (Madari et al., 2005).

Introduction

The demand of cereals to meet the food requirements of the burgeoning population is increasing while on the other hand most vital inputs of agriculture viz. productive arable land, water and labour are depleting day by day. Rice is the major Kharif crop of India and it is estimated that rice is being grown in 43.97 million ha with 104.32 million tonnes of production during 2011-12 (Agricultural Statistics at a glance, 2012). In the eastern region of India, rice is produced by the conventional system of cultivation which involves puddling and transplanting which is basically water, labour and energy intensive thereby adversely affecting the environment. Therefore, to sustain the long term production of rice, more efficient alternative methods of rice productions are needed. For this, conservation agricultural practices which comprises of technologies which are water, labour and energy efficient along with eco-friendly characteristics will be a better alternative to conventional practices (Kumar and Ladha, 2011). 

Introduction

India, with only 2.5% of the world’s geographical area, is home to 17% of the global population. Population has increased from 361 million in 1951 to 1140 million in 2011, more than threefold increase over 50 years and expected to reach 1.5 billion by 2050. The food consumption levels of India will increase from the current level of 2400 k cal/ per capita/ day to about 3000 k cal/ per capita/ day in 2050 (Singh, 2009). The production deficits are expected for cereals and pulses not only to meet the growing food requirements but also to meet the growing demand for animal based products which require higher quantities of food grains. It is estimated that despite realizing the full irrigation potential in the country, nearly 40% of the net sown area will remain rainfed. Rainfed areas with nearly 60 per cent of the cultivated area contributes for 40 per cent of country’s food production in the country, home to about 40% of the human and 60% of the livestock population,

Introduction

Global agriculture is under tremendous pressure to meet the demands of rising populations using finite, often degraded, natural resources. Globally, these resources are predicted to be further stressed/degraded by the impact of climate change. The ongoing buildup of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere is prompting shifts in climate across the globe that will affect agro-ecological and growing conditions. In addition, agriculture and land use change are prominent contributing sources of global GHG emissions. Further, the application of fertilizers, rearing of livestock, and land clearing influences levels of GHGs in the atmosphere and in turn affects the soil carbon storage as well as sequestration processes. The 2010 World Development Report draws (WDR, 2010) on analysis of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) to calculate that agriculture directly accounts for 13 percent of global GHG emissions in CO2 equivalents and indirectly accounts for an additional 18 percent of emissions, when land use and conversion for crops and pasture are included in the calculations. Therefore, whilst ongoing climatic changes are affecting agricultural production, the sector itself also provides opportunities for emissions reductions.

Introduction

Carbon is an essential building block of life. It has always been transported from one form or ecosystem to another as a basic part of natural processes. Examples include its transport, through soil erosion, into aquatic ecosystems, or the undersea formation of limestone, the chief component of which is carbon. Much of the world’s carbon is held in soils, including agricultural soils. Another significant carbon pool is in the atmosphere, as carbon dioxide. Ever since agriculture began, between 7,000 and 10,000 years ago, the balance between these two pools has been changing. The loss of soil carbon through soil disturbance has augmented the atmospheric carbon pool. Since about 1750, the burning of fossil fuels has accelerated the process. Carbon dioxide is the largest single agent of climate change.

Climate change is a major issue facing society today with extensive studies being undertaken to find ways to mitigate its effects and impacts in the future. A key factor contributing to climate change is excessive levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and global efforts are focussed on both reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases and increasing the storage (sequestration) of atmospheric carbon.

Introduction

Soil organic matter is an important component of soil quality and productivity; however, its measurement alone does not adequately reflect changes in soil quality and nutrient status. Instead, measurements of biologically active fractions of organic matter, such as microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen, and potential C and N mineralization, could better reflect changes in soil quality and productivity that alter nutrient dynamics. Therefore, measuring microbial biomass is a valuable tool for understanding and predicting long-term effects on changes in land use and associated soil conditions.

Introduction

The organic matter added to soil externally as FYM, crop residues, leaf fall, root deposition etc. has been a part and parcel of Indian agriculture. The total carbon added to soil is subject to microbial decay and slowly the major portion of it finds way back to the atmosphere. There is every possibility that atmospheric CO₂ concentration will increase in near future; that will further lead to increased attention of scientific community to make soil a possible sink for atmospheric CO2. when the carbon sequestration is thought with the perspective of reducing carbon dioxide emission for healthy atmosphere at one hand and improving soil health on the other, there is utmost need to opt for technologies that can fulfill both these objectives. There is growing interest in the use of charcoal or ‘biochar’ to sequester carbon in soil and improve soil fertility (Lehmann and Joseph, 2009). There are many types of soil additives and fertilizers used to improve the structure and functions of soil. Biochar has re-emerged as an issue in the last ten years as everyone is looking for sustainable ways to improve soils and decrease use of chemical fertilizers. 

Introduction 

Conservation tillage has been defined based on percent cover of the soil surface with crop residue (CTIC, 2000). Quantifying crop residue cover on the soil surface is important for improving estimates of surface energy balance, net primary productivity, nutrient cycling, and carbon sequestration. Quantifying crop residue cover is also an important factor in controlling soil erosion and evaluating the effectiveness of conservation tillage practices (Barnes et al., 2003). Collecting this information by conventional method of survey and line transact are time-consuming, labor intensive, costly and can involve destructive sampling (Morrison et al., 1993). Moreover, field data are limited because they provide point, rather than area information. Remote sensing technique revealed as promising tool in providing such spatial data over a large area in a time and cost-effective manner.

Abstract

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is the one of the most important fruit crop of tropics and subtropics. Mango belong to group of plant in which there is an antagonism between vegetative vigour and flowering intensity. Therefore, any factor that reduces vegetative vigour without altering the metabolic activity and favors flowering which can be possible by the use of growth regulator. Growth retardant that has been widely used in mango crop is paclobutrazol (PBZ) or cultar. Paclobutrazol is N-containing heterocyclic, trizole compound which stimulate flowering by inhibiting gibberellic acid pathway by inhibiting oxidation of ent-kaurene to ent-kaurenoic acid by blocking cytochrome P450 dependent monooxygenase enzyme. It is applied at the rate 2-5g/m of canopy diameter 3-4 months prior to desired date of flowering either by foliar spray, soil drench or trunk application. However, soil application is found more efficient on mango quality production than other. Paclobutrazol has pleiotropic response on mango cultivars. It has been found that application of paclobutrazol is effective in enhancing the protein mobilisation, starch, carotenoid, lycopene, phenol and cytokinin, abscisic acid and enzyme content in treated plant that induce flowering. It has been found that paclobutrazol is capable to reduce mango malformation and make plant tolerant in stress condition.

Abstract

In the recent past we have seen a great upsurge in the production and productivity of food grains as well as horticultural produce which is sufficient to feed our burgeoning population. This way we are self-sufficient to feed our population, but now the major challenge before us is to ensure the nutritional security of each and every individual of the country. Moreover, meeting nutritional security through conventional or molecular breeding demands long time. However, this could be achieved in much shorter period of time i.e., within 2-3 weeks by growing microgreens.Microgreens can be easily characterised by having a central stem with two fully developed cotyledon leaves and mostly one pair of small true leaves.In comparison to their mature counterparts, microgreens of a variety of vegetables and herbs have been reported to be more nutritious. They are rich in ascorbic acids, carotenoids, phylloquinone and tocopherols, which is responsible for its antioxidant properties and also plays a vital role in weight gain modulation, cholesterol metabolism. It may also protects from cardiovascular diseases by preventing hypercholesterolemia. Main problem associated with microgreens are their high price and high perishability and lack of awareness among people about its cultivation practices and health benefits. It demands great attention from the scientific community, to address these problems and make it available in each and every household to ensure the nutritional security of the nation.

Introduction

Fresh fruits and vegetables are known for their nutritional and relishing nature. But, their fast perishability and season wise availability make them unavailable for a longer time. To enjoy and get benefited from their unique taste and nutritional value they are further preserved or converted into some value-added products such as jam, jelly, candies, juices, minimally processed fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, pickles etc. There are techniques which are developed to preserve them while in fresh and also when they are made into value-added products. Some require only one technique and other requires more than one in combination so that the product can be preserved for a longer period and available to maximum population even after their period of production/availability is completed.

Introduction

In India, Fruits and vegetables comprises nearly 90% of the total horticulture production. India is now the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world and leader in several horticultural crops, namely mango, banana, papaya, cashewnut, arecanut, potato, and okra (National Horticulture Board, 2015). The total area occupied by horticultural crops in India was 23.69  million ha and total production was 283 million tonnes in 2015-16 (Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare). Different horticultural crops like fruits, vegetables, spices, medicinal plants and plantation crops comprises a large chunk of the total crop sales value of the country and also secures nutritional security of the persons of the country. For systematic and efficient management of existing crops and to bring more area of the country under the cultivation of horticultural crops to increase overall horticultural production in term of time and area, a database must be created for decision making and planning. 

Introduction

Sensors are the key components for enabling any IoT(Internet of Things) application. The concept of IoT came as early as 1990 but the practical implementations of the IoT technology is actually becoming possible as the cost of the devices that are needed to create any IoT application have reduced. Sensors are one of the major hardware components needed to form IoT systems and decrease in its price has given a forward leap in developing IoT applications. Sensors have to be uniquely identifiable devices with a unique device ip address so that they can be easily identifiable over a large network. These have to be active in nature which means that they should be able to collect real time data. These can either work on their own (autonomous in nature) or can be made to work by the user depending on their needs (user controlled).

Abstract

The development of nano technology creates an excellent opportunity to address complex technical  issues of food supply chain. Failure to embrace nano technology will deny the horticultural sector an opportunity to capitalize on improved product visibility, food safety, quality and security and associated economic benefits. Agricultural and food supply chain management is complex due to the diverse characteristics of agricultural products. There are numerous types of horticultural crops and products, many of which are perishable. In addition, the degree of standardization of some kinds of fruit products and their management is still low. In this regard, the potential application of nano technology to the horticulture is reviewed. Investigation confirms that incremental applicationof nano technology in the horticulture,

Water is the most critical component of life system. Irrigation plays vital role in rising and stabilizing yield and maintaining quality of fruit crops grown in tropical or sub-tropical climate. Micro irrigation is one of the modern and advanced methods of irrigation which is becoming popular in areas having problems like water scarcity and poor quality of water. Since the competition for water between agricultural and non-agricultural sector is increasing day by day, the efficient management of water resources is very essential to meet the water requirement. It is anticipated to reduce water use for agriculture by 70% in the coming decade, where the present day share is 80%. Demand for water is increasing in non-agricultural sectors like industry, energy, domestic use etc. Hence, policy makers and researchers consider water as the main obstacle for growing enough food crops in the coming years. In India where population is increasing at alarming rate, the area under irrigation should go up from 60 million hectares to 114 million hectares by the year 2050. In this context, micro irrigation plays a major role under limiter water agro ecosystem.

1    Bovines

2    Canines

1    Ideal surgical pack

2    Nerve blocks

3    Commonly used pre-anaesthetics and anaesthetics

Infertility or reduced fertility in male animals particularly in bulls had considered being a rare occurrence, but now infertility in males is being considered a common and severe problem. Still there is lack of information concerning the male’s infertility.

Miscellaneous causes of male infertility 

1. Failure of proper delivery of semen into the vagina

It may be secondary to lacerations of the ventral caudal portions of the glans penis with a fistulous opening of the urethra ventrally. In such case, at the time of ejaculation, neither semen is deposited in the middle portion of the vagina nor sprayed over the cervix. In addition, it is observed in rams following necrosis of most of the urethral process secondary to urinary calculi or lacerations or injury.

Semen collection in bulls and buffalo bulls

Semen collection from domestic animals is an art and skilled job to get maximum quantity and quality of an ejaculate. Ejaculation of semen in a male is a complex process and consists of several events sexual arousal, courtship, erection, penile protrusion, mounting, intromission, ejaculation, orgasm like reaction and dismounting. Ejaculation is the result of neuro-muscular stimulation that starts in the vas differentia and accessory sex glands. The semen ejaculation is finally brought about by the rhythmical contractions of penile musculature and urethra. The muscular contractions proceed progressively in waves, forcing the semen out of the external urethral orifice. To get good quality semen, the bulls must undergo all the related events of ejaculation. The semen collectors should have knowledge of inhibitory and stimulatory factors for the act of ejaculation in male domestic animals. The stimulatory factors are:

Microscopic examination 

A phase contract microscope with biotherm (37o C) is necessary for correct evaluation of semen because the refractive index of spermatozoa differs slightly from that of the surrounding medium. The ordinary bright field microscope will not provide sufficient contrast between the spermatozoa and the medium. Under phase contrast microscope, the object will appear dark on a bright background. This is achieved by reducing the light passing through the object by half a wavelength compared to the light passing through the medium. The eyepiece has a magnifying capacity of 10X while the objectives have 10, 40 and 100X. This will provide the microscope the magnifications of 100, 400 and 1000. The lenses and eyepiece should be kept clean by wiping with tissue paper and distilled water. Xylol can also be used to remove greasy material. The microscope has to be kept in one place and covered with Perspex cover when not in use to avoid dust accumulation. Personnel familiar with the operation of a particular microscope alone should be allowed to handle the microscope, since lot of differences exist between different makes of microscopes. 

1.1     Prokaryotic 
    
1.2     Eukaryotic
    
1.3     Cell orgenellie

4.1 DNA: The word means
    
4.2 Double Helical Structure: The Watson and Crick Model
    
4.3 Family of DNA 
    
4.4 The Chromosomes