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In order to provide for the establishment of an effective system for protection of plant varieties, plant breeders’ rights and the farmers’ rights and to encourage the development of new varieties of plants it has been considered necessary to put in place a legal protection mechanism the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001 has been enacted in India (www.plantauthority. gov.in). For the purposes of this Act, Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority has been established and is located at NASC Complex, DPS Marg, Opp - Todapur, New Delhi-110 012.

A significant development in the field of agricultural research in India is the formulation of All India Coordinated Research Projects (AICRPs), initially for the improvement of agricultural crops, but later extended to all aspects of crop husbandry.

The 15 CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) Research Centers are independent, non-profit research organizations, conducting innovative research. Home to more than 8,000 scientists, researchers, technicians, and staff, CGIAR research works to create a better future for the world’s poor. Each Center has its own charter, board of trustees, director general, and staff. CGIAR Research Centers are responsible for hands-on research programmes and operations guided by policies and research directions set by the System Management Board.

Biotechnology is defined as a set of tools that uses living organisms or parts of living organisms to make or modify a product, improve plants, trees or animals or develop microorganism for specific uses. Agricultural biotechnology is the term used in crops and livestock improvement through biotechnology tools. Biotechnology encompasses a number of tools and elements of conventional plant breeding techniques, bioinformatics, microbiology, molecular genetics, biochemistry, plant physiology and molecular biology.

Rice (Oryza sativa L., 2n = 2x = 24, monocot, family Poaceae formerly called as Gramineae, grass family, self-pollinated crop) is one of the Four Big Crops (rice, wheat, corn and soybean) globally and is the world’s most important food crop after wheat and corn. In crop year 2018, there was around 167 million hectares of paddy (rough, un-milled rice) cultivated area worldwide with production of 782 million tons resulting into a productivity of 4.68 tons/ha. The top ten countries in rice production during this period globally were China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Philippines, Brazil and Pakistan. Chinese production was 212 million tones followed by India with 172 million tons (FAOSTAT). Indian production of 172 million tons of rough rice can be converted into milled rice by multiplying a conversion factor of 0.67 and this way it comes to 115 million tons.

Wheat also known as bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L. em. Thell, 2n = 6x = 42, family Poaceae formerly Gramineae or grass family, a self-pollinated crop), second only to rice as source of calorie has been grown on 218 million ha with production of 765 million tons globally during 2019-20. Top five countries, namely, China (135 million tons), India (103 million tons), Russia (77 million tons), USA (51 million tons) and Canada (34 million tons) account for 65% of the global production. Other major countries growing wheat are Ukraine (28 million tons), Pakistan (26 million tons), Australia (24 million tons), Argentina (21 million tons) and Turkey (18 million tons). Wheat is eaten by 2.5 billion people in 89 countries and distributed from Scandinavia to South America and across Asia. Global annual wheat trade is worth USD 50 billion.

Maize or corn (Zea mays, 2n = 2x = 20, Family Gramineae now called as Poaceae, cross-pollinated crop) is produced more than any other grain crop globally. In the Western world, the term maize is used interchangeably with corn. The reason for this is that all grains were called corn under early British and American trade and the name was retained for maize because it was the most common grain in commerce. Although the origin of the word maize is also controversial, it is generally accepted that the word has its origin in Arawac tribes of the indigenous people of the Caribbean. On the basis of this common name, Linnaeus included the name as species epithet in the botanical classification Zea (Zea mays L.) as reported by Smith (2001).

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br. 2n = 2x = 14, grass family Poaceae, cross-pollinated and with C4 photosynthetic path-way) is the stable food for millions in the semi-arid tropics. It is adapted to drought and poor soil fertility. Pearl millet is a dependable nutritious source of food for millions in marginal agricultural areas. It is the world’s hardiest warm-season cereal crop. It can survive and produce grain even on the least fertile soils in the driest regions, on highly acidic and saline soils, and in the hottest climates. Pearl millet covers an estimated 31 million hectares worldwide with production of 30 million tons and productivity of almost 1 ton/ha and is grown in more than 30 countries located in the arid and semi-arid tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moecnch, 2n = 2x = 20, grass family Gramineae/ Poaceae, often cross-pollinated, 6% cross-pollination on an average, 730Mb genome, about 25% the size of maize or sugarcane) is a staple food crop for millions of poor people in the semi-arid tropics of Africa and Asia. It is one of the important dry-land crops grown in marginal soils and a source of feed, fodder and bio-fuel apart from food. It is a short-day C4 plant, and its easy adaptability to hot and dry agro-ecologies makes it a climate change-resilient crop. Sorghum is considered as an often cross-pollinated species, with outcrossing up to 6 % depending on the genotype and growing conditions.

Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan, (L.) Millspaugh, 2n = 2x = 22, an often crosspollinated crop with 20 – 70% cross-pollination, family-pea family Leguminosae or Fabaceae, genome size 808 Mbp) is a short-lived perennial shrub that is traditionally cultivated as an annual crop in developing countries.. It is grown in Asia, Eastern and Southern Africa, Latin America and Caribbean countries. On an average, it is cultivated worldwide on 4.92 million hectares (M ha) with an annual production of 3.65 Mt giving a productivity of 741 kg/ ha. India is the largest producer followed by Myanmar and Eastern and Southern Africa (principally Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is a self-pollinating diploid (2n=2x=16) with a genome size of 740 Mbp and belongs to family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae). In a scientific advance involving scientists from more than 20 research organizations, sequencing of the chickpea genome was recently completed for 90 chickpea genotypes, including several wild species. The researchers responsible for the work, led by ICRISAT, succeeded in identifying more than 28,000 genes and several million genetic markers that scientists expect will lead to the development of superior varieties.

Green gram or mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek, var. radiata, 2n = 2x = 22, a self-pollinated crop belonging to Family Leguminosae or Fabaceae) occupies globally 7.3 million ha area with production of 5.3 million tons (2015-17) resulting into a productivity of 726 kg/ha with India and Myanmar each supplying about 30% of the global production. China contributes about 16% and Indonesia 5% of the global production. It is relatively tolerant of heat and drought and the grains are a good source of protein and iron for human nutrition. In East and Southeast Asia, it is consumed as nutritious bean sprouts and in South Asia as dahl.

Black gram (Vigna mungo, L. Hepper, 2 n = 2 x = 22, family Leguminosae/ Fabaceae, essentially self-pollinated) has a global production of 3.2 million tons where India is the largest producer accounting for more than 70% of the global production followed by Myanmar and Thailand. Indian black gram area, production and productivity in 2010-11 were 3.25 million ha, 1.76 million tons and 522 kg/ha. The corresponding figures for 2015-16 were 3.62 million ha, 1.95 million tons and 537 kg/ha and the corresponding figures for 2016- 17 were 4.48 million ha, 2.83 million tons and 632 kg/ha. For 2017-18 (IV advance estimate), the figures were 5.44 million ha, 3.56 million tons and 655 kg/ha (Directorate of Pulses Development, 2018). These figures show a steady rise in black gram area, production and productivity over the years. This is the third important pulse crop in India after gram and pigeonpea. The three states namely, Madhya Pradesh, UP and Andhra Pradesh alone account for about 50% of the black gram area and production in India.

Lentil (Lens culinaris, 2 n = 2 x = 14, family Fabaceae/Leguminosae, subfamily Papilionaceae, essentially self-pollinated annual) has average global area, production and yield during 2015-17 as 5.56 million ha, 6.55 million tons of production and 1178 kg/ha as per FAOSTAT. The top ten lentil producing countries globally are Canada, India, Turkey, USA, Nepal, Australia, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, China, and Kazakhstan. India produced 0.94 million tons of lentil from 1.60 million ha with a productivity of 587 kg/ha during 2010-11. The corresponding figures for the year 2018-19 are 1.56 million tons, 1.51 million ha and 1033 kg/ha indicating a significant gain in the productivity over the years (Directorate of Economics and Statistics, 2020). The top states in lentil production in India are Madhya Pradesh (40%), UP (30%), West Bengal (11%) and Bihar (9%). Rest of the states is insignificant. The plant was given the scientific name Lens culinaris in 1787 by Medikus, a German botanist and physician.

Soybean (Glycine max L. Merr. 2n = 2x = 40, essentially a self-pollinated oil seed crop, family Leguminosae), also known as a miracle crop with on average 40% protein and 20% oil and one of the globally “Four Big Crops” namely rice, wheat, corn and soybean. As per FAOSTAT-2016, global soybean acreage, production and productivity are 121 million ha, 335 million tons and 2755 kg per ha for the year 2016. As per this statistics, top ten soybean producing countries are USA (108 million tons), Brazil (87 million tons), Argentina (53 million tons), China (12 million tons), India (10 million tons), Paraguay (10 million tons), Canada (6 million tons), Ukraine (4 million tons), Bolivia (3 million tons) and Uruguay (3 million tons).

Groundnut also known as peanut or monkey nut (Arachis hypogaea L. 2n = 4x = 40, allotetraploid, a species of the legume or bean family, Fabaceae, essentially self-pollinated, with genome 1C=2891 Mbp) is one of the five major oilseeds, namely, soybean, sunflower, groundnut, cottonseed and rapeseed. The global acreage, production and yield during 2018-19 have been 27.49 million hectares, 46.81 million tons and 1700 kg per hectare. The preliminary corresponding figures for 2019-20 have been 26.75 million ha, 45.87 million tons and 1710 kg per ha (USDA, 2000). India and China with more than 4.5 million ha each account for nearly one third of total global acreage and fifty percent of global production (China, 17 million tons and India, 6.69 million tons). Other countries in descending order in terms of area are Sudan, Nigeria, Senegal, Myanmar, Niger, Chad, Guinea, Uganda, Congo and Mozambique. Productivity-wise, USA tops the list (4480 kg/ha) followed by China (3750 kg/ ha). India with 1400 kg/ha is at the average position.

Oilseed Brassicas also referred to as rapeseed-mustard, an important group of oilseed crops in the world, comprise eight cultivated crops of tribe Brassiceae within the family Cruciferae (Brassicaceae). The word ‘rape’ and ‘mustard’ have been derived from the word rapum meaning turnip and European practice of mixing the sweet ‘must’ of old wine with crushed seeds of black mustard [Brassica nigra (L.) Koch] to form a hot paste (Hemingway, 1976).

During 2019, the global acreage of biotech/GM crops was 190.4 million ha and India planted 11.9 million ha GM cotton having insect resistance (Bt-cotton, having two commercialized events, namely, cry1Ac, MON-531, MahycoMonsanto, popularly called by trade name Bollgard-I, single gene event, commercialized in 2002 and cry2Ab2, MON-15985, Mahyco-Monsanto, popularly called by trade name Bollgard-II, double gene event or stacked trait event, commercialized in 2006) stood at the fifth place after USA, Brazil, Argentina and Canada (ISAAA, 2019). Four more events related to Bt cotton (cry1Ac, Event-1, JK Agri-Genetics, commercialized in 2006, fused genes cry1Ab and cry1Ac, GFM Event, Nath Seeds, commercialized in 2006, cry1Ac BNLA-601, UAS, Dharwad and CICR (ICAR), commercialized in 2008 but discontinued and synthetic cry1C, MLS-9124, Metahelix Life Sciences-now Tata Rallis, commercialized in 2009 but not placed in the market) were approved for commercialization but the products could never reach to the market.

Insects are the most successful arthropods in animal kingdom. They are found in almost all habitats on earth except for the frozen polar environments at the highest altitudes and in the immediate vicinity of active volcanoes. They are the only invertebrate animal (animals without backbones) with wings. The success of insects on the planet is due to their ability to fly and rapidly colonize new habitats. The study of insects is called entomology and entomologists are those scientists who study about insects.

Characters 

Three orders i.e. protura, diplura and collembolan are group together as Entognatha because the mouth parts are withdrawn into the head

Antennal flagellum (if present) are masculated

Characters

Two orders i.e. Archaeognatha & Thysanura are grouped together as Ectognatha because the mouth parts are more or less exposed and not covered by cranial fold.

Characters

Palaeoptera world derive from New latin word pale means old and ptera means wings

Two order i.e Ephimeroptera and Odonata comes under this grops because wings can not fold over abdomen at time of rest.

Characters

Mouthparts biting type

Wing venation usually well developed with numerous cross veins.

Cerci present

Common characters

Modification of mandiblate mouth parts into sucking-piercing or suctorial type.

Absence of anal lobe in hind wing.

Wings develop internally 

Metamorphosis complete 

Immature stages (larvae) differ from adults in structure, habitat and feeding habits 

Pupal stage present, e.g. all holometabolus insects

Why Make an Insect Collection?

An insect collection helps develop personal identification skills. 

An insect collection can be used to display insects or insect features so that others may learn about them.

An insect collection can allow you to better observe details of insect structures and how they function.

9.1 Multiple Choice Questions

1 Which insect order is close related to Diptera?

a) Hymenoptera b) Orthoptera

c) Plecoptera d) Zygentoma

Rust

The rust of wheat has been studied more than any other disease in the world. In India, K.C Mehta and his associates studied this disease with exemplary zeal. Three rusts of wheat are known. These are Black stem rust, caused by Puccinia graminis tritici, Brown rust (leaf rust), caused by Puccinia recondita, and Yellow rust, caused by P? striiformis. Brown and yellow rusts cause more damage thant the black rust, because of early appearance in the season.

Diagnostic Symptoms

• Practically all above ground parts are affected, but stalks are the main targets of stack.

• Spindle leaves (third or fourth) starts drying.

• Further stalks becomes discolored and hollow.

Diagnostic Symptom

• Circular to oval, dark brown to black spots appear on the leaves.The spots enlarge into round to irregular spots with concentric rings and coalesce causing blighting and withering of leaves.

• These are surrounded by chlorotic zone with grey white necrotic center.

Diagnostic Symptoms

• Intially chlorotic (yellowed) lesions and sometimes galls appeared on the upper leaf surface.

• There are corresponding white blister-like dispersal pustules of sporangia on the underside of the leaf.

Diagnostic Symptoms

• At first pale-green chlorosis, typically appear on lower leaves and extending up the plant.Leaves eventually take on a dull-yellow colour, wilt and the plant collapses and dies.

Diagnostic Symptoms

• Symptoms can occur at both the seedling and plant developmental stages and appear as patches in the field

• It usually occurs near or at the reproductive stages (flowering to podfilling) of crop growth

Wilt

Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. vasinfectum

Diagnostic Symptoms

• Disease affects the crop at all stages.

Powdery Mildew

Erysiphe polygoni

Diagnostic Symptoms

• At first symptom appears on leaves.

• White floury patches appear on both surface of leaves as well as tendrils, stem and pod.

Anthracnose

Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Glomerella cingulata)

Diagnostic Symptoms

• Disease produces symptoms like leaf spot, blossom blight, withertip, twig blight and fruit rot

• Symptoms on leaves show as gray to brown spots with dark margins and a yellow halo. The spots later enlarge and coaleasce to form sizable necrotic areas.

Gummosis

Phytophthora spp

Diagnostic Symptoms

• Dark water soaked large patches appear on the basal portions of the stem near the ground level.

Downy Mildew

Plasmopara viticola

• Downy mildew of grapes was catastrophic in France in 1878.

Scab

Ventruia inaequalis (Spilocaea pomi Fr?)

Diagnostic Symptoms

• Symptoms generally noticed on leaves and fruits.

Leaf Curl

Taphrina deformans

Disease Symptoms

• Initially yellowish to reddish areas appear on leaf blade of young leaves in the spring.

Leaf Spot

(Mycosphaerella fragariae teleomorph, Ramularia brunnea Peck anamorph)?

Disease Symptoms

• Older leaves usually show purple spots (3-6 mm in diameter) on the upper surface, sometimes with a slightly darker halo

Late Blight

Phytophthora infestans

• Phytophthora in Greek means “plant destroyer”(phyto=plant, phthora= destroyer).

Downy mildew

Pseudoperonospora cubensis

Diagnostic Symptoms

• Yellow, angular spots restricted by veins resembling mosaic mottling appear on upper surface of leaves .

Purple blotch

Alternaria porri

Diagnostic Symptoms

• Disease symptoms occurs on leaf and flower stalks.

Anthracnose or Fruit Rot and Die Back

Colletotrichum capsici

Diagnostic Symptoms

Dieback symptoms

• Small, circular to irregular, brownish black scattered spots appear on leaves .

Leaf spot

Colletotrichum capsici

Diagnostic Symptoms

• Initially oblong brown spots having about 4-5 cm in length and 2-3 cm in width with grey centres surrounded with yellow hallo are found on the leaves .

Stem gall

Diagnostic Symptoms

• Symptom appears in the form of tumor-like swellings of leaf veins, leaf stalks, peduncles, stems as well as fruits.

• Infected veins show a swollen hanging appearance to the leaves.

Botrytis Gray Mould

Diagnostic Symptoms

• Appearance of a gray, fuzzy mold on flowers, leaves or stems of or plants. Also called, “gray mold”.

Powdery mildew

Sphaerotheca pannosa var. rosae (Sphaerotheca pannosa)

Diagnostic Symptoms

• A white, powdery fungal growth on the upper, lower or both leaves and shoots.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS

Food Preservation 1782 ó Canning of vinegar was introduced by a Swedish chemist.

1810 ó Preservation of food by canning was patented by Appert in France. ó Peter Durand was issued a British patent to preserve food in ìglass, pottery, tin or other metals or fit materials.î The patent was later acquired by Hall, Gamble, and Donkin, possibly from Appert.