eChapters

Paperless to Paperless Libraries

Ancient Gurus in ancient Gurukulas used to impart knowledge to their pupils through oral teaching. The Gurus themselves were treasure troves of knowledge, without the need to refer to hard and soft copies, and online resources. How interesting it is to note we are right now in a nostalgic phase, that takes us back to those ages, when disciples were taught, learned and accumulated oceans of knowledge through oral and moving libraries, which were in the form of their revered Gurus. It is truly fascinating how history has flair to repeat itself. The long-driven transition from paperless back to paperless, that is, from oral instruction through palm leaves through copper plates through virtual paper through electronic to digital libraries is as arduous as it is fascinating. Hence the million dollars question … where to from here – Digital Library, whither thou goest?

Introduction

Increasing quantum of information being generated and distributed in electronic form and management of these resources has become a real challenge to the library professionals.  How to integrate and handle this information increasing at phenomenal speed and how quickly and effectively it can be accessed and provided is the real concern. This has given rise to the concept of 'poly-media library'. This concept has brought to the front the importance of Information Literacy (IL) for academic pursuits as well as for life-long learning.

Introduction

Studies have indicated that four significant forces viz. IT, Mobile, Cloud and Social Media would create unique work environment in the coming years. Social media presents both opportunities and challenges. It has reached a stage where a single tweet can make or mar an organization. It has emerged as a force to reckon with.

Introduction

Marketing and promotion are important for any organization that provides services to consumers. Marketing and promotion allow an organization to inform, remind, or persuade the consumers by sharing information about goods or services, community involvement, or societal impact. Simply stated, these efforts encompass anything libraries do to let the community know who they are, what they do, and what they offer. The goal of marketing is to keep the product in the minds of the customer: in the case of libraries it is to keep the customer aware of the library, to provide them with knowledge about the library’s physical features, resources, services, programs, and events, and to let them know about the benefits libraries offer. Marketing and promotion benefit the library by increasing usage, educating users, and increasing or at least maintaining a positive perception of the library.

The present era is rightly termed as an “Information era”. Therefore, information and wide access to it is considered as wealth. People want adequate and authentic information as early as possible. In recent years, information delivery system has been changed from old ways to the modern ways. At the present time information and communication technologies (ICTs) are increasingly being used as effective tool for reaching and delivering professional services among urban and rural communities. Yet the benefits of the information revolution are still much debated, particularly, in case of developing countries like India. There is a growing concern about the gap between the information “haves and have not’s”, which will continue to grow unless the developing countries acquire the infrastructure and resources to access these new ICTs.

What is Computer Network?

A computer network is a collection of computers and devices connected to each other. The network allows computers to communicate with each other and share resources and information. The Advance Research Projects Agency (ARPA) designed “Advanced Research Projects Agency Network” (ARPANET) for the United States Department of Defence. It was the first computer network in the world in late 1960’s and early 1970’s

ABSTRACT

Village Resource Centre (VRC) provides information services to the rural population to empower them to face day to day challenges. In this line, the Department of Space, ISRO & RRSSC is bringing its space technology to common man by setting up of Village Resource Centres, with a view to integrate the capabilities of communication and remote sensing satellites to address the changing and critical needs of rural communities. VRC is totally interactive VSAT based network for providing space enabled information related to land records, natural resources, drinking water wells, ground water recharge, soil types, alternate cropping pattern, waste lands, etc. VRCs also provide  variety of services in its tele-education and tele-medicine programmes, online decision support, weather forecasting, water management, interactive farmers advisory services (video conferencing) etc.

ABSTRACT

India’s North-East is predominantly hill agriculture based and endowed with rich natural resources for the development. The average rainfall in the region is the highest in the country. However, low agricultural productivity and food in-security are largely prevalent in the North- East India. Lack of adequate information on advanced farm technologies, market intelligence and rural development schemes led to the income poverty in the region. The limited technical manpower, lack of transport and communication facilities, inadequate financial support to the technology transfer and less infrastructure facility creates huge technological gap among  rural tribal farming community.

ABSTRACT

The Cellular technology (mobile phone) is becoming popular day by day with companies up with low price handsets and nearly one-fourth of the India’s population possess a mobile phone even in the rural areas. The Indian government has set a target of 500 million users by 2010; half of this, 250 million, has reached till 2007 (IANS). Keeping in view the scenario, messaging agricultural information through computers to the end users on mobile phone is a means, which will go a long way for the farmers to receive timely information. There are different media platforms through which farmer’s access information in India. This includes radios, television, print, person to person and so many others. However, with the rapid growth in technology, there is a strong belief that there is a need to extend the mobile phones’ use to agriculture sector.

ABSTRACT

Veterinarians, appointed in field, rarely get the opportunity to update their knowledge and skills, through trainings or courses, due to their working conditions. More over, they feel isolated and neglected from colleges due to poor interactions. Looking to this need, the courses on Post Mortem Techniques and Diagnosis of Parasitic Diseases in Livestock were developed, based on the Need Assessment survey. The courses were developed on interactive CD ROM with audio, video clips and photographs along with some reading material. The courses were of one credit each and had minimum one face-to-face session. The response by the veterinarians was tremendous and around 210 veterinarians offered for the courses by paying fees. Participants and stakeholders expressed the need for additional courses and accordingly two more courses on surgical techniques in large and small animals were launched which also received good response.

ABSTRACT

The domestic buffalo occupies an important niche in agricultural systems by providing milk, meat and draught power. Indian buffalo population which is about 1/3 of the cattle population contributes more than half of the total milk production of the country.  Several biological and socio-economic problems restricted the efficiency of buffalo production which needs careful and intensive research. Studies pertaining to reproduction are one of the important areas in buffalo research. The reproductive process in buffalo is complex in nature, which differs on many aspects with the cattle. There is a need to undertake separate strategies to understand buffalo reproduction to disseminate the information to the livestock owners and researchers.

ABSTRACT
  
The present study was conducted with 100 internet users in Lahowal CIC and Barbaruah CIC in Dibrugarh district of Assam to critically analyze the various aspects of internet utilization pattern. Results showed that majority (66%) of the respondents were between 18 to 26 years of age and were students (50%). Education qualification of majority of the respondents (32%) was above seventh standard and below graduation and seventy per cent were above graduation and below post graduation and also undergone training in computer.

Basic principles of breeding hybrid maize
1. Inbreeding
•    Produce a plant which breeds true
•    Produce uniform plants
•    Increase the homozygosity at all or specific loci in the plant genome
•    We know what inbreeding does and I do not propose to spend people’s money to learn how to reduce corn yield-Hopkins

Germplasm
 
Germplasm of crop may be defined as sum total of hereditary materials, i.e. all alleles of various genes present in a crop species and its wild relatives. The germplasm can be utilized in a breeding programme in following ways:
•    Direct release as a variety
•    It may be subjected to selection for developing a variety
•    It may be used as one of parents in hybridization programmes

Definition of terminologies and concept

Variables: Variables are the characteristic, number or quantity which increases or decreases over time and takes different values in different situations. Variables are those, whose value varies according to the situations. For example, maize yield, Stover, fertilizer, labor, land, pesticides, etc.
 
Dependent variable: Variables whose value is dependent on independent variables. These variables take different values only in response to independent variables. Yield of maize is dependent on amount fertilizer, fertilizer application methods, labor, pesticides etc. So in this case maize yield is dependent variables while amount fertilizer, fertilizer application methods, labor, pesticides are independent variables. However in other situation, maize yield can be used as independent variables also.

Crop growth rate (g m^_-2 day^_-1)

Crop Growth Rate is referred to a whole crop, so you need to consider the area of the ground where crop is present. It is measured as mass increase in crop biomass per unit ground area per unit time.
Equation for that is, CGR= W₂-W₁ / t₁-t₂

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:

Thiamann (1948) designated the plant hormones by the term ‘phytohormones’ in order to distinguish them from animal hormones. He defined a phytohormone as “an organic compound produced naturally in higher plants, controlling growth or other phy-siological functions at a site remote from its place of production and active in minute amounts.”

According to Johannes van Over-beek (1950), the plant hormones are defined as “organic compounds which regulate plant physiological process – regardless of whether these compounds are naturally occurring and/or synthetic; simulating and/or inhibitory; local activators or substances which act at a distance from the place where they are formed.”

Abstract

Different algal taxa involved in the formation of lichen/s are presented. To-date 43 algal genera, comprising members of Cyanophyta, Chlorophyta and one genus each of families Phaeophyceae (brown algae) and Xanthophyceae (yellow-green algae) are recorded, based on personal observations coupled with literature. The various algal taxa forming different lichens belonging to various families is presented. The taxa Trebouxia de Puymaly and Trentepohlia Born. amongst green algae; Scytonema Ag. and Nostoc Vauch. Among blue-green algae are dominant genera involved in the formation of lichens. The yellow and brown algae are only of rare occurrence.

Year    Contributor    Description
1756    Duharmel du Monceau H.L.    Discovered callus formation in decorticated elm tree. 
1839    Schwann, T.H.    Proposed the view that each living cell of a multicellular organism would be capable of developing independently if provided with proper external conditions.
1853    Trecul, A.    Performed experiment on callus formation by decorticated trees such as Robinia, Pawlonia and Ulmus.

A. Anther and Pollen Culture (Production of Haploid Plants)

Haploid plants possess a single set of chromosomes (gametophytic no of chromosomes i.e. n) in the sporophyte in contrast to diploids which contain two sets of chromosomes (2n). The existence of haploid plants was reported by Bergner (1921) in Datura stramonium. Guha and Maheswari (1964) reported the direct development of haploid embryos and plantlets from microspores of Datura inoxia by the cultures of excised anthers. After this, haploid plants have been produced via anther culture in more than 170 species. The anther culture technique is useful in haploid production.

Bonsai culture is an important branch of Ornamental horticulture. History of Bonsai is very old dating back to many centuries in China where it originated, as most Chinese arts and from there it spread to Japan and became highly specialized.  In fact, bonsai culture is in the present day more known as Japanese than as a Chinese art.  In Japanese homes, there are plants which are hundreds of years old. This treasured art is passed from generation to generation in Japanese society.

The word Bonsai is a combination of two Japanese words, Bon (meaning shallow pan) and Sai (meaning plant) which can be interpreted as ‘Tray planting’.  The idea conveyed is that of a small beautiful tree growing in a container as in nature with all its parts performing their natural functions throughout the times.  The artistic look of plant in a miniature form maintained for many years is the prime criteria.  Bonsais are grown outdoors and are displayed in living room, as and when, needed.  They cannot be treated as house plants.

Labour is one of the biggest input costs for vegetable growers. Vegetable farming is labor intensive and time consuming. Frequently, it is associated with low yield and poor quality production. The constraints are high labor requirements for land clearing, ploughing, bed forming, mulch laying, seeding, transplanting, harvesting and transporting. Mechanization is interjection of improved tools, implements, machines and other equipments between man and materials (soil, water, environment, seed, fertilizer, pesticides, growth regulators, irrigation water, agricultural produce and by-products such as fruits, vegetables, and seeds, etc.)

Soil fertility -importance

From edaphological point of view soil is a medium for plant growth. It holds and nourishes the plants. Soil fertility refers to the ability of soil to supply plant nutrients. Soil fertility and fertilizers are very much closely related terms; and cannot be neglected one from the other in their function. Soil fertility acts as a ‘SINK’ where in plants can draw nutrients for maximum productivity, where as fertilizer, acts as a ‘SOURCE’ wherein we can apply continuously different nutrients. The importance of soil fertility and nutrient management is being increasingly recognized in all countries recently to meet the demand for food and other agricultural raw materials. Intensive use of fertilizer, intensive cropping and high yielding seeds have no doubt increased the food production and reduced the food shortage but it has also ushered in innumerable problems of soil fertility, soil and water pollution. On the other hand, fast depletion of nutrients due to over exploitation, a wide spread deficiency of N, P, K and S coupled with micronutrients deficiencies specially Zn, B and Mo is taking place. Further deforestation, shifting cultivation, burning of crop residues, trees, bushes, grasses and cow dung, soil erosion, nutrient losses and imbalanced nutrient application, leaching losses etc., have aggravated the depletion of soil fertility status. The productivity of Indian agriculture solely depends on scientific management of soil fertility along with judicious and efficient use of fertilizers integrated with organic sources.

Fertilizer

Fertilizers are defined as materials having definite chemical composition with a high analytical value that supply essential plant nutrients in available form. They are usually manufactured by industries and sold with a trade name. They are commonly synthetic in nature and also called as chemical fertilizers/inorganic fertilizers/commercial fertilizers other than lime and gypsum. Most of the chemical fertilizers are inorganic in nature.

These materials include barrier coated paper bags, barrier laminated film bags, jute bags, PP woven box bag and cotton bags.
 
A: Paper Bags
    1.    Coated paper:  bags provide a barrier for leaking or staining of the product. This can be done by a greaseproof or claycoated kraftpaper.
    2.    Open-Mouth sacks:  can be manufactured using different types of paper. Simple kraftliner, glossy claycoated and lacquered outerliner are possible. These sacks can be supplied with liners and printed up to 8 colours.

Whenever we design a scientific study it is designed in a specific contextual background to solve one or another scientific problem. Subsequently it also involves a set of variables/phenomenon operating in a particular context, set of relationships among these variables and the conditions under which they operate. Certainly, to address an unsolved scientific problem we need to carry out research by employing well defined research methodology and have an idea about possible outcomes.  For example when a extension scientist is asked to study the impact of a novel programme, he needs to understand the background and the context under which the programme was introduced, what are the developmental inputs given under the programme, to whom, when (variables), with what purpose (context), what kind of impact he/she is supposed to investigate (presumed relationship), what methods he is going to use to investigate the impact of developmental programme (research methodology) and what are the possible outcomes of the investigation and how programme interventions are related to the outcome (relationship).

Variable is any character or attribute of the given object/set of objects which varies from object to object or from one point of time to another point of time. For example height of individuals is a variable; it varies from person to person.  Kerlinger (1973) defined variable as a symbol to which numerals or values are assigned.

Importance of variables: In previous sections, we discussed about formulating the research problem and development of research hypothesis. Variables are the building blocks of any scientific research problem and research hypothesis. When we consider a hypothesis to be relational hypothesis, we mean that it make claims about relationship between two or more variables. When we test hypothesis, as such we do not test the hypothesis, rather we test the significance of hypothesised relationship between two or more variables. Since variables play central role in observation, measurement and testing of relationship, it is of prime importance to understand the meaning of variables, different types and the way we define these variables.

In previous sections we discussed about the validity and estimation of validity. Now the question is whether the reliable and valid measuring instrument is sufficient condition to ensure the reliable and valid results in actual experiments? What if the measuring instruments are perfectly reliable and valid but the experiment is conducted in less controlled conditions? Can we expect accurate predictions under such conditions? The answer is No.

In previous section we discussed about the ability of the research design to precisely detect the relationship between cause and effect under controlled conditions. But in social research it becomes difficult to conduct the research under highly controlled conditions and moreover many of the researches in social science aim at prediction rather than understanding.

As we discussed earlier, aim of science is development theory, understanding, prediction and explanation of natural phenomenon. In many of the cases we are more interested in predicting the occurrence of social phenomenon rather than explaining it or understanding its relationship with other phenomenon. Under such conditions internal validity is of less use because a relationship that is established in artificially controlled conditions (with high internal validity) may fail to express itself in natural setup due to effect of extraneous variables. When the relationship between cause and effect is weak enough to be expressed in natural setup then it is of less use in predicting the phenomenon. Under such conditions we require experiments that are conducted in nearly natural setup, so that we can generalize the findings of the research to the wider domain.

Sampling is the process of drawing a part of population supposed to be the representative of that population.

Types: Sampling process can be either random or non-random. Most frequently we use random sampling method in our studies. But sometimes the purpose of the study demands for non-random sampling in one or other phase of sampling (Example: When we want to study the impact of life skills development programme on the disabled female beneficiaries)

Hypothesis testing is the statistical procedure used in order to accept or reject statistical null hypotheses. One of the major purpose for which we formulate the hypothesis is, to test the statistical significance of the relation, difference or variation etc. among given sample/s at a given point of time or at different time points.

Abstract

This paper portray the generation of spectral signature library for semi arid area crops using hyperspectral data and the scope of the application of the generated digital library for the classification of the satellite imagery of similar regions.

Hypersprctral data have narrow bands which help to provide additional information related to observed features. In case of this agriculture study crop related information are gathered using hyperspectral sensors The variation in the observations are due to physic-chemical characteristics such as biochemical composition, physical structure, water content and plant ecophysical status. Using the hand held spectroradiometer the reflectance is captured for the bajra, moong, moth crops from the Rajasthan, India’s semi arid region. The observations have been taken for different dates considering the phenology of the crops. Hyperion data from EO-1 satellite have been used to implement the classification operation based on the spectral signature library of bajra. It is observed that the image with the crops can be classified according to the phenology difference.

Abstract

Droughts are normal recurring climatic phenomena that vary in space, time, and intensity. The spatial and temporal variability and multiple impacts of droughts provide challenges for mapping and monitoring on regional scales. Large historical datasets are required in drought studies to understand the complex inter-relationship between the climatic and meteorological data. Extraction of valuable information from such large data archives demands an automated and efficient way. Data mining is answer to above problem as it has the potential to search for hidden pattern and identify the relationship between the datasets. For the current research, rainfall data from 1951-2006 was used to compute Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and NOAA-AVHRR NDVI images for the period 1981-2006 was used to calculate Vegetation Condition Index (VCI). SPI and VCI were used as input parameters in the Apriori Algorithm for generating the association rules. Interesting rules were developed identifying the relationship between user-specified target episodes and meteorological events. Therefore, spatial and temporal pattern of drought was achieved with 88% confidence.

Even since, the man adopted plant cultivation; he attempted various methods of propagation. In ancient time, the only source of plant multiplication was by seeds. Hence, techniques for higher seed germination, improved seed vigour were developed by giving pre-treatment. However, as the knowledge advanced and demands for having true to type plants was realized to man shifted his cultivation practices for some plants from seed to vegetative propagation such as cutting, layering and grafting. The use of cuttings, corm, bulbs, tubers  for multiplication were known to ancient peoples as mentioned in old literature. This method also gave an edge to conserve the genetic gain once developed in a cultivar, since all vegetatively multiplied plants will have some genome and will produce true to type plants. Thus, the development of vegetative propagation method because it is easy method to multiply plants on large scale and develop uniform quality produce.

Manila tamarind (Pithecellobium dulce  (Roxb.) Benth.), also known as ‘Jangle jalebi’, ‘Madras thorn’, Sweet inga and ‘Monkey pod’ has a potential to become an important tree of semi- arid and arid regions since it is a drought hardy plant and tolerates harsh environmental conditions as well as salinity. In general, it is planted on the boundary of orchard, road and field sides as protective hedge plant. It is a medium size, much branched tree, suitable for silvi-pastoral system (Gupta et al., 1994). It is drought resistant species but susceptible to frost under arid conditions, coming up well in areas of low rainfall due to its extensive root system. Names like dulce (sweet) and “Manila tamarind” reflect the wide use of the pods as food. The most valuable and commonly used part of Manila tamarind tree is the pulp, which is white or red, very sweet and has a pleasant flavour. The large aril represents 50 per cent of the fruit (Seeds 25%, husk 25%). The major constraint in commercialization of this tree species is lack of improved genotypes, agro-techniques for cultivation in different ago-climatic conditions and limited commercial value.

Phalsa (Grewia subinaequalis syn. G asiatica) is a minor fruit crop. It is the most hardy fruit, drought resistant and requires little care. This fruit crop is mentioned in vedic literature having medicinal properties. It can be grown almost in all parts of north India except at higher elevations. It cannot be grown in temperate climates with severe winters.  Phalsa being very vigorous in growth can be an ideal plant for plugging gullies and ravines and for contours to protect bunds. It can also be grown as a hedge along the field boundary. It is also grown as filler tree(Chundawat,1990).  It is capable of growing under marginal, waste lands and water scarcity conditions. The tiny fruits have to be picked from bush several times during the fruiting season. Fruits are used for fresh eaten and having short shelf life is suitable for disposal in local market.

Mulberry (Morus nigra , Family : Moraceae)  also known as toot, shehtoot is a multipurpose tree.  It is found all over India from temperate to tropical regions.  Fig and Jackfruit are other important fruit trees of this family Moraceae. Morus alba is white mulberry mainly used in Sericulture whereas Morus nigra produces black fruits which have tremendous nutritional and medicinal value and are produced for fruit cultivation.  Mulberry is a fast growing, deciduous, woody perennial plant, which is mainly grown in the orchards as windbreak due to its dense foliage. It can be grown on wide range of climate and soil conditions (Hare Krishna et al., 2012). It is not commercially cultivated as fruit crop and trees are planted mainly on road sides, wind breaks and in the orchard for getting shade. In most parts of the country particularly southern states, mulberry is grown for its foliage, which is the only food for the silkworm (Bombyx mori). Mulberry leaf is a major economic component in sericulture since the quality and quantity of leaf produced per unit area has a direct bearing on cocoon harvest.

Kair also known as Karil or Ker {Capparis decidua (Forsk) Edgew} is an economic desertic plant species, which grows well on sand dunes. The plant is adopted so well under hot arid ecosystem that during extreme of summer when it is difficult to survive by many other vegetation, it produces flowers and fruits. Ker is indigenous to India and growing wildly in arid and semi-arid regions of the country. In India, it is found growing naturally in arid and semiarid tracts of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and southern part of Deccan Peninsula. Besides India, it is found in tropical Africa, Arabia, Sind, Baluchistan, Socotra, South Persia, Pakistan (Sind), Sudan and Egypt. The natural habitat of ker is pediments plains all over dry regions and its density ranges from 8-44 bushes ha-1 (Pareek, 1978). The population density of Capparis decidua on different land forms have been reported by Gupta et al., (1989) as the population varies from 9-70 bushes/ ha. They recorded highest population density on older alluvial plains (81 plant/ ha) and minimum on the periphery of runs (20 plants/ha).  In semi-arid of Pali region, 20-40 bushes /ha was noted in rangeland area (Singh,1993). In recent decade, the natural population of ker bushes has been declined due to increase in population pressure of man and animals and increase in cropping area due to canal irrigation in north-western Rajasthan.

Lasoda (Cordia myxa L.) known by many names viz., cherry of desert, assyrian palm, sebestene plum,  lasura, lehsua, gonda and naruvilli, is an underutilized, multipurpose fruit tree distributed in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Arid regions are considered under the category of wastelands which are not being used to their fullest potential. Among the arid region crops, lasoda is very suitable crop for cultivation in Rajasthan as it can withstand drought to a very great extent and can tolerate temperature as high as 48 to 50°C during summer months. Lasoda thrives well on neglected, low fertile, sandy, gravelly, saline, alkaline soils and hence can be used for forestation of waste lands. However, it grows vigorously in moist sandy loam soils and gives high productivity.

Chironji or Charoli (Buchanania lanzan Spreng.) is an important fruit tree of agro forestry and social forestry. In the wasteland development and dryland horticulture, it assumes great significance due to its multifarious uses and capacity to withstand adverse environmental conditions. At present, it is growing under natural forest as an underexploited fruit and gives monitory reward to the tribal community of the country and seems to be boon for them. It is valuable tree species found in dry deciduous forest throughout the country excluding eastern Himalayan forests (Singh, 1982).

Salvadora the  “Grape of the Desert” and commonly known as Pilu or jaal is a popular  multipurpose tree (MPTS) found growing luxuriantly in Thar desert and Kutchh region of Gujarat. It is an extremely drought hardy and salinity tolerant plant, capable of growing in hostile weather conditions. Salvadora provides life and support to the people living in fragile ecosystem of Thar desert and hence can be rated as a life line tree. The two important species of Salvadora i.e. Salvadora oleoides Decne and Salvadora persica L. are known to exist in India and known by different vernacular names. S. oleoides is called jaal, Mitha jal (Rajasthani); Pilu (Sanskrit); Bhapilu (Hindi); Kankhina (Marathi); Pil (Punjabi) and Kalawa (Tamil) while S. persica is known as Pilu (Sanskrit), tooth brush tree (English); Chotapilu (Bengali); darakht-I-miswak (Persian); Pilu (Marathi); Varagogu (Telgu) Ughaiputtai (Tamil); goni-mara (Karnataka). Salvadora is native of India, East Africa and Arabia. It is found in wild form in extensive areas of Africa particularly, Turkama, Sambura and Marsabit districts of Northern Kenya, Ferli in North Senegal, South Sivani in Egypt and N. E. Tanzania. Salvadora is also of common occurrence in South coastal areas of Pakistan, Sindh and Baluchistan, Saudi Arabia and other middle eastern countries.

Mahua (Bassia latifolia Roxb.), is a deciduous, hard woody multipurpose tree species (Venkatesh,1998). It is very hardy and thrives well on rocky, gravelly red soils and also on saline and sodic soils. It can grow even in pockets of soil between crevices of barren rock. Trees are grown on degraded rocky area including salt-affected soils and forests area.  Mahua prefers tropical and sub-tropical climate. It can withstand drought admirably. A characteristic tree of the dry region is found in north and central India.  It commonly grows in eastern Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.  In Rajasthan, it is also found growing on the wastelands particularly in southern part of the state.  The tree is very well known to rural folk since ages in India.

Marula nut (Sclerocarya birrea subsp. caffra) is a highly valued tree in most parts of Southern Africa because of its medicinal and nutritional properties. The marula tree is adapted to the semi-arid conditions that characterize most parts of sub-Saharan Africa and renders them unsuitable for conventional crop agriculture (Moyo Mack, 2009). The unique nutritional properties of marula and its high tolerance to dry conditions provide opportunities for its development into a plantation crop. On the other hand, the demand for marula plant parts, mainly the bark and roots as medicinal remedies, poses a great threat to wild populations. In the long term, the growing demand of marula products in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries will not be sustainable from wild populations alone. A rich genetic diversity in Sclerocarya birrea has  reported by Muco et al.

Guggul (Commiphora wightii Arnott.) commonly known as guggul, is a much branched shrub yielding gum-resin generally obtained by incision of the bark. Its plant is drought hardy and can  be grown in wasteland,  gravelly, desertic soils of arid parts of the country. This resin, normally referred as guggul, has been shown to have diverse medicinal properties like lowering of lipid activity anti-inflammatory  activity , diuretic, expectorant, diaphoretic  activity, etc (Atal et al.,1975). Its description and uses is mentioned in ancient literatures Ayurvedic treatise Charak (1000 B.C.), Sushruta Samhita (600B.C.). It has  a historical use in  folk medicine and today it ‘s highly commercially important target species .In the last few decades there has been  a sharp  decline in natural population of this species. There is hardly any commercial cultivation of this species. However, at Mangliavas near Ajmer in  Guggul Herbal Farm, more than 15,000 plants have been planted on the rocky site and the material  so  established  is being used for  research purpose on tapping of guggul and other related aspects.

Senna (Cassia angustifolia Vahl.) popularly called as ‘Sonamukhi’ is widely used medicinal herb in Ayurveda, Unani and also in Allopathic system of medicine. It is well known for its purgative activity (Bentley and Trimen, 1999). The plant is known by various names in common conversation likes Sennai, Sona, Sonamukhi, Sennamukki, Sonpar, etc.  Presently, there is a growing demand of senna  dry leaves and processed products in the national as well as in international markets. In recent years, its cultivation has gained momentum in arid and semi- arid parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat due to its diversified adaptability. It has also been widely adopted by the farmers because of its low cost of cultivation with yield stability. Its main characteristics viz., drought hardy, perenniality, non-palatability to animals has also attracted the farmers for its popularity. Moreover, the senna crop is eco-friendly as it can be utilized for wasteland, sand dune stabilization and desert development (Bohra and Sankhla, 1997; Tripathi, 1999).

Henna (Lawsonia inermis L.) is a multipurpose shrub also known as mehandi. It is grown through out the country as a hedge plant. In India, it was once grown extensively in Punjab and Gujarat. However, gradually major cultivation has shifted to the arid fringes of Rajasthan with the Pali district having the maximum area under henna cultivation. It is taken as an annual ratoon crop under rain fed conditions. Presently there are over 22,000 ha of henna plantations in the Pali district nearly 70 percent occurring in the Sojat area which produces around 20000 tonnes dry leaves worth Rs.40 crores annually. Sojat city is world famous for its mehandi or henna (Heena) powder.

Moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.)  commonly known as drumstick or sehjna is a multipurpose tree of India and grown intensively in the tropics and sub-tropics. It is a vitamin rich, mineral packed and nutritious vegetable crop. The name drumstick is derived from the pod shape resembling the slender and curved stick used for beating drum. Fruits are also resembled with the siliqua of radish and hence the name is “radish tree’’. Ancient Indian literature mentioned that moringa is an interesting plant due to its widespread uses in socio-economic for food, medicine, agriculture and industry.

Introduction
 
The emerging functional foods market presents a considerable challenge to all manufacturers to keep abreast of the use of adequate packaging materials for their products. The interest in functional foods is intrinsically linked to the potential health benefits of their bioactive components. Preserving these bioactive components is, therefore, a crucial factor to providing the anticipated health benefits of functional foods. However, recurring failure in maintaining the quality of functional foods has been reported. Functional foods include a wide variety of products such as prebiotics and probiotics, dried foods (fibers, probiotics, tea, herbs, etc.), fermented products (yogurts, kefirs, vegetables), and fresh fruits and vegetables.

HELMINTHS 
Collection of parasites

Fresh helminth parasites should be collected, as far as possible to achieve better results in staining. This can best be done by conducting a post­mortem examination of the animal for which the procedure given below should be followed. On opening the body and before removal of the viscera, examine the body cavity (for free lying parasites, e.g. Setaria), subcutaneous tissue (for Parafilaria and Hypoderma larvae) and the surfaces of internal organs for spot or nodules that might contain parasites. Remove them for histopathological examination (in 10 % formalin). Remove the visceral organs separately and place them in different sized enamel trays.