eChapters

Introduction

The rapid pace of urbanisation and abrupt growth of population in few large cities in India has become a standing menace to balanced socio-economic development of India. The rapid pace of development in cities had always attracted investors and entrepreneurs to set their enterprises leading to creation of employment opportunities in these cities. On the contrary, the lack of opportunities in rural areas has created a backwash effect leading to creation of slums in and around potential growth poles (i.e. large cities and growing cities).

In case of Allahabad, it is evident that a major thrust catapulting the city to an invincible position was experienced immediately after 1857. These changes in the character of Allahabad along its journey which witnessed the resurgence of the pilgrim town into a front ranking educational and cultural node also saw the shades of capital center and finally its transition into a low profile city which today has lost its vitality and seem to be comparable to a non functioning muffossil town of Uttar Pradesh. The facts and figures representing the key events and a survey of the city enable us to establish a direct relationship between the functions and performance of the city.

The first part of the chapter is based on the inferences from the study on Allahabad covered earlier. The second part deals with testing these facts on ground by conducting interviews with eminent individuals who had been deeply associated with education and cultural status of Allahabad. The third part consists of the final inferences. Some critical conclusions are also borne out reflecting a clearer understanding of the phenomenon of decline of Allahabad.

Citizens’ Perceptions And City Revival : An Approach To Regeneration

Regeneration Strategies To Be Case Specific And Based On Citizens Perception

It is important to realise the driving force of the inherent potential of a city. In case of Allahabad, the Master Plan guidance was framed since 1950 but it is surprising that the role of the city as a cultural and educational node has not been sufficiently recognized and reflected in the Plan document. We still witness the development of the city like any other city of the state where special areas or historic precincts are surrounded by non-descript structures. It was essential to reach out to the citizens of Allahabad and to know their views on the growth and decline. The perception of citizens would give an idea about their belief regarding the degree of amendments needed in regenerating the city.

1.1 Introduction

In India Agriculture was practiced formerly on a subsistence level, the villages were self sufficient people exchanged their goods and services within the village on a barter basis. With the development of means of transport and storage facilities, agriculture has become commercial in character; the farmer grows those crops that fetch a better price. Marketing of agri produce is considered as an integral part of agriculture, since an agriculturist is encouraged to make more investment to increase production. Thus there is an increasing awareness that it is not enough to produce a crop but it must be marketed. It involves buying and selling of agri-produce. In olden days the farmer sold his produce directly to the consumer on cash or barter basis. Presently it has undergone a series of transfers/exchanges from one hand to another before it reaches consumers. National Commision on Agriculture terms agricultural marketing as a process which starts with a decision to produce a saleable farm commodity and involves all aspects of market structure of system, both functional and institutional based on technoeconomic considerations that include pre & postharvest operations, assembling,grading,storage,transportation and distribution but as per ICAR it is the assembling,processing & distribution. Inadequacies of present Indian agrimarketing system being improper warehouses,lack of grading,standardization,inadequate transport facilities,presence of large number of middlemen,unregulated markets, inadequate market information and credit facilities etc. Characteristics of agri-products being seasonal and perishable has to be colleted from various places ,stored & marketed with proper price. Existing agri-marketing system in India refers to sale through money lenders, hats,mandies(wholesalers) or co-operative marketing. Improvement of Agri-market system refers to regulated markets,constructing warehouses, provision for grading,standardization of produce (seal of AGMARK) and Weights & measures, daily broadcast of market price and transport facilities, market surveys etc.

2.1 Introduction

Government provides various subsidies for agricultural produce. And seeds are also subsidized products. Anyone would like to buy for cheap. Can you imagine what role the government can play in making a product subsidized and making it available for consumption? Let's look at seeds in particular. To understand how the government reaches the rural corners, we need to understand the government model for distribution and control. Every District has a District Development Administrator (DDA) / District Agriculture Officer (DAO). Every district comprises of approximately five Block Offices. Now every Block office has a Subject Matter Specialists (SMS), an Agriculture Development Officer (ADO) and some Agriculture Extension Officer (AEO). Each AEO is assigned a circle to work in (i.e. a designated area). The AEO collects the demand of his circle and reports to the ADO. The ADO confirms the same from every AEO and sends the final report to the SMS. The SMS forwards the demand to the DDA. Every block office is in charge of at least 50 panchayats and every panchayat has 5 villages. So this is how the government reaches the rural population.

3.1 Introduction

The green revolution has no doubt provided great increase in the production of food crops, but has led to a sizeable increase in energy use. With the cost of energy raising constantly and shortage faced in developing countries, the energy conservation given a special importance. It has been estimated that potential for conservation of commercial energy is around 20% in transport, 25% in industrial and 30 percent in agriculture. In a country like India where about 70% of people depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Agriculture being the primary sector has got its importance. Mechanisation of agriculture is inevitable for farm productivity. Mechanization of agriculture has two forms job requiring traction work, mobile mechanization need the use of machines for such jobs as pulling and drawing efforts e.g. plowing and tillage operations like harrowing, leveling, rolling, seeding, harvesting and hauling .

4.1 Introduction

Issues of productivity growth and patterns of substitution in the fertilizer sector as well as in other energy intensive industries in India have been discussed from various perspectives. Historical estimates vary from indicating an improvement to a decline in the sector's productivity. The variation depends mainly on the time period considered, the source of data, the type of indices and econometric specifications used for reporting productivity growth. Regarding patterns of substitution most analyses focus on inter fuel substitution possibilities in the context of rising energy demand. Not much research has been conducted on patterns of substitution among the primary and secondary input factors: Capital, labour, energy and materials. However, analyzing the use and substitution possibilities of these factors as well as identifying the main drivers of productivity growth among these and other factors is of special importance for understanding technological and overall development of an industry.In this paper we contribute to the discussion on productivity growth and the role of technological change. We introduce the fertilizer industry in more detail taking into account industry specific aspects such as structural composition, production, technologies, energy consumption within processes, sector specific policies etc. This following we derive both statistical and econometric estimates of productivity growth for the fertilizer sector over time. For the statistical analysis we develop the Kendrick and Solow indices while for the econometric analysis a translog cost function approach using both cross-state and national thime series data is employed. The results are then interpreted within a broader context of structural and policy changes in the sector as well as other sector specific aspects.

5.1 Introduction

India ranks 10th in the world in pesticide consumption as its total consumption amounts to about 500 million tonnes. India is presently the largest manufacturer of basic pesticides among the South Asian and African countries, with the exception of Japan. The Indian pesticides market is the 12th largest in the world with a value of US $ 0.6 bn, which is 1.6% of the global market pie. India is one of the most dynamic generic pesticide industries in the world, having a total installed capacity of technical grade pesticides consisting of large and medium scale and 400 pesticide formulators (of all sectors) spread all over the country for use in agriculture, public health, household and plant protection. Overall, it can be said that there is a bright future for agro-chemical companies in India in the post-patent era. This paper focuses on the opportunities arising for companies dealing in pesticides because of the agrarian nature of the Indian economy. Besides, it presents a conceptual framework of the situation prevailing in the marketing of pesticides in India with special reference to Punjab.February 13,2009 (FPRC) — Indian Pesticides Industry - Vital for ensuring food security. Agriculture is the lynchpin of the Indian economy. Ensuring food security for more than 1 bn Indian population with diminishing cultivable land resource is a herculean task. This necessitates use of high yielding variety of seeds, balance use of fertilisers, judicious use of quality pesticides along with education to farmers and the use of modern farming techniques. It is estimated that India approximately loses 18% of the crop yield valued at Rs.900 bn due to pest attack each year. The use of pesticides help to reduce the crop losses, provide economic benefits to farmers, reduce soil erosion and help in ensuring food safety & security for the nation. The Indian pesticide industry with 85,000 MT of production during FY 07 is ranked second in Asia (behind China) and twelfth globally. In value terms, the size of the Indian pesticide industry was estimated at Rs.74 bn for 2007, including exports of Rs.29 bn.Globally, due to consolidation in the industry, the top five global MNCs control almost 78% of the market. In India, the industry is very fragmented with about 30-40 large manufacturers and about 400 formulators.The per hectare consumption of pesticide is low in India at 381 grams when compared to the world average of 500 grams. Low consumption can be attributed to fragmented land holdings, low level of irrigation, dependence on monsoons, low awareness among farmers about the benefits of usage of pesticides etc. India, being a tropical country, the consumption pattern is also more skewed towards insecticides which accounted for 64% of the total pesticide consumption in FY 07.

6.1 Introduction

The analysis of issues in agricultural credit in India reveals that the credit delivery to the agriculture sector continues to be inadequate. It appears that the banking system is still hesitant on various grounds to purvey credit to small and marginal farmers. The situation calls for concerted efforts to augment the flow of credit to agriculture, alongside exploring new innovations in product design and methods of delivery, through better use of technology and related processes. Facilitating credit through processors, input dealers, NGOs, etc., that are vertically integrated with the farmers, including through contract farming, for providing them critical inputs or processing their produce, could increase the credit flow to agriculture significantly.Agriculture plays a crucial role in the development of the Indian economy. It accounts for about 19 per cent of GDP and about two- thirds of the population is dependent on the sector. The importance of farm credit as a critical input to agriculture is reinforced by the unique role of Indian agriculture in the macroeconomic framework and its role in poverty alleviation. Recognising the importance of agriculture sector in India's development, the Government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have played a vital role in creating a broad-based institutional framework for catering to the increasing credit requirements of the sector. Agricultural policies in India have been reviewed from time to time to maintain pace with the changing requirements of the agriculture sector, which forms an important segment of the priority sector lending of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) and target of 18 per cent of net bank credit has been stipulated for the sector. The Approach Paper to the Eleventh Five Year Plan has set a target of 4 per cent for the agriculture sector within the overall GDP growth target of 9 per cent. In this context, the need for affordable, sufficient and timely supply of institutional credit to agriculture has assumed critical importance.

7.1 Introduction

Agriculture production and farm incomes in India are frequently affected by natural disasters such as droughts, floods, cyclones, storms, landslides and earthquakes. Susceptibility of agriculture to these disasters is compounded by the outbreak of epidemics and man-made disasters such as fire, sale of spurious seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, price crashes etc. All these events severely affect farmers through loss in production and farm income, and they are beyond the control of the farmers. With the growing commercialization of agriculture, the magnitude of loss due to unfavorable eventualities is increasing. The question is how to protect farmers by minimizing such losses. For a section of farming community, the minimum support prices for certain crops provide a measure of income stability. But most of the crops and in most of the states MSP is not implemented. In recent times, mechanisms like contract farming and future s trading have been established which are expected to provide some insurance against price fluctuations directly or indirectly. But, agricultural insurance is considered an important mechanism to effectively address the risk to output and income resulting from various natural and manmade events. Agricultural Insurance is a means of protecting the agriculturist against financial losses due to uncertainties that may arise agricultural losses arising from named or all unforeseen perils beyond their control (AIC, 2008). Unfortunately, agricultural insurance in the country has not made much headway even though the need to protect Indian farmers from agriculture variability has been a continuing concern of agriculture policy. According to the National Agriculture Policy 2000, "Despite technological and economic advancements, the condition of farmers continues to be unstable due to natural calamities and price fluctuations". In some extreme cases, these unfavorable events become one of the factors leading to farmers suicides which are now assuming serious proportions.Agricultural insurance is one method by which farmers can stabilize farm income and investment and guard against disastrous effect of losses due to natural hazards or low market prices. Crop insurance not only stabilizes the farm income but also helps the farmers to initiate production activity after a bad agricultural year. It cushions the shock of crop losses by providing farmers with a minimum amount of protection. It spreads the crop losses over space and time and helps farmers make more investments in agriculture. It forms an important component of safety-net programmes as is being experienced in many developed countries like USA and Canada as well as in the European Union. However, one need to keep in mind that crop insurance should be part of overall risk management strategy. Insurance comes towards the end of risk management process. Insurance is redistribution of cost of losses of few among many, and cannot prevent economic loss. There are two major categories of agricultural insurance

I. Definition of wasteland

Wasteland include degraded forest, overgrazed pastures, drought- struck pastures, eroded valley, hill slopes, water logged marshy lands, barren lands etc.

Different authors have defined wastelands as:

Land which is lying unproductive or which is not being utilized to its potential.

Land which is incapable of producing material or services of value (American Society of Soil science).

Land which has been abandoned and for which there is no further use (Mine spoils).

Land which produces less than 20% of economic potential. e) Land where no greenery can be sustained.

Land which is neither under forest cover or agricultural cover or assigned for specific purposes such as National park or National hydro power projects.

The Technical Task Group Report of the National Wasteland Board defines the wasteland due to different constraints.

Crusting soils

What is soil crusting?

Soil crusting refers to formation of a compact thin layer having high bulk density and high penetration resistance at the soil surface when dries after dispersion of fine particles and clogging of pores due to beating action of rain drop and slaking of irrigation water.

In arid and semiarid regions, crust formation occurs due to the destruction of soil aggregates. Crust formation occurs in all types of soils except sand. It is characterized by high bulk density, low non capillary pores, low hydraulic conductivity and aeration and high penetration resistance.

Calcareous soils

In arid regions, calcareous soils are developed from limestone or marl parent materials. The content of calcium and magnesium carbonate may be as high as 60 to 70 per cent of the total soil mass. In calcareous soil lime content may vary from a small amount in some places in the profile to appreciable amounts throughout the profile.

Calcium carbonate coatings occur in sand, silt and clay size fractions of calcareous soils. In sub soil, large amounts of lime forms hardpan under high water tables.

In general, pH of the soil increases to alkaline pH with increasing the proportion of water to soil ratio. This may happen in part from a reduction of CO₂ pressure. The dilution of salts in soil solution also permits greater hydrolysis of calcium clay. The dilution of calcium carbonate with production of hydroxyl ions may lead to higher pH as:

Iron Toxic Soils

Lowland rice is being cultivated on approximately 128 million hectares of either irrigated or rainfed land out of which 100 million hectares suffer due to nutrient deficiency or toxicities. Among the toxicities, iron toxicity is well recognized as a nutritional disorder in low land rice production. Iron toxicity is a syndrome of disorder associated with high concentration of Fe²⁺ in soil solution. A wide range of soil types show iron toxicity problem including acid sulphate soils, acid clay soils, peat soil and valley bottom soil. During monsoon rains in the wet season, soluble iron (Fe²⁺) migrate to the surface and its iron content increases to subtoxic or toxic levels.

In rolling topography and with heavy monsoon downpour there is considerable lateral flow of iron containing water from the adjacent uplands to mid – and low lands. This increases the iron content to toxic levels. Poorly drained sandy soils in valleys receiving interflow water from adjacent uplands with laterite horizon (Plinthudults) showed iron toxicity in Srilanka and Kerala and Odisha in India. These soil groups come under the taxonomic orders Alfisols, Ultisols and Oxisols occurring in association with Entisols and Inceptisols. The iron concentration (Fe²⁺) in soil solution that affect low land rice yield ranges from 10 to > 2000 mg L^-1 Iron toxicity induced yield reduction which is associated with poor nutrients . status (deficiency of P, K and Zn) and H₂S toxicities.

Soil erosion refers to detachment and transport of soil and soil particles from one place to other by the action of water, wind or gravity. Soil erosion consists of (i) detachment of soil particles from surface (ii) their transport from one place to other and (iii) deposition in another place.

Soil erosion are of two types: Natural erosion and accelerated erosion. The natural or geological erosion is steady, nondestructive and slow process of nature. On the contrary the accelerated erosion caused due to human activities like cutting of forest, intensive cropping, construction of roads and building is very rapid and destructive. Surface one inch of soil which is formed in thousand years can be lost within one year due to accelerated erosion.

In India, out of total 175 million hectares of degraded land, soil erosion due to water and wind accounts for 150 million hectare. Soil erosion due to shifting cultivation, salinity, alkalinity, water logging and shifting of water courses account for 25 million hectare.

Average soil loss from various land surfaces in India has been estimated to be 5334 million tonnes per year out of which 29 percent is permanently lost to sea, 10 percent is deposited in reservoirs and 61 percent is transported from one place to other. The plant nutrients lost through 5334 million tonnes of eroded soils was estimated to be 8.4 million tonnes which includes 2.5 million tonnes of N, 3.3 million tonnes of P and 2.6 million tonnes of K.

Siltation of reservoirs through water erosion is a major concern in India. This accelerated silting has considerably reduced the estimated life span of major reservoirs. The rate of siltation depends on the catchment area, soil erodability, topography and rainfall pattern. Larger the catchment area, smaller is the siltation load in the reservoirs because, the coarse fraction of eroded particles may be settle down in the stream valley before the water enters into the reservoir.

Acid soils occupy about 30 percent of the land area of the world out of which 67% acid soils support forests and wood lands and 18 percent are covered by grassland vegetation. Only 4.2 per cent (179 million hectare) of the acid soils across the globe is used for arable crops.

Soil acidity is a major constraint in crop production. The removal of basic cations especially Ca and Mg by leaching and their replacement by acidic cations, H, Al and Fe on exchange complex leads to soil acidity. Soil developed from granite parent material are more acidic than those developed from basalt, shale or lime stone. In acid soils, low pH leading to toxic concentration of H⁺, Al³⁺, Mn²⁺ influences nutrient availability, organic matter decomposition and microbial activity.

Efficient soil amelioration and nutrient management practices are necessary for crops susceptible to soil acidity.

Saline and alkali soils occur commonly under arid climate due either to the presence of an excess of soluble sodium salts or to the predominance of sodium among the exchangeable bases.

Saline and alkali soils have been classified as follows

1. Saline soils

Saline soils were originally called “White alkali” soils. Russians term them as “Solonchak” soils.

The soils are classified as saline if the electrical conductivity of saturated soil paste is more than 4 dS /m at 25⁰C, exchangeable sodium is less than 15 percent and pH is less than 8.5.

2. Alkali soils

The soils have been classified as alkali if the electrical conductivity of saturated soil paste is less than 4 dS/m, exchangeable sodium is more than 15 percent and pH is 8.5 to 10.0.

Water used for irrigation contain some salts, but quantities and kinds vary greatly depending on the source of water. Since sodic status of soils can be greatly influenced by salts in irrigation waters, successful irrigation practices require the evaluation system to judge irrigation water quality and methods employed. The actual damage done by salt to plants or soils depends on the concentration in soil solution rather than the quality of irrigation water applied. Thus, the use of some water source for irrigation might lead to severe salt problem in soils where drainage is restricted.

Criteria for evaluation of irrigation water

Various criteria considered in evaluating the quality of irrigation water are:

1. Salinity hazard

The most satisfactory method for rating the salt content of irrigation water involves measuring electrical conductivity. Various conductivity limits have been proposed to indicate the degree of salinity problems that might be anticipated with use of irrigation water on crops. There are four classes of salinity hazard such as C₁, C₂, C₃, and C₄.

In India rice is cultivated under two land situations. In uplands, rice is grown under rainfed conditions and the yield is normally low. In medium or low land conditions rice is grown under wet condition where plenty of rain water or irrigation water is available. Here an intensive tillage is practiced in wet to create a soft puddle condition and then paddy is transplanted. Land submergence is thus an essential condition for successful rice cultivation.

Rice soils are not necessarily soils with water at or near the surface. Many soils have a fairly deep water table, but their surface is kept under submergence maintaining depth of 3-5 cm water. This condition is maintained either by puddling when wet or by having a compacted layer in the sub surface.

A rice soil is characterized by reducing conditions, when it is cropped with rice during wet season and oxidizing conditions during dry season, when the land remained fallow or planted with dry season crops if, irrigation water is available.

Pollution

Pollution is an undesirable change in physical, chemical or biological characteristics of air, water or land caused by excessive accumulation of pollutants (substances causing pollution).

Kind of pollution

Pollution can be classified in many ways:

Soil health

Soil health is defined as the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living system, by recognizing that it contains biological elements that are keys to ecosystem function within land use-boundaries. These functions are able to sustain biological activity of soil, maintain the quality of air and water as well as promote plant, animal and human health.

The characteristics of a healthy soil depends on the physical, chemical and biological properties of soils which directly or indirectly influence crop production.

Soil quality and soil health are terms that are discussed in agricultural community. Both these terms encompass a complex, dynamic concept, different to define and hard to measure. The term soil quality and soil health are often used interchangeably in the scientific literature, with scientists in general preferring soil quality and producers preferring soil health. Soil health may be considered as the state of soil at a particular time equivalent to the dynamic properties in short term. In contrast, soil quality may be considered for a particular purpose over a longer time scale, equivalent to static soil quality. In a broader way soil quality may refer to both permanent and static soil properties. (Fig. 11.1).

A static soil property relates to natural characteristic of soil (texture) which are derived from pedogenic processes. These properties cannot be easily amended. The dynamic properties are readily related to management practices. The dynamic component is of most important for the growers because it allows the soil to come to its full potential.

Sustainable management of soil resources is essential for food, nutritional and economic security of the country. The continued degradation of soil resources is considered an important factor in lowering the total and partial factor productivity of agriculture in the country. The process like soil erosion, nutrient loss, water logging, desertification, acidification, compaction, crusting, salinization and soil contamination affect food and environmental security in most parts of the country. The future agricultural growth at higher rate cannot be sustained with a deteriorating soil resource base. We need to monitor the quality of soil resources and devise appropriate management strategies for sustainable crop production without deteriorating the environment.

In India, several agencies like National Commission on Agriculture (NCA), Ministry of Agriculture (Soil and Water conservation Division), Society for Promotion of Waste lands Development (SPWD), NBSS&LUP, Nagpur have been constantly inventorizing and characterizing soil resource for drawing up land use and development plans at National and State levels. However, there is a great variance in estimates due to differences in approaches and criteria for assessment. For an example,the total degraded land as estimated by NCA is 148.09 Mha as against, 175.0 Mha by Ministry of Agriculture (Soil and water conservation Division), 129.58 Mha by SPWD and 187.7 Mha by NBSS&LUP, Nagpur.

In soil profile development, we focused on vertical variability in soils - the differences among soil horizons. In this chapter we focused on horizontal variability- how soils differ from place to place across the landscape. Spatial variations in soil properties occurs across distances having geographic meaning for land management-from a few meters to many kilometers. We need to monitor regularly the status of our soil resources employing modern technologies to refine our understanding about them and renew our commitment to their preservation. The applications of Remote Sensing (RS), Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) have greater opportunities to offer in this regard.

Sustainable management of soil and water resources is essential for food, nutritional and environmental security of the country. The total and partial factor productivity of agricultures in India declined over years because of continued degradation of natural resources. The process leading to land degradation are generally triggered by excessive use of land and water resources to meet the growing demand of population for food, fibre and fodder. Various anthropogenic activities leading to accelerated land degradation through salinization, flooding, water logging, erosion of water and nutrients, drought reduced agricultural productivity and nutritional security in the country. These problems can be overcome by optimum utilization of land adopting suitable management practices. For effective land management practices, the soils should be interpreted in forms of their land capability, suitability for irrigation and crop growth. This will not only help the farming community and extension specialists, but also to the administrators and policy makers for using soils for sustainable agricultural production.

Trees are an integral and indispensable constituents of our natural surroundings. The trees keep the environment clean, make the soil healthy and provide food, fibre and shelter to mankind and wild animals. Trees help in stabilizing the soil, a vital natural resource, prevention of soil and water erosion, control run off water in the catchment areas, acts as a shelter belt against wind erosion in arid zone, act as a wind breaker to protect the coastal region during storm and cyclone besides contributing substantially to economic development. The National Commission on Agriculture stress the need for afforestation of about 40 million ha of land presently lying barren because of salinity, sodicity, waterloggings, ravines, coastal sandy areas, stony and gravelly lands, high altitude and slopping lands. Several agencies in various parts of the country are engaged in afforestation of these degraded lands.

Soil conservation in hilly areas

Soil erosion is a major problem on hills because of steep slopes. It has been estimated that about 6 million ha of land requires intensive conservation measures in Himalayan and sub-Himalayan regions of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. Anthropogenic activities like shifting cultivation, deforestation, over grazing accelerate soil erosion in hilly ecosystem.

1. FOOD AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE

Food is the basic necessity of all the living world and the man is no exception to this. The basic purpose of food is to provide energy for the routine body functions and protect the body from various diseases. Life cannot be sustained without adequate nourishment for a healthy and active life, diets should therefore, be planned and consumed on sound nutritional principles (Fig. 1). For want of nutritious foods, consequence is the prevalence of malnutrition. There are several diseases that are related with deficiency of nutrition food, if not consumed. Such diseases include Kwashiorkor that can develop in children consuming insufficient protein even if total calories are sufficient. Marasmus is often due to the cessation of breast feeding and the attempt to replace it with foods, inadequate in protein such as rice broth. Other nutritional diseases still found particularly in the developing world are childhood blindness (vitamin A deficiency), rickets (vitamin D deficiency), beri-beri and infantile beri-beri (inadequate thiamin intake), pellagra (inadequate niacin intake), anemia (iron deficiency), goiter (iodine deficiency), etc. To cope up with this, the diet needs to be supplemented with nutritious food components including fruits and vegetables to make it more suitable for the growth and development of body.

Out of different types of foods, the fruits and vegetables constitute an important component of the food. Horticultural crops occupy a prominent position both in the importance and production in the world. The temperate fruits and vegetables are an important part of the horticultural crops, in terms of production and role in human health. These crops assume all the more importance due to their antioxidant activity, and presence of minerals and vitamins. Both fresh and processed fruits and vegetable, their different products are consumed. They are also called as protective foods. Fruits and vegetables are major sources of important vitamins like B and C and minerals such as Ca, Fe, P and K.

1. INTRODUCTION

India produces a large variety of fruits and vegetable due to varied agro-climatic conditions. These include mango, citrus, banana, apple grapes, strawberry, pineapple, litchi, guava, papaya, plum, peach, pear apricot etc. Astonishingly, it may appear but it is a fact that postharvest losses of fruits and vegetables in India are staggering. Infact the postharvest losses of fruits and vegetables are equivalent to the annual consumption of fruits and vegetables in U.K. In this article, a focus is made on the causes of postharvest losses of fruits, overview of various techniques used to prevent the postharvest losses constrains in postharvest technology and future strategies.

1. INTRODUCTION

Every fruit or vegetable is harvested keeping in view, its intended use. At what stage it should be harvested, is indicated by the maturity index. The chapter focuses on these and postharvest quality of fruits and vegetables.

2. FRUIT MATURITY

"Maturity of a fruit can be defined as that stage at which a commodity has reached a sufficient stage of development that after harvesting and postharvest handling, its quality will be at least the minimum acceptable to the ultimate consumer”. Maturity is of two types:

1. INTRODUCTION

When the fruits and vegetables are ready for the intended purpose, these have to be harvested. What is meant by harvesting and how the produce is harvested, what are the harvesting methods, how these are packaged in what type of packages have been discussed in this chapter.

2. HARVESTING

Harvesting of produce at proper maturity is of paramount importance for maintaining quality during storage and marketing. When the produce is harvested immature or over-mature, it will affect the quality and storage life adversely. After the proper maturity stage has reached, the produce needs to be harvested for various markets. While harvesting, it must however, be kept in mind that all horticultural produce (with the exception of some dry fruits/nuts) is very delicate and mishandling at harvesting may lead to mechanical injury, compression injury that is irretrievable. The injury on fruits/vegetables enhances ethylene production, moisture loss and serves as an entry point for a wide range of pathogens, hence causing quick loss in quality and storability of produce. The injury caused to the produce during harvesting not only spoils the commodity but also makes it unfit for long-term storage or long-distance transportation. Proper training to the labour engaged in harvesting on what to harvest, and how to harvest and the use of proper harvesting tools can reduce considerably the postharvest losses.

1. INTRODUCTION

Fruits and Vegetables are heighly perishable crops and have to be handled carefully after harvest. Postharvest handling of these perishables is essential to prevent the post harvest losses and maintain the quality of the fruits and vegetables. Various treatments (chemical, physical and biological agents) have been standardised and used for retaining the storage quality of different horticultural commodities. All these aspects have been discussed in this chapter.

1. INTRODUCTION

To over come the problem of glut of perishables and to regulate the market, storage of such commodities is a 'common' practice. Storage of fruits and vegetables also makes available these commodities in the off-season. Needless to say, storage is a powerful tool in the prevention of postharvest losses and to give remunerative prices to the farmers. The management of temperature and relative humidity are the most important factors determining storage life of horticultural produce. The natural means like ice, cold water, night temperature have been used for long time for protecting food materials from spoilage and these are still common. However, with the development of innovative technologies, it is possible to achieve optimal environments in the insulated stores. All these aspects are discribed in this chapter.

1. INTRODUCTION

In the changing global scenario, food nutrition, health care and livelihood security are the matter of great concern to human, social and economic development. Fruits and vegetables is one of the most important and fast growing sub-sectors as they form an indispensable part of healthy diet. The current trend shows that dietary habits are changing with increasing income, from cereal based diet to nutritious diet. Resultantly, there is a growing demand for horticultural produce.

World production of vegetables amounts to 1169.45 million tonnes, while that of fruits is 689.39 million tonnes (NHB, 2017). India is the second major producer of fruits and vegetables in the world and ranks next to China. India produces 92.85 million tonnes of fruits from an area of 6.5 million hectares and 175.00 millions tonns of vegetables from an area of 9.2 million hectares annually. The productivity of vegetables in India is 17.6 tonnes per hectare. Potato (28.9%), tomato (11.3%), onion (10.3%) and brinjal (8.1%) are the 4 major vegetables contributing 58.6% of total vegetable production in our country. Other important vegetables are cabbage (5.4%), cauliflower (4.6%), okra (3.9%) and peas (2.4%)

1. INTRODUCTION

The Green Revolution and subsequent efforts through the application of science and technology for increasing food production in India, have brought self-reliance in food. The imputs given by the Government, State Agricultural Universities, State Departments of Agriculture and other organizations through the evolution and introduction of numerous hybrid varieties of fruits and vegetables and improved management practices have resulted in increased food production. However, the nation still faces the problem of the use of improper methods for the storage of food stuffs and their preservation leading to great wastage of the food produced. So, there is a urgent need for the application of food preservation and processing methods.

Food preservation involves all the processes used to maintain foods with the desired properties or nature for longer time. The process is has moved from an art to a highly interdisciplinary science. Food safety now the first priority of the food production and preservation industry, incorporating innovations and sustainability. The preservation and processing of food however, is not as simple or straight forward as it was in the past. A number of new preservation techniques have been developed to satisfy the current demands of economic preservation and consumer satisfaction in nutritional and sensory aspects, convenience, and safety, absence of chemical preservatives, and environmental safety. Understanding the effects of each preservation method on food has therefore, become critical in all the aspects.

1. INTRODUCTION

Fruits and vegetables represent highly perishable items of agricultural produce, mainly because of their high water content in the fresh form. Fruits and vegetables vary greatly in their protective covering, peel or rind, and also in shape, size, colour, texture and flavour. Their care starts from the field of harvest, including pre- harvest care to reduce postharvest infections and maintain quality. Because of the high rate of perishability in fresh form, fruits and vegetables are preserved by processing into several forms and choices, depending on the specific commodity to ensure reduction in mass, render storage stability for extension in storage life for both domestic and foreign trade over variable distance and time.

Food preservation can be defined as the science which deals with methods of prevention of decay or spoilage of food, thus allowing it to be stored in a fit condition for future use. In this chapter, food preservation and have been discussed in abroad way.

Thus, sugar serves as a preservative in jam and jelly, whereas salt is the major preservative for pickle. RTS (Ready-to-Serve) beverage under acidic conditions in pasteurized form can be stored at room temperature for approximately three months while dehydrated products with 5% residual moisture with suitable packages, depending on the low hygroscopicity can find storage life upto 12 months. Intermediate moisture product with 25% residual moisture is becoming popular to consume mango or papaya strips directly in ready-to-eat form. Storage quality of such forms assumes greater importance. The use of synthetic preservatives is highly questioned in the modern days. However, low concentrations of potassium meta-bisulfite and sodium benzoate are still in use. Formation of benzene under acidic conditions for example in products like RTS beverage by the use of sodium benzoate is said to be dangerous, as benzene is known to be carcinogenic. This takes us to a subject of food safety including hygiene and HACCP. Good manufacturing practices are practically the most useful form of product preparation to expect safety.

1. INTRODUCTION

Thermal processing means preservation by application of heat. It involves heating of foods in hermetically sealed containers for a specific time at a specific temperature to eliminate the microbial pathogens that endanger public health and that micro-organisms that deteriorate food during storage. The credit for invention of thermal processing (Canning) goes to a French Confectioner, Nichola Appert. The application of heat is an important method of preserving foods and is also a means of developing texture, flavour and colour in some foods.

1. INTRODUCTION

Preservation of foods by drying is perhaps the oldest method known to mankind. Drying is a thermo-physical action and its principles are governed by heat and mass transfer laws inside and outside the product. The weight of the product is reduced to the extent of 1/4^th to 1/9^th of its original fresh weight. Drying of foods and biological products is a widely applied process for different purposes such as increasing the shelf-life, reducing packaging costs, lowering shipping wastes, encapsulating flavours, making food available during off-season, adding value by changing the phase structure of the native material and maintaining nutritional value. Drying or dehydration of fruits and vegetables can be accomplished with low capital while maintaining high quality and obtaining less perishable food products.

1. INTRODUCTION

Juices and pulps are produced from a wide variety of fruits and vegetables around the world, while some medicinal plants and herbs are also used for preparation of extract of beneficial bioactive compounds. These juices and extracts contain very high proportions (upto 75-90%) of water. Due to their seasonal nature, these products can not be produced round the year in various parts of the world. Preservation, storage, transportation and marketing of single strength juices, pulps and extracts is not at all economical due to the presence of large quantities of water. Under these circumstances, the technology of concentration offers many advantages.

In chemistry, concentration, as a state, may be defined as “the abundance of a constituent divided by the total volume of a mixture” and can be mathematically explained in four types i.e. mass concentration, volume concentration, molar concentration and number concentration. Generally, the term concentration can be applied to any mixture (solid or liquid) but most frequently it refers to the presence of solutes in solvents. Mass concentration is defined as mass/volume (m/V) of mixture and represented in kg/m³, volume concentration as volume of a constituent divided by the volume of all constituents of the mixture (v/V) and represented in m³/m³, molar concentration as moles of a constituent divided by the volume of all constituents of the mixture (n/V) and represented in mol/m³, while, number concentration is defined as the number of entities of a constituent in a mixture divided by the volume of the mixture (N/V) represented in 1/m³.

In food technology or fruit juice industry in particular, concentration refers to a process of separation of water (or any other solvent) from the solids of the pulp, juice, extract by making use of any of the three basic methods i.e. evaporation, freezing and membrane technology. Pulps, juices and extracts are the basic material used for preparation of various types of processed products. But due to their bulk and presence of large quantities of water they are difficult to store and transport. Concentration of juices, not only provides microbial stability, but also reduces the costs of packaging, transportation and storage by reducing the bulk of the material. Concentrated juice, contains far less water than normal, or “not-from-concentrate” forms of juice.

1. INTRODUCTION

Indians are known to prepare preserves from the ancient times. They were also familiar with ther therapeutic values associated with the preserves. Besides, candies, reathers and toffees are the other food products prepared and consumed. In this chapter, the methods of their preparation are described.

2. PRESERVES

A preserve is made from properly mature fruit, by cooking it whole or in the form of large pieces in heavy sugar syrup, till it becomes tender and transparent. In its preparation not less than 45Kg of the fruit are used for every 55Kg of sugar, and cooking is continued till a concentration of at least 68 per cent of TSS (Total Soluble Solids) is reached.

Freshly made preserves are wholesome and have an attractive appearance. When they are stored for a long period, their natural colour and flavour deteriorates on account of oxidative changes. They should therefore, be made only during the season, unless there should be adequate facilities to keep the fruits so that they are available in the off-season also.

1. INTRODUCTION

India is blessed with all types of vegetation because of the diversified climatic and physiographic factors like tropical, subtropical, temperate and alpine. Due to its wide ranging environmental regimes and diverse biological communities, it is one of the world’s 12 “Mega diversity” nations. Out of nearly 425 families of flowering plants in the world, 328 families with 21,000 species are found in India. Further, in India about 20.64 % area is under forest where various species of trees are found, depending upon the climatic conditions.

There are about 29 species of pine which produce edible nuts and utilized at least by indigenous tribal culture in the world. Most of these nut bearing pines are haploxilon (soft) pines, although several species are of diploxilon (hard) pine group. Spain is the largest producer of Pinus pinea and China is the largest producer and exporter of Pinus koriences and Pinus sibrica nuts. Some of the famous edible pine nut species are listed in Table 1. Chilgoza (P. gerardiana Wall.), commonly known as ‘chilgoza’ or ‘Neoza’ is a member of genus Pinus that maintains a very unique position of being an integral part of the vibrant, but fragile ecosystems of the great Himalayas in the Indian sub-continent. The chilgoza pine is the only pine which is of immense social forestry importance. The earning for the bread and butter of most of tribals in HP is from the chilgoza nuts. Further, it also forms an important part of their diet as well as an item essential for some social obligations. Tribals are still adopting the age old practices for chilgoza nut extraction and further their selling to the agents at throw away prices during peak season of nuts.

1. INTRODUCTION

Wild pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is one of those fruits which has got a great economic importance. The name “pomegranate”is derived from Latin pomum (apple) and granatus (seeded) which has influenced the common name for pomegranate in many languages (like in German Granatapfel, seeded apple). It has widely been cultivated throughout India and drier parts of South-East Asia, Malaysia, the East Indies and tropical Africa. The most important growing countries of pomegranate are are Egypt, China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, India, Mayamar and Saudi Arabia. In India, it grows in the vast tract of the hill slopes of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. One of the important centers of wild pomegranate, in Himachal Pradesh is Darlaghat, located about 50 Km from Shimla. The fruit provides substantial income to the farmers particularly where it is found growing wild such as in Mandi, Kullu, Sirmour, Solan, Shimla, and Chamba districts of Himachal Pradesh. It is found very common and gregarious in drier and sub-marginal land of mid hill regions of outer Himalayas at an elevation of 900-1800 m above mean sea level (a.m.s.l). Wild pomegranate is considered as one of the commercial fruits of Himachal Pradesh in the form of dried arils popularly known as “Anardana”. Besides Anardana, other value added products can also be prepared from this fruit as detailed in this chapter.

1. INTRODUCTION

In recent years, fruit and vegetable consumption has grown rapidly. Today’s society is characterized by an increasing health consciousness and growing interest in the role of food for maintaining and improving human well-being and consumer health. Due to consumer’s profile being ‘‘rich in cash/poor in time’’, there is a demand for ready-to-eat products As a result of changes in consumer attitudes, the market of minimally processed (MP) fruits and vegetables has grown rapidly. In addition to their nutritional and sensory properties, foods are currently recognized as active and protective agents. Among the others, minimally processed products stand out as convenient novel foods that fit the many needs of a modern lifestyle as they combine technical content with an innovative food concept. Fresh fruits and vegetables are an essential component of a healthy diet, able to decrease the risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Their consumption has continued to grow rapidly, linked to the increased public awareness of their health benefits.

Minimal Processing’ (MP) is a concept describing approaches to food safety and preservation that are designed to retain the natural and as-fresh properties of foods. Minimally processed fruits are new forms of product marketing, intended to meet the consumers’ desires for convenience and fresh-like quality. Minimally processed fruits and vegetables, also called ready-to-use, fresh-cut or pre-cut produce, are raw fruits and vegetables that have been washed, peeled, sliced, chopped or shredded into 100% usable product that is bagged or packaged to offer to the consumers high nutrition, convenience, and flavour while still maintaining its freshness.

1. INTRODUCTION

Mushrooms are edible fungi of commercial importance and their cultivation has emerged as a promising agro-based land-independent enterprise. There are about 20 varieties of mushrooms being cultivated throughout the world for food. In India, only white button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus J.E. Lange Imbach), oyster mushroom (Pleurotus spp. [Fr.] P. Kumm) and paddy straw mushroom (Volvariella volvacea [Bul.] Singer) are grown commercially. Of these, white button mushroom contributes ~90% of the total production. Mushrooms have been recognized as an alternate source of good quality protein and produce the highest quantity of protein per unit area from agro-wastes. Besides, they provide potentiality for generating employment, improving economic status of growers, help in checking pollution and earn foreign exchange.

Out of the total production about 45% of mushrooms produced are consumed in the fresh form while the other 55% are processed, with 5% in dehydrated form and 50% in canned form. This is because their shelf-life in the fresh form is very short and hence mushrooms are traded in the world market mostly in the processed form. Fruiting bodies (reproductive phase) of Agaricus are appreciated not only for texture and flavour but also for their chemical and nutritional characteristics.

1. INTRODUCTION

The growing demand of consumers for fresh, safe, chemical, additive or preservative free and minimally processed foods has compelled the food scientists and technologists to develop many non-thermal food processing technologies which cause minimum nutritional and sensory qualities impairment in the processed foods. In this endeavour, consumers prefer minimally or non-thermally processed foods rather than the thermally processed one. Today, non-thermal technologies like High Pulse Electric Field (HPEF) processing, High Hydrostatic Pressure (HHP) processing or Hight Pressure Processing (HPP) food irradiation, ultraviolet light, ultra sound, arc discharge, oscillating magnetic fields, light pulses, plasma, chemicals (ozone, carbon dioxide, argon), and the combined methods of these technologies are the major areas of research in the process and food engineering in order to find their suitability for processing of various food products.

1. INTRODUCTION

According to the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (1968) food is “an article that provides taste, aroma or nutritive value”. The term 'health food' is generally used to describe foods that are considered to be beneficial to health beyond a normal diet required for human nutrition. Though, the term is not precisely defined by any regulatory agencies such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) however, “Health food” is sometimes used as an umbrella term encompassing natural foods, organic foods, whole foods, and sometimes dietary supplements or may also refer to functional foods. The use of foods for promoting health and relieving symptoms is as old as the practice of phyto-medicine for treating or preventing various types of illness and have been documented in Hippocratic and Vedic texts and the canons of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Therefore, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”, quoted by Hippocrates about 2,500 years ago, is certainly the tenet of today which is receiving overwhelming interest. In the recent years, rapid urbanization, industrialization, increase in per capita income etc. in developing countries like India, have resulted in dramatic lifestyle changes leading to lifestyle related diseases like coronary heart disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer and hypertension. The transition from a traditional to modern lifestyle, consumption of diets rich in fat and calories combined with a high level of mental stress has compounded the problem further.

1. INTRODUCTION

Amongst the common fermentations employed in food are alcoholic, lactic acid and acetic acid. Lactic acid fermentation is a potent tool of biopreservation of foods by the use of biological means i.e. microorganisms or their metabolites having antimicrobial action. It deals with the extension of storage life and increased safety of edible products by employing natural microflora or their antimicrobial products such as in food fermentation. Though many problems in food processing and microbiological safety of food have diminished, yet these are certainly not eliminated altogether. These include the likelihood of food-related illness and product spoilage in industrialized countries. The increasing consumption of pre-cooked food, prone to temperature abuse, are among the main causes of this scenario. The bacterial pathogens that account for many of these foodborne illness cases include Salmonella, Compylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli 0157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, and Clostridium botulinum. Until now, approaches to seek improved food safety had relied heavily to find out more efficient chemical preservatives or on the application of more drastic physical treatments (e.g. high temperatures) of food processing. Nevertheless, these types of solutions do have some drawbacks also: the proven toxicity of some of the commonest used chemical preservatives (e.g. nitrites), the alteration of the sensory and nutritional properties of foods (thermal processing) especially recent consumer trends in purchasing and consumption, with demands for safe but minimally processed products without additives.

1. INTRODUCTION

Since vedic times, importance of fermented milk and its products was known but the major attention to probiotic and its health related benefits was gained after Eli Metchnikoff’s publication entitled “The prolongation of life” in 1908. Due to the awareness of the role of nutrition in health and well-being, improved knowledge of diet-related diseases, consumer demand for probiotic and prebiotic products has been increased in recent years. The link between diet and health is flourishing the market for health-embracing population and opens an opportunity for Food and Dairy Industries meet the demand of this market. Probiotics, constituting live micro organisms, have been incorporated into drinks, food products, supplements (tablets, capsules and freeze–dried preparations) and prebiotic products. Milk, milk based products, fruits and vegetables are rich in functional food components such as minerals, vitamins, dietary fibers, and antioxidants (phytochemicals). Application of probiotic bacteria in such products further enhances the nutritional value of the food product. Probiotic juices produced from fruits and vegetables have also been in consideration in recent years. The food market is being getting captured by pro- and prebiotic food products day-by-day. Even the agro-industrial by-products such as whey, wheat straw, rice straw, sugarcane bagasse, etc. are being explored for the economical and cost effective production of prebiotic molecules. Thus, this chapter gives a comprehensive overview of pro- and prebiotics and their market potential.

1. INTRODUCTION

Food fermentation is the oldest method of food preservation and have originated several million years ago. It plays an important role in ensuring the food security of millions of people around the world particularly marginalized and vulnerable groups. It is relatively efficient, low energy consuming process which needs no refrigeration or other energy intensive food preservation technologies but increases the shelf-life of foods. Fermentation ensures not only increased shelf-life and microbiological safety of food but may also make some foods more digestible and lower or eliminate the toxicity of substrate like cassava.

The food fermentation technology utilizes the ability of growth of microorganisms on various substrates for the production of a variety of fermented foods, beverages and pickles like bread, beer, cheese, idli, tempeh, miso, sauerkraut, fermented sausages, etc. Fermented foods are popular throughout the world since antiquity and in some regions these are the major component of the diet of millions of individuals. Indigenous fermented foods such as bread, cheese and wine have been prepared and consumed since ages and have occupied important place in culture, religion and tradition of people all over the world.

1. INTRODUCTION

Fermentation is an age old technology. It has been used by man since antiquity. It has been employed to produce a number of fermented products such as wine, beer, curd, vinegar, pickles and several others. Fermentation was discovered quite early and by chance but the underlying principles were discovered very late. Primarly fermentation was used as a method of shelf-life extension of the produce in the time of glut production, though the final product had modified sensory qualities. Thus, fermentation and drying were the main methods of preservation. With the discovery of new methods of preservation, fermentation as a method of preservation has gone into background and as technique of flavour development and product with modified sensory quality came into practice. In this chapter, fermentation as a method of preservation has been described.

1. INTRODUCTION

Vegetables occupy a prominent position in our diet especially to tone up our digestive system and provide nourishment. Regular use of vegetables, supply many essential health building and protective substances, such as vitamins and minerals. India ranks second in vegetable production in the world. The abundant production of vegetables during the season, results in a glut. Consequently, a large quantity of vegetables gets spoiled resulting in a considerable loss of natural resources. Therefore, preservation is the best way to save the wastage of vegetables and make them available even in the off-season (Plate 1).

1. INTRODUCTION

Admitably except for water and milk, no other beverage has earned such universal acceptance and esteem throughout the ages as wine. The aesthetic postures of wine can be gauged by the quotations like ‘wine is the most healthful and the most hygienic beverage (Louis Pasteur)’, ‘wine is a chemical symphony (Amerine). Man has been preparing and consuming since time immemorial a large variety of alcoholic beverages, ranging from mild stimulants to highly intoxicants liquors. Amongst the mild stimulants are the wines which have long association with human artistic, cultural and religious activities.

Grapes and wines are of immense importance to us and their sheer magnitude of production and associated investment, employment, enjoyment, tax revenue collected and the economic contribution is a justifiable. These play a major role in economics of major wine producing countries like Italy and France. Wine and brandy refer to the fermented by-products of grapes, member of genus Vitis notably the cultivars of V.vinifera L. as per the European definition. However, here these terms may also refer to the fermented by-products from any fleshy fruit or flower. Compared to the grapes, industry producing wine from other fruits is very small. Do these have any role to play especially in nutrition, health and economy of the horticulturally developed countries or are simply mild intoxicants consumed? Such queries at one or the other time may baffle the thinking of an inquisive reader. An attempt has been made here to discuss briefly the historical aspects, role of wine in the context of nutritive and therapeutic value, present status of Indian Wine Industry, research status and future strategies. Emphasis on its role in developing the horticultural industry would also be laid.