eBook Chapters

Introduction

India accounts for 16.7 per cent of the world’s food consumers. India’s size in terms of food consumers is many times larger than the average size of the rest of the countries, except China. At the time of independence in 1947, India was in the grip of a serious food crisis, which was accentuated by the partition of the country. The demand for food far exceeded supply, food prices were ruling at high levels and more than half of the populations were living below the poverty line with inadequate purchasing power. With high rates of population growth, the dependence on imported food increased further. However, the situation improved considerably after the mid-1960s, when new agricultural development strategy and food policies were adopted in the country. The production of staple cereals increased substantially, mainly contributed by productivity improvements. The dependence on food imports reduced and the country became a marginal net exporter of cereals. There was also an improvement in physical and economic access of households to cereals and other nutritive food products. The proportion of households reporting hunger went down and the incidence of economic poverty was reduced. The objective of this paper is to review the Indian approach to tackling the severe problem of food insecurity, which it faced immediately after independence. It reviews the evolution of food policy, the major policy instruments deployed, intervention in food marketing system, and the current status of food security/insecurity. The paper also identifies the lessons emerging from the experience of India. The paper has been divided into eight sections. The second section briefly presents the evolution of the food policy in India and the approaches to food security. The current status of food security and insecurity is analyzed in section 3. The next three sections detail the three major instruments of the food security policy. Price support policies pursued in the country are described in section 4. Section 5 examines the magnitude of input subsidies in Indian agriculture. Direct food and other assistance programs for improving household food and nutrition security and magnitude of food subsidy are presented in section 6, while some salient features of food marketing system that affect food security are given in section 7. Lessons emerging from the Indian experience are presented in the last section.

Macroeconomics approaches the economic problems in terms of aggregates like national income, general employment level, aggregate demand, aggregate production and so on. The important among the above is national income. The one common thing to all products is value. Therefore, the national income must be expressed in monetary terms. The entire value of the goods and services (output) produced by an economy over time is measured by national income (normally a year). It also serves as a measure of the money generated by production and/or the total amount of expenditures made in order to produce the output.

Significance

The Central Statistical Organization of India has been calculating the country’s gross domestic product. We can measure your academic performance in relation to other students by the percentage of the marks scored by you. Similarly a country’s economic performance has been measured by indicators of national income such as GDP or GNP. Additionally, it is crucial to measure national income for a number of reasons, such as making predictions about how the economy will develop in the future,

16.1. Meaning
National Income is nothing but the aggregate money value of all goods and services produced in a country in a year. It can also be viewed as income distributed among the factors of production in the form of rent (to land), wages (to labour) interest (to capital) and profits (to entrepreneurs).
According to Alfred Marshal National Income is defined as the labour and capital of a country acting on its natural resources produce annually a certain net aggregate of goods and services.
16.1.1. Limitations
• In an economy in which numerous goods and services are produced, it is really a difficult proposition to estimate them correctly to arrive at the national income. Coming to the farming, farmers do retain some part of production for personal consumption and the rest is only marketed. In such a case, the methodology to evaluate the amount of produce not reached the market has not been given.
• Double counting: It implies the same good being counted twice: say, cotton may be counted in agricultural production and the cotton cloth in industrial production.
Marshall approached national income from production end. On the other hand, some other economist approached from consumption end. At the same time this approach in reality poses problems. Consumers who number in millions, consumes the same good at different places, and the estimation of their total consumption is a difficult proposition. Hence, there are problems in measurement of national income.

Horticulture in the hills has special significance and specific requirements to sustain it for the improvement of the lot of the people living in the hills. The national policy on horticulture has to be so oriented so that it recognizes the varied agro climatic and soil conditions. The dynamic process of development and extension has to be specifically designed to cater to the requirements of the hill states; which, because of the difficult terrain, are by and large under-developed as compared to the rest of the country. The new national policy on horticulture should take into account the following points in order to make temperate horticulture a self sustaining enterprise.

The concepts of biosafety and biosecurity are central to efforts to protect human health against the risks posed by exposure to hazardous biological agents. Biosafety, a term used to describe the collection of technologies, processes and practices a term used to describe the collection of technologies, processes and practices aimed at preventing the unintentional exposure to biological agents, has in particularaccrued increasing importance in recent decades as a result of the trend towards globalization and concomitant growth in international communication, transport and trade (WHO, 2020). In this international context, the outbreaks of highly-infectious diseases that have occurred in the last years serve to underscore the urgent need for effective prevention and detection and response to biological risks, in accordance with the International Health Regulations (IHR).

National Rural Employment Programme (NREP)

The NREP was launched in October, 1980 and became a regular Plan programme from April, 1981. The programme was expected to generate additional gainful employment in the rural areas, to the extent of 300-400 million mandays per annum, create durable community assets, and improve nutritional status and living standards of the poor.

An outlay of Rs. 1620 crores was provided under this Programme, out of which the outlay from 1980-81 onwards (Rs. 1280 crores) was to be shared equally between the Centre and the States.

Introduction

Indian Agriculture has made enormous strides in the past 50 years, raising foodgrains production from 50 million tonnes to over 200 million tonnes.  In the process, the country has progressed from a situation of food shortages and imports to one of surpluses and exports.  Having achieved food sufficiency, the aim now is to achieve food and nutritional security at the household level.

The increase in agricultural production, however, has brought in its wake, uneven development, across regions, crops, and also across different sections of farming community.  In the decade of the ‘nineties’, a marked slackening in the pace of growth has occurred, pointing to the need for infusing a new vitality in the agricultural sector.

Aims and Objectives

It has become evident that in order to achieve the food production targets of the future, a major effort will be required to enhance the seed replacement rates of various crops. This would require a major increase in the production of quality seeds, in which the private sector is expected to play a major role. At the same time, private and Public Sector Seed Organisations at both Central and State levels, will be expected to adopt economic pricing policies which would seek to realise the true cost of production. The creation of a facilitative climate for growth of a competitive and localised seed industry, encouragement of import of useful germplasm, and boosting of exports are core elements of the agricultural strategy of the new millennium.

Biotechnology will be a key factor in agricultural development in the coming decades. Genetic engineering/modification techniques hold enormous promise in developing crop varieties with a higher level of tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. A conducive atmosphere for application of frontier sciences in varietal development and for enhanced investments in research and development is a pressing requirement. At the same time, concerns relating to possible harm to human and animal health and bio-safety, as well as interests of farmers, must be addressed.

Globalization and economic liberalization have opened up new opportunities as well as challenges. The main objectives of the National Seeds Policy, therefore, are the provision of an appropriate climate for the seed industry to utilize available and prospective opportunities, safeguarding of the interests of Indian farmers and the conservation of agro-biodiversity. While unnecessary regulation needs to be dismantled, it must be ensured that gullible farmers are not exploited by unscrupulous elements. A regulatory system of a new genre is, therefore, needed, which will encompass quality assurance mechanisms coupled with facilitation of a vibrant and responsible seed industry.

Rural poultry production constitutes vital component of agricultural economy in India. The organized sector of poultry industry is contributing nearly 70% of the total output and the rest 30% by the unorganized sector. In unorganised sector, poultry are reared in free range extensive system with very little input in the form of grain or farm by-products, birds have to scavenge from limited amount of feed resource. The productive out put of these birds are very low (60-70 eggs per bird per annum; 2.0 kg. and 1.5 kg. body weight per bird in males and females, respectively). Moreover, still more than 50 % population of poultry in India comprises of non-descript / deshi birds.

1. INTRODUCTION

The Technology Protection System (TPS) or “Terminator Technology” as it has been called, allows plant breeders to genetically modify and protect their crop rights so they produce seed for one generation only. TPS was co-developed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Delta and Pine Land Company in 1998. They received U.S. Patent 5723765 entitled “Control of Plant Gene Expression”. The patent was based on research conducted under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between Delta and Pine Land Co. and the ARS USDA. The CRADA was signed in 1993.

The prolong taking of excessive salt causes profound nutritive changes to take place in the system, and there arises not only the symptoms of salt retention as evidenced by dropsies and oedemas, but also an alteration in the blood causing a condition of anaemia and leucocytosis. There seems also to be retention in the tissues. It is a great remedy for certain forms of intermittent fever, anaemia, chlorosis, many disturbances of the alimentary tract and skin. Great debility; most weakness felt in the morning in bed. Dry mucous membranes. Constrictive sensation throughout the body. Great weariness and weakness. Oversensitive to all sorts of influences. Hyperthyroidism. Goiter, Addison's disease. Diabetes.

According to Dr. E.B. Nash, Nat Mur is one of the best homoeopathic remedies for anemia. This anaemia can be caused by loss of fluids, by menstrual irregularities, by grief or mental diseases. The patient is pale, emaciated and in spite of eating very well he is anaemic. He suffers from a throbbing headache, soreness while climbing steps, exhaustion or physical exertion, constipation to some degree and overall depression. Some women have scanty flow of blood during menses.

Stains are inevitable in histology to impart variable colours to different tissue components. In this domain, hematoxylin (H) and eosin (E) dyes are the dominant stains. According to an estimate nearly 2.5 million slides are stained with H & E each day, reflecting its enormous use in histology laboratories. Hematoxylin is a natural dye, extracted from bark of logwood (Haematoxylon campechianum), whereas eosin is a synthetic dye. The journey of using natural dyes in histology began with A. Leeuwenhoek (1673) who used “saffron”, an extract of saffron crocus. It continued until the systematic studies of C Weigert, J Gerlach, P Ehrlich and H Gierke to the second half of the 19th century and then this filed became subdued by the emerging era of synthetic dyes for their effective tinct. Today most of the stains used in histology are the synthetic dyes. Often, these dyes need further treatment with chemicals to formulate the final working solutions. Synthetic dyes are efficient, but may pose serious health hazards. The awareness on such hazards even has gone to an extent of withdrawal of some of the dyes from histological techniques. Frequent exposure to these chemicals constantly affects the health of the laboratory technicians, pathologist and mainly those working in the laboratory.
Therefore, an era has triggered on the current day, to seek for use of the natural herbal dyes in histology. Despite various shortcomings with use of natural herbal stains, they can still be sought as an analogous to the conventional stains. The concern for safety, cost-effective, eco-friendly, biodegradability and local availability is driving the quest to explore the abundant local plant resources for this purpose. The precise research on various parts of the plants such as stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, roots and seeds used for dye extraction in our laboratory to stain the cell cytoplasm replacing the conventional eosin stain are chronicled in this documentation.

Various methods are employed to dry flowers and foliage. The method adopted for drying depends largely on the character of the plant, that is to say whether the plant is glabrous, succulent or not succulent, hardy or delicate in nature. The suitable method for drying any given plant has to be studied elaborately. However, the different methods of drying are described broadly in this and consequent chapters.

The major drawback of dried arrangements and other dry flower products is that they are dull and lack the brightness of fresh flowers. To overcome this problem, flowers are bleached and dyed. This enhances the visual appeal of the product. Both chemical and natural dyes can be used. Squires (1971) reported on the use of various types of paints to colour dried foliage and flowers using brushes or by dipping and spraying. Enamel paints, interior paints, poster paints and tube paints could be employed for this purpose. Tampion and Reynolds (1971) explained the three ways by which dyeing can be carried out for fresh flowers. They are as follows:

1. Introduction

Antioxidants are considered an important class of nutraceuticals which are associated with health improving properties. Antioxidants are compounds which when present in foods at concentrations lower than an oxidizable substrate, markedly delay or prevent the oxidation of substrate (Halliwell, 1999). They are increasingly applied in food systems to retard the oxidation process, particularly in lipid containing foods (Droge, 2002; Lee et al., 2004). The commercially available solutions to counter food oxidation are predominated by synthetic antioxidants such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and tertiary butyl hydroquinone (TBHQ), among others, which are increasingly rejected by consumers and legitimized by regulators due to long term health implications (Park et al., 2001). As a consequence, the development and utilization of natural antioxidants as alternatives to synthetic ones have attracted global interest among researchers.

The use of spices and herbs in foods was known since ancient times to modify or to improve the flavor. However, the antioxidant properties of only some of the spices have been recognized. Different spices and their extracts such as turmeric, ginger, fennel, rosemary, and sage, among others, are reported to possess very high antioxidant properties, owing to the content of biologically active compounds, which enables their food application (Madhavi et al., 1996). Exploitation of natural antioxidants in consumer goods is increasingly accepted and will gain momentum due to the rise of green consumerism. In this chapter, an attempt has been made to provide an insight into natural antioxidants and colors. Beginning with the source distribution of natural antioxidants, followed by review of extraction methods for their isolation from plant based matrices and bio-preservative properties in vegetable oils to delay rancidity. Lastly, a thorough collection of literature pertaining natural colors has been presented to potentiate the application of clean label ingredients in food systems. The application of natural antioxidants and colors in food products can vouch the food safety with value addition in terms of their nutraceutical properties.

Introduction

Fruits contain various beneficial compounds that possess biological activities and can be used as pharmaceutical nutraceutical products. Most of the fruits contain polyphenolic components that can promote antioxidant potential on human health. Wild Blueberries, strawberries, plums, oranges, grapes, cherries and mangoes are rich in antioxidant. Additionally, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal and chemopreventive effects are associated with the various fruits. Besides polyphenols, other compounds such as xanthones, carotenoids, saponins also exhibit health effects. Fruit consumption is considerably increasing in the daily diet because they supply high levels of biologically active compounds that impart health benefits beyond basic nutrition. Fruits provide an optimal mixture of antioxidants such as vitamins C and E, polyphenols and carotenoids, vitamins, phytoestrogens, glucosinolates and anthocyanins. Diets rich in fruits may help to delay the ageing processes and reduce the risk of certain types of cancer, cardiovascular diseases and other chronic diseases. The combination of vitamins, minerals, phenolic, antioxidants and fibre seems to be responsible for these effects. The most dietary components in fruits acting as antioxidants are fibre, polyphenols, conjugated isomers of linoleic acid, D-limolene, epigallocatechin, gallate, soy protein, isoflavones, vitamins A, B, C and E (group of tocopherols), calcium, selenium, chlorophyllin, alipharin, sulphides, catechin, tetrahy-drocurecumin, seasaminol, glutathione, uric acid, indoles, thiocyanates and protease inhibitors.

Introduction

Pulses are annually grown leguminous crops that yield one to twelve grains/ seeds within a pod, and are often promoted in diet owing to their low cost and many beneficial nutritional effects (Craig 2009). The United Nations general assembly has declared 2016 as the international year of pulses (Oyeyinka et al. 2016). The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) describes pulses as the crops that are harvested only for dry grain. This definition excludes crops that are harvested green as food sources (such as green beans and green peas), crops that are used only for sowing purposes (such as alfalfa and clover) and crops used primarily for oil extraction (such as peanuts and soybean). India is the largest producer (around 25%) of pulses in the world and the Indian subcontinent covers the leading area in terms of consumption of pulses. It was also suggested that India can also increase the production output by 30%, considering a rise in government support prices for stimulating the growth of pulses and in case of a normal monsoon season (FAOSTAT 2008). The mainly grown pulses in India include mungbean (green gram), chickpea (Bengal gram), urd bean (black gram), lentil (masur), pigeon pea (arhar), cowpea, horse gram and peas (Tiwari and Singh 2012). In the western countries, nowadays pulses are one of the preferred food sources of the population, owing to ideological reasons and interest in vegetarian diet.

Introduction

Functional elements are non-conventional biomolecules in foods that have the ability to modulate one or more body metabolic processes or pathways, leading in health advantages and well-being promotion. Research has demonstrated a connection between food, health and well-being functional elements. Consequently, functional elements have health-promoting roles connected with multiple progressive steps at various phases of disease control, from initiation to growth. They can therefore be implemented efficiently in disease therapy and prevention. Therefore, the borderline between food and medicine is becoming very thin at a moment when the role of a healthy diet in stopping non-communicable diseases is well recognized. Functional elements include plant-derived, non-nutritious and biologically active chemicals that operate in the body to avoid certain non-communicable diseases from occurring.

Food contains over 900 phytochemicals. One fruit or vegetable serving (about 120g) can contain as many as 100 distinct phytochemicals. Previously, functional elements were believed to happen predominantly only as phytochemicals in plant products including whole grains, fruits and vegetables. However, in animal goods such as milk, fermented dairy products and cold water fish, probiotics, conjugated linolenic acid, long-chain omega-3, −6 and −9 polyunsaturated fatty acids and bioactive peptides are also discovered. Usually, functional elements happen in various forms in food such as glycosylated, esterified, thiolated or hydroxylated materials. They also have numerous metabolic operations that enable positive impacts in the body on several illnesses and target tissues (Balic et al. 2020).

Definition of Disaster

A disaster can be defined as a sudden or catastrophic event that causes significant damage, destruction, and disruption to human life, property, or the environment. Disasters can be natural, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, wildfires, or they can be human-made, including industrial accidents, terrorist attacks, or technological failures.

Disasters often result in the loss of lives, injuries, displacement of people, infrastructure damage, and the interruption of essential services like electricity, water, and communication systems. They can have long-lasting impacts on communities, economies, and the environment.

Governments, organizations, and communities implement disaster preparedness, response, and recovery strategies to mitigate the effects of disasters, protect lives and property, and facilitate the rebuilding and restoration of affected areas.

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

Introduction

The natural hazards like floods, cyclones, droughts, landslides and earthquakes are not rare or unusual phenomenon. India is among the world’s most disaster prone areas and a large part of the country is exposed to such natural hazards, which often turn into disasters causing significant disruption of socio-economic life of communities leading to loss of life and property. It would not be considered as a disaster unless it resulted in actual damage to human life or property. According to data accumulated over past 25 years, natural disasters in Asia accounts for about 40% of the world’s total disasters while the death toll ratio is about 50% and the number of people affected is about 90%. The latter figure is about 2.2 times the ratio of number of occurrences in Asia. The figures vary widely over the decades, a result that can be attributed to a few particularly terrible disasters. Such as the 1976 Tangshan Earthquake in China, which killed about 250,000, and a series of severe cyclones that hit Bangladesh in 1970 with a death toll of about 500,000. The death toll resulting from wind and flood disasters jumped by an order of magnitude in the 1990s. But this sudden increase affected Asia’s ratio to the world total by about 15 percentage points because there was a worldwide surge in this type of disaster. Clearly, there is an extreme concentration of victims of such disasters in Asia, Another substantial increase is clear in the value of damage caused by typhoons and cyclones; it is now running at 10 times the level of the 1980s. Again, however, the ratio has remained almost unchanged, at about 40%, because hurricanes in Central and North America account for more than 50% of the world total (51.2%, 58.5%, and 54.4% in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s,respectively). It is sadly worth noting that there has been conspicuous growth in the absolute value of damage in both Asia and the Americas.

WHO defines Disaster as “any occurrence, that causes damage, ecological disruption, loss of human life, deterioration of health and health services, on a scale sufficient to warrant an extraordinary response from outside the affected community or area”

Introduction
A natural disaster refers to a significant and harmful occurrence caused by the Earth’s natural processes. Examples of natural disasters include floods, storms, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, and other geologic phenomena. A natural calamity can result in fatalities or destruction of property, and usually leads to economic harm, the extent of which is determined by the afflicted population’sability to bounce back and the availability of infrastructure.
Categories of Natural Disasters/ Catastrophes
Floods
A flood is the result of water overflowing and covering land. According to the EU Floods Directive, a flood is defined as the temporary  inundation of territory that istypically not submerged in water. Flooding can occur when the amount of water in ariver or lake exceeds its  capacity, causing the water to overflow and breach its normal borders. The size of a lake or other body of water may alter due to seasonal variations in precipitation and snow melt. However, it is not considered a substantial flood unlessthe water submerges land that is utilized by humans, such as villages, cities, populated areas, highways, and farms.

Although the thriving dye industry in many countries throughout the world is now predominantly serviced by synthetic dyes, the knowledge of the plants used to produce natural dyes still survives among some dyers, who use plant dyes to some extent. Nonetheless this indigenous knowledge is rapidly being lost as increasingly less information is being passed on to succeeding generations. Thus several countries are taking steps to revitalize this natural dyes industry. In this article the history of natural dye plants is presented; several plants from selected countries, which are used in the dyeing process are documented, together with some general methods of dye production and fabric dyeing; pattern production and the chemical constituents of some of these plants. The potential for the sustainable utilization of this important ecofriendly renewable natural resource is discussed.

Natural farming is gaining prominence in India as a sustainable and environmentally friendly method for cultivating cereals and pulses. This approach eliminates the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, instead depending on ageold practices, natural biological processes, and locally sourced organic materials. Crops like rice, wheat, millets, pigeon pea, chickpea, green gram, and black gram are key staples in the Indian diet, and natural farming offers a promising route to enhance both environmental health and farmer well-being.
At the core of natural farming is the focus on soil health, maintained through techniques such as mulching, crop rotation, and the use of traditional inputs like jeevamrit, beejamrit, and ghanjeevamrit. These mixtures—prepared using cow dung, urine, jaggery, pulse flour, and local soil—boost microbial activity, improving nutrient absorption and resistance to disease. Cereals benefit from proper soil moisture through waaphasa (aerated soil) and mulching, while pulses, which naturally fix nitrogen, thrive without synthetic additives.
Weeds are controlled manually or with natural solutions like agniastra, and pests are managed using plant-based formulations and cow urine sprays. Intercropping cereals with pulses enhances soil fertility, deters pests, and optimizes land usage. Farmers in states such as Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka have reported better soil health, lower input costs, and increased climate resilience through natural farming. As consumer interest in pesticide-free grains and pulses rises, farmers are also experiencing better market prices. With growing institutional support and public awareness, natural farming is emerging as a strong alternative for promoting food security, environmental sustainability, and rural development in India.

Natural farming in India is steadily gaining traction across different crop categories like tubers, oilseeds, and spices, thanks to its environmentally sustainable approach. In tuber cultivation—covering crops like potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, and colocasia—the method promotes organic inputs, crop rotation, and soil health preservation without the use of synthetic chemicals. Natural composts, green manures, and biofertilizers nourish the soil, while homemade biopesticides and pest deterrents help manage common pests and diseases. Techniques such as mulching and moisture conservation further support ideal soil conditions,
improving both the quality and yield of tubers.
For oilseeds such as groundnut, sesame, mustard, and sunflower, natural farming enhances soil fertility using organic manures, decomposed crop residues, and locally made biofertilizers. Treating seeds with cow urine or herbal solutions enhances germination and protects against diseases. Practices like intercropping and crop diversification help disrupt pest life cycles and improve soil texture. Pest control relies on natural, plant-based sprays like neem and garlic, reducing dependency on chemical pesticides while preserving beneficial insect populations.
In the case of spices such as turmeric, cardamom, coriander, and black pepper, natural farming methods offer considerable benefits. The use of vermicompost and green manuring boosts micronutrient availability essential for healthy growth. Mulching helps retain soil moisture, especially in hilly areas. Pests and diseases are controlled using herbal preparations like Panchagavya and Agniastra, which enhance plant resistance and reduce infection rates. These eco-friendly methods lead to the production of high-quality, chemical-free spices and support biodiversity and sustainability.

In natural farming, feed supplements and probiotics made from organic and locally available materials are essential for improving animal health, digestion,and immunity. These methods provide a sustainable alternative to synthetic additives and antibiotics, aligning with eco friendly farming principles.
Natural feed additives consist of mineral-rich and herbal materials that enhance nutritional intake. Common sources include rock salt, powdered eggshells, bone meal, and herbal preparations made from plants like neem, turmeric, ginger, and ashwagandha. These supplements are valuable in addressing nutritional deficiencies in standard fodder, thereby supporting various physiological functions such as metabolism, reproduction, and disease resistance.
Probiotics, which are beneficial microorganisms, help establish and maintain a healthy gut environment in livestock. They facilitate better digestion, improve nutrient absorption, and prevent harmful bacteria from taking hold in the digestive system. Natural farming relies on probiotic-rich preparations such as Jeevamrit, Amritpani, and fermented cattle urine, all of which contain lactic acid bacteria, yeasts, and other helpful microbes.
Benefits of feeding probiotics are given below:
• Enhanced digestion of fibrous feed, improving energy use.
• Strengthened immune system, reducing dependence on antibiotics.
• Prevention of common digestive issues like diarrhea.
• Increased growth and milk production in livestock.
Homemade probiotic mixtures are commonly prepared by fermenting natural ingredients such as cow dung, jaggery, and fresh cow urine under anaerobic conditions. These cost-effective and eco-conscious preparations fit seamlessly within the framework of natural farming.

Natural beekeeping emphasizes nurturing bee colonies through a diet that mirrors their natural foraging behavior while avoiding synthetic inputs. Bees instinctively collect nectar and pollen from a diverse range of flowering plants, which supply essential carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and minerals for their development, immunity, and productivity. In a thriving environment free from pesticides, bees meet their nutritional needs independently. However, when natural forage becomes scarce—due to seasonal changes, drought, or habitat loss—supplementary feeding may be required to maintain colony strength.

In natural farming, supplements are offered using organic, chemicalfree options such as jaggery-based sugar syrup, diluted honey from surplus or crystallized stores, or herbal infusions made from tulsi, neem, and turmeric to boost bee digestion and immunity. These methods support crucial colony functions like brood development, wax production, and honey storage while reducing stress that could lead to disease outbreaks

Natural beekeeping emphasizes nurturing bee colonies through a diet that mirrors their natural foraging behavior while avoiding synthetic inputs. Bees instinctively collect nectar and pollen from a diverse range of flowering plants, which supply essential carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and minerals for their development, immunity, and productivity. In a thriving environment free from pesticides, bees meet their nutritional needs independently. However, when natural forage becomes scarce—due to seasonal changes, drought, or habitat loss—supplementary feeding may be required to maintain colony strength. In natural farming, supplements are offered using organic, chemicalfree options such as jaggery-based sugar syrup, diluted honey from surplus or crystallized stores, or herbal infusions made from tulsi, neem, and turmeric to boost bee digestion and immunity. These methods support crucial colony functions like brood development, wax production, and honey storage while reducing stress that could lead to disease outbreaks. Care must be taken not to overfeed or use inappropriate substances like refined sugar or commercial syrups with additives, as these can disrupt bees’ digestive systems and lower immunity. All supplements should be natural, safe, and easily assimilated by bees. Health management in natural beekeeping avoids synthetic antibiotics, pesticides, and miticides, which can damage colonies, taint hive products, and foster resistance. Instead, it relies on proactive strategies such as clean hive conditions, good ventilation, regular inspections for signs of illness, and surrounding the apiary with medicinal plants. Natural remedies like neem or garlic water sprays deter pests, while substances like turmeric or ash address fungal problems. Propolis-rich hive materials also enhance the colony’s natural defenses. Sustainable beekeeping depends on healthy, well-nourished, and genetically resilient colonies that thrive with minimal interference. The beekeeper’s role is

Cattle and buffalo are central to livestock-based livelihoods in India, particularly within natural farming systems where emphasis is placed on maintaining animal health and productivity without the use of synthetic inputs. The feeding strategy in such systems is built around the use of locally available, chemical-free resources that support sustainability and ecological harmony.
The core of the diet for cattle and buffalo in natural farming includes green fodder, dry crop residues, and naturally sourced supplements. Green fodders such as napier grass, guinea grass, berseem, and various legumes provide essential nutrients and roughage. These are complemented by dry fodders like wheat and paddy straw, which are vital for maintaining rumen health through their fiber content.
Natural concentrates such as oilseed cakes (from mustard, groundnut, etc.), along with pulses and mineral sources like crushed limestone and rock salt, are used to supply energy, protein, and essential minerals. In addition, herbs like turmeric, ginger, and ashwagandha are incorporated to enhance digestion and boost immunity naturally.
Seasonal fodder planning is practiced to maintain a continuous supply of feed throughout the year. Farmers often rely on traditional microbial additives such as Jeevamrit—a fermented solution made from cow dung, cow urine, jaggery, and water—which promotes gut health and improves feed efficiency.
Clean and sufficient water access is also a priority, with adult cattle and buffalo requiring around 30 to 50 liters per day depending on body size and milk production.

Backyard poultry rearing plays a vital role in natural farming systems, offering rural households a steady source of eggs, meat, and supplementary income with minimal financial input. This practice emphasizes the use of natural, locally available feed resources, avoiding dependence on commercial feeds or synthetic additives such as antibiotics.
In such systems, the poultry diet largely comprises kitchen leftovers, farmsourced grains, green leafy plants, and insects. Birds are typically allowed to forage freely, enabling them to consume a diverse range of natural items like worms, seeds, and tender greens. This scavenging behavior supports their nutritional needs by naturally providing proteins, minerals, and essential vitamins necessary for optimal growth and egg production.
To enhance their diet, farmers often include cereals such as maize, sorghum, and millet, along with protein-rich additions like pulses and oilseed cakes. Green fodders—particularly nutrient-dense options like moringa and amaranth leaves— are commonly supplied to boost vitamin and mineral intake.
Natural immunity boosters such as turmeric, neem leaves, and garlic are frequently incorporated into the birds’ feed or drinking water. These traditional herbal additives help strengthen resistance to disease, support digestion, and reduce parasitic loads. In some cases, fermented mixtures prepared from ingredients like cow dung and jaggery—resembling Jeevamrit—are provided to support gut health through probiotic action.
Providing clean, fresh water remains fundamental to maintaining poultry health. Feeding regimens are adapted to seasonal conditions, ensuring that nutritional requirements are met during periods of increased egg production or breeding.

In India, agriculture is the primary occupation and source of income for the vast majority of the population. More than 58% of the population depends on agriculture for their living. Indian agriculture has been expanding for a long time with the help of related industries like sheep, goat, cow, chicken, and egg production. The world’s largest livestock population resides in India. For rural residents, the livestock industry is one of the most significant sources of revenue and employment. Agriculture and livestock are highly interdependent, with agriculture providing crop waste, a primary source of feed for livestock, while livestock provide manure and draught power to agriculture. The fact is that agricultural production and livestock raising work together to fully utilise a farm. In terms of giving families in rural and urban regions nourishing food, livestock is also crucial.

Because it is so straightforward, raising sheep and goats is more popular among landless, small, and marginal farmers who rely on common grazing and forest lands for food. Some of the factors responsible for the concentration of sheep and goat rearing among these categories include low capital intensity, prolific breeding, superior chevon/mutton quality, early sexual maturity, high-quality skin, low kidding intervals, good adaptability, no religious taboo against consumption, and steady returns.

Natural goat farming is one among various farming systems that are close to nature and sustainability. In Uttrakhand which has 13-15 lakh goats as per animal husbandry department goat farming or rearing mimics how an animal would behave if they were freely living in the wild which therefore provides a more humane experience for the animal.In Uttrakhand, districts like Uttarkashi, Joshimath etc goat rearing is a part of indigenous lifestyle and tradition and is passed down generationally. They operate on no cost or low cost models therefore by default it is close to natural farming. They allow their goats to graze in forests and bugyal which are free from pesticides and fertilizers.Natural goat farming shall aim to use natural breeding methods, minimize stress, taking preventative measures and thereby eliminate the use of allopathic drugs or minimalist use of drug and detain animal health and welfare.Breed selection in natural goat farming should be indigenous as it is genetically adapted to specific or extreme conditions. They will be more productive and production cost will be lower.

Goat production for milk and meat is an age old practice and goat is one of the first animals to be domesticated by man. Throughout the world goat is considered as ‘poor man’s cow’. Central Institute for Research on Goats has projected it as ‘Future Animal’ for rural and urban prosperity (Chakrabarti, 2019). In Switzerland goat is nicknamed as “Swiss baby’s foster mother’ (Chakrabarti et al, 2014). Prasad et al., 2013 opined that among various livestock production enterprises, goat farming is one of the important enterprises, which supports the rural households by providing gainful employment and steady income for the rural masses. The households cultivating less than 2.0 ha of land (marginal and small) are the custodian of more than 76% of the total goats in the country (Singh et al., 2018). The Small ruminants are also important in a diversification strategy that aims to reduce market and climatic risks and optimize the use of available resources (Ayo-Enwerem et al., (2017). Goat farming is an important component in smallholder farming systems in Tripura. Goat rearing has grown from backyard farming to the localized cluster based intensified entrepreneurship activity throughout the state. Goat meat is considered in state is a high value product due to high market price than the any other meat available in the state. Also animals are mostly liked by the native people because of their varied adaptability and presence of lean meat. Goat farming becomes very popular in Tripura because of availability of abundant grass and fodder resources throughout the state. It becomes a significant food source due to its ability to convert poor quality of feed into valuable human food. At present total goat population of the world is more than one billion and 90% are available in developing countries.

Goats are important components of livestock industry and play a vital role in the socio-economic structure of the economically-week rural community. Goats have been reared as domestic animals across the world. In India, goat keeping constitutes an important business of small and marginal farmers and the landless due to multifold advantages. These are short generation interval, high rate of prolificacy, easy management and marketing as compared to larger ruminants. Goat milk got the nutritional merit of the animal food products in shape of the animal protein. It is highly nutritious, contains essential vitamins and minerals and is an ideal food for the entire family. Though there are 28 registered goat breeds in India (NBAGR, 2017) constituting 26.4 per cent of the world population and are reared very few are having considerable milk producing animal of the country. Goats are highly efficient in converting food stuff, live vegetation, grasses and leaves forage crops, agro-industrial waste and byproducts and even waste cereals unfit for the human consumption to edible milk. Goat milk possesses 19 amino acids in its protein. It has 11 fatty acids in its butter fat, 6 vitamins, 8 enzymes, 25 minerals, 1 sugar, 5 phosphorus compounds, 14 nitrogenous substances all of which are suspended or dissolved in the fluid milk. Goat milk is as close to perfect food as possible in nature. Its chemical structure is amazingly similar to mother’s milk.

Among the small ruminants, goat is perhaps the most useful animal providing milk as well as meat. It is also superior in converting the feeds to meat and other products in a short period than most of the other livestock (Pandit&Dhaka,2005). Goats contribute milk, meat, fiber, skins and manure to the subsistence of small holders and landless rural poor. Goat meat accounted for almost 37 per cent of the total meat production in the country (Chandra, 2002). Importance of goats lies in the fact that human population is increasing very rapidly creating increasing demands for animal protein foods on the one hand and the feed resources for large ruminants are decreasing due to shrinkage of grazing lands on the other.Goats make important economic contributions in India. They are so vital to a large human population that their contribution to national economy cannot be overlooked. Goats require relatively much lower investments and facilities in terms of housing, feed, labour and health care. There is quick pay of dues because of fast multiplication and early maturity. Further, the risk involved in goat farming is much lower compared to other livestock and crops production.In Gujarat state, Population of milch goat has shown increasing trend as it was 23.36 lakh in 1951 and in year 2019 it found 48.68 lakh, which shows 47.98%, increased. As per the previous livestock census i.e. 2012, goat population declined by 1.84 percent which shows goat farming should give emphasis to enhance rural farmer’s income.

In natural farming practices, the adoption of natural and indigenous hive designs aligns with values of sustainability, simplicity, and care for bee wellbeing. Unlike commercial systems that rely on uniform Langstroth hives for maximum honey production, natural beekeeping focuses on affordable, locally sourced, and non-intrusive hive models that support bees’ instinctive behaviors with minimal disruption.

These hives are constructed to replicate bees’ natural nesting environments, such as hollow trees or crevices in rocks. They offer suitable insulation, darkness, airflow, and internal structure that support the colony’s natural rhythm. Rather than prioritizing honey output, these hives are intended to promote the long-term health and stability of the bees. Typically, natural hives remain in a fixed position, allow bees to build immobile combs, and need fewer inspections, which helps reduce colony stress.

Such indigenous designs uphold the core ideals of natural farming—selfsufficiency, minimal interference, and ecological balance—while also making beekeeping more practical and inclusive for small-scale and resource-limited farmers.

In natural farming practices, the adoption of natural and indigenous hive designs aligns with values of sustainability, simplicity, and care for bee wellbeing. Unlike commercial systems that rely on uniform Langstroth hives for maximum honey production, natural beekeeping focuses on affordable, locally sourced, and non-intrusive hive models that support bees’ instinctive behaviors with minimal disruption. These hives are constructed to replicate bees’ natural nesting environments, such as hollow trees or crevices in rocks. They offer suitable insulation, darkness, airflow, and internal structure that support the colony’s natural rhythm. Rather than prioritizing honey output, these hives are intended to promote the long-term health and stability of the bees. Typically, natural hives remain in a fixed position, allow bees to build immobile combs, and need fewer inspections, which helps reduce colony stress. Such indigenous designs uphold the core ideals of natural farming—selfsufficiency, minimal interference, and ecological balance—while also making beekeeping more practical and inclusive for small-scale and resource-limited farmers.
LOG HIVES, CLAY HIVES, BAMBOO HIVES
Log, clay, and bamboo hives are classic examples of indigenous beekeeping practices that reflect early, resource-efficient methods using materials found in the local environment. These hive designs are built to replicate natural nesting habitats, supporting sustainable beekeeping aligned with natural farming principles. Their simplicity, affordability, and low input requirements make them particularly suitable for tribal communities and small-scale farmers practicing chemical-free, traditional apiculture.

Natural nutrient management in India marks a transition from synthetic fertilizers to sustainable, eco-friendly approaches that focus on improving soil fertility, crop yield, and environmental integrity. Rooted in traditional Indian agricultural wisdom, these practices are regaining importance due to their compatibility with natural farming principles, minimal reliance on external inputs, and enhancement of soil microbial activity.
A key method is the use of Jeevamrut, a fermented culture made using cow dung, cow urine, jaggery, pulse flour, and soil from field bunds. This mixture significantly boosts microbial activity in the soil, facilitating nutrient availability and decomposition of organic matter. It is applied directly to the soil or as a foliar spray and is known for improving nitrogen fixation and phosphorus release.
Ghanjeevamrut, a dry, solid variant of Jeevamrut, is used as a base application before sowing. It delivers a slow release of nutrients and is ideal for areas facing water shortages or crops requiring prolonged nourishment.
Panchagavya, another traditional bio-input, is a blend of five cow-derived products—milk, curd, ghee, urine, and dung—alongside banana, coconut water, jaggery, and water. Used mainly as a growth promoter, Panchagavya enhances germination, root development, and crop immunity, and is often applied as a foliar spray.
Green manuring using legumes such as sunhemp, dhaincha, and cowpea contributes significantly by adding organic nitrogen to the soil. These crops also improve soil aeration, structure, and moisture retention when incorporated into the soil.

India is an agricultural country and nearly 70% of its population is dependent directly or indirectly on agriculture and related activities. At present, about 173 million hectares of land is under agriculture of which about 143 million hectare are cultivated without fallow. Mounting pressures of teeming population and shrinking land (due to urbanization) have necessitated the production of increasingly more food per unit area. In the efforts to increase the food production and make the country self-sufficient in food grains, modern technology adopted since ‘Green Revolution’ in the middle sixties has paid a significant role. Higher yields in almost all crops were possible with exotic and high yielding genotypes and availability of seeds, heavy doses of fertilizers, frequent irrigation, labour and repeated applications of pesticides. However, several genotypes particularly hybrids proved to be susceptible to pests and disease pathogens. Insect-pests, diseases and weeds are important biotic-constraints inflicting 20-25% losses in agricultural production. Farmers were therefore compelled to use pesticides extensively and frequently.

Plant protection is an integral part of the crop production and pesticides proved to be valuable means in plant protection to ensure plenty food. However, some of the pesticides are highly hazardous and their residue remains undetected and posses risk to human safety and health. Moreover, the repeated and incorrect applications without following need-based criteria have resulted in several secondary side effects ². For instance, increased resistance of pests to insecticides, harmful to beneficial and non-target insects and animals, undesirable effects on crop plants and environmental hazards. Safety has become a major worry in factories and outside the working places. Besides these, repeated and heavy pesticide applications add to the cost of production and misery to farmer. These ill effects of synthetic pesticides have aroused interest in alternate methods of plant protection.

The R&D thrust in the pharmaceutical sector is focused on development of new drugs, innovative/indigenous processes for known drugs and development of plant based drugs through investigation of leads from the traditional systems of medicine. In addition, many nutraceuticals are being consumed from unregulated markets for their perceived benefits in health care and improvement of quality of life.

Natural pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals are of great importance as a reservoir of chemical diversity aimed at new drug discovery and can be explored as potential antimicrobial, cardiovascular, immunosuppressive, and anticancer drugs. Around 80% of all such products are of plant origin; their sales exceeded $ 65 billion in 2003. Examples of plant products and derivatives used by the pharmaceutical industry include Paclitaxel, Vincristine, Vinblastine, Artemisinin, Camptothecin, Podophyllotoxin and such.

The nutraceutical marketplace in Europe is estimated to be $ 9 billion, while the US marketplace, estimated to be $10-12 billion in 2003, is expanding at a compounded rate of more than 20% per year. US Congress has fueled the rapid growth of nutraceuticals with the passage of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) in 1994. Globally, there have been efforts to monitor quality and regulate the growing business of herbal drugs and traditional medicine.

ABSTRACT

Endophytes are microorganisms that live inside the host plant tissues without causing symptoms of disease. There has been a crescent interest in the prospecting of these microorganisms as sources of novel and bioactive natural products. In fact, a significant number of interesting natural products have been reported in the last years. In this chapter some aspects regarding the endophytes are detailed: the relationship with their host plants, isolation, preservation, taxonomy, cultivation, frequently isolated strains, tropical endophytes, novel structures isolated and also their biological activities.

Key words: natural product, endophytic fungi, plant fungus interaction, secondary metabolites.

1.    Thomas Malthus suggested that population growth _____________.

(a) Would eventually lead to starvation and death as it exceeded the land’s potential to produce food

(b) Would lead to strong and better societies

(c) Would grow at a slower rate than land’s potential to produce food

(d) And the land’s potential to produce food would grow at the same rate

2.    Which population growth rate is likely to add relatively more to younger age population (youth effect on size of labour force)?

(a) Larger

(b) Smaller

(c) Uncertain

(d) Population growth rate does not affect the age structure of population

Goat (Capra hircus) is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (C. aegagrus) of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. It is one of the oldest domesticated species of animal, according to archaeological evidence that its earliest domestication occurred in Iran at 10,000 calibrated calendar years ago. Beginning approximately 10,000 years ago, Neolithic farmers in the Near East started keeping small herds of goats for both their meat and milk, as well as for clothing and building with the hair, bone, skin and power. Undoubtedly, goat farming at the time was natural resource based and is organic in nature. Mechanical (1880–1930) and chemical (1920–1950) revolutions in agriculture, significantly influenced the modern day livestock farming predominately in non-organic form. Biological advances in the genetically modified organisms in the 70s further complicated the researcher–producer–consumer dynamics. As of today, there are over 750 million goats scattered throughout the world. Goats are found in nearly every country on the planet and in nearly every climate, each one with a different purpose. There are more than a thousand adapted breeds in existence. Goats have been used for milk, meat, fur, and skins across much of the world.

Agricultural production systems depend on natural resources viz. land, water, biodiversity, forests, pastures and wildlife. Farm activities can also have major impacts on the quality and availability of these resources well beyond the boundaries of the production system. Although natural resources are critical to agricultural production, farm households also frequently depend on them to meet other needs, such as fuel, construction materials and supplemental foods. Thus rural livelihoods are intricately linked to the condition of natural resources. Over the last 40 years as food production has doubled, agricultural production systems have expanded, with significant impacts on the natural resource base:

Introduction

In the post-world trade organization (WTO) era, the fantastic imagination of “one world for self-reliance”, has been shattered by the Corona induced calamity and the expansionists approach of a few rouge nations. Though the global welfare and peace has always been part of Indian traditional philosophy, approach and the concept of self-reliance, the practical boundary of self-reliance in its present context, starts from the country level itself. The idea of self-reliance at multiple levels (individual, family, society, and nation) has driven human civilization for most of its efforts, inventions and actions across the world.

A very high dependency of a large number of population on the natural resources in the developing world calls for proper management of natural resources for self-reliance. Since the early days of civilization, natural resources in the form of land, soil, water, biodiversity and climate have remained the very basis of supporting and sustaining life of human beings, plants and animals on the earth. However, in recent times intensive use and over-exploitation of pristine resources have robbed them of their legendry resilience. To effectively tackle the complex problems and to fulfil basic needs of livelihood, food security, poverty, employment, equity and environmental services, efficient and judicious utilization of natural resources for enhanced and sustained productivity is a matter of serious concern for policy makers, planners, scientists, conservationists and environmentalists.

Introduction

Since the dawn of the civilization when mankind started agriculture, soil erosion has been the single largest environmental problem and has remained so till date (Sullivan, 2004). This is so because removal of the topsoil by any means has, through research and historical evidence, been severally shown to have many deleterious effects on the productive capacity of the soil as well as on ecological wellbeing. Doran and Parkin (1994) captioned the impact of soil erosion in their popular maxim that “the thin layer of soil covering the earth’s surface represents the difference between survival and extinction for most terrestrial life”. Soil degradation implies decline in its capacity to provide ecosystem services (ESs) of interest to humans and useful to nature’s functions. Principal processes of soil degradation are erosion, salinization, nutrient and carbon (C) depletion, drought, decline in soil structure, and tilth. Examples of ESs provided by soil include ecological/supporting (biomass production, nutrient cycling), regulating (water purification and flow, C sequestration, temperature fluctuations), provisional (food, fiber, fuel, and forages), and cultural (aesthetical, spiritual, and cultural). Erosion-induced degradation diminishes soil’s capacity to provide ESs, and support ecosystem functions.

Although fertile top soils could be lost when scraped by heavy machineries (Ngwu et al., 2005), the key avenues of topsoil loss include water erosion and wind erosion. Sometimes erosion can be such gradual for so long a time as to elude detection in one’s lifetime, thus making its adverse effects hard to detect. Eswaran et al., (2001) propose an annual loss of 75 billion tons of soil on a global basis which costs the world about US $400 billion per year. A review of the global agronomic impact of soil erosion identifies two severity groups of continents and reveals that Africa belongs to the more vulnerable group (Biggelaar et al., 2004). Soil erosion by water seems to be the greatest factor limiting soil productivity and impeding agricultural enterprise in the entire humid tropical region. This is evident in many regions of Africa (Dregne, 1990), mainly in the humid and subhumid zones of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where population pressure and deforestation exacerbate the situation and the rains come as torrential downpours, with the annual soil loss put at over 50 t ha⁻¹ (FAO, 1995).

In simple words natural resources can be defined as any part of our environment such as land, air, minerals, forest, rangeland, wild life, fish and human beings.

The sum total of all physical, chemical, biological and social factors which compose the surroundings of man is referred to as environment and each component of these surroundings constitute a “resource”.  The natural resources are land, water, air, minerals, forests, rangeland, wild life or even human beings known as natural resource.

The five basic natural resources are energy, matter, space, time and diversity.