eChapters

Pre sowing seed treatment: Fortification with GA3 100 ppm (or) moringa leaf extract 2% for 16 h (or)KH₂PO4 2% for 16 hours

Age of the seedling for transplanting: The seeds are first sown in primary nursery (pot) and after 16 day the seedlings are transplanted to raised nursery and after 24 days transplanted to main field.

Botany :Annual Chrysanthemum is a winter annual that can be grown either as pot plants or in groups as bed plants for various ornamental purposes. There are two types of annual Chyrsanthemums: Chrysanthemum Segetum and C.coronarium. Major varieties of Chrysanthemum segetum L. are Morning Star, Evening Star, Eastern Star, Blanca, Eldorado, Gloria, Isabel, Romeo, and yellow Stone while popular cultivars of C. coronarium L. include Nivea, Oreon, Albo, Golden Crown, Luteum, Tom Thumb Golden Gem, Tom Thumb-Primrose Gem and Tetra Comet. In addition to this, there is another type of annual Chrysanthemum, i.e. C. carinatum. Popular varieties of C. carinatum S. are Merry, Atrococcineum, Burridgeanum, Eclipse, Flammenspiel, John Bright and Northern Star.

Propagation

Annual Chrysanthemums can be propagated by seeds. Their sowing time depends upon climate. It varies in different parts of India. In the Northern plains, winter season annual Chrysanthemums are sown during September–October. The seeds are sown in nursery beds, earthen pots, seed pans or wooden seed trays. The seed compost should consist of one part each of garden soil, coarse sand, farmyard manure and leaf-mould. For preparing the nursery beds, the soil should be dug up thoroughly and sufficient farmyard manure, should be mixed in soil. Raised nursery beds of convenient size (normally 60cm wide and 15cm high) should be prepared. If soil is heavy, some quantity of sand may be added. It is better if the soil of nursery bed or earthen pots is sterilized with 2% formalin. For this, soil is drenched with formalin solution and is covered with polythene sheet for 45hr. Afterwards, the polythene is removed and soil is dried before sowing the seeds.

In India marigold is one of the most commonly grown flowers and used extensively on religious and social functions in different forms. Because of their ease in cultivation, wide adaptability to varying soil and climatic conditions, long duration of flowering and attractively coloured flowers of excellent keeping quality, the marigolds have become one of the most popular flowers in our country. Flowers are sold in the market as loose or as garlands. Due to its variable height and colour marigold is especially use for decoration and included in landscape plans.

Potato has special seed production problems as the quality characteristics of seed potatoes are influenced by a number of factors and important amongst them are the diseases and pests namely, viruses, fungi, bacteria and nematodes. Once the seed tuber is infected the pathogens, specially viruses, permeate through the plant system. The plant growth, therefore declines and the yield reduces progressively. It is therefore, important that seed stocks should not only be genetically pure but also should be in right physiological condition and disease free at the time of planting. Seed production technology developed for seed potato production, thus aims at producing disease free, genetically pure seed. There are now two independent channels of seed production for hills and plains.

Hill seed : The seed produced in hills (2500 metres above sea level) at suitable locations is called ‘Hill Seed’.

Plain seed : The seed produced in plains at suitable locations is called ‘plain seed’. Northern plains have emerged as an important source of potato seed production. The low aphid, plains seed is in right physiological condition at the planting time and yields higher than the traditional hill grown seed.

Once healthy seed potatoes are introduced into the system of growing them during low Aphid period accompanied by a systematic insecticide application, roguing and removal of haulms before the aphids attain critical number and the re growth is checked, the health standards for the seed crop could be maintained for a number of generations. This system of seed potato production has been designated as ‘Seed Plot Technique’.

Botany: French bean has tap root system with poor nodule formation. Leaves are trifoliate. Though a self-pollinated crop, French bean offers wide variability for plant growth (bushy / climbing), colour of pod (green / waxy coloured), cross section of pod (flat / oval / round), pliability (stringed / string less) etc.

Varieties

1. Arkakomal: Plant is bushy. 70 days for flowering.
2. Blue pod medium: It is a white seed variety. It has bluish black spots on pods.
3. Bountiful: Introduction from US comes up in September to February. Seeds are Brown sweetish. It is resistant to common disease.
4. Contender: Tolerant to powdery mildew and mosaic.
5. Pant anupama: Developed from pantnagar. Bushytype
6. Pusaparvathi: Developed by X ray radiation of American variety IARI

Botany : Pea is a self pollinated crop. Time of anthesis is 5.45 to 6.30 AM. Time of dehiscence is 5.45 to 7.30 AM. Duration of pollen futility is on the day of anthesis to 24 hr there after. Duration of stigma receptivity is 48 hr before and 24 hr after anthesis.

Method of seed production : Var: Open pollination ; Hybrids: Emasculation and Pollination

Varieties / Hybrids

Early varieties : Arlcel, Matar Ageta 8, Early Badger, Pant Uphar, Hisar Harit, P.M. 2, Jawahar Matar 4, Meteor, Alaska, Lucknow Boniya, Pant Sabzi Matar 3, Pant Matar 2, VL Ageti Matar 7, Asauj.

Mid season varieties: Bonneville, Lincoln, VL 3, Shalimar Matar, Solan Nirog, Jawahar Matar 1, Pant Uphar, p88, Khapar Kheda, JP. 83, JP71, NP. 289, T19

Late varieties: Kinnauri

Origin

Beet root originated from Beta vulgaris L. ssp. maritima by hybridization with B. patula. Crop has site of origin probably in Europe. Earlier types were with long roots like that of carrot. Beet root, sugar beet and palak belong to species B. vulgaris and are cross compatible.

Botany

Beet root is a biennial, producing a fleshy elongated hypocotyls and a rosette of leaves in first year and flowers in second year. Upper portion of fleshy root develops from hypocotyls and basal part from tap root. Concentric rings seen in cross section of root are as a result of alternate formation of vascular tissues and storage parenchyma tissues. Root skin colour varies from orange red to dark purple red. Colour of beet root is due to presence of red violet pigments of â cyanins and a yellow pigment, â xanthin. It has extensive tap root system and tap root grows as deep as 3m. Rosette leaves develop in a close sp

Carrot (Daucus carota Stova condolle) is one of the most important and widely used root vegetable belonging to the family Umbelliferae. The seed production can be done during September – October in plains and in hills the sowing takes place in June and roots are replanted during the first week of October.

Method of seed production

Carrot is a cross-pollinated crop and self-pollination occurs to the extent of 0-5%. Crosspollination is mainly through insects. Seeds should be allowed to set by cross-pollination in isolation. Seed production is done by seed to seed and root to seed method. In seed to seed method, the matured roots are left to produce flowers and seeds in the place where seeds are sown initially. In root to seed method, roots at edible maturity should be uprooted and the roots of true to varietal characteristics should be selected and transplanted to the well prepared field after proper trimming of roots and shoots. This root to seed method is preferred for seed production in carrot since the root rot infection is high in seed to seed method of seed production.

The isolation distance maintained between the fields of other varieties and the fields of the same variety not conforming to varietal purity requirements for certification is 1000 metres for foundation and 800 metres for certified seed production. During mother root production an isolation of 5 metres should be followed.

The analytical work in a soil-testing laboratory mainly involves standard chemical methods, suitably modified to permit handling of a large number of soil samples with the required degree of accuracy and speed. Many of the analytical operations are carried out more conveniently with help of common as well as sophisticated instruments.

The various instrumental measurements followed in soil and water-testing work in the laboratory can be broadly divided into two groups:

1) Determination of pH and electrical conductivity

2) Colorimetric, spectrophotometric

To set up a soil-testing laboratory the minimum requirements are as follows:

8.1 Laboratory floor area

Minimum four rooms are needed. They are as follows:

1. Office room, floor size: 18’x 12’

This room is used for registration of the soil samples received, recording recommendations along with soil test results in laboratory book and in report sheet, their dispatch, accounts etc.

Soil testing kit is developed to determine the available nutrient status of soil by rapid test methods. With this system of soil testing, a farmer can test his own soil as often and, in as many places as he feels necessary, and after gauging the need of his soil, he can apply the fertilizers as required. The present mode of soil testing in laboratories usually takes few days and sometime weeks and the farmers may have to travel long distances to submit the soil sample.

India is recovering from the euphoria of the Green Revolution and battling the residual effects of the extensively used chemical fertilizers and pesticides in the country’s soils. The decade from 1980 to 1990 alone saw the area under pesticides in India, increased a whopping 20-fold, from six million hectares to 125 million hectares. After a high annual consumption of nearly 75000 MT reached in the early ’90s, interventions in the form of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices have only now started to show a declining trend in the use of pesticides in India. Interestingly, India’s consumption of pesticides per hectare is low (0.288 kg/ha) when compared with world averages—0.5 kg/ha against Korea’s 6.60 kg/ha and Japan’s 12.0 kg/ha. According to the pesticides industry statistics, India spends US $3/ha on pesticides compared with US $24/ha spent by Philippines, US $255/ha spent by South Korea and US $633/ha by Japan. Yet, despite a comparatively low use of pesticides in India, the contamination of food products in the country is alarming. About 20 per cent of Indian food products contain pesticide residues above tolerance level compared to only 2 per cent globally. No detectable residues are found in only 49 per cent Indian food products compared to 80 per cent globally. A pesticide is any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest. Though often misunderstood to refer only to insecticides, the term pesticide also applies to herbicides, fungicides and various other substances used to control pests.

Pesticides and their metabolites have received particular attention in the last few years in environmental trace organic analysis because they are regularly detected in food products, surface/ground waters and soil strata throughout the world as consequence of their widespread use for agricultural and nonagricultural purposes. So it is the need of the hour to study the levels of pesticides residues in plants, water and soil and their fate in environment after its degradation.

It would be necessary to work out tolerance limits of pesticides residues in/on crops, soil and water and the efforts, therefore, are directed towards various residue analytical methods like TLC, GLC and HPLC etc. which are suitable for the purpose.

5.1 Sampling

There are different sources of water such as rain, streams, canals, lakes, tanks, ponds, large reservoirs, shallow and deep wells, shallow and deep tube wells, as well as sewage effluents and sea water. The composition of the different sources of water vary with the season, rate of flow, the extent of effluents from the industrial units and sewage effluents from the municipal area during rainy season, the river tank and pond water becomes salty and muddy due to soil erosion. The depth of ground water also varies with the seasons. The sources of water available to the farmer for irrigation of crops are generally few such as canal, shallow and deep wells, pumping sets, tube wells and runoff water collected in excavations along roads, natural drains and adjoining areas under impeded drainage. The composition of water also varies with the season. Whatever may be sources of water, the water sample is taken along with the soil sample to soil testing laboratory for its analysis by way of assessing the suitability of water for irrigation.

For drawing maximum benefit the samples taken be representative of the water in bulk and it should be collected in a clean vessel. One to three litres capacity plastic bottles duly washed with a detergent are satisfactory. However, before filling with water samples the bottles must be rinsed with water samples three times. The information such as farmers name, owner of pumping sets, date and month of sampling depth of ground water, crops and soils being irrigated, any specific agricultural or human problems encountered to be briefly recorded along with the name of village, block, tehsil and district. The water sample should be properly labeled and submitted to soil testing laboratory for its analysis.

4.1 Sampling and Preparation for Analysis

The determination of nutritional need of crops is an important aspect of nutrient management of any plant analysis programme. The need of fruit plants for mineral nutrients differ from those of annual crop species in a number of ways, many of which are related to the perennial nature of tree crops. In perennial tree crops, there is a need to supply nutrients both for ultimate fruit production, the fruits and the vegetative organs, which persist from year to year. The need for leaf analysis in perennial horticultural crops and forest trees has proved its superiority over soil diagnostic methods. This is essentially because of their deeper root system and the fact that nutrients supplied in one year may have its effect on both the nutrition and crop production in following years. However, it is largely being used not as an alternative method to soil testing, but as a supplement to soil testing. Results of foliar analysis are usually interpreted using the critical nutrient level (CNL) approach. Accurate interpretation of foliar analysis using the CNL approach is possible only when sampling is restricted to the same growth stage at which standard reference values have been established (Beaufils, 1971, 1973). The general purposes of plant analyses are:

3.1 Important Soil Physical Properties

3.1.1 Analysis of Soil Texture

Soil texture refers to the relative proportions of sand, silt, and clay on weight basis. Soil texture was recognized from very early times by experienced farmers from the feel of moist soil placed between the thumb and forefinger. The size groups arbitrarily classified by the International Society of Soil Science (ISSS) into clay (< 0.002 mm), silt (0.002 0.02 mm), fine sand (0.02-0.2 mm), and coarse sand (0.2 2.0 mm). Each soil textural name specifies the weight percent of each fraction falls within certain defined limits. The determination of the percentage of the soil separate present in a sample is called particle-size analysis.

Each type of particle present makes its contribution to the nature of the soil as a whole. Sandy soils are usually quite permeable to air, water, and roots, but they have two important limitations. One is their relatively low water-holding capacity; the second is that they are poor storehouses for plant nutrients. These limitations of sandy soils can, of course, be overcome if both fertilizer and irrigation water are available, but the costs are large.

Clay not only have a large surface area per gram, it also has electrically charged particles. These charges give clay the capacity to attract plant nutrient ions to its surface in forms available to plants, but sand lacks this capacity. Clay holds much more water than sands because they have a large surface area to be coated with water. One important problem with clay soils is their stickiness. When wet, they stick to ploughs, boots, or whatever they contact. Loam and silt loam soils are highly desirable for most uses. They have enough clay to store adequate amount of water and plant nutrients for optimum plant growth but not so much clay as to cause poor aeration or to make working with them difficult.

Soil testing is a useful tool that can help to ensure the efficient use of applied plant nutrients. Soil tests provide a means for assessing the fertility status of a soil, but soil tests do not provide a direct measure of the actual quantity of plant available nutrients in the soil. Instead, soil tests measure the quantity of a nutrient element that is extractable from a soil by a particular chemical extracting solution. The measured quantity of extractable nutrient in a soil is then used to predict the crop yield response to application of the nutrient as fertilizer, manure, or other amendment. As soil test levels increase for a particular nutrient, the expected crop yield response to additions of that nutrient decreases. A soil-testing programme has four phases as follows:

1.Collection of soil samples,

2.Chemical analysis of soil samples,

3.Calibration and interpretation of the results of chemical analysis, and

4.Nutrient/Fertilizer Recommendation.

Crop production broadly depends on the fertility of the soil where a crop is raised. There are several factors like the kind and quality of seed, climate, water supply, and plant protection measures etc. that affect the crop production. Among these factors, the fertility status of the soil largely determines the ultimate yield even if all these factors are optimum for crop production. A clear distinction should be made between soil fertility and soil productivity. Soil fertility deals with the inherent capacity of soil to provide nutrients in adequate amounts and in proper balance, for the growth of specified plants when other growth factors such as light, water and temperature, and the physical condition of the soil are favourable. Soil productivity is concerned with the capability of soil to produce a specified plant or plant parts or a sequence of plants under well defined and specified systems of management inputs and environmental conditions, viz. climatic conditions. It does not mean that a fertile soil is always productive. A fertile soil, under a bad management system, may be unproductive for a crop. In this book, plant nutrient elements and their available forms, functions and deficiency symptoms are briefly described for the better understanding of soil testing and fertilizer recommendation.

The Arid Legume includes clusterbean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.); moth bean (Vigna aconotifolia (Jacq) Marechal; cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) and horse gram (Macrotylom uniflorum (L.) Verdc). In India, these are grown extensively as rainfed crops in Rajasthan, Orissa, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Haryana, M.P. and to a limited extent in other states covering a total area of 51-80 lakh hectares (Table1). Most of the production comes from harsh environments where both biotic and abiotic constraints prevail limiting the production.

Arid Legumes as a group of pulses are extremely important in the common vegetarian diet of the people in the area of its cultivation. They also offer a new dimension as they have become foreign exchange earners through export opportunities. For example, clusterbean (guar) contains 30-35 per cent guar gum and India is a world leader in the export of this commodity and earns more than Rs.1100 crores annually (Mathur and Henry, 2009). Similarly, moth bean is gaining great industrial importance because of Bikaneri Bhujia industry which is heavily based on this crop (Singh and Henry, 1985). Cowpea is very important in Dahi bada industry and making curry preparation while horsegram is a minor pulse and is utilized by the poorest of the poor in its growing areas as well used for kidney stone treatment (Henry et.al., 2006; Vishwanatha et. al., 2006). Clusterbean and moth bean together account for 3.5 million hectare areas in the great Indian Thar Desert and play a very important role in the economy of the desert farmers. Similarly, cowpea and horse gram are grown mostly in marginal and sub-marginal lands under rainfed situations with no inputs applied by the farmers. These two pulses are grown in various areas in the country and easily adapted to various conditions.

Among the pulses, rajmash is one of the high potential pulse crops with a yielding potential of 18 to 20 q per ha. Rajmash or French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is a short duration non–traditional grain legume and one of the precious and highly relished pulse crops of North India. Rajmash is known by various names viz., French bean, rajma, haricot bean, field bean, kidney bean, snap bean, pole bean etc. It is an important winter vegetable grown both for tender pods and dry seeds, which form a rich source of crude protein (21.25%), fat (1.7%) and carbohydrates (70%). Besides, it contains 0.16 mg iron, 1.76 mg calcium and 3.43 mg zinc per 100 g of edible part (Jasvinder Kaur and Mehta, 1994). The fresh pods and green leaves are used as vegetable. The antimetabolites of dry beans needs removal by cooking and soaking in water.

Guar [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.], internationally known as guar, is extremely drought hardy, deep rooted, summer annual legume of great economic and adaptive significance. Virtues of guar effectively match with low and erratic rainfall pattern and high ambient temperature habitats of arid regions. The crop may thrive very well in rainfall range of 250-450 mm with 3-4 spells, temperature range of 25-40°C, RH values of 50-65%, longer days with 8-9 hr sunshine, particularly at maturity. Guar is ideally suited to light to medium textured soils, with no water logging conditions. The crop tolerates less inputs and restricted after care, matching with the arid farmers’ livelihood conditions. It is grown for grain, vegetable, fodder, cattle feed and green manure purposes, mainly in rainfed habitats of Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat and to some extent in Punjab and Madhya Pradesh. This crop has recently been introduced in non-traditional regions of Annantpur, Kadappa and Chittoor dry region of Andhra Pradesh. Only duringcurrent summer season of 2012, guar has been successfully cultivated with 4-5 irrigations in parts of Chattirgarh and Vidarbha and in non traditional summer seasons of Rajasthan. The cultivation in non-traditional regions and seasons have increased possibility of two crops in rainy and summer seasons. Even though, guar is cultivated on marginal lands, with marginal inputs in these regions, yet it has occupied the status of international, export oriented cash crop. The same has been due to presence of natural polysaccharide galactomannan gum content in seed endosperm. The gum content has wide industrial uses. Almost 80-85% guar gum produced in India is exported and rest is used for inland commercial demands. Of late, increasing demands of guar gum for USA alone to the tune of 5.0 lakh tonnes annually has led to sky rocketing prices resulting in economic benefit of Rs. 1.0 lakh to 1.5 lakh/ha in 90-100 days only. Hence, guar is rated as a source for providing livelihood security to arid farmers in practical reference. Relevant information on guar have been provided in this chapter.

Grasspea (Lathyrus sativus L.), also called chickling pea, is an important crop of economic significance in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Ethiopia. It is also cultivated in China, many countries of Europe, the Middle East and northern Africa. It is a food, feed and fodder crop belonging to the family Leguminacaae and the tribe vicieae (Smartt, 1990).

Grasspea is very tolerant to drought conditions and has been grown successfully in areas with an average annual precipitation of 380 to 650 mm. Despite its tolerance to drought, grasspea is not affected by excessive rainfall and can be grown on land subject to flooding (Sinha, 1977). It has a very hardy and penetrating root system and, therefore, can be grown on a wide range of soil type, including very poor soil and heavy clays. This hardiness together with its ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen makes the crop ideally to grow under adverse conditions (Campbell et al. 1994). In India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan, it is often broadcast into a standing rice crop one to two weeks before the rice is ready for harvest where it flourishes on the residual soil moisture after the rice has been harvested.

Despite all the advantages compared to other crops, relatively little efforts have been made to improve this very hardy pulse crop. The main reason has been the knowledge that excessive consumption of grasspea can lead to a neurological disorder, called Lathyrism in man and domestic animals (Jackson and Yunus, 1984). It appears when Lathyrys sativus forms the main component of the diet contributing to at least 30% of the caloric intake for a period of 3 to 4 months (Campbell et al. 1994).

Fieldpea is animportantrabi pulse crop which is highly productive and is grown for food, feed as a vegetable. There are two types of peas grown in India viz., vegetable type in which grains arevery sweet when green and become wrinkled ondrying, and grain type where grains are generally white and round. Green seeds of the grain type are not so sweet as in thecase ofvegetable type. The dry grains areconsumed in various forms such as chat, chhola, dal, vegetable and flour. Green seeds are used as fresh, frozen or canned vegetables. The cultivation of grain type is confined to northern and central parts of the country.

It is high protein (20%) crop with all the essential aminoacids important for normal activity of living organisms. The fractional composition is also favourable the most easily assimilated water soluble protein from mature pea seeds varies from 36 to 87% and in green matter from 65 to 82%. Pea contains 4 mgpro-vitamin A, 300 mgvitamin C, 3 mgB₁, 1.5 mgB₂and 1.2 mgpantothenic acid per 1000 g fresh seed weight. Also, it contains 1.1% fat, 2.2% minerals, 4.5% fibre and 56.5% carbohydrate. It is rich in phosphorus. Green pea and the immature pods of pea are typified by a high level of active lipotropic antisclerotic substances-choline and inositol.Choline deficiency may lead to the development and growth of malignant tumors.

Lentil is one of the most nutritious cool season food legume and ranks next only to chickpea. It is grown throughout the northern and central India for grains, which are used as dal (wholeor dehulled) andin various otherculinarypreparations. Lentil contains about 25% protein, 0.7% fat, 2.1% mineral, 0.7% fibre and 59% carbohydrate. It is a rich source of phosphorus and carotene. It is generally grown as rainfed crop during rabi season after rice, maize, pearl millet orkharif fallow. It is also grown as intercrop with barley, linseed, mustard and autumn planted sugarcane. In North-eastern parts of the country, lentil is also cultivated as paira crop with rice in which seeds of lentil are broadcast in the standing crop of rice 7-10 days before its harvest. It is grown on a wide range of soils from light loamysand to heavy clay soil in northern parts and moderately deep black soils in central India.

Chickpea, Cicer arietinum L, is the second most important pulse crop in the world. In India, it occupies prime position in terms of area, production and economic value and as an important constituent vegetarian diet. Chickpea is traditionally grown in many parts of the world covering Asia, Africa, Europe and North and South America. But the bulk of it is produced and consumed in South Asia and increasingly in Middle East as well as in some Mediterranean countries. Recently, chickpea cultivation started in Australia, Canada and USA mainly for export to south Asia. The cultivated species, Cicer arietinum L. (2n=16 and n=8), is characterized by possessing two distinct types-small and brown seeded known as desi type, and bold and white seeded known as kabuli type. The former is mostly cultivated in Indian sub-continent. Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is also known by several common names viz., Bengal gram, Gram, Chhola, Hommes and Garbenzobean.

Chickpea provides 2-3 times more protein than many cereals, constituting a major component of the agrarian diet of the Indian sub-continent. Chickpea grains provide about 18-24% protein, 4-10% fat, 52-70.9% carbohydrate, 10-23% fibre, minerals and vitamins. Among essential amino acids lysine, methionine, threonine, valine, isolucine and leucine are major components of seed protein. It also contains considerable amount of vitamins such as B₁ and B₂, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and niacin also. Chickpea, therefore, plays an important role in human nutrition.

Mungbean (Vigna radiata L Wilczek) is considered to be originated from Vigna sublobata. It is also known as green gram, an important short duration grain legume with wide adaptability, low input requirements, and the ability to improve soil fertility by fixing atmospheric nitrogen. Mungbean is well suited to a large number of cropping system and constitutes an important source of cereal based diets. Mungbean is used for different purpose. The major portion is utilized in making dal, curries, soup, sweets and snacks. The food values of mungbean lie in its high and easily digestible protein. Mungbean is grown throughout Asia, Australia, West Indies, South and North America, Tropical and subtropical Africa. However, India alone accounts for 65% of the world acreage and 54% of the world production. It is widely cultivated in India in different seasons; however, the maximum area is under kharif cultivation. Extremely plastic morphology, phenology and short maturity duration (60 days) makes the crop ideal as a catch crop, inter crop or relay cropping. It is grown as sole relay crop in rice fallows during rabi season in A.P., Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Orissa and sole catch crop during spring/summer season in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Punjab, Haryana & Rajasthan (Table 1).

Of the total global pigeonpea production, over 90 percent of this is grown in India. The major pigeonpea growing states are Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh, contributing to 88.2% of the total pigeonpea basket and the same holds goodover the years. Over the decades, whatever little increase in production level was observed i.e. from 1.75 mt (19701975) to 2.75 mt (20052009), it is neither uniform nor steady. It is mainly through the expansion of area from 2.52 mha to a level of 3.58 mha ( 20052009 ) without significant change in productivity which ( 1970 1975) has remained almost stagnant around 700 kg/ha (Table 1) and is a matter of real concern (Srivastava, 1993).The gross geographical shifting of area ( 467 th. ha) took place mainly from traditional areas (Uttar Pradesh and Bihar) to new and less productive areas (Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa) with a netgainof area 837 th. ha in Central zoneandSouthzone includingexpandedadditional area (Table 23).

Pulse legumes are considered to be the best choice for intensification of predominant cereal-based systems. The studies conducted in different agro-climatic zones under AICRP on cropping systems have revealed that the productivity of existing cropping-systems can be enhanced by the inclusion of legumes during summer or as catch crop, or in intercropping systems (Gangwar et al., 2009). Further, these food legumes also serve as a feed crop in many farming systems and fetch higher prices compared to cereals and are increasingly being grown to supplement farmers’ incomes (Gouda et al., 1999). Although pulse legumes have many desirable characteristics in terms of increasing system’s productivity, raising nutritional standards and environmental benefits, in most countries of the world they are considered secondary crops. Globally, the harvested area under pulse crops is about one-tenth of the harvested area under all cereal crops. In view of the important and diverse role played by pulses in the farming systems and in the diets of the poor population, this chapter presents the global trade scenario in pulses followed by pulses production and trade opportunities in India. An attempt is also made to highlight the major concerns and to meet the future challenges in production and trade of pulses in India.

Pulses are the major source of lysine richprotein, which is supplementaryto cereal based proteins (metheonine).Leguminous speciesproducing edible seeds occupy prominent place in Indian dietary habits. They are, even today, a primary sourceof protein forthe majority of population in the country. Avariety of pulse crops such as peas, lentils, urad, tur, moong, yellow peas, chickenpea,pigeonpea andbeans aregrown underdifferent agro-climatic conditions, and India is recognized globally as a major player contributing toabout25 percentoftheworld’sproduction.Thepresent demand forpulsesin the countryis estimated to be about 15 milliontonnes, while the productionhovers around 12 to 14 million tones. The post harvest losses in the legumes take place at farm as well as in storage as reported by DMI (2002) are detailed in Table 1, 2 and 3.

In the past, focus on implementing plant protection measures was given to cereals, largely because of their central role in food security, however, recent shortages in legumes has warranted an all out attention on edible pulses. For more than four decades, the concept of integrated pest management (IPM) - which combines a range of controls, including conserving natural predators, using pest resistant crop varieties, intercropping and rotation, with judicious use of pesticides -has struggled to gain ground against conventional agricultural ideology and practices. But it is now increasingly challenging the methods of high-input agriculture and policies arising with implementation of General Agreement forTrade andTariffs (GATT) & World Trade Organization (WTO) that cannot be ignored. In fact, a major factor responsible for sustaining soil productivity in this country has been the highly diversified nature of the cropping patterns which either include a pulse crop or a legume crop as one of the components. India is the largest producer of pulses in the world with 25% share in the global production. While chickpea is the topper among pulses occupying 39% of pulse area, pigeon pea is next with 21% area. The major pulse producing states are Maharashtra (20%), Madhya Pradesh (17%), Rajasthan (11%), Uttar Pradesh (11%) andAndhra Pradesh (11%) together accountingfor 70% of thetotal production of 14.76 m.t from an area of 23.63 m ha (www.agricoop.nic.in, 2007-08). In general, the pulse production is not keeping pace with the domestic requirements, hence, the country has to import 1.5-2.8 m.t per year, which is a matter of concern. Keeping this in view, the 1PM programme covers the two important pulse crops viz., chickpea and pigeon pea, across different cropping systems which will take care of changing scenario emerging out of climatic changes as well as cropping patterns. The present strategy, which is based on a holistic approach and changing ecosystem, will help in increasing production through reduction in pest infestation that would eventually reduce the need for the import of these two vital commodities.

Symbolic to its nomenclature, ’PULSE’ (P = people, U = umbrella, L = livestock, S = soil and E = energy) is a superb group of agricultural crops extending an energy umbrella to people (as a major source of dietary protein), livestock (as a green nutritious fodder and feed) and soil (as a builder and restorer of soil fertility through biological N₂ fixation). On account of these qualities, pulses have occupied a unique position in the Indian farming system. Crop diversification with greater inclusion of legumes is essential to alleviate declining factor productivity, input use efficiency and increasing cost of cultivation for realizing sustainable use of natural resources. Pulses are increasingly becoming a component of the intensive cropping systems as intercrop, substitute crop or catch crop. In upland situations, pulses play an important role as intercrops and ensure more income and efficient use of resources. While analyzing the reasons of low productivity of pulses in various parts of the country, it is observed that non availability of high yielding disease resistant varieties, cultivation on marginal and sub-marginal lands under deficit moisture and fertility and poor pest management are the major constraints in realizing optimum yield potential.

Pulses in India are considered a residual crop and grown under rainfed conditions in marginal/ less fertile lands. About 90 percent of total pulse production comes from 97 million ha of rainfed areas in our country. Presently, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan contribute 85% of the total area and production of pulses in the country. Pulse crops usually face soil water deficits sometime during their growth cycles. Thus, drought stress is a common phenomenon and ranks high among all abiotic stresseslimiting yields of pulses (Ali and Mishra, 2000). Hence, there is an urgent need to increase the pulse productivity to increase the income of farmers and reduce malnutrition. Productivityof pulsesin rainfed agriculture has remainedlowand unstable owing to climate and soil related constraints (Swindale, 1982). Soil moisture is the foremost factor that determines the productivity of rainfed pulses where rainfall is the only source of water. To maintain required soil moisture in rainfed lands, every action must be focused to conserveas much quantity of rainfall in the soil as possible (Rao, 1997). Unfortunately, farmers following rainfed agriculture in our country are not practicing any sort of moisture management techniques though wehaveahandful of techniques suitable for rainfed conditions.

Integrated nutrient management is considered to be the key for achieving higher yield of crops and cropping systems. In general, the productivity of pulse crops has remained low mainly for two reasons: cultivation on agriculturally marginal soils and little if any crop inputs. Among production inputs, fertilizer plays a key role in pulses too like other crops for enhancing productivity levels. Most of the pulses fix atmospheric N, which is the predominant mechanism to meet their N requirement. It can enrich soil fertility by fixing nitrogen. It has been estimated that chickpea can fix (convert atmospheric nitrogen to organic nitrogen which would be available for subsequent crops)up to 140 kg nitrogen per hectare in a growing season, although measured values are usually in the range of about 20-60 kg nitrogen per hectare (Reddy 2004). It has been well established that long duration pigeonpea in northern India can fix nitrogen in the order of 200 kg/ha when grown over a 40 week period. Pigeonpea can also have substantial residual effects on subsequent crops. For example, medium-duration pigeonpea grown at the International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) (Asia Centre) could benefit a subsequent maize crop to an extent equivalent to 40 kg nitrogen per hectare. However, this capability is jeopardized through insufficient supply of other plant nutrients. General recommendations for phosphorus (P) fertilization are made in most states. However, K application is generally neglected, resulting in imbalanced nutrient supply and lower crop yields. Under intensive cropping systems, large amounts of K are removed, leading to serious depletion of soil K reserves. Pulses such as chickpea and pigeonpea remove about 60 and 52 kg K₂O/t of grain, respectively. Information compiled from various sources on integrated nutrient management in pulse/pulse based cropping systems in different agroecological regions of the country suggest that there is a wide scope for practicing integrated plant nutrient (IPN) practices in pulses and pulse based cropping systems. Practicing of INM not only economize inorganic fertilizer use but also helps in balanced fertilization and improving soil health and productivity through complimentaryeffects of fixed N by pulses and applied phosphorus and potassium.

Tillage management and seedbed preparation is crucial for crop establishment, growth and ultimately, yield. Typically, the aims of cultivation are to incorporate crop residue, bury weeds and loosen soil to allow appropriate soil–seed contact, easy flow of nutrients, air and water and unimpeded root penetration and crop growth (Hermawan and Bomke, 1997; Bengough et al., 2006). The use of tillage to prepare seedbeds and the subsequent benefits are well documented. However, the amount of tillage and best practice in terms of optimumsoil physical properties specifically for the establishment period has received less attention in comparison. The influence of a seedbed can vary greatly in terms of soil aggregation and subsequent porosity. This soil arrangement, therefore, has direct impacts on soil temperature, water content, oxygen availability and strength, all of which have the potential to affect the performance of the seedbed and its ability to provide an adequate environment for crop establishment. In a review, Braunack and Dexter (1989) stated as summary of previous works conducted on soil aggregation that aggregates will exhibit differing physical and chemical properties depending on the size of the aggregates, thus influencing the suitability of a seedbed for germination, emergence and root development, by influencing factors such as intra- and inter-aggregate aeration. Schjønning and Rasmussen (2000) found that cultivation methods can have large impacts on surface soil layers, altering both strength and pore dynamics (air and water filled), which can restrict plant growth. The relationship between soil physical properties and the plant root systems are vitally important in this process since they directly affect seedbed quality (Awadhwal and Thierstein, 1985; Aubertot et al., 1999; Dexter, 2004).

Among thirty major cropping systems in the country, which contribute significantly to the national food basket, the majority are cereal-based. In fact, continuous cropping of cereal-based systems during last three decades has resulted in second generation problems and the sustainability of these systems is under threat. The major challenge is to produce more from each unit of land on the one hand and to sustain soil health on the other. The depletion of soil fertility by the intensive cereal-cereal production systems is considered to be a major cause of the yield decline. For example, a rice-wheat cropping system (RWCS) yielding 7 t/ha of paddy and 4 t/ha of wheat removes 315 kg nitrogen (N)/ ha, 28 kg phosphorus (P)/ ha and 333 kg potassium (K)/ ha, and significant amounts of micro-nutrients (Hegde and Dwivedi, 1992). These off-takes often exceed fertiliser input in many Indian states. Refinement of nutrient management strategies would help maintain the crop productivity and soil fertility, but other rotational strategies could also help especially in situations where greater fertiliser use may be uneconomic or environmentally unacceptable. Legume crops fix atmospheric N and enrich soil fertility, and could help to sustain the long-term productivity of cereal-based cropping systems. Depending on the soil and ecological stresses, a cropping system can be diversified using legumes under different mode. Results from the All-India Coordinated Project on Integrated Farming Systems (AICRP-IFS) of Indian Council of Agricultural Research show consistently better productivity with inclusion of legumes in cropping systems. The benefits of legumes in rotation are not solely due to biological nitrogen fixation but also because it increased nutrient availability, improved soil structure, reduced disease incidence and increased mycorhyizal colonization (Wani et al., 1995). Inclusion of pulses as intercrops in sequential as well as intercropping systems would not only make the country self reliant but also help in improving the soil health. Series of experiments are being conducted under (AICRP-IFS) and elsewhere in the country to identify need based cropping systems for different agro-climatic zones of India. The pre-dominent cropping systems involving legumes as a strategy for nutrient management through different approaches are being discussed here for ready reference of researchers, planners and extension workers.

The relevance and need for an eco-friendly alternative farming system arose from the ill effects of the chemical farming practicesadopted worldwide during the second half of the last century. The methods of farming evolved and adopted by our forefathers for centuries were less injurious to the environment. People began to think of various alternative farmingsystemsbased on the protection of environment which in turn would increase the welfare of the humankind in various ways like clean and healthy foods, an ecology which is conducive to the survival of all the living and non-living things, low use of the non-renewable energy sources, etc. Many systems of farming evolved as an outcome of the efforts of many experts and laymen. However, organic farming is considered to be the best amongall of them because of its scientific approach and wider acceptance all over the world.

Organic farming means farming in the spirit of organic relationship. In nature, organic relationship is a pervasive phenomenon. Everythingis connectedwith everything else. Hence, organic farmingis not mere non-chemicalism in agriculture. Since, organic farmingmeans placingfarmingonintegral relationship, wehave to know therelationship between soil-water and plant; betweensoilandsoil microbes andwasteproducts;between the plant and animal kingdom of which the apex animal is the human being; between agriculture and forestry; between soil, water and atmosphere etc.It is the totality of the relationship that is the bedrock of organic farming. However, the understanding of this totality of relationship is not sufficient for success in organic farming. Understanding the local specificity in respect of each of these aspects of these multiple relationship is also important (Pal, 2006).

Indian agriculture is characterized by small farm holdings. The average farm size was only 1.21 hectares during 2005-10 and it would be 0.68 ha by 2030. Around 85% of farmers have land holdings smaller than 2 ha and they cultivate nearly 60% of the available land. The contribution of agriculture sector to the total (GDP) has decline from 38% in 1980 to 29% in 2000 and 15% in 2010-11. The per capita availability of land was 0.15 ha in 1999-2000, which will reduce to 0.11 ha by 2020. As per estimates, India would require about 345 million tones of food grains for feeding about 1.5 billion populations by the year 2020. Approximately 90% of total farm holdings are categorized as small and marginal. There is hardly any scope of horizontal area expansion. The situation is, further, aggravated due to globalization of market and trade relaxations, which call for competitiveness and efficient agricultural production system to face never challenges on the ecological, climatic, equity, social justice and employment front. In areas, endowed with adequate irrigation resources, short duration pulses, oilseeds and other high value crops will find their definite niche as sequential or intercrops, rather than replacing the major cereal crops having higher yield potential combined with high stability. Hence, an increased cropping intensity will contribute substantially to additional demands of food and cash crops.

Pulse production in NE states in still too low as compared to whole India. However, there is very good potentialfor enhancing pulse producity in the region and contribute to food grain production of the country. In view of these constraints, prospects for increasing pulse production from this region have been visualized.

Pulse production scenario

Despite immense importance of pulses in humanand animal nutrition, the share of north-easternregion inthe total pulse areofIndiaistoolow (0.76%)andthisregion contributesonly176.44 thousandtons(0.99%) in the all Indiapulse production (Table 1). WithinNE Region, mostof the pulsearea isoccupied by Assam and 47% of total N.E. Region’s pulse production is contributed by this state alone. After Assam, Nagaland and Tripura are major pulse growing states with 33.5 and 14.5 thousand hectares of area and 36.46and 24.20thousandtons ofproduction, respectively. In Meghalaya, pulseswere grownon4 thousandhaarea and4.2 thousand tonnesof pulses wereharvested in 2010-11. Thefactthat theaverage pulse productivity of NE region (883.0kg/ha)is much higher thanthatof whole India (689kg/ha) offers opportunityfor increasingarea and production of pulses in the region.

India is the largest producer of pulses in the world with 24% share in the global production. During 201011, the total production was 18.09 million tonnes from an area of 25.6 million hectare (Table 1). The important pulse crops grown in India are chickpea (48%), pigeonpea (15%), mungbean (7%), urdbean (7%), lentil (5%) and fieldpea (5%). The major pulse producing states are Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, which together account for about 80% of the total production. The pulses production does not keep pace with the domestic requirement and consequently, the nation has to import 23 million tonnes and the per capita availability of pulses has declined progressively from 41.6 g in 1990 to 37 g in 2008 (Indian Council of Medical Research recommends 65 gm/day/capita). Thus, increasing production from the current level poses a serious challenge for the nation.

Even with the best of efforts, pulses production and productivity has more or less remained stagnant. Due to the low productivitylow input nature, pulses are grown as residual/alternative crops on marginal lands after taking care of food/income needs from high productivityhigh input crops like rice and wheat by most farmers. Also, they grow as rainfed crops with little or no modern yield enhancing inputs. The low priority accorded to pulse crops may be related to their relatively low status in the cropping system. As a crop of secondary importance, in many of these systems, pulse crops do not attract much of the farmer’s crop management attention. In deficient soils, the application of micronutrients has also been found to be remunerative, yet the farmers hardly use these inputs. Seeds of newly developed varieties are not available to the farmers in the required quantities. As a result the seed replacement rate is hardly about 2 to 5%. In addition to this, these crops are adversely affected by a number of biotic and abiotic stresses, which are responsible for reduced yield. Lack of onfarm storage facilities and the vulnerability of pulses to store grain pests also results in considerable losses. Stray cattle and blue bulls are responsible for a lot of damage to the pulse crops especially during offseason, thus affecting adversely the cultivation of crops like mungbean, urdbean, pigeonpea, fieldpea and lentil in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana also resulting in instability and low yields.

India has witnessed a phenomenal increase in foodgrains production since Independence and from a food deficit state producing about 51 million tons in 195051 it become food surplus country with a record harvest of more than 250 million tons in 201112. This particular year also saw a remarkable record production of pulses at about 18.1 million tons. However, to meet the increasing demand of the continuously rising population about 23 million tons of pulses have to be imported every year costing the country about Rs.3000 crores in foreign exchange. Despite the changes in the dietary habits in which the large middle class has moved away from traditional cereals towards high value dairy, meat, fruits and vegetable products, pulses in India are still considered an important source of proteins, particularly for the poor. Pulses are not only an excellent source of protein (2040%), carbohydrates (5060%) and minerals (24%) but also provide calories almost equal to that of cereals energy to the tune of 300 to 540 Kcal/ 100g (Ofuya and Akhidue, 2005). Thus, pulses play an important role in achieving food and nutritional security for small and marginal farmers. However, the per capita availability of pulses has been declining over the time – it has declined from 60.7 gm/ day in 1951 to about 32 gm/day in 2010 – mainly due to stagnant production (except in recent years), rising demand for consumption and other uses. Pulses not only are used for consumption, but also play an even greater role in maintaining and enhancing soil fertility through nitrogen (N₂) fixation. Though the estimates of Nfixed by pulses depends on crop species, soil type, agroclimatic zone and crop management practices, it was reported that early, medium and long duration pigeonpea varieties fix 7, 55 and 69 kg/ ha¹, respectively, in Vertisols of Patancheru (Kumar Rao and Dart, 1987). Pulses ^N2 are grown not only as sole crops but also as intercrops and the biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) of pulses substantially benefits the associated or succeeding crops in terms of nitrogen contribution (1668 kg/ N₂ ha¹ for succeeding cereals). Thus on a conservative estimate, the BNF (@46 kg/N₂ ha¹) by pulses, excluding the intercrop area, alone amounts to 1.06 million tons annually.

Pollution is the term used to denote the hindrances caused to living organisms by way of contamination of their physical environment. Pollution to air, water, soil etc. is the major problem faced by the living community. Measures to control the emission of pollution into air, water or soil will certainly reduce the level of pollutants. Mitigation of pollution can be best achieved by combining nature with technology that increases the effectiveness of plants in removing pollution. Use of vegetation is an effective means of pollution control and many researchers have reported their advantages in mitigating pollution.

So far, the main approach has been to dig the polluting chemicals out of the ground and transport them to a landfill. However, after a decade of research, scientists in the early twenty-first century found that hundreds of species of plants, along with the fungi and bacteria that inhabit the ecosystem around their roots, seek out and often break down chemical molecules that can harm most other life.

In the mid-1980s, Dr. B.C. Wolverton and fellow researchers at NASA conducted several studies to determine whether plants could halt indoor pollution and provide a natural way to deal with the problem. It has been suggested by NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) that plants are major pollution-absorbing devices: the common indoor plants might provide a natural way of helping combat “SICK BUILDING SYNDROME”. Common indoor plants may provide a valuable weapon in the fight against rising levels of indoor air pollution. These plants are not only decorative, but are also surprisingly useful in absorbing potentially harmful gases and cleaning the air inside modern buildings.

Trees are major capital assets in cities Just as streets, sidewalks, public buildings and recreational facilities are a part of a community’s infrastructure, so are publicly owned trees. Trees — and, collectively, the urban forest — are important assets that require care and maintenance the same as other public property. Trees are on the job 24 hours every day working for all of us to improve our environment and quality of life. Urban forest provides many environmental benefits to our community. Aside from the obvious aesthetic benefits, trees within our urban forest improve our air, protect our water, save energy, and improve economic sustainability.

In other words, since most trees have been planted much of the tree cover is in urban areas as opposed to “natural lands”. Therefore, estimated pollutant uptake rates are higher for residential compared to natural or unmanaged lands. Possible management implications of these estimates are that air pollutant uptake benefits from tree planting may be optimized by planting in areas where air pollutant concentrations are elevated and where relatively high planting densities can be achieved thereby enhancing the health of urban dwellers.

Landscaping is both science and art and is an aspect of the environmental impact of a hotel that needs to be addressed. Understanding and blending the elements of both nature and construction is effective landscaping. Whether Landscaping is extensive or small consumes a large amount of water, fertilizers and herbicides and generates solid waste.

Ecogreen’s Greenscaping Operation provides cost-efficient and environmentally friendly solutions for landscaping. Greenscaping operation deals with two aspects:

1. Solid Waste Management, and

2. Water Conservation

Tourism is a phenomenon, which has taken off immensely in the past three decades. It concerns us all, be it by allowing us to travel long distances as tourists, or by forcing upon us a mass of visitors to our part of the world. In the past, people did not travel half as much. Financial obstacles and responsibilities to land and animals stopped them from doing so. Only in 1845 did Thomas Cook of Leicester, England, organize the first package tour, making this experience available to people outside of the privileged classes by cutting down on expenses. By 1939, an estimated one million people were traveling abroad each year. Nowadays, the population of the Mediterranean swells to double over the summer, from 130 million resident inhabitants during the winter to 260 million in high season. There were about 698 million international tourist arrivals worldwide in 2000. All regions in the world grew, and the fastest developing region continued to be East Asia and the Pacific. Tourism has become the largest industry in the world. And just like all thriving industries, though it has a lot to give, it also takes a lot in turn. Unfortunately, the toll that we pay for it has been rising steadily. While the prospect of people traveling less in the future seems improbable, to say the least, a new idea has already sprung up: If we cannot stop tourism, let us at least travel sensibly.

Green business, is enterprise that has no negative impact on the global or local environment, community, society, or economy—a business that strives to meet the triple bottom line. Often, sustainable businesses have progressive environmental and human rights policies. In general, business is described as green if it matches the following four criteria:

1. It incorporates principles of sustainability into each of its business decisions.

2. It supplies environmentally friendly products or services that replace demand for non-green products and/or services.

3. It is greener than traditional competition.

4. It has made an enduring commitment to environmental principles in its business operations.

A sustainable business is any organization that participates in environmentally friendly or green activities to ensure that all processes, products, and manufacturing activities adequately address current environmental concerns while maintaining a profit. In other words, it is a business that “meets the needs of the present world without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs.” It is the process of assessing how to design products that will take advantage of the current environmental situation and how well a company’s products perform with renewable resources.

3.1. SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

Solid waste management includes the transportation, processing, recycling and disposal of our waste materials. We live in a disposable world in many ways with the modernization and convenience of our world we have cluttered it with our refuse.

Sustainability has recently become an important factor in the engineering world. Landscape architecture is a discipline that attempts to improve the way humans interact with the environment. That interaction can be improved in various ways such as water conservation, energy conservation, or urban planning. landscape architecture encompasses urban design, community and regional planning, interior and exterior garden design, parks and recreation, historic site and natural area preservation, energy and water conservation, landscape restoration and management, among others. The varied list is an example of the dynamic essence of landscaping and provides insight into the many areas which can be improved by implementing sustainable practices.

Sustainable development practices aim to protect the quality of life of future generations. This can only be done by understanding how the natural environment operates as well as how human interactions affect it. Sustainable Landscape Architecture focuses on enhancing the holistic knowledge of the surrounding landscapes, including the complex processes which naturally occur to maintain it. Employing this knowledge within the planning phases of development should result in the reduction of negative environmental impacts due to the same. The traditional consequences of land development can be eliminated or mitigated when developers are able to foresee the consequences of their work. Many times, replicating undeveloped conditions and/or native landscapes within the overall site design will prove very useful in achieving the goals of sustainability. All of the sustainable topics covered in this chapter involve the application of a technology that resulted from better understanding the natural environment.

Green energy can be classified as any form of energy resource that results in zero greenhouse gas emissions and zero toxic byproducts. These constitute the alternate source of energy such as Solar, Bio, Hydrogen, Wind, Water etc. Renewable Energy is energy that is not depleted or expen- ded. Previously the pressure to reduce CO2 emissions dictated the energy sourcing. With recent findings from experimental evidence, global warming may not be attributable to CO₂ emissions in relation to other over-weighing causes. However the pressures to develop renewable sources continue since the cost of Oil is increasing in many countries. It is desirable and a necessity to develop renewable non-toxic energy resources. The global economy and welfare of all earth depends on it even if CO₂ is not the cause of global warming (GW). There are some factors not in the control of even the most technologically advanced society. These are solar activity such as sun spots which have huge and tremendous influence on the Earth’s climate. However we should strive not to cause any undue imbalances in the proportion matter and composition of Earth’s atmosphere. Although CO2 is a small contributor to GW in comparison to H₂O, we still have responsibility to maintain the right balance of the gases in the atmosphere by not causing undue changes to the Carbon, Nitrogen and Oxygen cycles! We are far way off from a Oil-free technology. Most transportation is still petrol driven.