eChapters

Tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L.) belonging to family Amaryllidaceae is half hardy, perennial, bulbous plant. Bulbs are made of scales and leaf bases and stem remains concealed within scales. The generic name Polianthes is derived from Greek word “polios” meaning shining or white and “anthos” meaning flower, in allusion to the blooms of the common tuberose and species tuberosa, the plant being tuberous in nature. Tuberose is commercially cultivated in tropical and sub tropical areas for cut and loose flower trade and also for the extraction of it’s highly valued natural flower oil.

Ixora is an ornamental plant which is a medium-sized, tropical flowering, evergreen shrub that is used in landscapes. The genus Ixora belongs to the family Rubiaceae. The plants have glossy green leaves which are arranged oppositely along each stem. All Ixoras produce clusters of star-shaped flowers on stem tips or terminal growth. They are grown for their beautiful flowers which bloom in summer in clusters of different shades of red, pink or yellow (De Block, 1998 and Husain and Paul, 1988). The colour of the wild flowers is red or reddish-orange but ornamental varieties may have white, yellow, salmon or pink flowers. It is commonly known as West Indian Jasmine. The other common names of this plant are Jungle Geranium, Flame of the Woods, Jungle Flame, Burning Love, Red Ixora, Ixora, Amor Ardiente, Cruz de Malta, Dola de Coral, Equisosea and Rajana (Griffiths,1994 and Liogier,1997), Rangan, Kheme, Ponna, Chann Tanea, Techi, Pan, Santan, Jarum-Jarum and many more. Members of Ixora prefer acidic soil and are suitable for bonsai (Frommer, 2001). I. coccinea is used extensively for landscaping and is also grown as a potted ornamental (Lakshmanan et al., 1997). Ixora coccinea and Ixora parviflora are generally used as the ornamental plants in gardens and parks.

Pansy belongs to the family Violaceae, genus Viola and species tricolor. Pansy also known as butterfly flower, cat face. Pansies are annuals or short-lived perennials, grow 15-30 cm tall and have heart-shaped leaves at the base and oblong leaves growing from the stems. The pansy is quite durable and a “flower for all seasons”. The fragrant and edible blooms are desirable in gardens. Pansy popularity increases possible due to its ease of growing. Whether grown from seed or bedding plants, pansies are relatively disease and pest free blooming prolifically for the gardener’s enjoyment.

Salvia belongs to family Lamiaceae. The genus Salvia comprises about 900 species which are grown for their ornamental flowers since they make excellent and showy borders in gardens. One of the species most commonly grown is Salvia splendens is a tender herbaceous perennial, but grown in India as winter season annual flowering plant. It bears racemes of bright scarlet flowers of large size. It has ability to grow under partial shade condition. It is commonly grown as bedding plant due to varying colours mostly scarlet, purple, orange, lavender and yellow and long lasting flowers. The word salvia was derived from Latin word ‘Salvare’ meaning ‘to heal or to be safe and unharmed’ (Blumenthal et al., 2000 and Kamatou et al., 2008) later it was translated in French as “sauge” or “sage” and in old English “Sawge” (Kamatou et al., 2008).

Geranium (Pelargonium spp.) belongs to the family Geraniaceae. The name Pelargonium was introduced by Johannes Burman a Dutch Botanist in 1738, from the Greek word “Pelargos” means stork because the seed head looks like a stork’s beak.  Due to their long and beak-shaped fruits, they are also known by the name of cranesbills. Geraniums are popular flowering plants and grown as decorative pot plants for indoor and outdoor. There is a world demand for the rose geranium essential oil of Pelargonium species which contains geraniol, linalool and citronellol, substitutes for the expensive attar of roses in the perfume trade. Pelargonium species was known for their medicinal value by the earliest indigenous people (Swanepoel, 2009).

Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is one of the most popular ornamental pot plants belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. The botanical name Euphorbia pulcherrima means very beautiful. Euphorbia pulcherrima the name originally given by German botanist Karl Ludwig Wilenow was changed to “Poinsettia” in honour of “Mr. Poinsett” in 1836 by William Prescott. Poinsettia is a short-day, non-food and non-feed vegetatively propagated ornamental plant. Poinsettias are fascinating winter blooming small shrubs or trees which can grow anywhere from about 0.6 to 5 m tall. The coloured bracts of poinsettia plants are actually leaves. Colours of the bracts can be red, pink, orange, white or marbled. These coloured bracts are caused by photo-periodism. Poinsettias have also been called the lobster flower and the flame-leaf flower due to the red colour. California is the top U.S. Poinsettia-producing state.

Abstract

As the available surface water is too inadequate to fulfill the man’s requirements he was forced to locate newer groundwater reservoirs on one side and to control the fast depleting water table on the other side. As the ancient techniques have failed to give precise models on groundwater targeting, he was to invent and employ newer technologies. Under this scenario the recently invented spatial technology has emerged as a very powerful tool in groundwater targeting and management. The vistas and virtues of such spatial technology in groundwater management have been discussed in this overview paper by citing some case studies from Tamil Nadu, India.

Gingers  belong to Zingiberaceae family and are made up of about 1000 species in 47 genera. They have numerous members with aromatic oils that have made them popular for perfumes and ornamentals. Ornamental gingers, while related to edibles, are usually grown for their looks instead of their flavor. A very large and diverse group of gingers are valued both for their tropical foliage and for their large, colorful flower heads. From the startling red ginger to the subtle shell ginger, these attractive plants are easy to grow in home landscapes in tropical and semi-tropical areas. They are great for tub gardens They can be very rewarding to grow, and with some simple care will continue to produce beautiful leaves and flowers for many years which also have cut flower value.

Introduction

Soil forms the base of the lithosphere on earth and is a fundamental and irreplaceable versatile three dimensional dynamic system that supports majority of terrestrial plant and animal life on earth. This soil system contains mineral (sand, slit and clay forming basic soil structure) and organic matter as well as marginal air and water contents. The soil organic matter content of the soil system constitutes every fraction of matter in various stages of decomposition that once was associated with the body, body parts, exudates, tissues and cells of living organisms including plants, animals and microorganisms. It is the product of continuous cycling of the compounds synthesized by autotrophic plants among the three kingdoms viz microbes, plants and animals. The decomposition of the organic residues in soil is performed primarily by the resident soil microflora termed as microbial decomposers; though initially the larger and complex organic material is broken down, devoured upon, chewed, regurgitated and transformed into smaller bits by larger soil faunal forms (earthworms, beetles, springtails, and collembola, the macro (large) to mesofauna) on which soil microbial forms could act upon.

INTRODUCTION

North East India is a rich storehouse of indigenous agricultural practices and local varieties of crops. The region comprising of the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim can be physiographically categorized into the Eastern Himalayas, Northeast hills (Patkai-Naga Hills and Lushai Hills) and the Brahmaputra and Barak Valley plains. At the confluence of the Indo-Malayan, Indo-Chinese and Indian biogeographically realms, the NE region is unique in providing a profusion of habitats, which features diverse biota with a high level of endemism (Chatterjee et al., 2006). The northeastern region is rich in biological diversity and contains more than one-third of the country’s total biodiversity. This biodiversity and variability of the ecosystem are used and conserved by traditional communities through various informal institutions and using traditional ecological knowledge systems. Ethnic communities of the region practice their traditional cultivation practices of diverse crop suitable in different ecosystems solely on organic conditions without any external inputs to the system; and value the land and the environment for the sustainability of the system for future generations. There is no systematic record to describe what they are, what they do and how they do, how they can be changed, their operations, their boundaries and their applications.

Soil pH

Danish scientist Sorensen (1909) first used the term pH. The H+ concentration is usually small and is expressed in terms of pH, defined as the logarithm of the reciprocal of the H+ concentration, in moles per litre. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14, with 7 being neutral. Soil acidity is the concentration of H+ in the soil solution. This is active acidity. Besides, there is a potential acidity, that includes the H+ adsorbed on the colloidal fraction of soil. The pH scale is derived from the dissociation constant of water, Kw:

Silage fermentation is a dynamic process that is affected by variety of factors. The primary goal of making silage is to maximize the preservation of original nutrients in the forage crop for feeding at a later date. Unfortunately, fermentation in the silo is a much uncontrolled process usually leading to less than optimal preservation of nutrients. In order to assist in the fermentation process, various silage additives have been used to improve the nutrient and energy recovery in silage, often with subsequent improvements in animal performance (Henderson, 1993; Bolsen et al., 1996; Muck and Kung, 1997; Kung and Muck, 1997; Muhlbach, 2000). Their main functions are to either increase nutritional value of silage or improve fermentation so that storage losses are reduced. The benefits obtained from silage additives depend upon their influence on the silage fermentation process. These benefits are usually measured by the reduction in fermentation losses and/or improvement in silage quality and feeding value.

Assam is surrounded by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh on the North; Nagaland and Manipur on the East; Meghalaya and Mizoram on the South and Bangladesh, Tripura and West Bengal on the West. The total land area of Assam is 78,523 sq. km and it accounts for 2.4% of total geographical area of the country. Demographically, Assam is the most populous state in the North East India. Economically, out of eight North East states, Assam is the most developed one, but compared to other states like Maharastra, Tamilnadu, Gujrat, it lags far behind in almost all economic spheres.

Pulse crops provide nutritious food, feed and fodder and thrive well in fragile eco-systems where other crops often fail. They have the ability to trap atmospheric nitrogen in their root nodules in association with Rhizobium, bringing qualitative improvement in soil health i.e. physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil.  These virtues enable pulse crops to remain an integral part of subsistence farming system of semi-arid tropics as well as of Indo-gangatic plains. The role of pulses has also been recognized for sustaining soil productivity under intensive cropping systems in irrigated conditions.

Contrast radiography: The radiographic technique which employ the use of contrast media to identify a soft tissue structure or an organ and pathological findings which may be difficult or even impossible to visualize clearly in plain films due to lack of contrast with surrounding tissue is known as contrast radiography. This is a special radiographic techniques/procedures may be required to supplement or confirm the information obtained from plain or survey radiography. 
The substances used for this purpose is called contrast agents/medium/materials.

Abiotic Factors : These are physical, chemical and other non-living components of the environment such as light, temperature, moisture, nutrients and other edaphic factors.
 
Absolute Drought : It is defined as a period of consecutive days none of which had rainfall of 2.5 mm or more OR when actual rainfall is less than twice the mean deviation OR actual rainfall is less than half the normal weekly rainfall.
 
Absolute Growth Rate : The rate of increase in size of a growing plant (or part of it) in a given time under specific growing conditions.

Absolute Humidity : Absolute humidity is defined as the actual mass of water vapour present in the given volume of air. It is measured in grams per cubic meter or in terms of partial pressure of water vapour in air in mb or mm.

Buffaloes have been classified in two main categories namely riverine and swamp buffaloes depending upon variation in their habitat and genome structure. River buffaloes are generally large in size mostly with curled horns and are mainly found in India, Pakistan and some of the west Asian countries, prefer to enter clear water and have 50 (2n) numbers of chromosomes and are primarily used for milk production and also used for meat production and draught power. Swamp buffaloes are stocky animals with marshy land habitats and have 48 (2n) numbers of chromosomes. They were primarily developed for draught power in paddy fields and haulage and are also used for meat and milk production. Swamp buffaloes are mostly found in south East Asian countries and few animals are also available in north eastern states of India.

Introduction

Poultry rearing in North East is very popular as backyard venture and is an inseparable part of poor tribal people of this region.  Majority of birds reared in backyard yard system are indigenous nondescript in which growth and production is very low (60-70 eggs per bird per annum; 2.5 kg. and 1.5 kg. body weight per bird in males and females, respectively). Due to this reason, the per capita availability of egg and meat is too low as compared to recommended allowance, particularly in rural areas. Moreover, the agriculture of N.E. region is characterized by monocropping system. The system of cropping is not suitable for providing round the year farm income. Therefore, most of farmers of this region rearing pig, goat and poultry in the back yard of their house to support their livelihood throughout the year. The N.E. region is most suitable for rural poultry production having plenty of natural foods i.e. good greenery through out the year, insects and other food resources.  Rural poultry production also has an appreciable advantage of being easy to raise, low input and higher reproduction. Rural poultry farming utilizing surplus coarse grains, kitchen waste and greenery and converting them into protein rich human food and valuable manure.  The manure obtained from poultry having more essential nutrients Nitrogen (three times the cattle manure), Phosphorus, Potash, Magnesium, Sodium and Calcium plus trace minerals, which are very essential for soil fertility and texture.

Abstract

Workplace has become more and more complex due to tremendous pressures and high expectations and it poses heavy demand on the managers and leaders to exhibit their emotions smartly and intelligently. Thus, in the present scenario social and emotional competencies are considered as very important ingredients of individual’s efficiency and effectiveness at workplace. Emotional intelligence is the ability to sense, understand, value and effectively apply the power and access of emotions as a source of human energy, information, trust, creativity and influence. Present chapter elucidates different models of emotional intelligence and role of culture and sociological factors in defining emotional intelligence.  It also explains the four cornerstone model of emotional intelligence. These four cornerstones made emotional intelligence moved out of the preview of psychological analysis and philosophical theories into the domain of direct knowing, exploration and application. These are emotional literacy, emotional fitness, emotional depth and emotional alchemy, which are significant in the organizational context. Finally chapter describes about different measures of emotional intelligence.

A wound is defined as a breach or disruption in the normal continuity of tissue in any body part. The wounds are mainly caused by physical, chemical or biological insult.

General anesthesia : reversible complete loss of consciousness along with analgesia. 
  Unconsciousness occurs due to depressant action or functional disruption by stimulation in brain by anesthetic agents.
  Analgesia is probably due to blockade of synaptic transmission in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord.

The information on soil-water content is necessary from the point of view of efficient water management of crop production as water required by crops is to be met from the water stored in their root zone. Soil water content changes periodically as a result of changes in field water balance components namely, precipitation, irrigation, evapotranspiration, runoff and deep percolation. Crop growth is adversely affected if the soil water depletes below certain level. For selection of crops, deciding of irrigation level and frequency of irrigation, the assessment of water content of soil is important.

Weather phenomena are not localized, it moves and varies over space and time. The weather over a place or area is the result of far away weather events/conditions. Acquisition of global scale observation, therefore, becomes a pre-requisite for understanding the physics of the weather and also to represent the weather condition over an area at a particular time. Complex three-dimensional models of weather systems can be made by collecting weather data at multiple levels in the atmosphere. Upper-air data are important to know present weather over a place and crucial for weather forecasting.

Introduction

Under the present scenario of growing human population and shrinking land and water resources for agriculture, expanding abiotic and biotic stresses, increasing genetic erosion; relentless efforts are needed to enhance the plant productivity as well as quality of produce. In fact, improvements in agricultural production as well as food and nutrition conditions depend on land, water and energy resources, which are, undoubtedly, limited and depleting at a rapid pace.

Biotechnological innovations in conjunction with conventional technologies have opened new frontiers in agriculture thereby offering exciting opportunities for increased sustainability and profitability in agriculture. Thus, biotechnological tools complement (rather than replace) the traditional methods used to enhance the agricultural productivity to cater to the needs of third world agriculture (Swarup and Srivastava1990, Rao et al. 1996).

Indian crop production system excels in front of several biophysical adversities commonly known as biotic and abiotic stress.  Water is the principal factor limiting crop yield and about 2/3 of total cultivated landing India comprise of Dry land agriculture primarily under rainfed conditions with no or limited water supply system.  The Indian production systems are dominated by cereals, primarily rice maize, sorghum, pearl millet other coerces and fine cereals leguminous (urd bean, mung bean, peanut) and oil yielding crops during kharif and  wheat barley chickpea, lentil and forage legumes in rabi  season.  The production systems are generally characterized by cereal/legume mixed-cropping dominated by maize, millet, sorghum and wheat. The major constraints in both regions to crop production are low soil fertility, insecure rainfall, low-productive genotypes, low adoption of improved soil and crop management practices, and lack of appropriate institutional support. choice of crop  is important but selection of right varieties is utmost  important because  varieties which have proven excellent in irrigated or high rainfall areas are generally not suited for limited irrigated conditions.

Introduction

The fast development of technology for increasing production ignoring the agroecosystem resulted in disturbed natural cycles. The result is visible in terms of unsustainabiliity in agroecosystem. In addition, increasing use of chemical pesticides for the management of soil-borne plant pathogens had caused pollution of soil, surface and ground water besides affecting the crop produce and ecosystem. The pendulum of public opinion once so favourable to chemical control has gone against chemicals and advocated phasing out the chemical pesticides. Revival of the natural balance is therefore needed for sustainable farming with eco-friendly methods such as bioagents/biopesticides, soil solarization, botanicals, etc. Organic farming is one such approach which emphasis on maintaining the natural cycle with eco-friendly approaches.

Introduction

Sustainable development has caught the imagination and action all over the world for more than a decade and sustainable agriculture is necessary to attain the goal of sustainable development. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), sustainable agriculture “is the successful management of resources for agriculture to satisfy changing human needs while maintaining or enhancing the quality of environment and conserving natural resources”. All definitions of sustainable agriculture lay great emphasis on maintaining an agriculture growth rate, which can meet the demand for food of all living things without draining the basic resources.

Plant competition is a powerful force for the elimination of some weaker plants. Plants require nutrients, water, light, Oxygen and Carbondioxide for their growth and development. Weeds compete with the crop for growth factors and the competition is maximum at the early growth stages of the crop. But the competiting ability of the weeds becomes practically nil as soon as the crops attain maturity. Weeds need more nutrients and water than the crop plants. The weeds in general grow faster and shade the crop plant if they are not controlled at proper time and afterwards interfere in the growth of crop plant. Weeds have allelopathic effect on crop growth. Some weeds excrete certain chemicals into the soil which inhibit the germination and growth of other plants in their vicinity and the phenomenon is called allelopathy. Allelopathy is defined as the direct or indirect harmful effects of one plant on another plant through the production of chemical compounds that escape in the environment.

Herbicides degrade over time. The persists of herbicides is dependent on several factors including light, temperature, and substrate moisture. Several processes are responsible for herbicide degradation and include the following:

    1.    Photodegradation: The decomposition of herbicides caused by duration or intensity of sunlight is called as Photodegradation. Photodegradation occurs when ultraviolet (UV) light breaks chemical bonds of the herbicide active ingredient. Secondary molecules resulting from the cleavage of the parent molecule are generally less effective in providing weed control. Herbicides such as Monuron, Trifluralin, PCP, Chloramben etc are prone to photodegradation. So these herbicides should be applied in evening or incorporated in to the soil just after application in order of avoiding photodegradation.

Abstract

In this investigation the low dose effects of pesticides were analyzed both in vitro and in vivo in peripheral blood samples from healthy donors and also in farmers occupationally exposed to pesticides. In vitro studies were conducted to assess the toxicity caused by commonly used pesticides like monocrotophos, profenofos, chlorpyriphos, endosulfan, acephate on lymphocytes from peripheral blood samples. In almost all experiments we could determine chromosomal aberrations and DNA damage at 1/10th of LC50 dosage of the pesticides. For analyzing the in vivo effects, epidemiological studies were conducted in pesticide exposed agricultural workers. The 200 exposed volunteers suffered from fever, nausea, headache and other abnormal symptoms and visited the hospital for general health check-up. These cases were taken up for more detailed studies. Five of them (2.5%) showed decrease in RBC, haemoglobin, and increase in WBC with a large number of immature cells. These volunteers were further diagnosed as Philadelphia negative Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) cases based on clinical and pathological examinations. In similar environs, about 3% of the exposed children showed signs of mental retardation and delayed milestones. It is therefore, concluded that clinical evaluations supported by occupational epidemiology could determine CML in exposed individuals (adults). At low doses we have traced the effect of pesticides at molecular level.

13.1. INTRODUCTION

Photosynthetically active radiation is a primary energy resource for terrestrial plants, necessary for the plant growth. Plants receives this photosynthetically active radiation from sunlight as a consequence, plants are also exposed to the ultraviolet (UV)-radiation. Seven percent of the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the sun is the UV range (200-400 nm). Though representing only a small portion of the total solar electromagnetic spectrum, UV-B has a disproportionately large photobiological effect. As it passes through the atmosphere, the flux transmitted is greatly reduced, and the composition of the UV-radiation is modified. This UV-radiation is mainly divided into three classes, namely UV-A, UV-B and UV-C. The UV-A region of the spectrum (wavelengths from 320 to 400 nm) are not attenuated by ozone, so their influence will be unaffected by ozone layer reduction. This portion of the UV radiation is less damaging and important for photomorphogenic signal in plant development (Bjorn, 1994). The wavelength of UV-B portion ranges from 280 to 320 nm. This region of UV is very energetic and effectively absorbed by ozone in the stratosphere. Thus, only a very small portion, approximately 4% is transmitted to the earths. Shortwave UV-C radiation (200-280 nm) is highly energetic and strongly absorbed by atmospheric oxygen and ozone. Thus, none of this sterilizing radiation is present in terrestrial sunlight.

The word protein was first coined in 1838 to emphasize the importance of this class of molecules. The word is derived from the Greek word proteios which means “of the first- rank”. Proteins are polymers/macro molecules made up of several amino acids. When there are more than 50 amino acids in a chain, the polypeptide is normally called a protein. Each protein in the cells of living beings has a unique sequence of amino acids that determines its biological function. The proteins are folded into specific defined structures, which are maintained by a large number of relatively weak bonds. The  three  dimensional structure is well defined and suited to it’s specific function.

Very small changes in the structure can modify the function. Hence, it is important to know the structure of proteins to understand their behavior and function. The biological activity of proteins depends on maintenance of folded conformation. Proteins fold into well defined three dimensional shapes and they are able to recognize their corresponding substrates or antigen molecules and bind them tightly. The protein structure has been classified into four different levels based on the folded conformation of the protein.

The livelihoods of millions of rural households in the semi-arid areas depend mainly on natural resources such as soil, rainwater, vegetation, livestock and the like. The major source of livelihood in these areas solely depends on the arrival, distribution and cessation of monsoons, which are erratic and ill distributed. However, management of natural resources like soil and vegetation in a way that these are used to optimally to produce maximum output. This requires new knowledge, better skills and improved management strategies. In this context, building the capacity of the rural households particularly the youth holds key to improving productivity and profitability ot the enterprise. Keeping these in view, the National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) sub project on “Sustainable Rural Livelihoods through Enhanced Farming Systems Productivity and Efficient Support Systems in Rainfed Areas” being implemented by a consortium led by CRIDA has introduced several interventions aimed at involving rural youth right from the beginning of the project.  The project is being implemented in eight backward districts (Adilabad, Anantapur, Kadapa, Khammam, Mahabubngar, Nalgonda, Rangareddy and Warangal) of Andhra Pradesh in selected clusters of villages.

Culture Media and Reagents

The media used throughout the study were procured from Hi- Media Laboratories, Mumbai, India and the chemicals used were procured locally. Composition of each medium is as follows:

Protection from natural enemies and adverse environmental and climatic conditions is vital to safeguard insects and to this effect, insects possess a great variety of protective structures and mechanisms without which they cannot survive.

    i)    Food. Each insect species has certain nutritional requirements for the completion of life cycle. If the required food for any particular species gets reduced in a particular locality, that species will gradually disappear from that locality, though other environmental conditions may be favorable. Under normal conditions, there may be sufficient food for the insect to live on and continue its race. In the event of sudden increase in the population of an insect, the density of the population becomes too high to be supported by the food available in the area. Under such conditions, some individuals of the species either migrate to other suitable areas where enough food is available or else starve, if the species has limited power  of  dispersal  as  in  the  case  of  many  coccids.  According  to  the nutritional requirements insects are characterized as ‘omnivorous’ (feeding on different kinds of both plant and animal food), ‘carnivorous’ (feeding on animal food) and ‘herbivorous’ or ‘phytophagous’ (feeding on living plants). Those insects, which feed on many cultivated and wild species of plants, are termed ‘polyphagous’ (e-g) Locusts, grasshoppers, cutworms etc. If the feeding activities of a particular species of insect are confined only to plants of one botanical family, it is termed ‘oligophagous’ (e-g) cabbage butterfly - Pieris brassicae. When only a single species of plants constitute the food of a particular species of insect, it is termed ‘monophagous’ (e-g) Brinjal fruit borer.

Introduction

The respiratory electron transport pathway of plant mitochondria comprises the cytochrome (Cyt) pathway and alternative pathway (McDonald et al., 2002). Both the cyt and the alternative respiratory pathways start at protein complex I when NADH is being oxidized. One H+ (proton) is transported by the complex I to inner membrane space, whereas two electrons are transported within the inner membrane by the ubiquinone, which at its reduced state (Qr) transfers these electrons either to complex III or to the Alternative oxidase (AOX). Ubiquinone is the point in which reactions can proceed in different ways, and it is called the branch point. Cyt respiratory pathway is present in all living organisms. It proceeds while complex III pulls out a proton from the mitochondrial matrix to the inter membrane space. The electrons are received by cytochrome c which spreads up to the outer side of the inner membrane towards protein complex IV, which then pulls out another proton similar to complexes I and III, and transports the electrons back to inner domain of the mitochondria. As a result, oxygen is consumed with a proton and the two electrons to produce water (Fig 1).

Introduction

The phytohormone abascisic acid (ABA) was discovered in connection to studies related to shedding of fruits and leaves, also called abscission, and the dormancy of buds. It was first identified and characterized by Frederick Addicott and his associates in 1963 while studying the compounds responsible for the abscission of cotton fruits. Inhibition of growth and maintenance of the dormancy of buds are the most important visible effects of ABA. The concentration of ABA does not remain constant as its concentration decreases in the buds significantly after sprouting and rises during seed and fruit production. Its concentration in dormant seeds is very high and considered as an efficient inhibitor of germination. The role ABA plays during the abscission of fruits and leaves is not clearly understood as its effect is very clear in case of fruit abscission where as it is not very clear on the abscission of leaves. However, the regulatory effect of ABA on the water balance is established in plants. It also induces stomatal closure to inhibit further loss of water. Being a growth inhibitor, ABA also reverses the effect of growth-stimulating hormones like auxin, gibberellins and cytokinin in different tissues of a plant. One of the main goals of phytohormonal ecology is to study the interactions between biotic and abiotic stress at hierarchical levels of biological organization.

Introduction

Salinity is a significant environmental stress for crop plants it account for about 70% of the losses in the crop yield. It adversely affects seed germination, seedling growth and different metabolic activities in plants (Begum et al. 1997). It reduces DNA, RNA and protein synthesis and differentially influences the activities of the hydrolytic enzymes (Kumar et al. 1996).

Plants are classified as glycophytes or halophytes according to their capacity to grow on high salt medium. Most crop plants are glycophytes and cannot tolerate salt stress. High salt concentration decreases the osmotic potential of soil solution creating a water stress in plants. Secondly they cause severe ion toxicity since Na+ is not readily sequestered into vacuoles as in halophytes.

The widespread nature of saline soils compounded by the geographical distribution of man’s population and agricultural practices are largely succeeded in increasing salinization in arid and semi-arid lands. Most of the crops are sensitive to even low concentration of NaCl.

Phospholipids are the most abundant lipids of biological membranes. They serve primarily as structural components of membranes and are never stored in large amounts. As the name of phospholipid implies, this group of lipids contains phosphorus in the form of phosphoric acid groups. The major phospholipids found in membranes are the phosphoglycerides (phosphatides) (Fig.1). Which have two fatty acid molecules esterified

INTRODUCTION

The metabolism of carbohydrates is vital for plant growth and development, and to the yield of major plant products such as starch and sucrose. Starch, sucrose and fructose are the three important carbohydrates which are utilized in most of the higher plants. The majority of sucrose that is synthesized in higher plants during photosynthesis is exported to non-photosynthetic cells (ap Rees, 1992). Starch serves as an important storage for carbohydrate residues. The degradation (breakdown) of starch ensures retaining of important life processes in plants when there is carbon shortage, for instance, during night period in leaves or in resting organs such as potato tubers.

Important by product from Rabbit are meat, wool, fur and skin. It can be made highly profitable if products are properly processed and marketed. Many rabbit products are wasted because people do have not enough knowledge about processing.
 
Slaughtering: Know when and how.

Skinning

Familiar with how to remove skin and carcass preparation. How the skin has to be processed and how the products which can be obtained from skin.

Manure collection and preservation.

Slaughtering : It depends on demand, type of animal where meat is consumed more, it can be achieved in 2 methods.

Introduction

In recent years aquaculture has become the fastest growing food production sector in the world with 10% annual growth rate in comparison with 3% for livestock and 1.6% for capture fisheries. FAO (2000) estimates that by 2030, over half of the fish consumed by the world’s people will be produced by aquaculture. It is not only the demand for animal protein but the high returns associated with aquafarming when compared with agriculture or animal  husbandry that has accelerated the growth of aquaculture. Thus, in the last two decades aquaculture with greater emphasis on shrimp farming made fast strides among Asian countries including India. The culture of carps in freshwater and shrimps in brackishwater are the two main culture practices followed in India. During nineties around 10% of 2.7m ha. brackishwater area has been put under farming along with a number of other supporting and ancillary units viz.; hatcheries, feed mills, processing and packaging industry etc.

The North Eastern Region of India possesses unique potential for fishery activities. The region represents all agro-climatic zones ranging from warm water drainage system to cold water conditions facilitating freshwater fishing and is identified as the hot spot of freshwater biodiversity. So far about 267 fish species have been reported to be present in the region, which is approximately 33.13% of the total Indian fresh water fishes (Munilkumar and Nandeesha, 2007). The total land coverage of the region is 2.55 lakh sq. km. which is about 7.76% of the country, out of which 70% is hilly terrain (Mahanta and Tyagi, 2003). The main fishery resources of the region comprises of rivers (18,968 km), reservoirs (8,019 ha), beels/lakes (1,48,491 ha) and tanks and ponds (42,782 ha) (Ghosh and Ponniah, 2008).

The North Eastern Region of India with its large fish eating population, needs planned sustainable development of its existing as well as potential fishery resources. A challenging environment for fisheries development prevails in the region by way of very high demand and price of fish. Given the socio-economic conditions and vast fishery resources of the region, there is a strong chance for diversion of work force to productive sectors like fisheries thus transforming the economy of the region and further socio-economic development.

Introduction

The world of living organisms essentially consists of the kingdoms of plants and animals. Myriads of organisms representing these two, interact among them, ranging from symbiosis and mutualism to competition and predator-prey interactions. The last mentioned process is one the important components of ecological dynamics, that determine the balance of nature or equilibrium among the biota. To this category belong the predators, parasites (parasitoids), pathogens, and so on, all of which live at the cost of another organism, without affording any benefit to the ‘victim’, hence the victim is termed the ‘prey’. In an agroecosystem, when an organism, explodes into an unusually high number, devouring cultivated plants it often becomes a ‘pest’ from a man’s point of view. Sometimes the pest can be a human nuisance too. It is here, that the role of predators and parasitoids become relevant as biological agents against the pests.
 
A lion, which preys on herb-feeding antelopes, is also a predator. But, its roles become restricted to maintaining the balance of the antelope population. Left undeterred, antelopes can explode to levels that can threaten grasslands. Here lions play a very crucial role in maintaining (through hunting antelopes) the equilibrium of the grasslands, just sufficient for these plants to surge with every rain. Otherwise, the grasslands potentially may get denuded by the antelopes, or conversely it may override other ecosystems. This is part of the ‘food web’ and is found in every ecosystems; desert, aquatic, mountains, forests, agro-ecosystems, etc.

INTRODUCTION

Phytophagous mites have long been considered as potentially serious pests of a wide range of food and fibre crops, and ornamentals. They are covered under subclass Acari of class Arachnida and phylum Arthropoda. Mites unlike insects are 8-legged creatures and lack compound eyes, antennae and wings. Plant feeding mites measure from 200µ to 600µ. Majority of the plant feeding mites belong to suborder Prostigmata, and phytophagous mites belong to family Tetranychidae (spider mites); Eriophyidae (bud or gall mites) ; Tenuipalpidae (false spider mites); Tarsonemidae (broad mites) and Tuckerellidae, in the decreasing order of their importance. Before one can develop integrated management of phytophagous mites in different agri-horticultural ecosystems, knowledge about the following fundamentals of phytophagous mite management principles is a big must.

A. Answer the following.

Q.1.     What is the percentage of different subclasses of IgG in the serum ?
Ans.     IgG1 : 65 ; IgG2 : 24 ; IgG3 : 7 ; IgG4 : 4

Q.2.     How many inter heavy chain bonds are there in different subclasses of IgG ?
Ans.     IgG1 : 2 ; IgG2 : 4 ; IgG3 : 13 : IgG4 : 2.

Q.3.     What is the half life of different subclasses of IgG ?
Ans.     IgG1, IgG2 and IgG4 : 23 days ; IgG3: 8 days.

As an engine requires fuel to run, similarly the animal body requires food to run its vital activities. Food, after its digestion, absorption and oxidation, provides energy to the body. The energy thus obtained is utilized by the animal for maintenance, growth, reproduction and production. Hence, a good quality of food should be provided to the animal so that it may fulfil all the requirements of the animal. Food contains water, carbohydrates fats, proteins, vitamins and minerals which are essential constituents of the body and indispensable for life. Water being an essential constituent of protoplasm carries out many other important and inevitable functions in the body. Water helps the body absorb nutrients from the food and throw out wastes from body in the form of sweat and urine. Carbohydrates, fats, and proteins provide energy to the body. Fat provides 2.25 times more energy than carbohydrate and proteins. Besides providing energy, proteins are also essential for body building, growth and repair of wear and tear of the body tissues. Vitamins protect the body against diseases and help in keeping eyes, gums, skin, teeth and bones healthy. Vitamins are required by the body in small quantities. Vitamins are essential for normal growth, health and reproduction. Prolonged deficiency of vitamins causes characteristic diseases. Minerals required in small quantities are essential for normal growth of body and maintaining good health. Skeleton system of the body contains principally Calcium and Phosphorus with small amount of Magnesium.

Historical background of dairy goats

Small ruminants sector plays an important role in the national economy. This enterprise is associated with social and cultural fabric of millions of resource poor farmers. Small ruminant especially goats gain importance mainly on account of their short generation intervals, higher rates of prolificacy and the ease with which they can be marketed. They are very useful in semi-arid and arid zone where they can sustain themselves on sparse vegetation and esteemed climatic conditions.
 
There are four main breeds of dairy goats commonly found in Western Country, namely, Alpine, Nubians, Saanens and Toggenburgs. They are considered to be the best milking breeds of the world. All these four breeds have recently been introduced in India for improvement of milk quality of local goats. These breeds have been improved by selection, upgrading, and the wise use of pedigree records and registration over a period of more than half a century in Europe and North America.

Introduction

After introduction  of Green Revolution and White  Revolution in our country, India had high growth in food and milk production but farmers of our country had  applying more chemical fertilizers, insecticides  pesticides, weedicides and various medicines  in injudicious way  to increase grain, vegetable, fruit, flower, milk, meat and egg production . Due to this reason soil fertilely and soil health is deteriorating continuously. The soil  of food bowl states of our country viz. Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh and plain area of Uttarakhand deficient in organic matter, macro and micro and trace elements. Now soil became non living due to death of earthworms and beneficial micro organism. Farmers are using mainly nitrogen, phosphorus and potash in crop production. However there are 15 essential plant nutrition’s for growing of crops. Due to more application of chemical fertilizers in crop production these days’ farmers are not properly using organic, green and compost manures in crop husbandry. Soil fertility and ground water level has been declined very fast by adopting intensive farming.

Anar butterfly, Deudorix isocrates (Fab.)

The pest has been found boring into fruits of pomegranate. Besides it may attack guava, aonla, apple, ber, citrus, litchi, loquat, sapota, etc., pomegranate is the most preferred host for this pest. It may destroy up to 50 percent fruits. The female lays eggs singly on calyx of flowers or small fruits. On hatching, the caterpillars bore inside the developing fruits and are usually found feeding on pulp and seeds just below the rind; subsequently bacteria and fungi causing fruit rot also attack the infested fruits. The conspicuous symptoms of damage are offensive smell and excreta of caterpillars coming out of the entry holes, the excreta is found stuck around the holes. The affected fruits ultimately fall down and are of no use; even if the fruits be picked before falling down, these fruits have no market value.