eChapters

Introduction

In India, the history of agriculture dates embarrassed to Indus natural depression Civilization Era and even before that in some locations of Southern India. Today, India ranks more familiarized in surface area output. Agriculture and related sectors like biology and fisheries accounted for 137% of the value concerning 500^th of the manpower in 2013. The livelihood buildup of agriculture to India’s value is steady breakdown with the country’s broad-based livelihood growth. Still, agriculture is demographically the broadest and highest livelihood across and plays a strong role within the all-inclusive socioeconomic attachment of India. India exported $38 billion service of scientific discipline on-line symbols, authentic it the seventh larger scientific discipline business person used to and therefore the sixth larger web businessperson, plenty of its agriculture exports serve developing and developed nations as in 2013. Indian agricultural/horticultural foods squarely determined and exported to further more than 120 countries, primarily within the geographical area, environmental region, SAARC countries, the EU and United States. As per FAO (2010), agriculture statistics India is that the world’s larger agent of in great quantity of fruits and vegetables, milk, spices, base crops that as jute, staples as millets and vegetable oil seed. India is that the further larger agent of wheat and rice in the world.

India stratified within the world’s five larger producers of over 80^th of scientific order ending things, as well as in large numbers banker’s invoice crops feels affection for unusual crops including cotton, in 2010. India is one in every of the world’s five larger producers of farm animal including dairy products and plenty of meat, with one in every of the quickest advanced rates, as of 2011.

Since the wide introduction of organochlorines and other synthetics in early 50’s farmers have heavily relied on the chemical pesticides for pest control. Over emphasis on chemical control has caused serious imbalances in the agro-ecosystem. The enormous quantities of chemicals, poisonous to microbial life, that fall on earth gets mixed up well with soil. Some problems like non-target effects of chemicals as well as latrogenic diseases are being experienced. Coupled with these, the increasing awareness of impeding pollution, health hazards and development of resistance have intensified the search for alternative strategies.

In the present investigation, the attempts have been made to test the stability and pest management efficacy of the plant extracts of some Indian medicinal plants, namely, Datura stramonium, Ricinus communis, Vitex trifolia and Nerium indicum. In the earlier chapters detailed methodologies and the results have been elaborated. This chapter embodes the comprehensive inter- and intra-comparative results and discussion on the basis of selected plants, extraction media, pest species and bioassay followed by conclusions.

The hot sterilized water extracts of R. communis were found to be more stable (i.e. 20 days to start the fermentation). In overall study the plant extracts were stable or viable means active for three to four weeks only. In most cases, the activity of cold and hot water extracts was found to be increasing with fermentation however the decrease in the activity of some extract was also observed.

The highest mean anti-fungal activity was reported for R. communis extracts followed by D. stramonium and N. indicum aqueous extracts, whereas no any anti-fungal potency was reflected by V. trifolia against test fungi species. R. communis and N. indicum extracts, the cold water method extraction showed greater positive effects in terms of mean anti-fungal potency as compared to the hot water extracts. The water extraction of D. stramonium was found to be more effective in anti-fungal activity study.

Bakery Industry

Baked goods have been around for thousands of years. The art of baking was developed early during the Roman Empire. It was a highly famous art as Roman citizens loved baked goods and demanded for them frequently for important occasions such as feasts and weddings etc. Due to the fame and desire that the art of baking received, around 300 BC, baking was introduced as an occupation and respectable profession for Romans. The bakers began to prepare bread at home in an oven, using mills to grind grain into the flour for their breads. The oncoming demand for baked goods vigorously continued and the first bakers’ guild was established in 168 BC in Rome. This drastic appeal for baked goods promoted baking all throughout Europe and expanded into the eastern parts of Asia. Bakers started baking breads and goods at home and selling them out on the streets.

This trend became common and soon, baked products were getting sold in streets of Rome, Germany, London and many more. This resulted in a system of delivering the goods to households, as the demand for baked breads and goods significantly increased. This provoked the bakers to establish a place where people could purchase baked goods for themselves. Therefore, in Paris, the first open-air bakery of baked goods was developed and since then, bakeries became a common place to purchase delicious goods and get together around the world. By the colonial era, bakeries were commonly viewed as places to gather and socialize.^[2] World War II directly affected bread industries in the UK. Baking schools closed during this time so when the war did eventually end there was an absence of skilled bakers. This resulted in new methods being developed to satisfy the world’s desire for bread. Methods like: adding chemicals to dough, premixes and specialized machinery. Unfortunately these old methods of baking were almost completely eradicated when these new methods were introduced and became industrialized. The old methods were seen as unnecessary and financially unsound, during this period there were not many traditional bakeries left.

Bakery is a traditional activity and occupies an important place in food processing industry. The bakery manufacturers in India can be differentiated into the three broad segments of bread, biscuits and cake. About 1.3 million tonnes of the bakery products industry in India is in the organized sector out of 3 millions tonnes, while the balance comprises of unorganized, small-scale local manufacturers. Though, there are sufficient automatic and semi-automatic bread as well as biscuit manufacturing units in India but there are still number of people prefer fresh bread and other products from the local bakery. After entry of Pizza and Burgers’ MNCs in the country, people are changing their tastes also. Today, they are not restricted to bread, cake and biscuits but to other bakery products also. The consumers are increasingly going for newer options with respect to bakery products. With the ventures of few Companies like Britannia, Biskfarm, and Morish etc. competition has increased. Also, the Indian market is witnessing the proliferation of bakery cafe chains in the form of Baristacafe, coffee day, Café Coffee & Monginis etc.

Armed with better technology, know-how and novel ideas, these foreign companies have made rapid inroads into the lucrative market within a very short span of time. Though the demand for bakery products in India has always been on the rise, there is clearly a lack of awareness and the will to break new ground, which has helped global players to gain brownie points while exploring the market in India. The unorganized sector accounts for about half of the total biscuit production estimated at 1.5 million tonnes. It also accounts for 85 per cent of the total bread production and around 90 per cent of the other bakery products estimated at 0.6 million tonnes. The last includes pastries, cakes, buns, rusks and others.

Various types of equipment are needed and used to facilitate the process of baking. Depending upon the use, equipment may be as light equipment and heavy equipment.

Chocolate is a key ingredient in many foods such as milk shakes, candy bars, cookies and cereals. It is ranked as one of the most favourite flavours in North America and Europe. Despite its popularity, most people do not know the unique or igins of this popular treat. Chocolate is a product that requires complex procedures to produce. The process involves harvesting coca, refining coca to cocoa beans, and shipping the cocoa beans to the manufacturing factory for cleaning, conching and grinding. These cocoa beans will then be imported or exported to other countries and be transformed into different type of chocolate products.

In history, 1828 marked the “modern era” of chocolate making when Dutch chocolate maker Conrad J. van Houten patented an inexpensive method for pressing the fat from roasted cacao beans along with other processes to create a fine powder known as “cocoa”. The powder was then treated with alkaline salt that helped the powder mix with water easily. The creation of powdered chocolate made it easier to mix with water, sugar and a possible combination of other ingredients to make chocolate in solid form. Many other chocolate makers began to build on Van Houten’s success to make a variety of chocolate products. In 1894, English chocolate maker Joseph Storrs Fry produced what was arguably the world’s first eating chocolate”

Chemically, sugar candies are broadly divided into two groups: crystalline candies and amorphous or non crystallized candies. Crystalline candies are not as hard as crystals of the mineral variety, but derive their name and their texture from their microscopically organized sugar structure, formed through a process of crystallization, which makes them easy to bite or cut into. Fudge, creams, and fondant are examples of crystalline candies. Amorphous candies have a disorganized crystalline structure. They usually have higher sugar concentrations, and the texture may be chewy, hard, or brittle. Hard candies, such as lollipops, caramels, nut brittles and toffees are all examples of amorphous candies, even though some of them are as hard as rocks and resemble crystals in their overall appearance. Crystalline candies are chemically described as having two phases, because the tiny, solid sugar crystals are suspended in a thick liquid solution. These are also called grained candies, because they can have a grainy texture. Amorphous candies are have only one phase, which is either solid or liquid, and do not have a grainy texture, so they may be called ungrained.

Commercially, candies are often divided into three groups, according to the amount of sugar they contain:

The culture of colored and attractive fish in glass aquariums for aesthetic use is called ornamental fish culture. The beautiful, tiny fishes or ornamental fishes are peaceful in nature and suitable for keeping in captivity. These lovely fishes are usually kept in a glass made aquarium and decorated with toys, plants, ceramic structures etc. for beautification. It displays the attractive fish that live in a natural environment decorated with accessories while maintaining environmental parameters in tanks/aquariums by using aerators, heaters, filters, lights to control water movement, temperature, suspended organic matter, illumination etc. besides feeding. Keeping ornamental fish in a glass tank is a very old and popular hobby. More and more people are getting attracted to this hobby and due to growing interest in aquarium keeping; it has resulted in a steady expansion in its trade in more than 125 countries. Household aquariums are more popular; therefore, less than 1% of the global market for ornamental fishes belongs to the public aquaria sector. Most of the ornamental fish is available from developing countries in the tropical and sub-tropical regions. The international trade in ornamental fish breeding and culture provides employment opportunities for thousands of rural people in developing countries. Ornamental fish is becoming an important component in Indian fisheries too, along with food fishes, for both income and employment generation. As a result of advancements in breeding, transport and rearing technology, more and more fish species are being recognized as ornamental fish almost every year. The ornamental fishery is recognized by many developing countries for employment generation and livelihoods. Ecologically suitable culture systems must be developed by evolving micro, small and medium enterprises for sustainable growth.

Soil Density

The density of a soil, as any other matter, is its mass per unit volume. However, in case of soil, because of its unique nature, the density can be expressed by two terms, viz., bulk density and particle density. Soil density is typically expressed in mega gram per cubic metre (Mg m^-3) which is numerically equal to g cm^-3.

Horticulture deals with the art, science, business and technology of cultivation and management of horticultural plants. The word Horticulture is derived from two Latin words viz. ‘Hortus’ (means garden) and ‘Culture’ (means growing). Horticulture is an aesthetic science that deals with cultivation of fruit, vegetable, spice, plantation, medicinal, aromatic and flower crops. There is a vast therapeutic use of horticulture wherein gardening and aroma therapy are used to deal with new age maladies like depression and various addictions.

In ancient times, huge gardening spaces to grow large number of fruits, vegetables and flowers were available and these areas were demarcated with the help of high walls. This enclosed area was referred to as garden. This led to the term garden culture. The land area is decreasing due to industrialization and population growth, at the same time, there is a drastic increase in demand for horticultural produce. To meet the increased demand for horticultural produce and to cope up with the space constraints, multitier cropping systems, vertical gardening and other intensive cultivation practices are being resorted to. Hence, horticulture may also be described as the “Practice of growing and manipulating plants in a relatively intensive manner”.

Presently, fruits, vegetables, flowers and ornamentals are grown not only within the home premises, but also in large quantities on a commercial scale. In other words, many horticultural crops throughout the world are grown primarily as business enterprises. Thus, horticulture has two aspects in general i.e., the amateur and the professional. In addition, with the establishment of horticultural experiment stations as an integral part of colleges and universities, comparatively a large amount of scientific information on the behaviour and cultivation of horticultural plants and products is freely available. This information or literature, constitutes the science of horticulture, and the application of this scientific information constitutes the “Technology of Horticulture.” Thus, present day horticulture may be defined as the science and technology of production, processing and merchandising of fruits, vegetables, flowers and ornamentals where each crop has its own science and technology. Consequently, horticulture may appear differently to different people. To a teacher, professor, research scientist, extension official and landscape architect, it is an applied science and a profession, while to a commercial producer, wholesaler, a retailer of horticultural products, or to the manufacturers or seller of horticultural products, it is a business. It is also a fascinating hobby for connoisscur.

Pot mixture is the media, used in the pots for propagation of nursery plants. It is the combination of different materials in a particular proportion to create better environment for rooting, growth and development of plants.

The most commonly used ingredients to make potting mixture areas follows

The term growth refers to an irreversible increase in size and weight of the plant. It normally reflects an increase in protoplasm, which may occur through increase in size of the cell and number of cells. Hence, the process of cell elongation and cell division provides the basis for growth. Cell division and enlargement are complicated processes involving synthesis of many organic compounds such as protein, cellulose and nucleic acid, besides the physical force required, which results in cell enlargement. The growth of the whole plant is compartmentalized into areas called ‘meristem’ where cell division and cell elongation are localized. The meristem cells such as shoot apex, root apex, cambium and the intercalary zones undergo repeated mitosis resulting in replication of DNA and nuclear material and finally the cell mass increases. Adjacent to this area of meristematic activity is the region of cell elongation, which phases in to the region of differentiation and maturation.

The increase in protoplasm (occurring in cell division and elongation) is brought about through a series of events in which water, carbon - di-oxide and inorganic salts are transformed into living materials. These events include (a) photosynthesis (production of carbohydrates) (b) nutrient absorption and translocation (uptake of water, nitrogen and other mineral elements) and (3) anabolism (synthesis of various materials produced in plant from the carbon fragments produced by photosynthesis and from the inorganic nutrients and water absorbed from the soil). The energy required for all these processes is provided by a catabolic process viz., respiration (degradation of sugars and fats to release energy). The net balance of anabolism and catabolism results in growth of the plant.

Micro propagation in also called as in vitro propagation. In vitro is a Latin word, meaning ‘in glass’. It refers to procedures done in controlled artificial environment, outside a living organism. These procedures naturally occur in the living system. Opposite to in vitro is in vivo which is also a Latin word, meaning ‘in living’. Biological processes that occur within the living system.

Micro propagation refers to the multiplication of plants, in aseptic conditions in containers under controlled nutritional and environmental condition. Micropropagation is done in artificial growth medium from various plant parts like meristem tip, embryos, anthers, axillary buds, leaf section, shootlips etc. It is a method by which a true to type and disease free plant can be regenerated from a miniature piece of plant throughout the year. Some popularly grown crops from tissue culture are as follows

Ornamental plants - orchids, lilium, gerbera, cordyline, begonia, ficus, etc.

Introduction

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

Introduction

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

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

Introduction

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

Morphology and Biology of Corcyra

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

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

This fruit plant is fast-growing when young, but soon become slow-growing tree thrive well under tropical, sub-tropical and temperate region. Mostly this crop is being cultivated for rearing of silkworm and wind break rather than fruit crop. This crop not specific with climatic requirement so can be grown in arid, marginal soil, barren land without much care.

The different plant parts viz., stem, bark, twigs, leaf, fruit etc are being utilized in different ways. Stem use for making agricultural implement, house artisans’, sports items, fodder for animals and fruits use as fresh dessert and in processing for making of different value added products like jam, beverages etc. Apart from these, its different plant parts also have medicinal properties use mainly in folk, ayurvedic and unani medicines.

Phalsa is an important minor fruit crop of India. It is a sub tropical fruits, which is also known as star apple. It is known by different vernacular names in different parts of country for example Dhamini in Bengali, Phalsa in Punjabi and Shurkhi in Hindi.

Phalsa is a shrub or small tree of Indian origin. Phalsa has been mentioned in Vedic literature as having certain medicinal qualities. Phalsa is a bushy plant of arid and semi- arid region. It is also cultivated in subtropical region. It is very hardy, tolerant to drought and suitable to grow on wastelands. Phalsa is best suited for small area as it is manageable by pruning. Its cultivation is favoured around big cities where fruits find a ready and quick sale. It has a poor keeping quality. It is also grown as an intercrop with mango, aonla, bael and ber. It is capable of growing under neglected and water scarcity conditions where only a few other crops would survive.

3.1. Soil colloids

Clay fraction of the soil contains particles less than 0.002 mm in size.

Particles less than 0.001 mm size possess colloidal properties and are known as soil colloids.

Rerd. L.L.Langstroth (Father of modern bee keeping) discovered movable frame hive in 1851.

In 1882, beekeeping was introduced in India.

In 1911, Rerd. Newton introduced beekeeping to South India.

Gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii Bolus), commonly known as Transvaal Daisy, Barberton Daisy or African Daisy, belongs to the family Asteraceae is one of the most important cut flowers in domestic as well as global market. It ranks sixth among the top ten cut flowers. Gerbera can successfully be grown in the plains as well as in the hills. In India, its cultivation is confined mostly to Kalimpong, Bangalore and Pune. The flowers are known for long vase life (Chauhan, 2005) and good rehydration capacity suitable for long distant transportation. It is a diploid species with somatic chromosome number 50 (n=25).

Importance and Uses

Gerbera is very fashionable and widely used as a decorative garden flower and cut flower (Kanwar and Kumar, 2008). It is ideal for garden decoration as a bedding plant, pot plant and suitable for growing in rock gardens. It is also used in interior decoration in vases, flower arrangements and in bouquets.

Gerbera viridifolia is referred as ‘the herb of milk’ in the eastern Cape and is probably used to stimulate milk production in cattle (Dold and Cocks, 2002).

Botanically aster belongs to the family Asteraceae and scientifically known as Callistephus chinesnsis which is basically native to China aster and annual aster. It is native to China and Japan and it is cultivated worldwide as cut flower, loose flower, bedding plant, for flower decoration and for making floral ornaments. It can easily cultivate in the open fields and green houses for the production of cut-flowers. The genus Callistephus derives from two Greek words that is ‘Kalistos’ and ‘Stephos’ meaning ‘most beautiful’ and ‘a crown’, respectively. The name Aster comes from the Ancient Greek word acx^p (aster),, meaning “star”;, referring to the shape of the flower head (Janakiram, 2006).Among various flowering annuals, China aster is having an important position in Indian floriculture industry. It holds the position next to chrysanthemum and marigold among the traditional flowers. In fact, it has widely replaced an already grown annual Chrysanthemum up to greater extent in Indian floriculture industry.

This flower is most preferred for wide cultivation by virtue of its wide variation in attractive color and longer vase life. It is also very much used for beautification in landscape gardening which create mass effect. In India it is cultivated in about 1,020 ha with a production of flower 800 million tonnes. It is commercially cultivated in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Maharashtra. In Karnataka it account for 6 % of the total area and 8.8 % of the total flower production.

Tuberose is an important half-hardy, perennial bulbous flowering plant. It belongs to the Amaryllidaceae family and having basic chromosome number (n=30). It is one of the important cut flower among the top ten cut flowers due to its beauty, elegance and sweet pleasant fragrance (Sadhu and Bose, 1973). It is cultivated for its long lasting spike as cut flower as well as loose flower purpose. Tuberose also known as Rajanigandha in Bengali, Gulchari and Galshabbo in Hindi, Sukandaraji and Nelasanpengi in Telegu, Nilasompangi in Tamil and Sugandharaja in Kannada. It is suitable under protected cultivation as well as open field condition (Brundell and Steenstra 1985). It has a huge economic potential and more demand for cut-flower purpose (Usman, 2013) and essential oil industry (Singh, 1995). Due to its immense export potential, cultivation of tuberose is gaining momentum day by day in our country.

Origin and distribution

Tuberose is cultivated all over the world and it is originated from Mexico. Tuberose is commercially producing in various countries such as India, China, Bangladesh, Mexico, Kenya, Italy, France, Morocco, USA, Hawaii and South Africa. In India, it is commercial growing in West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and North Eastern part of India. At present scenery tuberose is cultivation in India 7. 95 lakh hectare and cut flowers is estimated to be 27.71 ‘000 MT and loose flowers1560.70 lakh (Anonymous, 2013).

Statice, botanically known as Limoniumis very highly demanded ornamental plant. It is also known as ‘Sea Lavender’ owing to its color and place of growth. The genus name Limonium is from Greek name ‘leimon’ which translates to origin ‘a meadow’, most suitable as many species are found growing near marshy lands or salty areas of sea shore. The statice plants have very wide adaptability and can be seen growing under a wide range soil and climatic conditions like sea shores, marshy lands, deserts and plains etc. Statice figures in top 20 cut flowers sold worldwide but information on its trade, volume, export-import and number of stems sold etc. is not available. The reason for this may be attributed to classification systems, data collection categories and frequently changing nature of the assortments in the international flower market. Comprehensive trade statistics are difficult to locate for Statice. However, Statice figured in top 10 imported products in the Netherlands way back during 2013, 2014 and 2015. Though it is presently not among the top 10 flowers category, still it enjoys the immense popularity among the growers owing to its ease in cultivation and other characteristics. It is cultivated as annual as well as perennial crop, as different species have been domesticated for this purpose.

The climate, the past weather event that existed over larger region and covering long years of more than 30 years is very important for the emergence and successful sustenance of an organism including human kind. Normally scientists talk about environment and this includes not only the soils but also the climate of the particular region. Based on this, during 1989, the Planning Commission of India divided the entire India in to 15 agro-climatic zones based on physiography and climate. This division is only for planning purposes. Subsequently under NARP, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi in consultation with the Planning Commission, requested all State Agricultural Universities (SAU) to divide their State in to different sub climatic zones considering soils, temperature and other weather parameters preciously with in the major agroclimatic zone of India in which the concerned State falls. Accordingly, each SAU has divided their State into different agro-climatic sub-zones and this resulted in 129 agro-climatic sub zones in India and limited to 127 and these all fall within 15 agro climatic zones of India as done by the Planning Commission of India.

The National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (NBSS&LUP), Nagpur not satisfied with this division, considering soils, temperature, rainfall, vegetation and all factors responsible for ecosystem (bio-climate, length of growing period, moisture index) divided the whole India in to 20 agro-eco regions by 1992 and revised preciously again by 2015 (Mandal et al., 2016) and the revised approach is being considered as scientific tool and taken for micro-level planning in India now and those are discussed at this chapter.

Laboratory analysis is an important part in any branch of chemistry and analytical chemistry in particular. To undertake the analysis, both apparatus and equipments are needed.

I. Filtration

Filtration is a process of separation of precipitate from solution. Filtration is used to remove impurities from a solution (or) to isolate a solid.

Stable isotopes are chemical isotopes that may or may not be radioactive,but if radioactive, have half-lives too long to be measured. These isotopes decay into stable products. Eg. ¹⁴C having 6protons and electrons with 8 neutrons.

Most elements of biological interest (including C, H, O, N, and S) have two or more stable isotopes. Among the stable isotopes, the most useful as biological tracers are the heavy isotopes of carbon and nitrogen.

Aim

To design shallow and deep bins

Theory

The structure behaves as a deep or shallow bin depending upon its relative dimensions such as depth and diameter or width. It is decided from the concept of the plane of rupture.

Plane of rupture: The plane of rupture is that surface down which a wedge of material bounded by one wall face, the free surface, and the plane of rupture would start sliding if bounding wall were to move.

Aim

To design the grassed water ways or open channel

Geometric characteristics of different waterways

The shape of open channel is dependent upon the field conditions and types of the construction equipments used.

The common shapes of open channels generally used are (i) Parabolic or semi circular (ii) Triangular (iii) Rectangular and (iv) Trapezoidal section.

The parabolic shape approximates a natural channel. The reason is that in natural course of channel flow, the trapezoidal and triangular sections tend to become in parabolic shape due to deposition of sediments and bank erosion.

Aim

• To design the contour bunds

Design parameters

The design of contour bund includes determination of following parameters:

• Choice of bund
• Spacing of bunds
• Size of bund
• Alignment of bund

1. Choice of bund

The choice of bund should be selected weather the contour bund or graded bund depends on the annual rainfall, soil condition and types of outlets used.

Aim

To estimate the soil loss using universal soil loss equation

Universal soil loss equation

Wischmeir and Smith (1962) has been developed a predictive equation for estimating the soil loss taking into account following factors: Climatic characteristics, soil characteristics, crop management and conservation practices. It is called Universal soil-loss equation (USLE).

Introduction

The mango (Mangifera indica L.) is regarded as king of fruits. It is a key fruit crop in the subtropical regions of world including India. Prakash and Srivastava, 1987 reported that mango is attacked by more than 140 fungi (70 diseases), about 12 nematodes and a dozen of phanerogamic parasites and epiphytes. Among these diseases some major diseases of mango having economic important in India are briefly described in this chapter.

Anthracnose

Anthracnose is a severe disease of mango. High disease severity results to heavy loss including post-harvest losses during transit and marketing of produce. Mango anthracnose has been reported to spoil about 29 per cent of Alphanso fruits at Bangalore. Young plantations of Bombay green variety are completely wiped out in Tarai region of Uttar Pradesh as a result of severe wither tip Bose et al., 1973. At Lucknow, 24 per cent loss of fruits of Dashehari variety has been reported by Raoof and Prakash, 1984.

Introduction

Elephant foot yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Dennst.) Nicolson) is an important edible tropical tuber crop since time immemorial in the tropics and sub-tropics (Behera et al., 2009) and regarded as “King of tuber crops” due to its higher biological efficiency as a food producer ). It belongs to the family Araceae. Tender stem and leaves of this tuber crop are used for vegetable purpose. The corms are rich in nutrition and contain 18.0% starch, 1-5% protein and up to 2% fat. Leaves contain 2-3% protein, 3% carbohydrates and 4-7 % crude fibre. It has great scope for commercial exploitation as a medicinal crop in pharmacological industry and widely recommended as a remedy in all three of the major Indian medicinal systems: Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani. The corm is prescribed for bronchitis, asthma, abdominal pain, emesis, dysentery, enlargement of spleen, piles, elephantiasis, diseases due to vitiated blood, and rheumatic swellings. Pharmacological studies have shown a variety of effects, specifically antiprotease activity, analgesic activity, and cytotoxic activity. It has also been found to be a potential inhibitor of bacteria activity when used with antibiotics. In addition, Amorphophallus corm is a good sources of phyto- aestrogens and are effective alternate or complementary to conventional hormone replacement therapy for symptoms associated with menopause and chronic degenerative diseases in women. It is a crop of South-east Asian origin, and grown widely in Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and South eastern Asian countries. In India, the crop is popular in the state of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. West Bengal is the highest producer of elephant foot yam (293.84 thousand MT in the year 2015-16) followed by Andhra Pradesh (207.52 thousand MT) and Kerala (110.37 thousand MT) (Source: National Horticultural Board). However, the crop is gaining popularity dueto its shade tolerance, easiness in cultivation, high productivity, less incidence of pests and diseases, steady demand and reasonably good price.

Introduction

Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott, also known as taro, belongs to the family Arecaceae. Taro is believed to have originated in Southern or South-East Asia, and to have been dispersed to Oceania through the Island of New Guinea to many centuries ago but cultivated in Asia for more than 10,000 years. Taro is considered as an important vegetable grown throughout India. Taro is herbaceous perennial plants with a large corm on or just below the ground surface and can be grown in the ground or in large containers. They can be grown in almost any temperate zone as long as the summer is warm.

Taro root contains very significant amount of dietary fibre and carbohydrates, as well as high levels of vitamin A, C, E, B6 and folate, as well as magnesium, iron, zinc, phosphorus, potassium, manganese and copper. Thogh negligible, the plant is also known to provide some protein in our diet. As Taro is a great source of fibre and other nutrients, it offers a variety of potential health benefits, including improved blood sugar management, gut and heart health.

Globally, taro is grown in an area of 1.6 m ha producing 11.66 mt with an average productivity of 7.25 t ha^-1 (FAO, 2009). The plant can be grown in wide range of climatic condition but during growth period taro is prone to attack by at least twenty- three (23) pathogens, of which, only a few causes serious reduction in the potential yield of the crop. Some of the mentionable diseases that commonly occurs and causes yield loss of the plants are as follows:

Aquaculture or farming and husbandry of aquatic organisms and plants is the future for increasing aquatic food production. It is the fastest growing food production sector with an annual average growth of >6% in the last two decades. It increased from <1 million tonne in 1950 to 70.2 million tonnes in 2013. An update of aquaculture production (FAO) revealed that the total world aquaculture production continued to grow in 2013, reaching 97.2 million tonnes (live weight) with an estimated value of US$157 billion. A total of 575 aquatic species and species groups are grown in freshwater, seawater and brackish water have been registered in the FAO Global Aquaculture Production Statistics Database. The production of farmed food fish (finfish, crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic animals) was 70.2 million tonnes in 2013, up by 5.6 % from 66.5 million tonnes in 2012. The production of 27 million tonnes of farmed aquatic plants was a 13.4% jump on the 23.8 million tonnes of 2012. The contribution of aquaculture to the world total fish production reached 43.1%, up from 42.1% in 2012. It was only 30.6% a decade ago in 2003. Meanwhile, world production of aquatic plants, mostly seaweeds, is still overwhelmingly dominated by aquaculture (95.5% in 2013). On a global scale, the production of major non-fed species contributed 30.7% to world food fish aquaculture production in 2013, including 13.9 million tonnes of bivalves and 7.7 million tonnes of filter-feeding carps.

Mariculture involves the cultivation of marine organisms for food and other products in an enclosed section of the sea (cages/pens), or in tanks, recirculating systems, ponds or raceways in seawater..It is a promising sector by which the additional marine fish requirement can be met in the future years. It is also the fastest growing sub-sector of aquaculture. At global level, mariculture produces many high valued finfishes, crustaceans and molluscs viz. oysters, mussels, clams, cockles and scallops. In 2013 mariculture has contributed around 25.5 million tonnes of foodfish globally which formed about 36.3 %of the foodfish aquaculture production(World food fish aquaculture production was 70.2 million tonnes in 2013). Molluscs dominated the global mariculture production (59.7%) followed by finfish (22.7%), crustaceans (16.2%) and others (1.4%). In addition about 26.9 million tonnes of macro algae were also produced by mariculture. The total mariculture production including seaweeds was 52.4 million tonnes in 2013 which constituted 53.9% of the total aquaculture production (The total global aquaculture production including the aquatic plants was 97.2 million tonnes in 2013).

Food processing involves the transformation of raw materials into consumer-ready products, with the objective of stabilizing them to prevent negative changes in quality and ensure food safety. To consumers, the most important attributes of a food product are its sensory characteristics like texture, flavour, aroma, shape and colour. The aim of food manufacturers is to develop and employ processing technologies that retain or create desirable sensory qualities or reduce undesirable changes which take place during processing. Alternative or novel food processing technologies are being explored and implemented to provide safe, fresher-tasting, nutritive foods without the use of heat or chemical preservatives. The major non thermal technologies gaining importance are High-pressure processing, Pulsed light technology, Pulsed electric field, Irradiation etc.

High pressure processing

The application of very high pressures (upto 87,000 psi, 6000 bar or 600 MPa) for preservation of food substances in combination with or without heat is known as high pressure processing (HPP). This process is also known as high hydrostatic pressure processing (HHP) or ultra-high pressure processing (UHP). When compared to thermal processing, pressure treated foods have a fresher taste, better appearance, texture and nutritional value. High pressure processing can be conducted at ambient or refrigerated temperatures, thereby eliminating thermal effects and cooked off-flavors. The technology is highly beneficial for heat sensitive products. The first high pressure processing line was introduced in Japan for jam manufacture in 1990’s and has since been upgraded to several food products. A number of HPP products have been commercialized in North America, Europe and in China. Machines are now available with operating pressures in the range 400-700 MPa and capacities ranging up to 900 kg per batch. Since HP processing affect mainly the non-covalent bonds of the food, the quality characteristics of foods such as color, flavor and nutrients generally remain unaffected (Knorr, 1993).

There is ever increase in the demand for good quality food product with improved quality and shelf life. Over the years, packaging have brought out a revolution in the marketing and distribution of food products including fish. Among the food categories, seafood ranks 3^rd with respect to consumption which explains the importance of fish. Fish is a vital source of food for people. It is the most important single source of high-quality protein, providing approximately 16% of the animal protein consumed by the world’s population (Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), United Nations, 1997). By any measure, fishes are amoung the world’s most important natural resources. Annual exploitation from wild populations exceeds 90 million tones, and total annual trade exceeds $ US 55 billion. Additionally, with over 25000 known species, the biodiversity and ecological roles of fish are being increasingly recognized in aquatic conservation, ecosystem management, restoration and aquatic environmental regulation.

Like any other food commodities, fish is one of the highly perishable items which undergoes spoilage if sufficient care is not taken. Various preservation methods have been in place to overcome the spoilage of fish. Chilling and refrigeration is the most preferred preservation method as it helps in preserving fresh like quality. Chilling or icing is reducing the temperature of fish so as to prolong the lag phase of bacteria and helps in reducing the spoilage rate. Fish being one of the most perishable foods, its freshness is rapidly lost even when stored under chilled conditions. Further, consumers demands to have fish in as fresh a state as possible so that the characteristics flavours are retained. Bulk transportation of fresh fish in ice has several limitations like limited extension of shelf life, unnecessary expenditure on freight due to ice, difficulty in handling and maintaining hygienic conditions due to leaching of ice melt water with leaching losses of soluble nutrients and flavouring compounds. Proper packaging will help in improving the keeping quality of fish. Packaging is an important aspect for improving the shelf life and marketability. Packaging enhances the consumer acceptability and hence saleability of the product. Traditionally, food packaging is meant for protection, communication, convenience and containment. The package is used to protect the product from the deteriorative effects of the external environmental conditionals like heat, light, presence or absence of moisture, pressure, microorganisms, and gaseous emissions and so on. Packaging is an integral part of the food processing and plays an important role in preventing or reducing the generation of waste in the supply of food. Packaging assists the preservation of the world’s resources through the prevention of product spoilage and wastage, and by protecting products until they have performed their function. Basic requirements of a package are good marketing properties, reasonable price, technical feasibility, utility for food contact, low environmental stress, and suitability for recycling. Simply packing fish is suitable packaging material will enhance the shelf life of chilled and refrigerated fish to 7 to 15 days depending on fish species. However, in the normal packaging the spoilage process will be accelerated due to presence of O₂ in the normal air packing. Alteration in the package atmosphere will help in overcoming the problem of shelf life, which can be achieved by vacuum packaging or modified atmosphere packaging.

Introduction

Fish symbolizes as prosperity and fertility of the region rather than for its food and nutritional security in many parts of the world. The abundant inland waters resources such as reservoirs, rivers and wetlands contribute to meet the food and nutritional security of a nation. The rich diversity of freshwater fish fauna supplements as a quality animal source protein, macro and micro nutrients for the health benefits of all age group of human population. Hence, the fishery activities such as fish catch and production enhancement from inland water resources are emphasized to scale up to meet the growing demand. The world fish production through inland capture fisheries has increased from 10.5 million tons in 2009 to 11.9 tons in 2014. The utilization of the existing vast inland resources through technical interventions would impact on food and nutritional security and livelihood of the fishers and rural masses of the developing countries.

The livelihood of millions of people depends on shrimp farming around the world, especially in tropical and sub-tropical developing countries. On the other hand, failure to protect the ecosystem and environment from degradation due to shrimp farming is a major concern. The long-term sustainability of this industry depends on its ability to be economically efficient, and at the same time to minimize environmental effects. Therefore, it is important to consider both the economic outcomes and various environmental effects in achieving a more sustainable industry. From this viewpoint, an attempt has been made to explore the key environmental aspects of shrimp farming in the world in general, and in Dhamara area in particular.

Impacts of shrimp farming are mainly in four areas, namely, land resources, water resources, forest resources and fishery resources.