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Important nurseries and seed merchants of Uttar Pradesh

1. Azad Nurseries, Laxmi Gate, Saharanpur.
2. American Seed Store, Ayodhya.
3. Ashoka Seed Farm (Regd.) Darwaja Road, Ayodhya
4. Beiz Nursery, Azmatgarh Palace, Varanasi.
5. Ganesh Bagh Nursery, Kamachchha, Varanasi.
6. Ram Das & Co. Kamachchha, Varanasi.

Problem- Calculate the amount of farm yard manure, urea, single super phosphate and murate of potash for one hectare tomato crop which require 100, 60, 60 kg ha N, P, K respectively. 1/3 quantity of nitrogen should be given through farm yard manure and rest through chemical fertilizers

A. Concentrated Organic Manures

Improved production technology is an integral part of hybrid seed production technology, which is a very high venture practice. This is because like several factors (climate, availability of parental lines and technical labour etc), success of hybrid seed production also depends on the success of crop management in the hybrid seed production field

The different modes of reproduction applied in vegetable crops are

Asexual

In this case the vegetative parts of the plants viz. rhizomes, corms, tubers, bulbs etc whole or part there off are utilized to produce new individuals. The typical examples are potato, sweetpotato, parwal, artichoke, colocasia, zinger, turmeric elephant foot yam, etc. There are some vegetative crops which can be reproduced through bcth vegetative part as well as seed e.g. asparagus.

Purpose: This test is conducted to determine the boldness and soundness of the seeds. The weight of a given number of seeds of different varieties or kinds will vary. This variation is due to boldness and soundness of the seeds. The seeds will vary according to the soil fertility, variety and other environmental conditions. Higher the weight of a variety per thousand seeds, better is the variety for cultivation.

Materials and equipments: Scale, balance and seeds.

Restricted pesticides for use

1. Aluminium phosphide Captafol
2. Carbaryl
3. Dieldrin
4. Methyl bromide
5. Ethylene dibromide (EDB)
6. Sodium cyanide
7. Lindane
8. Methyl parathion
9. Monocrotophos
10. Chlorbenzilate

Plant growth regulators are organic compounds occurring naturally in plants as well as synthetic, other than nutrients, which in small amounts promote, inhibit or modify any physiological process in plants.

Basically, PGRs are of two types

Purpose- One of the important operation for horticulture crops is raising of seedlings (vegetable, fruit trees, shrubs and flowering annuals). Seedlings are either directly planted as in the case of some vegetables, flowering annuals, shrubs and trees or may used as root stock as in the case of mango, citrus etc. For healthy and good stand of seedlings proper preparation of nursery beds is essential. Since large number of seedlings are raised in a consideration. The protection of seedlings from pest, diseases, strong sun and wind is very important. These factor will vary if seedlings are raised under Low Tunnel Polyhouse.

Nursery

An area where the planting materials are raised for sowing or planting in garden or fields, in other words, the nursery industry involves the production and distribution of different kind of planting material.

Some of the vegetables sown directly in the field are Okra, Pea, Cowpea, Frenchbean Dolichosbean, Radish, Carrot, Bottle gourd, Bitter gourd, Ridge gourd, Spongegourd,Ashgourd, Muskmelon, Watermelon, Cucumber, Pumpkin, Roundmelon, Spinachbeet, Spinach, Coriander, Amaranthus, Lettuce, Fenugreek etc. Some vegetables are propagated through vegetative means like Colocasia, Ginger, Garlic, Potato, Sweet potato, Drumstick, Asparagus, Elephant foot, Pointedgourd and Ivygourd. But there are certain vegetables having very small seeds and first sown in the nursery for better care and to combat the main field. Such vegetables are Tomato, Brinjal, Chilli, Capsicum, Broccoli, Endive, Chicory, Cabbage, cauliflower, Khol-Khol, Kale, Parsley, Lettuce etc.

Raising of seedlings in the nursery beds is economic as well as easier to take care of young, tender seedlings against disease, insect pests and weeds. Better combat against biotic stress like bright sun, rains and low temperature and economisation by saving land, labour and capital to fetch higher market price.

Problem: Cost of cultivation depending upon the seed and time. More yields can be obtained during right time of sowing, but net profit is very less due to the glut in the market. We can get more return from early or late sown crop during both the season due to the high cost in the market.

In tomato seed extraction is the very important operation. Tomato seed can be extracted by following way.

1. Fermentation methods: Red ripe fruits should be picked and crushed in non metallic pots. Profuse foam formation indicates that fermentation is completed. Fermentation of seed material should not be prolonged beyond 72hr to get seed of high germination. Preferably the seed should be washed free of pulp after 48hr require temperature uses.
2. Acid treatment methods: In case of urgency seed may be washed by using 1.0 to 1.5 liters of 35 to 38% concentrated HCL/g tomato fruit pulp. Fermentation is completed in about 30 minutes. Clean seed are obtained by stirring and washing procedure are quickly as possible.
3. Alkali treatment methods: In case Alkalie 10% sodium bicarbonate is mixed in equal volume of pulp or 300 g washing soda dissolve in 4 liter of boiling water is sufficient for 4 liter fruit pulp.
4. Mechanical methods: It is used for large scale operations put the ripe fruits into the mechanical seed extractor for crushing and separation of the seed and gel from the pulp. By acid 0.8% solution of acetic acid for 24hr at or below 21⁰C (1kg seed/10 liter of acetic acid).

Problem 1: Prepare a lay-out plan of model kitchen garden for a family having five (5) members. Calculate the total amount of vegetable required per year and area of the same kitchen garden. Give the suitable crop rotation and show by diagrammatic representation.

Ans.: Total amount of vegetables required annually

Kitchen garden

Growing of vegetable crops in the backyard of residential houses to meet the requirements of the family all the year round. It is most ancient type of vegetable farming. Such type of gardening is practiced in cities where land is the limiting factor. Vegetables can also be grown on the roof of buildings if land is not available.

Aim of kitchen garden

The main aim is a kitchen garden in the maximum output and a continuous supply of vegetables for the table throughout the year.

Growth

Growth means quantitative increase in the planwt body e.g., increases in the length of stem, roots, number of leaves, fresh and dry weight of fruits etc.

Development

It refers to the qualitative changes from the initiation of growth to the death of a plant or plant parts like seed germination, formation of flowers, fruits and seeds, emergence of buds, leaves and falling of leaves and fruits.

The various systems of training the vines adopted in the vine-growing centres in India are as follows:

1. Head system
2. Bower system
3. Kniffin system
4. Overhead trellis

The following special terms are used in grape cultivation:

1. Training: Consists chiefly in giving a shape to the vine to the various forms of support.
2. Pruning: Consists in removing canes, shoots, leaves diseased, unproductive and other vegetative parts of the vine.
3. Thinning: Thinning is the removal of flower cluster, immature fruit cluster or parts of cluster.
4. Shoots: Shoots are the current season’s top vegetative (succulent) growth arising from a bud after pruning.
5. Canes: Canes are the woody matured shoots.

MAJOR INSECT-PEST OF MANGO

1. Mango hopper (Idioscopus atkinsani, I. niveosparsus, I. clypealis)

This is one of the most serious pests of mango. They are small greenish wedge-shaped insect. They cause serious damage to the crop at the time of flowering and fruiting. Both adult and nymphs suck sap from the tender plant parts, inflorescence, young shoots and panicles. They excrete sugary shirring substance on which shooty moulds develops. Cloudy and humid weather are favourable for their development.

Veneer grafting

It has one striking advantage in using the detached scion sticks for propagation, i.e. the shoot of the mother plant which is to be multiplied can be cut away from the mother plant and taken to the seedling growing in the nursery for grafting. Proper selection of scion is very important for the success of this method. The scion stick ought to be 3 to 4 months old and with some activated bud, either auxiliary or terminal. This is secured by defoliating the scion shoot about a week before the actual operation

This method can be practiced on seedling stocks grown in pots or nursery beds. A slanting cut about 5cm long on one side of scion stock, is given and the bark along with wood is removed, giving an oblique cut. Now a slanting cut on one side of the scion is made, which will just fit with the notch of the stock. The scion is then placed in position in such a way that the cambium rings of both stock and scion come in close contact. It is then wrapped tightly with 1.5cm wide tape of 200-300 gauge alkathene film keeping the terminal ends free. When the scion begins to grow at the top, (after about 3 weeks) the upper part of the stock is removed, thus forcing the buds to grow more rapidly. The plastic wrap is removed after 2-3 months.

The success is more or less the same in the entire scion (2.5 to 10.50 cm in length) but the growth of scion is always more when bigger scions are used.

Important Commercial Mango Varieties

Northern Region: Langra, Dashehari, Chausa, Bombay Green, Amrapali, Sukul, Sipia

Eastern Region: Himsagar, Langra, (syn. Malda), Krishna-Bhog, Zardalu, Gulabkhas, Fazli.

Southern Region: Banganapalli, Bangalora, Mulgoa, Neelum, Swarnarekha,

Western Region: Alphonso, Kesar, Pairi.

Problem-Recommended dose of N:P:K for bearing mango tree 1.0 Kg N: 0.87 Kg P and 1.66 Kg K annually per plant. Available fertilizers are urea, DAP and MOP for supplying of NPK respectively.

So, for an orchard of 1 hectare area, the total number of plants is 100 if spacing is 10m x 10m

Purpose-The term ‘Grafting’ includes all forms of grafting and budding. It is the art of joining the part of together in such a manner that they will unite and continue their growth as one plant. A grafted plant consist of two parts a rootstock, also known as understock or stock, and a scion. The part of the graft combination which is to become the upper portion or top and performs the function of flowers production and fruits is known as scion and the part which is lower portion or root which performs the function of fixing itself in the soil, absorbs moisture and nutrient from the soil is known as rootstock.

When the scion part is a small piece of bark containing only one bud the operation is termed as budding, but when the scion part is a branch containing more than one bud, the operation is termed as grafting.

i. SHIELD OR ‘T BUDDING

Materials and equipments- Budding knife, tying material and petridis.

Procedure

Operations on the stock- Select healthy, uniform stock plants of about a lead pencil thickeness and about one to one and half years of age. Remove the thorns (if any) and side branches up to a height of 20 to 25 cm from the soil surface. Select a spot at height of about 15 to 20 cm from the soil surface in between two internodes, which is smooth, other than the southern aspect. With the help of a sharp knife make a horizontal cut of about 1.25 to 1.80 cm in length, deep enough to cut bark only. Starting from the centre of the horizontal cut make a vertical cut, deep enough to cut the bark only of about 2.5 to 3.5 cm long making the shape of english letter ’T’. Open the flaps with the help of knife blade or the back of the budding knife.

Purpose: Layering includes several forms of ground and aerial layering (goottie). When rooting is encouraged on the aerial part of a plant after wounding it is known as air layering or goottie or morcottage. When branches running parallel to ground are utilized, then the method is known as ground layering. Layering is the development of root on a stem while it is still attached to the mother plant. The root formation on the stem is stimulated by removing a ring of bark or by making a notch which cause an interruption in the downward movement of carbohydrates and auxins from the leaves and growing shoot tips. The materials accumulate near the points of treatment and helps in rooting. Root formation depends upon continuous moisture supply, good aeration and moderate temperature around the rooting zone. For the same reason the best result are obtained by these methods during monsoon month (July-Sept.) and spring (Feb. -March) from branches 1 to 2 years of age.

Purpose-Multiplication of plants by cutting includes stem, root and leaf cuttings. The stem cuttings are of four different types i.e. hard, semi hard, soft wood and herbaceous wood cutting consist in producing new individuals after the piece of stem has been detached from the mother plant and planted in conditions suitable for regeneration to the missing organs. Stem cutting have to develop a new root system as they already have buds to give rise to shoots. Many cells of the cutting are capable of becoming meristematic and thus are able to produce new roots. The success in the stem cutting multiplication depends upon factors such as condition of the mother plants, part of the tree from where the cuttings are made, time of the year, care while planting and after care. Cuttings can be made during monsoon (July-Sept.) and spring (Feb. -March) season when active cell division is taking place.

Purpose: In propagation of fruit plants by any vegetative methods such as cuttings, budding and in to the selection of ‘mother plants” and “bud-wood”. Use of bud-wood or any other propagation material from high yielding, true to-type, disease free trees (mother plant) will ensure uniform behaviour of trees in the orchard. If possible, propagation material from a single source is used.

Bud-wood used for budding purpose from high yielding, true-to-type and disease free trees certified for the above character by a certifying agency is referred as ‘certified bud’

Procedure: By adopting the flow sheet given below, clean scion from healthy, productive plants, can be selected for vegetative propagation.

Purpose: It is important that the plants occupy the same position where the pegs were placed in the field. At the time of planting the tree the peg is removed first followed by pit making to receive the plant. The plant may be with the ball of earth or without the ball of earth. While planting the tree in the pit there is every possibility that plant may not occupy the same position where the pegs were originally placed. In order to overcome this problem planting board is used. Use of a planting board ensures the planting of the plant in the correct position.

Materials and equipments: Spade, khurpi, planting board, wooden pegs and chain.

Problem- Prepare a layout plan for establishing on ideal mango orchard near Varanasi city in 2ha area under high density planting. Calculate the number of plants needed for planting and amount of DAP and sulphate of potash heeded or planting. Also mention the name of cultivars for this region under HDP (200:100:200 NPK g/plant)

Problem-Prepare of a layout plan of orchard for 10 ha. area which is situated on the highway. The dimension of the orchard is 3:2. Calculate the areas under each crop which will you grow and also write their suitable variety along with their suitable diagram. Also fulfill the following information about orchard

Purpose-There are several planting plans or systems which can be adopted for planting orchard. The following points need to be considered before choosing any system of planting.

1. It should accommodate maximum number of plants per unit area.
2. It should allow sufficient space for the development of each tree.
3. Orchard operation such as ploughing, dusting are easy to perform.

Purpose- Burnt porous clay or cement or plastic pots are commonly used for various purposes in horticulture. The pots are used in propagation or plants, cultivation of ornamental plants and flowering annuals. Growing of plants in pots in referred as pot-culture. In pot-culture, operations such as potting, shifting and filling of pots are very important. Potting refers to planting of plants in pots containing soil mixture, while shifting means removal of plants from pots and planting them again in the same or different pot. Plants growing for more than one year in the same pot need shifting. The time for potting and shifting of plants is monsoon season (July to Sept.) and during spring (Feb-March).

Materials and Equipments-Flower pots, crocks (broken pieces of pots), potting mixture, khurpi and watering can (with fine nozzle).

Sickle: Used for cutting grass, fodder and harvesting crop. Sickle made of steel is better and lasts longer.

A. Research journal

1. Haryana Journal of Horticultural Science (Quarterly)-Society of Haryana, Department of Vegetable Crops, CCS, HAU, Hisar (Haryana).
2. Hort. Science (Annualy)-American Society for Horticultural Sciences 600, Camerun Street, Alexandria, USA
3. Horticulture Research (Half yearly)-ScottishAcademic Press, 25, Perth Street, Edinburgh.
4. Indian Journal of Horticulture (Quarterly)-Horticulture Society of India, Division of Fruits and Horticultural Technology, IARI, Pusa, (New Delhi).
5. Journal of Applied Horticulture (Half yearly)-Managing Editor, Journal of Applied Horticulture, A-859, Indiranagar, Lucknow (UP).
6. Progressive Horticulture (Quarterly)- Hill Horticulture Development Board, Horticultural Experiment and Training Centre, Chaubattia, Ranikhet, (Uttarakhand).
7. Scientia Horticulture (Annualy)-Elsevier Science P.O. Box 945, New York,

A. ICAR Agricultural Institutes

• Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI), Post Box No. 181. Andaman Nicobar & Lakshwadeep Group of Islands, Port Blair.
• Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI), Jodhpur, (Rajasthan). Website: www.icar.org.in (Rajasthan).
• Central Avian Research Institute (CARI), Izatnagar, (Uttar Pradesh)
• Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI), Barrackpore (West Bengal). Web site: www.cifri.com.
• Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR), P.O. No. 225, G.P.O., Panjari, Wardha Road, Nagpur (Maharashtra).
• Central Institute for Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA), P.O. Kausalyaganga, Bhubaneshwar (Orissa).

1. Agriculture universities in India

A. State agriculture universities in India

1. Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University, Guntur, Hyderabad, Telangana
2. Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh
3. Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, Assam
4. Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur, Bihar
5. Bihar Animal SciencesUniversity, Patna, Bihar

A

Abnormal seedling: Abnormal seedlings are those seedlings which do not show the capacity for continued development in to normal plants when grown in good quality soil under favourable conditions of water supply, temperature and light.

Abortion: Loss of reproductive structures (e.g. a flower or an ovule) during development or arrest of development of any organ so that it remains imperfect or fails to reach maturity.

Absolute humidity: The amount of water vapour present in a given volume of atmosphere, usually expressed in g water per kg dry air, or g water per cubic meter air.

Introduction

Seed as an input is the precursor for agricultural development as it alone can guarantee 20-30 per cent share of crop productivity (Koudinya and Kumar, 2014). Rigveda, the world’s most ancient scripture available, prescribes the importance of seeds as “Subeejam Sukshetre Jayate Sampadyate” which literally means, “A good seed in a good field can lead to the prosperity and posterity of the entire human race”. Seed production is indeed important to take care of a country’s food and nutritional security needs. At the same time, seed export across countries is vital for ensuring competitiveness in the domestic seed industry besides generating employment and valuable foreign exchange which in turn can be used for scaling up the seed sector’s efficiency itself (Poonia, 2013). As a matter of fact, seed trade is one of the reasons for huge advances made in the Indian seed industry through development and exchange of genetic transformation, marker-assisted breeding and nanotechnology (Nandi et al., 2013). As of 2014-15, global seed industry has reached USD 45 billion in which international seed export alone was worth USD 10 billion. Further, with the estimated growth rate of 9.2 per cent during 2015-2020, the world seed business is expected to be over USD 92 billion. Presently, USA, China, France, Netherlands and Brazil are the top markets comprising more than 66 per cent of the global share in seed trade. Corn, soybean and vegetables account for more than 75 per cent of the total global seed market volume. As of 2014-15, the value of the Asian vegetable seed market was USD 6.75 billion in which China had a major share (41 per cent) and the Indian share was around 7 per cent. Moreover, the world vegetable seed market alone is expected to grow at the rate of 7 -8 per cent per annum and reach USD 8.8 billion by the year 2020 (Parashar and Kumar, 2016).

Introduction

Synthetic seeds are defined as artificially encapsulated somatic embryos, shoot buds, cell aggregates, or any other tissue that can be used for sowing as a seed and that possess the ability to convert into a plant under in vitro or ex vitro conditions and retained its potentiality also after storage (Capuano et al., 1998). In other words, synthetic or artificial seeds defined as somatic embryos engineered seed used in the commercial propagation of plants (Gray and Purohit, 1991; Redenbaugh, 1993).

Artificial seeds have great potential for large scale production of plants at low cost as an alternative to true seeds (Roy and Mandal, 2008). An artificial seed is often described as a novel analogue to true seed consisting of a somatic embryo surrounded by an artificial coat which is at most equivalent to an immature zygotic embryo, possibly at post-heart stage or early cotyledonary stage (Bekheet, 2006). There are various advantages of artificial seeds such as better and clonal plants could be propagated similar to seeds, preservation of rare plant species extending biodiversity could be realized, and more consistent and synchronized harvesting of important agricultural crops would become a reality, among many other possibilities (Khor and Loh, 2005). In addition, ease of handling, potential long-term storage and low cost of production and subsequent propagation are other benefits (Bekheet, 2006).

Introduction

Since beginning of this century genetic diversity of agricultural crop has been lost due to several reasons (Marla, 2012). Genetic erosion is caused by human intervention, mono culture, green revolution especially due to commercialization of plant breeding. So there is urgent need to collect, conserve plant genetic & genomic resource for further use.

A seed bank stores seeds to preserve genetic diversity. There are many reasons to store seeds. One reason is to have on-hand the genes that plant breeders need to increase yield, disease resistance, drought tolerance, nutritional quality, etc. of plants used in agriculture (i.e., crops or domesticated species). Another reason is to forestall loss of genetic diversity in rare or imperiled plant species in an effort to conserve biodiversity ex situ and in situ. Many plants that were used centuries ago by humans are used less frequently now and seed banks offer a way to preserve that historical and cultural value. Collections of seeds stored at constant low temperature and moisture guard against loss of genetic resources that are otherwise maintained in situ or in field collections. These alternative ‘living’ collections can be damaged by natural disasters, outbreaks of disease or war. Seed banks are considered seed libraries and contain valuable information about evolved strategies to combat plant stress or produce novel products. The work of seed banks spans decades and even centuries. Most seed banks are publicly funded and seeds are usually available for research that benefits the public.

Archaeobotany

Botany as far as it is relevant in archaeology mainly denotes all types of ancient organic material (in particular ancient plant remains) collected from excavation sites. The deliberate study of the interrelationship between humans and plants and the environmental context in which this occurred has been called archaeobotany.

Introduction

Germination is the process by which a plant grows from a seed or similar structure. The most common example of germination is the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm. Quick germination is the various ways and means that really fastened the process of seed germination. Through various ways, it is possible to reduce the time of germination by 70 per cent and also the success rate of germination can also be doubled.

‘Prunes’ is prepared from peach.

Arrak” liquor is prepared from date palm.

Hayane” variety of date palm suitable for juice making.

Kanji” is made from black carrot.

Kirschwascer” a wine prepared from cherry.

Shahi” variety of Litchi suitable for canning.

Introduction

Organic seeds are produced by purchasing conventional non-treated seeds and growing them on organic plot / farm for one season without the use of any synthetic chemical. The seeds harvested are then sold on to organic farmers as organic seeds.

Over 98% of sprayed insecticides and 95% of herbicides reach a destination other than their target species, because they are sprayed or spread across entire agricultural fields. Runoff can carry pesticides into aquatic environments while wind can carry them to other fields, grazing areas, human settlements and undeveloped areas, potentially affecting other species. Other problems emerge from poor production, transport and storage practices.

Production of organic seeds without the use of pesticides like herbicides (weeds), insecticides (insects), fungicides (fungi), nematocides (nematodes), and rodenticides (vertebrate poisons) is a matter of skill and expertise. For this purpose, the seeds used for planting, the soil where they are planted, the water used for irrigation and even the air, need to be kept free of pesticides in order to prevent their contamination.

Seed

New Technique of Food Preservation

1. High Pressure Processing (HPP)

High Pressure Processing (HPP) is a method of food processing where food is subjected to elevated pressures (up to 87,000 pounds per square inch or approximately 6,000 atmospheres), with or without the addition of heat, to achieve microbial inactivation or to alter the food attributes in order to achieve consumer-desired qualities. Pressure inactivates most vegetative bacteria at pressures above 60,000 pounds per square inch. HPP retains food quality, maintains natural freshness, and extends microbiological shelf life. The process is also known as high hydrostatic pressure processing (HHP) and ultra high-pressure processing (UHP).

Quality Standards and Laws

Quality is how well a product or service satisfies the needs of the customer. This includes all aspects related to the needs of the customer such as quality specifications, safetgy, delivery method or date, price etc. Quality can be interpreted in several ways as conformance to the standards, meeting customers’ preference/ satisfaction for desired quality attributes, degree of excellence and zero defect products etc. Because of education and consequent greater understanding of implications of poor quality commodities in recent years, consumers have become quality conscious and this fact is also applicable to food and food products. In order to strengthen competitiveness, quality must be incorporated throughout the value added chains right from the harvesting, handling, manufacturing, processing, packaging, storage, marketing and distribution stages, especially in the case of food and food products.

Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) has adopted the standards of Fruit Product Order (FPO).

Chutney

It is a product prepared by cooking the fruit pulp with added salt, sugar, spices, acetic acid and fruit to a suitable consistency so that it contains TSS not less than 50% and fruit part not less than 40% as per FSSAI specification. Sugar, salt, spices, acetic acid all act as partial preservatives. Preservatives may also be added in chutney for increasing its storability. Generally no artificial colour and flavor are required to be added.

Sauce

Sauce is a product similar to ketchup, prepared from pulps of tomato or other fruit/vegetable, having TSS not less than 15% and cooked to a suitable consistency with added sugar, salt, spices and vinegar. Sugar, salt, spices, acetic acid all act as partial preservatives. According to FSSAI specification fruit sauce should have minimum of 15% TSS and 1.2% acidity. Preservatives and colours may also be added for increasing of appearance and storability.

Preserves (Murabbas) are prepared from whole fruits and vegetables or their segments by addition of sugar followed by evaporation to a point where microbial spoilage cannot occur. The final soluble solids concentration is reached to about 70 per cent. The finished product can be stored with or without hermetic sealing and refrigeration.

Jam is prepared by boiling the fruit pulp with required quantity of sugar to thick consistency, firm enough to hold fruit tissues in position. It should contain not less than 68.5 per cent soluble solids. Jam may be made from a single fruit (apple, strawberry, banana, pineapple etc.) or from combination of two or more fruits. Jam contains 0.5-0.6% acid and invert sugar should not be more than 40%.

The preservation of food in common salt or in vinegar is known as pickling. It is one of the most ancient methods of preserving fruits and vegetables. Pickles are good appetizers and add to the palatability of a meal. They stimulate the flow of gastric juice and thus help in digestion. They are prepared with salt, vinegar, oil or with a mixture of salt, oil, spices and vinegar.