eChapters

The concept of sustainability in agricultural system

All forms of production systems exist today, from nomadic herding to continuous, intensive monocrop systems. Their distribution is determined by soil and climate conditions, and by social and economic factors. In very general terms, as one moves from drier to wetter areas, pastures and animals become less important, and trees more so. Population density is greatest where soils are most fertile, and management systems the most intense. Most production systems have evolved so that they are sustainable in terms of the environmental conditions prevailing at the time—including the level of demographic pressure.

True/False

Q.1.    Qualitative or categorical data are frequently collected in medical investigation.
Q.2.    Qualitative variables may be, e.g. sex, blood type, treatment, groups, classification of exposure or disease and patients survived or not.
Q.3.    Qualitative variables include the grouped quantitative variables such as age groups of mothers, pre term babies, birth weight groups, 
hypertensive or normotensive etc.

True/False

Q.1.    The most fundamental assumption for “Parametric inference” is that the random sample drawn is from “Normal” population.
Q.2.    The most fundamental assumption of “Non-parametric” test is that the random sample drawn is from “Continuous distribution”
Q.3.    The standard parametric methods are applicable for “Estimating the parameter” as well as for “Testing the hypothesis” about the parameters.
Q.4.    Non-parametric methods, are applicable only for testing the hypothesis about  distribution but not applicable for estimation purpose of parameter.

True/False

Q.1.    Two independent random variables (X,Y) are always uncorrelated but reverse may not be true

Abstract

Meta analysis quantitatively summarizes the findings of a large collection of individual experiments. It is a powerful statistical tool since it integrates a vast literature and thus includes large sample size. It leads to a stronger conclusion than traditional literary review as studies are analyzed applying statistical methods. Meta- analysis is increasingly being applied in different fields of biological sciences. It has been emerged as an independent subfield of modern health science researches as in this field very few studies achieve statistical power in isolation. Meta- analysis has also become an integral part of plant science research, e.g., agricultural research, ethnobotanical research, tea and health science research etc. Meta-analysis has few limitations although rigorously conducted meta- analyses are considered more valuable than any single study contributing to the analysis.

Note: With my personal experience, I have learnt many lessons during the course of my journey of life. The reader should ponder over it and prepare own food profile and menu for the benefit of maintaining good health. My paper does not provide any prescription but provides illustration of my experiences only, which may be of some use in knowledge and practice of food. The medical and health experts need to be consulted as appropriate.

SYNOPSIS

After the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1992, the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus (CAC) began making the transition from controlled to market economies. All of the countries have programs for economic and social development as well as food security. Over the last decade, the regional population increased 11%, from 72 million in 2002 to 79 million in 2012. Agricultural production has increased throughout the region. For example, vegetable production per decade has nearly doubled due to an increase in the area of the crops grown and to increased yields, and was more than 19 million t in 2011.

Abstract

Drying is a very important unit operation in food processing. Being an energy intensive unit operation, drying process demands improvement to make it energy efficient. Beside this operating conditions used in drying affect product quality substantially; however, traditional dryers do not allow enough flexibility to meet quality requirements for several products. This has resulted in development of number of new drying techniques, to cope with both energy efficiency and product quality.

Abstract

It is well known that drying is an important unit operation in food processing industries, essentially used to extend the shelf life but also in making innovative processed products such as snacks with desired functionalities. Although drying of food products is carried out traditionally using several methods, the quality and energy aspects have been major focus of food drying research in the last decade or two. This is achieved by modifying and/or optimizing the existing drying systems, improving pre and post processing of the product, combination of more than one dryer type or developing altogether a new drying technique. There several dryer types which can give extremely good product quality, however, cost-effectiveness can be a major issue. It is necessary to balance both good product quality and minimum energy usage in order to sustain highly competitive market. This lecture will provide an overview of conventional drying methods used for foods, followed by some advances in these conventional methods and a discussion on some new drying techniques developed in recent years that are either commercialized or have potential of industrial use.

Abstract
 
Spray drying is used as one of the best alternatives for extracting essential constituents of fruit and vegetables. Spray drying of fruits and vegetable juice/purees, which is an excellent source of bio-functional properties into a solid phase helps to enhance their stability and controlled release in different food matrices. Spray drying along with different carrying agents helps to retain essential active compounds in fruits and vegetables. Spray drying is generally carried in three steps viz. atomization of liquid feed by suitable atomizer; drying of droplets with the help of hot air and motion of droplets. Carrier agents like maltodextrin, wax starch, Gum Arabic and microcrystalline cellulose are added to the feed to increase glass transition temperature. Chapter presents the effects of different operating parameters of spray drying as well as effects of carrier agents on the physicochemical and functional properties of spray dried fruit and vegetables powders.

Abstract

Dietary antioxidants can be found naturally in various fruits, vegetables and food products.Typically, antioxidant phytochemicals commonly found in food products are Vitamin C, Vitamin E, carotenoids, polyphenols, melanoidins and indoles. The main characteristic of an antioxidant is its ability to scavenge free radicals and form stable end product which inhibit the chain oxidative mechanisms that lead to degenerative diseases which are harmful to human health. Drying is widely used in food processing to minimize food wastage and to extend food shelf-life. Pretreatment, drying methods and storage conditions are some of the processing parameters affecting the quality of dried products. Selection of processing conditions and storage environment are therefore critical in maximizing the retention of food antioxidants. This chapter aims to compile and summarize studies carried out for antioxidants namely antioxidant contents in dried food products, effect of processing parameters and quantification methods in the analyses of antioxidants.

Introduction
 
The major challenges in 21^st century are food security, environmental quality and soil health. Besides, shrinking land holdings and increasing cost of inputs in India merit adoption of scientific use of plant nutrient for higher crop productivity. The soil fertility and fertilizer use project initiated in 1953 following a study by Stewart in 1947 which was the first systematic attempt in India to relate the knowledge of the soils to the judicious use of chemical fertilizers. The soil testing programme was started in India during the year 1955-56 with the setting up of 16 soil testing laboratories under the Indo-US Operational Agreement for “Determination of Soil Fertility and Fertilizer Use”. In 1965, five of the existing laboratories were strengthened and nine new laboratories were established to serve the Intensive Agricultural District Programme (IADP) in selected districts.

Introduction

Out of the total cultivated area of 142 million hectares (M ha) in India during 2011–12, 100.2 M ha was under cereals (the word cereal derives from Ceres, the name of the Roman goddess of harvest and agriculture) and 24.8 M ha under pulses (splitting seed), the staple food grains in the country (Economic Survey 2013). There is very little scope of bringing additional area under food grains; on the contrary this may decline in future due to the land needed for civil amenities and industrial purposes.

Introduction
 
Cotton belongs to the genus Gossypium, family Malvaceae. Of the 50 species, only four are cultivated, namely, G. arboreum, G. herbaceum, G. hirsutum and G. barbadense. The G. arboreum and G. herbaceum are popularly known as the desi cottons. The G. hirsutum and G. barbadense evolved in the new world and are known as American or Upland (G. hirsutum) and Egyptian or Pima (G. barbadense) cottons. India is the only country in the world where all the four cultivated species of cotton are grown on a commercial scale besides hybrids (both inter and intra specific) in three distinct agro-ecological regions and wide range of soil types.

Fish has a vital role to play in mitigating the protein deficiency in developing countries. Fish has been described as the meat of the third world, and fish contributes significantly in developing and developed countries as a source of employment, income generation and foreign exchange earnings. The minimum per capita consumption of fish of an average Indian should be 11 kg per annum, as recommended by the ICMR. However, the per-capita consumption of fish in India is only 5 kg per annum, whereas, per capita consumption of fish in Japan was 62.6 kg, China - 30 kg and Bangladesh - 35 kg (Goswami et al., 2012).

In the semi-arid tropics, where small farmers depend heavily on rain-fed agricultural systems, variability in precipitation has a dramatic impact on crop production and livelihoods. Because small-scale agriculture depends on rain-fed cultivation, it is vulnerable to factors such as flooding and drought. Unfortunately, the frequency of unexpected heavy rainfall or flood events has increased in many areas of Africa, including Southern Zambia. About 75% of farmers in Zambia engage in small-scale farming, with an average farm size of 2 ha (VAM Steering Committee Zambia, 1998). Most of these farmers cultivate maize, which is a staple food in Zambia, and stable maize production and increased productivity are important both for food security and to provide a livelihood to farmers.

The early inhabitants of our country were very conscious of the placement of their dwellings in beautiful surroundings. The best examples are from the West Coast, where the houses were traditionally constructed in the midst of gardens. The Arab traveller and historian, Ibn Batuta, in his itinerary in coastal Malabar recorded their picturesque beauty, as early as in the 10th century AD. The whole compound was planted with trees, which were useful and aesthetic in appeal. The scholarly elite used trees and shrubs mentioned in Kalidasa’s work in their planting schemes. Through the tree and foliage, a path is formed to the main village.

Trees alone on the earth give happiness both here and hereafter. Since they “save” from abject poverty they are named “taravah” (the saviors). Therefore, the trees should be carefully nurtured as through their shade, flowers and fruits they help immensely in the pursuit of dharma, artha, and kama (Vrikshayurveda).

Bonsai first appeared in China over a thousand years ago on a very basic scale, known as pun-sai, where it was the practice of growing single specimen trees in pots. These early specimens displayed sparse foliage and rugged gnarled trunks which often looked like animals, dragons and birds.

With Japan’s adoption of many cultural trademarks of China, bonsai was also introduced to Japan during the Kamakura period (1185-1333) by means of Zen Buddhism, which at that time was rapidly spreading around Asia. Once bonsai was introduced into Japan, the art was refined to an extent not yet approached in China. Over time, bonsai, which was confined to the Buddhist monks and their monasteries, were introduced as a symbol of prestige and honour. It became an important part of Japanese life by being displayed on specially designed shelves.  For the Japanese, bonsai represents a fusion of strong ancient beliefs with the Eastern philosophies of the harmony between man, the soul and nature.

The green revolution enhanced the food grain production by increasing  productivity of the arable crops as the only means of expanding output. The impact of this ‘revolution’ was first realized especially in the north Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Since the new technology was based on use of seeds of high yielding varieties, increased use of irrigation and chemical fertilizers, pesticides and farm mechanization; the incremental gains in productivity of late began to end and food production started stagnating, and in many places it even acquired a decreasing trend. It is well accepted fact that ‘success always has its costs and green revolution has been no exception’. Critics of green revolution point to the environmental and health hazards due to increased use of agro-chemicals and the vulnerabilities that is there due to the spread of monocultures in which indigenous land races have been ignored and least emphasis was given on cropping systems based on crop diversification.

The arid regions of India, spread over 3,17,090 sq. km account for 12% area of the country. The western Rajasthan carries the onus of nearly 62% of arid area. Dryland farming is the main occupation of the people in Indian arid zone. More than 70% of the population in the region is engaged in dryland farming on more than 90% of cultivable lands. The average farm family in Indian arid zone consists of 6-8 members possessing 4-6 hectares of land. The over-exploited fragile natural resources are predominantly under mixed farming - pastoral as well as arable. Farming is almost entirely rainfed in this zone with low and unstable yields.

Abstract

Moisture stress is a wide spread problem seriously influencing sesame production, especially in arid regions. The present study was carried out in order to evaluate response of sesame cultivars to moisture stress and determine the best measures to increase and improve the yield of cultivars in stress condition.

Introduction

Information Technology (I.T.) with its multi advantageous services has influenced the working of every sector whether it is education, industries, livelihood, agriculture, and other sectors viz government, business, health, employment, environment and security etc. Consequently, taking the benefit of I.T.,  most of the organizations have automated their systems to perform their routine activities in a better way as well as to offer more improved services.

There are many problems in the fields and offices for which we seek the advice of an expert. We recognize persons and experts not only for their knowledge through study but also their ability to apply the knowledge very effectively by virtue of the experience gained over a period of time. The need for experts increases in both dimensions as numbers as well as in the spheres to which expertise is needed. The sphere in which the opinion of an expert can influence decisions or actions is referred to as the domain of the expert. For last few years application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has brought revolution in many fields. It is the need of the hour that we explore the possibility and the fields of application in agriculture to acquire maximum benefit from the most promising technology of this information era. ICT is one of the thrust areas in the list given by the planning commission (Now Policy Commission), where emphasis can be given to increase the production and productivity of agriculture commodities. During last 50 years, lot of research has been done in the field of Agriculture, which has not been properly extended to the farmers. ICT could be applied as a means in extending the technologies brought up by National Agricultural Research System (NARS) to the farmers.

Introduction

The world is said to be a global village organizations and people must learn, unlearn and relearn to expand their capacities and survive in the highly competitive market place. In view of rapidly changing socio–economic circumstance, it is a challenge to survive, excel and grow. It is knowledge which can make difference in getting the competitive edge. Thus, organizations need to pool their internal knowledge and find ways to update, enhance, share and create value. Organizations need to analyze their collective knowledge and use them most efficiently. Need for new and new technology is driving people to innovate in every sphere.

Characteristics of a well-planned experiment
 
•    The treatments, design, management, and data collected should be consistent with the objectives.
•    The experiment should be planned and conducted so that there will be a high probability of measuring differences between treatments with an acceptable degree of precision. 
•    The experiment must be planned and executed to ensure that treatment effects are estimated in an unbiased way.

Phenolics are broadly distributed in the plant kingdom and are the most abundant secondary metabolites of plants. Plant polyphenols have drawn increasing attention due to their potent antioxidant properties and their marked effects in the prevention of various oxidative stress associated diseases such as cancer. Polyphenols are a structural class of mainly natural, but also synthetic, and semisynthetic, organic chemicals characterized by the presence of large multiples of phenol structural units. The number and characteristics of these phenol structural underlie the unique physical, chemical, and biological (metabolic, toxic, therapeutic, etc.) properties of particular members of the class. The term polyphenol derives from poly-, from the ancient Greek word (polus, meaning “many, much”) and the word phenol which refers to a chemical structure/substructure formed by attaching to an aromatic phenyl or benzenoid ring an alcohol-type hydroxyl (-OH) group (giving rise to the “-ol” suffix). The term “polyphenol” has been in use since 1894.

ABSTRACT

Biodiversity is often understood in terms of wide variety of plants, animals and micro-organisms existing on the earth. So far, about 1.75 million species have been identified, mostly small creatures such as insects. According to scientific estimates, there are actually about 13 million species, although range from 3 million to 100 millions. The present article deals with the importance and threats of biodiversity as well as tries to highlights the role of government and non-government sectors in conservation of biodiversity. The initial part of the article indicates the concept of evolution and biodiversity, wherein we have tried to identify the present scenario. We find that a wide range of microbial, plant and animal species are sources of various biological products for human use and welfare. These species are getting lost or extinct due to lack of conservation over a period of long time. Therefore, an effort has been made to highlight the conservation acts and important rules and regulations for protecting and conserving the bio-resources.

Abstract

Nematodes are non-segmented worms typically 50 µm in diameter and 1 mm in length. Those few species responsible for plant diseases have received a lot of attention, but far less is known about the majority of the nematode community that plays beneficial roles in soil. Nematode diversity tends to be greatest in ecosystems with the least disturbance. Species of Aphelenchoides, Ditylenchus spp, Helicotylenchus, Meloidogyne spp., Pratylenchus, Scutellonema  and Rotylenchulus are obnoxious plant parasitic nematode beside Heterodera and Globodera. Soil temperature, soil structure, soil pH, soil moisture and soil texture play major role in movement of nematode, infestation and completion of life cycle under abiotic and biotic stresses.

ABSTRACT

Microbes are integral part of the terrestrial ecosystem. Their function ranges from nutrients mineralization, stress alleviation to bioremediation in soils .There is a great possibility of using microbial inoculants as a biological tool for sustainable forestry and agriculture. This review gives an overview on the benefits of microbial technology and their contribution in development of green technology.

Keywords: Green technology, Microbes, AMF, PGPRs, Microbial consortium, Carbon sequestration.

Abstract

Higher plants can be exploited for the discovery of new bioactive products that could serve as lead compounds in pesticide development because of their novel modes-of-action. Different secondary metabolites of higher plants have been reported to exhibit efficacy as fungitoxicants as well as mycotoxin inhibitors. Pest controls using the botanicals are safer to the user and the environment because they break down into harmless compounds within hours or days in the presence of sunlight. The article presents different plant products found efficacious as antimicrobial and inhibitory to mycotoxin secretions by fungi. Their prospect as safe alternatives to synthetic antimicrobials in plant protection has been discussed.

1. Microscope

The microscope is a precious instrument. There are many small objects or details of objects which cannot be seen by the unaided human eye.
 
A microscope (from Greek: mikrós, means “small” and skopeîn, means “to look”) is an instrument used to see objects that are too small for the naked eye.  In another word microscope is an optical instrument that uses a lens or a combination of lenses to produce magnified images of small objects, especially of objects too small to be seen by the unaided eye.

Fruits and vegetables are very important food commodities. India has become the largest producer of fruits and the second largest producer of vegetables. Though the production of fruits and vegetables make us believe in our strength for self-sufficiency, a significant qualitative and quantitative loss occur in the produce from harvest till consumption.  For self sufficiency and also for processing, export and to meet additional requirements, a lot of emphasis need to be given to reduce post harvest losses, besides increasing  production and productivity of horticultural produces. Processing plays an important role in  conservation and effective utilisation of these perishable commodities. However, only less than 2% of total production of fruits and vegetables are processed.  The new industrial policy has placed this sector in the list of high priority areas.

Maturity at harvest is the most important determinant of storage life and final fruit quality. Maturity indices are determined for many fruit, vegetable and floral crops. Harvesting crops at proper maturity allows handlers to begin their work with the best possible quality produce. Produce harvested too early may lack flavour and may not ripen properly, while produce harvested too late may be fibrous or over ripe.
 
Almost all fruits reach their best eating quality when allowed to ripen on the tree or plant (exceptions e.g., pears, avocados, and bananas). In general, fruits become sweeter, more colourful, and softer as they mature. A few fruits are usually picked mature but unripe so that they withstand post harvest handling system when shipped long distances.  Most of  currently used maturity evaluation is based on a compromise between those methods that would ensure the best eating quality and those that provide flexibility in transportation and marketing.  Optimum harvesting stage depends upon type of fruit or vegetable and their final use. Such a division is usually based on their classification according to physiology, environmental conditions, ripening bahaviour and nutritional aspect. Some of the classifications, important for their harvesting and storage are briefed in  subsequent sections.

Processing of fruits  and vegetables into various products which could be preserved for a long time and add to value of product using proper cost effective technology will be a viable tool for improving   economic status of  farmer as well as our country. Modern methods of fruit and vegetable preservation are  broadly classified as follows:

China aster (Callistephus chinensis) belonging to family Asteracea is a native of China. It is a half hardy annual, erect plant, hispid hairy branches bearing alternate, broadly ovate or triangular ovate, deeply and irregularly toothed leaves. Flowers are solitary, usually blue, lavender rose or white coloured. China aster is one of the most important among garden annuals grown throughout the world. Among annual flowers China aster ranks third next to chrysanthemum and marigold. It is grown by small and marginal farmers in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Maharashtra. Due to its long vase life, China aster is a popular cut flower used in vases and for floral decoration and also for making garlands and venis in Karnataka. Asters are popular as bedding plants and used to fill gap in mixed herbaceous borders. Dwarf cultivars are also suitable for edging and window boxes.

Today, floriculture has transformed into a viable agri-business. Estimated area under flower growing in India is about 65,000 ha. More than two-third of this area is devoted for the production of traditional flowers. Production of cut flowers comes to about 500 million numbers. The interesting aspect is that 80% of Indian exports consist of only roses. Other major cut flowers include gladiolus, tuberose, carnation and orchids. With the emerging trends and constant urge for new innovative products, it is high time that Indian floriculture industry shifts towards new or novelty crops (Singh, 2005).

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is one of the most important tropical fruits of the world and is commonly known as the ‘King of fruits’ for its high quality fruits which are very popular among the Indians (Sharma et al., 2008). It is the oldest and extensively cultivated fruit crop in India having high socio-economic significance. India is the home of more than 1000 mango varieties, which originated in the Indo-Burma region (Mukherjee, 1958). India is the largest producer of mango, grown in about 2.3 million hectares with an annual production of 15.02 million tones. However, its productivity is only 6.5 tones per ha against 30 tones per ha in Israel (Bijay Jumar, 2010). Improvement of productivity in mango continues to be the foremost issue in mango production (Sauco, 1993). Of late, all the mango importing countries are considering the India as a source of quality mangoes due to its varietal wealth and availability. Hence, it is imperative to improve the productivity and quality of Indian mangoes to meet the global need (Balamohan et al., 2014).

The orchids are commercially important group of flowering plants and their flowers are affluent in uniqueness in their shape, size and colour, exquisitely attractive, remain fresh condition for long period of time in comparison to other flowers. Orchidaceae is the second largest family among floriculture; about 25000 to 35000 species of orchids have been reported over the world (Rampal and Nagrare, 2006). India accounts for nearly 7 per cent of world’s orchids genetic diversity contributed 1300 species under 184 genera (Arora, 1983; Rampal and Nagrare, 2006) and 1150 species belonging to 164 genera (Satish Kumar, 1994) of which about 800 species are found in the North Eastern region of the country (Nagaraju et al., 2006) and many more are discovered year after year because of the prevailing congenial climatic conditions, diverse terrain and altitudinal variations, which provide suitable habitat for orchids.

N-Transformation and availability in soils     
    a.    N-Cycle 
    b.    N transformation in  soils 
Phosphorus transformation & availability in soils: 
    a.    P-Cycle 
    b.    P transformation in soils 
K-transformations& availability in soils: 
    a.    K-Cycle 
    b.    K-Transformations

In the study of rural development, there are three frameworks of analysis, viz. neo-classical, Marxian and systems approaches. While the latter two are holistic approaches, the neo-classical framework provides the underpinning of modern microfinance, with its focus on the decision making of individual economic agents towards (short-term) profit or utility maximisation. Neo-classical discussion and policy prescriptions in microfinance are directed towards creating the conditions for the operation of free rural financial markets. Institutional economists have further used the imperfect information paradigm to focus on transaction costs of credit delivery that serve to explain and justify high interest rates charged by village moneylenders (Tankha, 2002).

Introduction
 
Arid western part of Rajasthan which contains the Indian segment of the Thar Desert, accounts for ~62% of the country’s hot arid area and is a region of low rainfall. Under such physico-climatic situation, fluvial processes function much less frequently and more episodically than the aeolian processes, but their impacts on landforms and society are large, as noticed on several occasions in arid regions. There is a distinct east-west gradient of rainfall and temperature in the region. Along the eastern margin bordering Aravallies, the mean annual rainfall is 500 mm while in the westernmost part at Jaisalmer, it is less than 150 mm. The rainfall is largely monsoon driven which brings 80 - 90 per cent of total rainfall received during the year. There is large inter-annual rainfall variability of rainfall which leads to climatic extremes of drought and floods of different magnitudes. For example on an average, the Thar Desert in India experiences flood-causing rainfall in 2-3 years in a decade, but a maximum of 5 flood causing rainfall years in a decade was recorded during the 1950s, 1970s and the 1990s (Rao et al. 2006).

1.0 Introduction

Population in dry lands of the world is increasing; more fresh water is required in order to meet the growing demands. To meet this challenging situation developing new technologies for identification of potential sites for rainwater harvesting (RWH) is an important step towards maximizing water availability in semi-arid areas.

Bael (Aegle marmelos Correa.) also known as Shri Phal, Baelpatra, Bengal quince, Beel, Bel is a nutritious and medicinal fruit plant, which is most suitable for water scarce areas of the country. It is indigenous tree to India and known since ancient time. Bael fruit is mentioned in ancient literature viz., Vedas, Ramayana, Upavan Vinod,  Brihat Samhita (Singh and Roy, 1984). Methods of ripening of the bael fruit are also given in Buddhist and Jain literature 800 BC – 325 BC.  During the Ramayana period, it has been mentioned that bael trees were found growing in the Chitrakut hills and Panchvati. The bael is grown throughout the country and main bael growing states are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha and Rajasthan. It is found growing in neighboring countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and most of the Southeast Asian countries. Besides systematic orchard, bael can also be grown in parks, temple gardens, roadsides etc. The bael plant is sacred to the Hindus and is of common occurrence in temples of ‘Lord Shiva’ because of its mythological significance.

Seed spices, an important group of horticultural crops, are defined as vegetable products or mixture thereof, free from extraneous matter, primarily used for flavouring, seasoning and imparting aroma of foods item and beverages. Besides food industry, the seed spices have medicinal properties and thus are used in various pharmaceutical preparations and cosmetics (Malhotra and Vashishtha, 2008).  India is known as the home of spices and produces a wide variety of seed spices- coriander, cumin, fennel, fenugreek, ajowan, dill, nigella, celery, anise and caraway. Over the years a good number of high yielding varieties have been developed under AICRP on Spices of ICAR by SAU’s and National Research Centre on Seed Spices. India enjoys the status of largest producer of seed spices in the world but the productivity in the country is very low and is 25-30 % of the total potential of the crop varieties.

Introduction
 
Developments in innovative food packaging technologies have evolved in response to the need for protection of the food product containing bioactive component from both external and internal environments and in response to consumer expectations for health claims, convenience and product safety. Consumers around the world are willing to pay extra for guaranteed product freshness delivered by the type of packaging. Many new packaging developments have focused on extending the shelf life of the product and on delivering a higher quality product to the consumer. These developments would not be possible without significant advances in the materials used in packaging and the incorporation of various types of sensors into food packaging. This chapter outlines the innovative packaing solutions in the production of functional food.

Introduction
 
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is still a major cause of death in Western populations and is becoming an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Thanks to advanced medical knowledge and treatments, many patients survive an initial event. Because of that, prevention of secondary CVD is a growing task for nutritionists and other health professionals. Cardiovascular risk can be reduced by lifestyle changes, one of which is diet. There is now substantial evidence from epidemiological and clinical studies that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, unrefined grains, fish and low-fat dairy products, and low in saturated fats and sodium, can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease and hypertension.

Synonyms : Aphthous fever; Contagious aptha;  Panzootic aptha; Vesicular aptha.

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is an acute, highly communicable viral disease affecting cloven hoofed animals, both domesticated and wild. It is the most contagious disease known in the animal kingdom. It is characterized by vesicular eruptions in the epithelium of the buccal cavity, tongue, nares, muzzle, feet, teats and udder.

Synonymous  :  Pearl’s disease, scrofula

It is a chronic insidious contagious disease of man and animals caused by  tubercle bacilli characterized by development of tubercles in lung tissue, lymph nodes or other organs resulting in caseation and calcification. The tubercles are frequently located in lungs and lymph nodes. But they may be formed in the liver, spleen, intestine, peritoneum, meninges and long bones.

INTRODUCTION

Hybrid crops are derived from an established and well-proven breeding method used in ornamental sectors. The development of hybrid crops has been one of the major factors behind a dramatic increase in global crop yields. Hybrid is produced by crossing between two genetically dissimilar parents. Pollen from male parent called pollen parent will pollinate, fertilize and set seeds in female called seed parent to produce F1 hybrid seeds. For production of a hybrid, crossing between two parents is important, the crossing process will results in heterosis or hybrid vigour. Heterosis is defined as the increase in size or vigour of a hybrid over its parent. This boost in performance, combining the best yield, quality and agronomic characters from each parent, is the result of hybrid breeding.