eChapters

Terms associated with cropping and farming systems are:

1. Cropping system: is an important component of a farming system. It represents cropping pattern used on a farm and their interaction with farm resources, other farm enterprises and available technology which determine their makeup.
2. Cropping pattern: means the proportion of area under various crops at a point of time in a unit area. It indicates the yearly sequence and spatial arrangement of crops and fallow in an area.
3. Cropping scheme is a plan according to which crops are grown on individual plot of a farm during a given period of time with the object of obtaining maximum return from each crop without impairing soil fertility. Thus a cropping scheme is related to the most profitable use of resources, land, labour, capital, and management.
4. Multiple cropping: Growing two or more crops on the same piece of land in one calendar year is known as multiple cropping. It is intensification of cropping in space and time dimensions. It includes intercropping, mixed cropping and sequence cropping.
5. Quadruple cropping: Growing of four crops in a year in sequence.
6. Competition effect: Competition of intercropped spp. For light, nutrients, water, carbon dioxide, and other growth factors.
7. Complementary effect: Effect of one component on another which enhances growth and productivity.

EAAMs (Electric Agricultural Aerial Machines) have emerged from drones used for both aerial filming, as toys and even as racing units. A Price water house Coopers’ study revealed that the global market for drone-powered business solutions was valued at $127.3 billion in 2016. For agriculture, prospective drone applications in global projects were valued at $32.4 billion. Stelios Kotakis and colleagues at market research firm IHS Markit projected that there would be around 400,000 shipments of drones to firms in the agriculture and forestry sectors in 2017. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations projects that by 2050 humanity’s ranks will likely have grown to nearly 10 billion people. Farmers will need to produce more with less, while preserving our environment for future generations. And society has a duty to help them achieve this. Although agriculture is perceived as a traditional economic sector, precision agriculture technologies have already boosted crop yields significantly in the last decades. The same study forecast that agricultural consumption would increase by 69% from 2010 to 2050.

A plant is said to be healthy or normal when it carries out its physiological functions to the best of its genetic potential. These normal functions include division, differentiation, development, absorption of water and mineral from soil and translocation of these throughout the plants, photosynthesis and translocation of photosynthetic product to areas of utilization or storage, the metabolism of synthesized compounds, reproduction and storage of food supplies.

A plant becomes diseased when it is disturbed by pathogen under certain environmental conditions which interfere with one or more of its essential functions. Diseased plant refers to any disturbance brought about by living organism under environmental factors, which interfere with normal function of plant or in other words when any organ and part of plant is not doing their work properly and when either the growth or reproduction is not going forward in natural or regular manner.

Mango is one of the choicest fruits of India, grown over an area of 1.23 million hectares in the country. Mango occupies the same position in India as occupied by the apple in temperate and grape in subtropical areas. In India mango is acclaimed as king of fruits. The name Mangifera was given for the first time by Bontius in 1658, when he referred to this plant as arbor Mangifera (The tree producing mango). Linnaeus also referred to it as Mangifera arbor in 1747, prior to changing the name to its present form (Mangifera indica) in 1753. Mango is good source of vitamin A and C apart from the usual content of minerals and other vitamins. Mango is also considered to have some medicinal properties. Ripe fruits of mango is fattening, diuretic and laxative. Smoke of burning is supposed to cure hiccups and some throat troubles and the kernal is effective against diarrhoea and asthma. Besides table purpose, fruits of mango can be used for the preparation of pickles, preserves, jam, amchur (mango powder), mango leather (ampapad) and mango fool (mango+milk+sugar)

Citrus constitutes a major group of fruits comprising of mandarins, oranges, lemon, pummelo, grape fruits, tangelo, trifoliate orange, citron, citranges etc. Despite of inter-specific and inter-generic hybrids, Poncirus and Fortunella also belong to genus Citrus. During its long history, citrus has given the world numerous varieties both by open pollination, bud sports and of recently by controlled pollination and artificial induction of bud variation. Citrus fruit cultivation lies between latitude 40 0N also 40 0S where conditions are neither cold nor moist and dry. India is considered to be the home of several citrus species and they are found growing wild in some parts of the country. Many types of citrus still remain unexploited by man and such types are considered as semi wild. The productivity of citrus plant in our country is very low which is 7.65 tonnes/ha as acompared to Spain, Italy and Japan where it lies between 17-35 tonnes/ha. Sweet oranges cover an area of 42.4 thousand ha with an annual production of 510.8 thousand tonnes (Ghosh, 1985).

The damage due to frost in fruit crops has been a problem for farmers since starting from their cultivation. Damage caused by frost is a worldwide problem because if all aspects of crop production are well managed, one night of freezing temperatures can lead to complete crop loss. According to Bagdonaset al. (1978) frost periods in temperate regions are shorter in duration and occur more frequently whereas in subtropical climates it is occurs with slow moving cold air masses. In tropical regions, there is usually no or very less freezing damage except at higher elevations. In subtropical fruits crops, damages occurs mainly during the winter, whereas in deciduous fruit and nut trees, it occur mainly in spring, but sometimes it occurs in autumn as well. The region prone to frost should adjust the date of planting of crop, microclimate, variety and other preventive measure. According to Attaway (1997) in South Carolina, northern Florida and Georgia, orange fruit were commonly grown before 1835, but losses due to frost damage, farmers did not prefer to grow oranges in that regions. The history of frost damage is more sporadic in nature leading to some major losses from time to time. In December 1990 and 1998

Californiacitrus industry suffered two major damaging events of frost which ranged from little damage in some regions to severe damage in the other region. The economic losses to fruit crops were high in the frost occurring in 1990 compare to frost in 1998.

INTRODUCTION

DNA sequencing is a process of deciphering the complete order of nucleotide in the DNA molecule with precision. Over the past few years, there has been a shifting from the automated Sanger’s method of sequencing to next generation technologies. There was a milestone in the year 2003 for the researchers when fine sequence of human genome project was declared complete. The project was completed in 13 years with nearly $3 billion expenditure and more than 20,000 researchers and technicians took part in it all over the Globe. DNA sequence determination is performed using dideoxy chain termination technology (Ronaghi, 2001). The dideoxy sequencing method was developed by Frederick Sanger and his colleagues (Sanger et al., 1977) and is called as First-generation sequencing technology. Since early 2000s, there became drastic improvements in the sequencing technologies from Sanger’s method used for Human genome project to Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies used these days. The change in technologies not only reduced the expenditure to the minimal but also involved minimum use of human resource and time. High –throughput sequencing technologies are increasingly being used to address varied range of biological objectives. It provides a promising approach to increase the scale, robustness and efficiency of the results of whole genome within few hours and minimum expense. Key players in the field of NGS are 454 GX Flex Roche, Solexa Illumina, SOLiD ABI (Applied Biosystems), ViSiGen biotechnologies, Helicose Biosciences and Polonater systems.

ABSTRACT

During the efficient genetic transformation of plants with the gene of interest, some selectable marker genes are also used in order to identify the transgenic plant cells or tissues. Antibiotic and herbicide selective agents and their resistance gene are commonly used to introduce economically valuable genes into crop plants. According to the biosafety authority and consumer view points, the presence of selectable marker genes in released transgenic crops may be transferred to weeds or pathogenic microorganism in the gastrointestinal tract or soil, and will make them resistant to treatment with herbicides or antibiotics, respectively. Sexual crossing also raises the problem of transgene expression because redundancy of transgenes in the genome may trigger homology-dependent gene silencing. The future potential of transgenic technologies for crop improvement depends greatly on our abilities to engineer stable expression of multiple transgenic traits in a predictable fashion and to prevent the transfer of undesirable transgenic material to non-transgenic crops and related species. Therefore the development of efficient marker free transgenic plants system is very essential. That is why many technologies and various approaches designed to timely elimination of transgenes when their function is no longer needed. Due to the limited number of available selectable marker genes, in future the stacking of transgenes will be increasingly desirable. The production of marker-free transgenic plants is now a critical requisite for their commercial deployment and also for engineering multiple and complex trait. Here we describe the current technologies to eliminate the selectable marker genes (SMG) in order to develop marker-free transgenic plants and also discuss the regulation and biosafety concern of genetically modified (GM) crops.

1. INTRODUCTION

Growth is a complex biological process that must be evaluated carefully if a profitable combination of growth and efficiency is to be realized. Knowledge relating to birth weight, mature weight, maturity rate and the point of infection of the growth curve in various breeds and crosses is very useful in selecting breed combinations that can produce the most efficient growth pattern. The effect of cow size on economy of production has been a discussing subject among cattlemen and animal scientists. Growth models are used to predict rates and change in the shape of the organism. They can be applied to determine the food requirements so as to get a desired growth. The estimated parameters of growth function can evaluate various growth characteristics of animal like rate of maturing, rate of gain, mature size and related characters.

Abstract

Plants have been the source of food and medicine since time immemorial. Tribal people have been using several plants and their parts as source of alternative food that is conventionally not consumed by urban population. However recently, due to increasing population and reducing agriculture land, such alternative foods are gaining attention. Such alternative foods often also have medicinal value and are consumed by tribals for ameliorating certain disorders. Due to rising costs of modern medicine and associated side effects, general public perception is positive for alternative medicines and traditional therapies. Yams are an example of such alternative medicinal foods and are the focus of this chapter. Here we describe the ethnobotanical and nutraceutical potential of yams. We have discussed, in detail, some of the species that are consumed in various regions of India. During the compilation of this data, it was noticed that detailed molecular information is not available for most species, while for some species almost no molecular data exists. Further, many species have not been properly evaluated through modern natural product chemistry and pharmacological screening methods to validate the claims made in ethnobotanical surveys. These and other lacunas in knowledge pertaining to yams have also been pointed out towards the end of the chapter.

Abstract

Mythology is a unique subject of religious or cultural traditions. Plants play a vital role in the practice of these traditions. The use of plants may be an approach towards their conservation by demonstrating their magico-religious importance or their efficiency in keeping away some infectious microbes. Reason may be any, but all such herbs needs scientific interventions with respect to their usage. In this manuscript 69 such plant species are enumerated which are used for magico-religious purposes. Maximum species were recorded from dicots and seeds have shown maximum percentage among the plant parts to be used for the purpose. The knowledge about the magico-religious usage among the inhabitants is communicated through oral, literature or practice. The quantitative indices like Cultural Significance Index and Factor Informant Consensus have been calculated for the collected data from 92 informants in the region. The calculated ethnobotanical quantitative indices indicate Capsicum annuum and Santalum album are the culturally more significant plants and there is a strong homogeneity in the practices among the people of different districts.

Abstract

Toxic plants are a grave threat to existence and bodily functions of humans and animals resulting in death or sickness through accident, unawareness or bad intention resulting in huge economic loss. They have always been part of our daily life and some of them are so prevalent that we do not even doubt their poisonous nature. The study aimed at systematically documenting the precious traditional knowledge regarding the ethnotoxic plants of district Udhampur. Ethnotoxic data was collected by interviewing 125 infomants between the age group 24-95 years. A total of 89 plant species belonging to 69 genera and 43 families were observed to be toxic to either humans or animals or both. Majority of the taxa were growing in wild. Leaves were observed to be the most toxic plant parts. Frequently encountered toxic plant families include Fabaceae, Solanaceae, Asteraceae, Euphorbiaceae, Apocynaceae and Ranunculaceae. The route /mode of entry of toxic chemicals was mainly observed to be ingestion. A total of 62 ailments/ conditions/diseases were reported to be caused in humans or animals or both by the ingestion, contact or inhalation of toxic plants in the present study. These include nausea, vomiting, headache, diarrhoea, hematochezia, abdominal spasms, anorexia, dysuria, deep yellow or no urine, bloat, etc. The present study may serve as a base line data for further research and will go a long way in safeguarding people from being poisoned by stuff that may have healed them.

Abstract

Herbal healthcare forms the most favored system for curing various ailments of the people residing in remote areas of Himalayan region. Gujjar and Bakerwal tribes inhabit the hilly areas of Pir Panjal region of J&K along with their livestock and rely on the surrounding bio-wealth for their healthcare needs. But, proper documentation of traditional knowledge about the medicinal plants has been poorly attempted in this part of J&K. In order to develop a data base of plants being used by Gujjar and Bakerwal tribes of district Poonch, present attempt has been made. The present compilation recorded one hundred forty five plant species belonging to 133 genera and 76 families which are used by the tribal people to cure various ailments like rheumatism, diarrhea, dysentery, skin and gastric problems, wound healing etc. These medicinal plants comprise of 25 trees, 27 shrubs, 82 herbs and 11 climbers. Of the total, 44 species are native to Himalayan region and 101 are non native.

Keywords: Indigenous knowledge, Medicinal plants, Healthcare, Gujjar, Bakerwal

Vegetables are of short duration, have higher productivity and give more return per unit area, besides giving nutritious food to human being and can be fitted in different farming systems. They also play a major role in balancing human diet, thereby helping in alleviating hunger, poverty and malnutrition. Because of the public awareness for the significance of vegetable consumption, the demand of vegetables in the global market has increased immensely. Thus, vegetable farming is becoming profitable venture globally, opening avenues of self employment and revenue generation (Anon., 2009). At global level, India holds second position, next only to China in vegetables production with a share of about 14%. The present annual vegetables production of country is about 175 million tons from an area about 10.3 million ha with a productivity of 17.1 t/ha. India grows largest number of vegetables in the world, as having a spectrum of wide range of agro-climatic situations, ranging from dry temperate to humid tropics between the altitudes from sea level to snow line.

The Indian hot arid region is one of the most important arid ecosystems of the world in terms of biodiversity it possesses. This arid region spreads over 31.7 mha, occupies major part of north western India including Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana, which together contribute 73% of arid region. High temperature, wind velocity, low humidity, low and erratic rainfall and high potential evapotranspiration are important characteristics of this region which narrowed down the choice for vegetables, besides permit their low productivity.

Of the total land area of the world, arid zones account for 18.8%. Throughout the arid zones, there is no dearth of problems, but rapidly increasing desertification (some call it land degradation) is a problem of worldwide dimension. Water is a scare commodity in arid zones. Much of rainfall is lost by evapo-transpiration and as a result, ground water recharged only by seepage through soil profile. However, it is a common phenomenon in arid zones of the worlds that ground water is frequently used at the rate that exceeds recharge. The situation in arid tropics of India, which is spread over an area of 31.7 million ha, is no more different.

Agriculture is the human enterprise that is most vulnerable to climate change. Tropical agriculture including agriculture in arid tropics, particularly subsistence agriculture is vulnerable, as farmers do not have adequate resources to adapt to climate change. Land-use options that increase livelihood security and reduce vulnerability to climate and environmental change are necessary. Rural folk in arid western Rajasthan, the principal hot arid region of the country have been practising arable cropping in association with these scattered trees on crop fields since time immemorial. This combined protective-productive system of integration of trees into farming system rooted in the principles of ecology, productivity, economics and sustainability, is generally referred as agroforestry. In fragile ecosystems of hot arid regions of India

Introduction

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, climate change refers to the long-term changes (typically decades or longer) in the average state of the climate with statistically significant variations.

The climate change, defined as the long-term imbalance of customary weather conditions such as temperature, radiation, wind and rainfall characteristics of a particular region, is likely to be one of the main challenges for mankind during the present century.

A general definition of climate change is a change in the statistical properties (principally the man and spread) of the climate system when considered over long periods.

Climate Resilience

Climate resilience can be generally defined as the capacity for a socioecological system to: Absorb stresses and maintain function in the face of external stresses imposed upon it by climate change. Adapt, reorganize, and evolve into more desirable configurations that improve the sustainability of the system, leaving it better prepared for future climate change impacts.

4.1 INTRODUCTION

Database management system is a computer program to store, search, manipulate retrieve and give the result. Vast amount of spatial data are available and it is necessary to arrange them, store them for retrieval and analysis. Attribute data adds intelligent to GIS. Without database, a GIS will be just a Cad software. Cad softwares do not have database. GIS softwares have their own databases besides it has the potential to link with external database like Oracle, MS Access, MS Excel, Informix, INGRESS, Sybase and dbase. The data available in paper has to be digitally stored in a proper order. Previously the data were stored in a a flat file format where the data was stored without any structure. But to search and retrieve and analyse the database, database structures were developed. There are of 4 types of database structures namely Hierarchical, Network, Relational database and Object orientation.

Tables are made of rows and columns. Rows represent a map feature. Columns represents characteristic of map feature. Row is called a record or a tupule column is a field or an item. Table 4.1 is a table where rows 1, 2 and 3 represent the locations with the soil types. A column soil type represents various soil types.

Sun is the prime source of energy injected into the earth’s atmosphere. The sun is the nearest star to the earth. It is a hot ball of glowing gases at the heart of the solar system. Its radiant energy is practically the only energy source to the earth. Very small and insignificant quantities of energy are available from other sources such as the interior of the earth, the moon, and other stars. Without the sun’s intense energy and heat, there would be no life on earth.

NATURE AND PROPERTIES OF SOLAR RADIATION

The mean distance of the sun from the earth, also known as one astronomical unit (1 AU), is approximately 1.496 × 10⁸ km, though the distance varies as the earth revolves round the sun in an elliptical orbit. At this average distance, light travels from the sun to earth in about 8 minutes and 19 seconds. The energy of the sunlight supports almost all life on earth by photosynthesis, and drives earth’s climate and weather. The minimum sun-earth distance is about 0.983 AU and the maximum is approximately 1.017 AU. The earth is at its closest point to the sun (perihelion) on around January 3 and at its farthest point (aphelion) on around July 4.

Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a given location. Weather forecasts are made by collecting quantitative data about the past and current state of the atmosphere on a given place and using scientific understanding of atmospheric processes to project how the atmosphere will evolve on that place. Weather warnings are important forecasts because they are used to protect life and property. Forecasts based on temperature and precipitation is important to agriculture.

Agricultural production is highly dependent on weather, climate and water availability, and is adversely affected by weather and climate related disasters. In many developing countries where rainfed agriculture is the norm, a good rainy season means good crop production, enhanced food security and a healthy economy. Failure of rains and occurrence of natural disasters such as floods and droughts can lead to crop failures, food insecurity, famine, loss of property and life, mass migration, and negative national economic growth (Sivakumar, 2006).

Farming in many parts of the world, especially in the arid and semiarid regions is risky, because climate is highly variable. In some developing countries as much as 80% of the variability in agricultural production is due to the variability in weather conditions. This production variability in agriculture has immediate and important macroeconomic impacts. A timely seasonal forecast of favourable conditions could permit farmers to adjust cropping patterns and input use in order to benefit fully from these conditions. Also, a timely forecast could give the marketing system and downstream users, such as the food processing industry, time to prepare for a bountiful harvest (Arndt et al., 2000). It is important to remember that under rainfed conditions, even a less reliable, but earlier forecast may be more valuable than an accurate but late forecast (Mjelde et al., 1998).

Many aspects of the global climate are changing rapidly. Evidence for changes in the climate system abounds, from the top of the atmosphere to the depths of the oceans. The climate system is the highly complex system consisting of five major components; the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the cryosphere, the land surface and the biosphere, and the interactions among them. The climate system evolves in time under the influence of its own internal dynamics and because of external forcings such as volcanic eruptions, solar variations and human-induced forcings such as the changing composition of the atmosphere and land-use.

The term ‘climate variability’ is often used to denote deviations of climatic statistics over a given period of time (e.g., a month, season or year) from the long-term statistics relating to the corresponding calendar period. In this sense, climate variability is measured by those deviations, which are usually termed anomalies.

‘Climate change’ refers to a statistically significant variation in either the mean state of the climate or in its variability, persisting for an extended period (typically decades or longer). Climate change may be due to natural internal processes or external forcings, or due to persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use. The United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) defines ‘climate change’ as ‘a change of climate behaviour which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods’. The UNFCCC thus makes a distinction between ‘climate change’ attributable to human activities altering the atmospheric composition, and ‘climate variability’ attributable to natural causes. Climate change is a long-term shift in weather conditions measured by changes in temperature, precipitation, wind, snow cover, and other indicators. It can involve both changes in average conditions and changes in variability, including, for example, changes in extreme conditions.

A key difference between climate variability and change is in persistence of ‘anomalous’ conditions. In other words, events that are used to be rare occur more frequently, or vice versa. Occasionally, an event or sequence of events occurs that has never been recorded before, such as the exceptional tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004 or hurricane season in the Atlantic in 2005. Yet even that could be a part of natural climate variability. If such a season does not recur within the next 30 years, by looking back it could be called as an exceptional year, but not a ‘climate change’. Only a persistent series of unusual events taken in the context of regional climate parameters can suggest that a potential change in climate has occurred.

8.1. Vegetables

8.1.1. Tomato (Lycopsarsicon Esculentum)

Temperature: A warm climate crop can tolerate high temperature but cannot withstand frost. Minimum temperature for germination of seed is 8 to 10°C. Night temperature for fruit setting is 12 to 22°C. Critical night temperature for fruit setting is below 12°C. Critical day temperature for fruit setting is above 32°C. If the greenhouse can maintain the temperature as mentioned above then the non-terminal or indeterminate tomato crop can be grown for 10 to 12 month duration.

Variety: Indeterminate (producing flowers and fruits continuously along the stem as it grows) hybrid varieties resistant to nematodes or fusarium or verticilium wilt disease may be selected.

Abstract

Seed priming is the innovative way of ensuring optimum germination and plant stand under moisture deficit situations. It enables the seed to tide over initial stress from biotic and abiotic factors. Higher yield with better quality seed are reported. The seeds of agronomic and horticultural crops are significantly affected by ageing and deterioration. Reversal or rejuvenation of aged seeds is therefore of primary interest. Experiments related to reversal of seed deterioration effects due to ageing relying heavily on accelerated ageing (AA) of seeds and their priming using various priming agents especially osmotic substances. Repair during germination is a hypothetical event supported by some investigators and questioned by others. Repair includes the spontaneous reorganization of plasma membrane phospholipids, which occurs during seed hydration. Alternatively or additionally, metabolic repair might occur. Experimental evidence for repair in imbibed seeds has been elusive. Priming reduced electrolyte leakage as well as lipid peroxidation in seeds implying the activation of membrane repair processes. Priming was also associated with increased levels of antioxidants like ascorbic acid and tocopherols particularly the latter and the activities of enzymes SOD, CAT POX involved in the mitigation of oxidative damage. In comparison with the priming of unaged seeds, the aged seeds experienced a diminution of response in terms of changes in the levels of antioxidants and scavenging enzymes. Thus, seed priming technique under climate extremities seems the best and economical means to sustain higher crop yields. The technique needs to be popularized among the farmers practicing agriculture and horticulture under rainfed situation so as to sustain production under climatic adversaries and enhance livelihood security and more profitability at the farm.

Abstract

Agriculture is at a cross-road in J&K wherein the small holdings, profitability, livelihood security and sustainability issues are the factors adding to the existing agrarian crisis in the state in particular and the country in general. This requires a decisive direction shift at the policy level towards adoption of integrated farming system. There is a need of fundamental change from the unilateral, top-down, prescriptive “knowledge generation and transmission” models of agriculture development adopted in the country so far, which have in fact resulted in an ecological, economic and social crisis in the farming sector of the state during 40 years of adoption and that climate change is one more imperative for drastic change to address the situation. Climate change is already a reality for farming community and that conventional models of agricultural research and extension have failed to address the need of the hour unless some fundamental recasting in the form of diversified farming system is adopted. The immediate need for interventional action precludes traditional models of research and support systems and requires alternative but urgent programmatic interventions, led by farmers’ institutions and their local resources, knowledge and innovations. Existing mainstream models of farming are GHG-inducing and are not conducive to adoption either given their high external-input dependency-models which increases the risk of vulnerable farmers. Integrated farming system a key to sustainable agriculture, on the other hand, holds immense mitigation and adaptation potential, specifically in the context of climate change even as it improves rural livelihoods and addresses the ecological crisis in farming of today under various climatic regions of Jammu in particular and state in general. Jammu region of the J&K state is bestowed with varying climate zones i.e. subtropical, intermediate and temperate zones, which is best suited for diversified farming,as the promotion of single enterprise is neither beneficial from economy point of view nor is sustainable under the given climate change crisis. The integration of Crops, Horticulture, Animal ,Fish cum Poultry, Mushroom, Vermicompost, Apairy, Biogas and Boundary plantation enterprises in Jammu region under integrating farming system is having the potential to improve the farm income to three folds besides will address the sustainability issues in the long run.

Abstract

A Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) is synonymous to farm science center with responsibilities of on- farm technological assessment, front line demonstrations, capacity building, advisory services and mulit-sector support to various private and public initiatives. The KVKs work under the ambit of ICAR, New Delhi with administrative support from local institutions or State Agricultural Universities. There were about 695 KVKs operational in India till October 2018. All KVKs fall under the jurisdiction of one of the 11 Agricultural Technology Application Research Institutes (ATARIs) spread throughout India. 21 KVKs are functioning in Jammu and Kashmir with seven of them in Jammu province namely KVK Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Reasi, Rajouri, Doda and Poonchh. The major thrust areas of hilly district Jammu and Kashmir are as integrated nutrient/pest/weed management in different crops, water management, promoting organic farming, protected cultivation of high value and low volume crops, promotion of aromatic and medicinal plants, increase in the productivity of livestock, drudgery reduction for farm women, promotion of loose flower cultivation, promotion of new single cross hybrids in maize, value addition of agricultural products and promotion of farming system approach. KVK Reasi has been able to motivate farmers of the district to adopt and practice organic farming, floriculture, backyard poultry farming and mushroom production at the commercial level.

Abstract

India with population of 1.30 billion in which 47 per cent is engaged in agriculture earnestly needs efficiently use of biotechnology and genetic engineering for transforming agriculture sector. Biotechnological tools offer great opportunities for increasing agricultural production and can play an important role towards the attainment of production sustainability of crops. Biotechnological tools have the potential to release burgeoning pressure on agriculture and allied sectors; ecology and environment; plant, animal and microbial biodiversity; and allied resources such as land and water with improved and sustainable agricultural productivity which enhances food security. Agricultural biotechnology, including tissue culture, DNA-marker-assisted breeding and genetic engineering (GE) technology have potential to increase stress tolerant, selection efficiency, crop adaptation, crop productivity and food security in more efficiently manner through the development of improved varieties with increased yields, nutritional content and storage characteristics. Genetic engineering tools should continue to build capacity in this technology, giving priority to traits and crops that are of economic importance such as drought tolerance in maize, rice, beans; cold tolerance in rice; increased nutritional value and improved shelf life in fruits and vegetables. Crop varieties and livestock with improved characteristics have been developed using tools such as marker-assisted breeding and genetic engineering. Molecular pharming is one of the applications of genetically modified crops and livestock for the production of pharmaceutical proteins. Reproductive technologies are alternative ways for genetic improvement of livestock. The development of molecular diagnostics and vaccine technology as a tool improved the ability to detect and treat several diseases of livestock. The advancements in biotechnological tools such as protein engineering and metabolic engineering play a significant role in production of a large number of valuable and high quality industrial products.

14.1 INTRODUCTION

India is conferred with a varied agro-climatic condition which are highly favourable for growing a large number of horticultural crops such as fruits, vegetables, root tubers, ornamental, aromatic plants, medicinal herbs, spices and plantation crops like coconut, areca nut, cashew and cocoa (Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, GOI, 2008). India is next only to China in area and production of vegetables and occupies prime position in the production of caulif lower, second in onion and third in cabbage in the world. After achieving food security, it is being increasingly felt that India needs to achieve nutritional security for betterment of its population. In achieving nutritional security fruits and vegetables play an important role (Ganeshmurthy et al.2011). Although we have achieved good production levels of fruits and vegetables, the present production of fruits and vegetables may not be enough to meet out the demand. To feed the ever-increasing population in a sustainable way a tremendous effort will have to be made to increase the production of fruits and vegetables both horizontally and vertically through a rational and balanced use of production inputs, specially the mineral fertilizers. Soil fertility is a key factor for successful crop production, and it is a measure of capacity of soil to supply plant nutrients. The importance of soil fertility and fertilizer management is being increasingly recognized in all countries recently to meet the demand for food and other agricultural raw materials. Intensive use of fertilizer, intensive cropping with high yielding cultivars have increased the food production and reduced the food shortage, but it has also brought in numerous problems of soil fertility, soil and water pollution. On the other hand, fast depletion of nutrients due to over exploitation, a wide-spread deficiency of N, P, K and S coupled with micro-nutrients deficiencies especially Zn and boron has been noticed in many soils. Further deforestation, shifting cultivation, burning of trees, bushes, grasses and cow dung, soil erosion, soil degradation, nutrient losses, excessive fertilizer application, leaching losses etc., have aggravated the depletion of soil fertility status. It is being realized that the future of Indian agriculture is closely related to scientific management of soil fertility along with judicious and efficient use of fertilizers. Soil fertility and nutrient management is one of the important factors that have a direct impact on crop yield and quality. Soil test reports help in determining soil organic matter, pH, electrical conductivity, cation exchange capacity, and levels of important macronutrients (phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium) and micronutrients (boron, zinc, etc.). These reports also help estimating lime or sulphur application rates to increase or reduce soil pH, respectively. Maintaining a soil pH between 6.0 and 7.0 is recommended for most crop rotations that include vegetable crops.

17.1 INTRODUCTION

Bearing habit indicates position of f lower bud with respect to vegetative growth of the plant after cessation of juvenility. Different fruit trees have different bearing habits. The knowledge of bearing habits will be of much importance for regulating the bearing of any plant by means of pruning. Terminal bearers are not normally pruned, whereas in case of lateral bearers pruning certainly increase the bearing, as it encourages the sprouting of lateral buds. Fruit trees may bear the fruits either terminally on a long or short growth, laterally on present or past season growth or adventitiously from any point on the trunk or root. The relative position of a fruit with reference to its potential bud giving rise to f lower or inf lorescence in the shoot is known as bearing habit. Knowledge on the bearing habit is a pre-requirement before performing pruning in any fruit crop (particularly in ber, guava, grape etc.). Proper understanding of bearing habits helps a lot in manipulating time and period of f lowering and fruiting which consequently inf luence harvesting and yield of better-quality fruits.

10.1 Introduction

Winds are the motion of air around the Earth. This movement in air is caused by the uneven heating of the planet’s surface by the sun. The idea of using wind as a form of power is not new. The traditional applications of wind were primarily as sources of kinetic energy for rural, agricultural and a limited number of industrial uses such as pumping water and grinding grain.

Presently wind energy can be used for two major applications, such as wind mills for pumping water for drinking as well as for irrigation purposes and second application is as aero-generator for electricity generation for domestic and industrial uses. In addition to this, presently wind energy battery charger are also available, which can store energy for lights, radio communication, hospital equipment and to power various emergencyrelated equipment.

The wind energy has an enormous resource, but the problems of utilizing the winds are many and varied. Wind energy is very diffuse in nature and local topographical features significantly alter the prevailing winds, thus leading to the extremely site specific nature of wind energy.

Scientists have estimated that as much as 10% of the world’s electricity could be prepared by wind generators by the middle of 21 century. India has estimated wind power potential of 40,000 MW. India now, ranks fourth in the world in wind power generation.

The world’s largest wind farms are in California (USA), where wind turbines can generate power up to about 1120 MW. The first wind mill used as source of electric power was built in Denmark in 1890.

Abstract

In the present study an integrated remote sensing and Geographical Information System (GIS) based methodology is adopted for demarcating the groundwater prospective zones and identification of artificial recharge sites in the Peddavanka watershed, Andhra Pradesh. In this study Shuttle Radar Topograhic Mission (SRTM) digital elevation model (DEM) with spatial resolution of 90 m and Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS-1A), Linear Imaging Self Scanner (LISS- III) satellite data along with other field and collateral data on geology and well inventory have been utilized to generating the Drainage, Slope, Lineaments and Hydro geomorphology of the study area, which are an essential prerequisites for demarcating water resources and identification of recharge sites. Spatial data integration and analyses are carried out in GIS environment.

Keywords : DEM, Drainage, Hydrogeomorphology, Groundwater prospective zones, Remote sensing, GIS

1.0 Introduction

Groundwater is an important natural resource in arid and semi- arid regions, because most of the places surface water resources are scarce and some places it’s totally absent particularly in hard rock areas. Because in hard rock terrains availability of groundwater is of limited extent and its occurrence is essentially confined to fractured and weathered zones (Saraf and choudhury 1998, Sankar 2002). In these areas groundwater recharge depends on rainfall only. For understanding rainfall recharge mechanism and groundwater management in the watersheds level, first we have to understand the morphometric parameters in the watershed level.

Abstract

Traditionally remote sensing technology has been widely used in the mapping and change detection of vegetation features. Of late research has shown that remote sensing technology can be successfully employed for retrieval of biophysical parameters of vegetation, either by statistical techniques or by employing radiative transfer models (RTMs). This paper gives an introduction to leaf and canopy RTMs, especially about PROSAIL, which is the most commonly used model. It reviews different techniques for inverting RTM models, their merits and performance comparison. The main techniques briefly described are iterative optimization, look-up table, artificial neural network, genetic algorithm and support vector machine. At the end, it gives examples of applications which use canopy biophysical parameters retrieved by inverting RTM.

Keywords: Radiative transfer, PROSAIL, Inversion, Vegetation

1.0 Introduction

Accurate quantitative estimation of vegetation biophysical variables is useful for a large variety of agricultural, ecological, and meteorological applications (Houborg et al., 2007). The spatial and temporal distribution of these variables are important inputs into models quantifying the exchange of energy and matter between the land surface and the atmosphere, developing better yield prediction models and detecting abiotic stresses at regional scales. Among the many vegetation characteristics leaf area index, leaf chlorophyll content and leaf water content are of prime importance (Bacour et al., 2006; Houborg et al., 2007).

Abstract

Remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) are integrated system in providing precise information on nature, extent and spatial distribution of land resources to assess their potential and limitations for planning, monitoring and management towards sustainable development. The use of remote sensing and GIS provide immense opportunities in the field of large-scale mapping, generate and update of existing geographical databases for decision making in site- specific management and development of land resources. Integration of remote sensing and GIS includes the use of each technology to benefit the other, as well as the application of both the technologies for geospatial modelling and decision support. Remote sensing and GIS integration has clearly benefited from advances in computing and Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies, including innovations in use of decision tree algorithms and neural networks. The generated precise spatial database in GIS on land resources, socio-economic and contemporary technologies could be effectively used to develop GIS based Spatial Decision Support Systems (SDSS) for sustainable management of land resources. In this article an attempt has been made to provide an overview on the remote sensing and GIS technologies as a special decision support tools in inventory, characterization and management of land resources particularly in digital terrain analysis, geomorphological mapping, hydrological applications, soil resource inventory, assessment of soil loss, land degradation and soil fertility, soil-site suitability and watershed prioritization.

Maize is one of the most important food, feed, fodder and industrial crop in Haryana and is cultivated in all the three seasons (Kharif, Rabi and spring). It was cultivated on 6 thousand hectares in Kharif season with average productivity of 2.83t/ha during 2015-16. The maize is also increasing in spring season which was grown on ~ 7 thousands hectare with productivity of 4.5t/ ha. The specialty corn (baby corn and sweet corn) is also grown in >2 thousand hectare area of Haryana in national capital region. The demand of maize is increasing every year due to growth in poultry industry and expansion of maize based industries. There is a good scope of cultivation of specialty types of corn (baby corn, quality protein maize and sweet corn) in Haryana as it is very near to national capital, Delhi. The cultivation of specialty corn and its value addition by establishing

Maize (Zea mays L.), the “Queen of Cereals” is one of the most important highly evolved coarse cereal crop originated at Mexico. This is most widely distributed crop of the world cultivated predominantly in tropics and sub-tropics right from sea level to 4000 m altitude as irrigated or rainfed crop. The demand for maize as an animal feed will continue to grow faster than the demand for its use as a human food, particularly in Asia, where, doubling of production is expected from the present level of 165 m t to almost 400 mt.

Maize (Zea mays L.) is the third most important crop of country after rice and wheat and is cultivated round the year. Its grain is used as feed, food and industrial raw material. Enormous progress has been made during last six decades to enhance yield potential through genetic improvement and alleviate effects due to various biotic and abiotic-stresses. In India, it is an important crop not only in terms of acreage but also in context to its versatility for adoption under wide range of agro-climatic conditions. Of the different forms used for human consumption, 45% is consumed as staple food in various forms viz., bread, biscuits, cookies or transformed into corn flakes, soups, fresh-roasted sweets, boiled cobs and vegetables etc. Maize grain is main ration for poultry birds while forage maize is used as fresh or dry fodder for dairy industries. In Rajasthan maize occupies 0.89 m ha area with an annual production of 1.55 mt and productivity of 1.74 t/ha (Govt of Rajasthan, 2015). Being major Kharif crop in Rajasthan, the productivity levels of maize are still below the national average and farmers are not getting better economic returns. However, profitability can be accelerated further by growing recently popular speciality corns.

A successful vegetable production industry is very dependent on a sustainable supply of seeds to the growers. At the present time, the seed industry plays an important role in both production and distribution of high quality vegetable seeds.

Successful seed production of a crop depends on a thorough knowledge of the reproductive process of a particular crop. The techniques of seed production must take into account several features of reproduction: whether it is sexual, asexual, or a combination of the both, the nature of floral structures, the amount of pollen transfer, the degree and means of self-incompatibility and the effect of inbreeding on vigour. For most purposes the important consideration to the seed producers is the extent of cross-pollination. It is, therefore, necessary that before engaging himself in seed production, a producer must acquaint himself with the following details of reproduction in the particular crop:

Methods of Reproduction

The method of reproduction in vegetable crop plants may be broadly grouped in to two categories, asexual/vegetative and sexual:

Plant breeding is essentially a technology. Any technology will stand the test of time if it is based on sound concepts. In the case of plant breeding, the concepts are provided by the science of genetics.

Plant productivity in its broad sense requires consideration of not only yield but also of a number of its direct and indirect components. For example in groundnut, besides pod yield, shelling percentage, 100-kernel weight and oil content are components relevant to defining productivity. A number of physiological (like biomass, leaf area, specific leaf weight), morphological (like days to flowering, number of branches, number of mature seeds), nitrogen-fixing, (where relevant, for example, number of nodules, nodule mass, nitrogenase activity) and such other characters influence yield directly or indirectly.

Yield and most yield contributing characters are quantitative in nature. A quantitative character is one which shows continuous variation. In contrast, qualitative characters like flower colour and seed coat colour show, in general, discrete variation and are controlled by fewer genes with major effects. A quantitative trait, however, is governed by many genes. The range of values of a quantitative character is described by a continuous distribution, usually assumed to be a normal distribution. The distribution is specified by the two parameters: mean and variance.

Breeding methods for vegetable crops are basically similar to those adopted in others like cereals, oilseeds or pulses. Certain aspects, peculiar to vegetables, however, require specific attention: (i) In many cases, the edible part of the plant is not the seed (as cauliflower, cabbage, carrot and onion) and hence while breeding for improved plant part that is used as vegetable, its seed production capacity needs due consideration, (ii) Vegetables like tomato, garden pea and onion are consumed in different forms (fresh or processed) and the end use of the product (like processing quality) has to be taken into account in breeding programmes, (iii) Consumer preferences (as for example in eggplant) size, colour and shape of the vegetable has to be given due emphasis, (iv) Being perishable in nature, keeping quality and suitability for long distance transportation are important attributes in vegetable crops unlike grain crops where bulk handling and haulage can be mechanised, (v) Another peculiarity with vegetable crops is that they vary widely in modes of reproduction necessitating appropriate choice of breeding methods. In addition to vegetatively propagated crops like potato, sweet potato, cassava (tapioca), garlic, pointed gourd or “Parwal (Trichosanthes dioica L.) and ivy gourd or ‘Kundru’ (Coccinia cordifolia L.), there are many seed propagated vegetable crops which are auto- or allogamous or intermediate (Table 1).

Within these broad groups, variations in the extent of cross- or self-pollination, namely, 15-20 per cent natural cross-pollination in chillies and 20-25 per cent natural self-pollination in muskmelon have been recorded.

The bones of skull (Fig 2-1) are divided into two groups, as cranial group of bones and facial group of bones. Most of the bones of the skull are flat bones and a few are irregular bones.

Cranial bones

The cranial bones form the cranium that encloses and protects the brain and organs of special senses e.g. eye and ear. These bones include the occipital, sphenoid, ethmoid, inter-parietal, parietal, temporal and frontal. The first four of these bones are single and the rests are paired.

Occipital

The occipital is a single bone (Fig 2 -1C) and is situated on the caudo- dorsal aspect of the skull. It consists of three parts, the lateral parts are called lateral occipital, the basal part is called the basi occipital and the dorsal (squamous) part is called the squamous occipital.

The fascia covering the hind limb is the superficial and deep fascia. The superficial fascia is very scanty lies beneath the skin. It has the same general disposition as in other regions of the body. The deep fascia is in the form of a thick strong sheet covering the superficial layer of muscles over the medial aspect of the hind limb. From this sheet extend several septa that pass between different muscles or muscle groups in the thigh region. The deep fascia of the leg region continues cranially with the fascia of the thoracolumbar region. Caudally it is attached to the aponeurotic tendon of insertion of sartorius and gracilis muscles. The part of the deep fascia that continues on the lateral aspect of the thigh is the fascia lata which is continuous with the gluteal fascia dorsally.

The muscles of the hind limb (Fig. 6-3 A and B) are arranged into different regional, positional as well as functional groups. The muscles of hip and thigh region are arranged in the lateral, medial and cranial groups. The muscles of leg and foot are arranged in dorsolateral and plantar groups. The dorsolateral muscles are generally the extensors of tarsus and digits while the plantar muscles are the flexors of tarsus and digits.

General Terminologies in Livestock Production

Meat is considered as well balanced diet because it is good source of macro and micro nutrients.

Macronutrients-required in large quantity in body i.e proteins, fat and carbohydrates.

Micronutrients-required in lesser quantity by human body i.e vitamins, minerals and fibers.

Organ meat like liver is a good source of glycogen, viatm-A, B1 and nicotinic acid.

Fresh meat is unprocessed.

Raw meat is a fresh meat undergone chilling and freezing.

Refrigeration and rapid cooling can delay the onset of rigor mortis

Veterinary surgery: The surgery which is practiced on animals. It deals with the treatment of deformities, injuries, or disease conditions by manipulation with the hands. The term “Surgery” is derived from a Greek word – Chirurgia (Cheir – Hand, Ergon – work).

The papyri of Egypt contained information on treatment of fractures and superficial wounds.

In Vedic era, Salihotra and Palakapya were the greatest ancient Indian veterinarians. Salihotra treated horses and Palakaya elephants.

“Susruta Samhita’ is the earliest known work dealing with the medical science especially surgery.

Hobday wrote first comprehensive text on surgical diseases of the dog and cat.

The theory and practice of asepsis was introduced by Joseph Lister.

W.S. Halsted introduced the principles of surgery and use of rubber gloves.

Crop plan and practices for rainfall scarcity prone areas

The appropriate crop plan and practices, which have so far been generated and recommended for achieving the objective of increased and stable crop production in dry land areas have been summarized in the following points:-

1.Proper and timely tillage

2.Early sowing

3.Choice of suitable crop/good plant material

4.Proper plant population

5.Cropping system

6.Fertilizer use

7.Timely weed control

8.Efficient rain water storage and its use

9.Alternate land use system

10.Planning for aberrant weather hazard

Soil and moisture conservation measures are a prerequisite for ensuring a good crop stand, growth and development of crop, and higher crop yields. These measures depend mainly on the land (topography and slope), soil type, rainfall pattern, and nature of the crop. The various management practices are:

Tillage

Off-season tillage is necessary to get a weed free seedbed having good tilth and better moisture conservation. Pre-monsoon showers should be utilized for deep ploughing (where necessary) and blade harrowing. This will enable sowing of large areas in limited time- a necessary in dryland areas. Higher yield advantage with deep ploughing (22 cm) has been obtained in case of sorghum, pearl millet, maize, and rice. In case of rice, use of mould board plough to a depth of 30 cm every year increased the rice yield at Ranchi. For small seed crops like finger millet, soil compaction below the seeding zone is absolutely necessary for getting good crop stand establishment and higher yields. Tillage requirement for pulse crops (cowpea, mungbean, black gram) varies with the type of soil on which they are grown. For loamy sand or sandy loam soils, one or two cross cultivation using a sweep harrow, will be enough to provide a good tilth.

Watershed management

Watershed is defined as a geohydrological unit draining to a common point by a system of drains. All lands on earth are part of one watershed or other. Watershed is thus the land and water area, which contributes runoff to a common point.

A watershed is an area of land and water bounded by a drainage divide within which the surface runoff collects and flows out of the watershed through a single outlet into a lager river or lake.

Tillage

The mechanical manipulation of soil with tools and implements for obtaining conditions ideal for seed germination, seedling establishment and growth of crops is known as tillage. Tillage may be described as the practice of modifying the state of the soil in order to provide conditions favourable to crop growth.

Introduction

As the most of the conventional resources are depleting and can last only for about a few 30 to 50 years. Scientists worldwide are looking for alternative energy resources and they have come to an agreement that solar energy can provide much of our energy needs in the future. The major challenge before them is to store this energy. The radiation falling on the earth surface can be tapped and stored in no of ways. However, the most efficient way is done through the latent heat storage through PCM. The PCM has many added advantages i.e. high energy density, isothermal behavior, non-polluting and low cost. Nowadays, it gaining popularity worldwide and now seen as the most efficient way of thermal energy storage. There is a large number of PCM at use i.e. organic, inorganic, eutectic and salt hydrates. Their utilization depends on the user’s requirement technological constraints. They also serve the purpose of energy availability at night beside the uninterrupted supply during the day. They are seen as the materials for ensuring the environmental sustainability

INTRODUCTION

India has emerged as second highest producer of potato in the world, after China. The crop has been identified as the most important crop for ensuring food security for the developing countries, and a highly nutritious food providing more calories, vitamins and nutrients per unit area of cropped land than any other staple food. The crop has witnessed phenomenal increase over the seven decades of potato research in India. For a crop which was introduced in the country only in the early 17^th century, and was neither adapted, nor its staple food, the remarkable increase in potato production and productivity is an exceptional achievement of breeding this temperate introduction into the present day potato cultivars.

BREEDING REQUIREMENTS

The table potatoes introduced in India were adapted to long photoperiods of up to 14 hours and crop durations of 140-180 days allowing them to be cultivated only in the hilly regions of India. The unique and diverse agro-climatic condition of the country, comprising of contrasting conditions in the Indian plains, where potato could be grown in the winter months necessitated breeding efforts to develop the potato varieties suitable for the sub-tropical plains and the other potato growing regions. The winters in sub-tropical plains have short photoperiod (with about 10-11 hours sunshine) and the crop duration is limited to 90-100 days because of short and mild winter. Further constraints on photosynthetic activity due to early morning fog, posing a strong limitation on tuber bulking. This is followed immediately by a long hot summer period, which coincides with the post-harvest storage period of potato, creating challenging storage problems. The rapid degeneration of seed stocks, with concomitant decrease in yield due to accumulation of viral diseases and tuber storage and utilization in hot and humid climate thus needed to be addressed, in priority. Besides, these southern, north Bengal and Sikkim hills and the plateau offer agro climatic area specific problems related to the biotic and abiotic stresses prevalent in the regions. Moreover, the unique reproductive biology of the plant made it possible to flower only under the long day conditions of the hills, where hybridization was initiated at Kufri (Shimla), Himachal Pradesh. However, during the initial years, it was not possible to evaluate the breeding progenies in the warmer sub-tropical plains due to the quick degeneration of hill bred progenies and dormancy of hill potatoes.

INTRODUCTION

Potato is a highly versatile crop grown in varying environmental conditions viz. plains, hills and plateau in India. It is grown under short days (SD) in the plains in autumn season and under long days (LD) during summers in hills. Therefore, the pattern of growth, duration of crop as well as the yield varies according to the environment. Besides, the potato cultivars differ from each other in relation to their morphological characters, response to the environmental factors and finally in yield and the dry matter accumulation. The biochemical reasons for such variations are not clear, but it seems that genetically determined differences in the synthesis of growth regulators such as auxins, cytokinins, gibberellic acid (GA) and abscissic acid (ABA) play an important role and their proportion at different growth stages affect the growth and development and thus, the yield of the cultivar (Minhas and Singh, 2003).The present chapter deals with the physiologicalfactors, which determine the growth, development and yield of potato crop.

INTRODUCTION

Control of weeds below economic threshold level in potato crop is a substantial component of crop management strategy for achieving optimum productivity. In our country, potatoes are raised eitherin assured irrigation or as rainfedcrop with comparatively heavy doses of fertilizers. Therefore, weedsarebound to become menaceduringactive cropgrowth period of this cropand theseundesired plants needs to be controlled in early stages of crop growth by adopting several techniques. Current scenario of crop production is different from past due to manyreasons. Farm holdings are becoming smaller day-by-day and majority of potato growers are small and marginal farmers. They have limitedcapacity for purchase of inputs and farm machines. They need economical, efficient and easier to adopt weed control technologies.Farm labour is also costly nowin many regions as they are migrating towards cities and industrial townships. This scenariobecomes more complex as weeds would be major challenge due to global warming, which is slowly changingclimatesof potato growingregions in India.Theconcern forenvironmentalissuesemphasizeuponadoptingsystems and integrated approach for managing weeds in such away that thesedo not reducethe potato and system productivity (CPRI, 2014).

INTRODUCTION

Potatois theworld’s most importantnon-grain foodcommoditythatranks fourth as main food crop in the world after rice,wheat and maize. The crop is grown inmorethan 100 countries, mainly in Asia (195.67 million tons)and Europe (121.76 million tons)(yieldin 2017 as per FAOSTAT, 2019). Because of its efficiency in producing high dry matter, energyand edibleprotein per unit area per unit time, it holds promise for food security in the scenario of ever growing world population. The full potential of this crop however, can onlybe realized if diseases and pests are kept under control, especially in asubtropical country like India, wherethe weather is highly conducive for a number of pathogens.

A number of soiland tuber borne diseases are known to affectthe potato crop causing heavy yield losses. These diseases not only reduce quality and market value of the producebut also spread to new un-infested fields through infected seed potato tubers. Diseasessuch as black scurf, common scab and powdery scab disfigure potato tubers and reduce their market value whereas dry rot, charcoal rot and softrot spoilthe harvested produce during transitand storage. Potatowart is a serious disease which once established is difficult to eradicate and thus require quarantine measures. Bacterial wilt or brown rot of potato is another serious disease which is likely to threaten potato cultivation with the rise in globaltemperature and requires immediate attention.

Potato is becoming a more and more important foodstuff in the world and therefore, its cultivation is expanding fast especially in developing countries. This intensivecultivation, in fact, has led to the emergence of diseases in certain areas where they were of less importance in the past. For instance common scab, known to be a minor disease about2-3 decades ago, is now emerging as serious problem in many potato growing areasof the country including Indo Gangetic plains. Similarly brown rot/bacterial wilt which was endemic in mid hills and plateau region, has now become a limiting factor for potato cultivation in many areasin Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, north eastern region and in Kumoan hills of Uttrakhand. Sclerotium wilt on the other hand has shown upward trend in plateau region especially in Karnataka. This is because the dynamics of pathogens keeps on changing over time and space and also with the changing farming practicesof a region. Many such new diseases are likely to emerge in a big way in future also, hence warrants regular and careful monitoring. In the following pages, the majorsoiland tuberbornediseases are discussed with special reference to India.