eChapters

Infertility means reduced fertility or the cow is ultimately capable of becoming pregnant and giving birth to a live calf but the interval may be much longer than 12 months. 

I. Problems leading to infertility

1. No signs of estrus

When the animal is pregnant and for a short time after calving the cows may not show estrus signs. A thorough palpation of the ovaries and tubular genital tract should be performed and a repeat examination may be necessary.

Buffalo plays an important role in Indian livestock economics.  India has more than the half of the world buffalo population, contributing 50% of total milk production of the country.  The buffalo is said more productive than an average cow due to the higher fat percentage (7%) in the milk, better feed conversion ability and disease resistance.  Buffaloes have lower reproductive efficiency in the form of delayed age of maturity, longer calving interval, weak / silent estrus, seasonality of breeding, poor libido and poor semen quality. A large number of buffaloes do not conceive due to some gynaecological problems and are being slaughtered every year.  The most commonly observed reproductive disorders are detailed below.

Non-specific uterine infections reduce the reproductive efficiency of livestock.  They are called nonspecific because the initial colonizing bacterium is not known and the specific bacteria causing the signs of infection are not known.  Even though numerous bacteria, in a variety of combinations, have been isolated from infected uteri, Corynebacterium pyogenes and Escherichia coli are usually associated with uterine infections in cattle and sheep.  Empirical therapeutic approach, prescriptions without scientific validation (extra-label use) or inadequate clinical judgment itself to ascertain the nature of uterine infection, obviously due to lack of diagnostic tools are the prime reasons for therapeutic failure for the unsuccessful treatment of uterine infection by large animal practitioners.

Laparoscopy is an operative procedure performed through a key-hole opening with a rigid endoscope that allows visual inspection of organs.  The laparoscopy helps in arriving diagnosis of various reproductive and digestive disorders quickly.  By laparoscopy clinician can visualize the external surface of the abdominal organs.  Tumours, abscess, cyst, lesions, growth, hemorrhage, adhesions of the organs in the abdominal cavity can be readily diagnosed by this technique.  Aspiration of follicular fluid, biopsy of lesions and sterilization are commonly employed maneuvers by this technique.  It is having both diagnostic and therapeutic value.  The procedure consists of placement of transabdominal rigid endoscope after establishment of pneumoperitoneum in the body cavity.   The images of different organs are displayed on the TV monitor when the laparoscope is moved within the peritoneal cavity with the illumination through halogen light source.

The ultrasonography is a technique which uses sound waves of very high frequency to scan the various organs of the body. The ultrasound waves of 2-10 mHz frequency are used in veterinary practice. A quartz crystal when stimulated by short pulse current ultrasound waves are emitted. The ultrasound waves emitted are directed towards a specific target organ are reflected back as echoes. The echoes are received by the same quartz crystal and are processed in the electronic circuit and finally displayed as image on the monitor.

Buffaloes, though have great production potential, do suffer with many reproductive problems viz.  delayed age of puberty and  sexual maturity, weak / silent estrus, longer inter-calving period,  seasonality in breeding, poor libido  and poor semen quality. Little information is available about the buffaloes as compared to cattle because all the time we try to apply the knowledge available about the cattle to the buffalo.  Some comparative reproductive parameters in cow & she buffalo & cow bull and buffalo bull are depicted in Table 8. 1 and Table 8.2 respectively.

Synchronization of estrus is making a group of cows to come into estrus at the same time.  Effective estrus detection requires much time, labour, skill and expense and it is a major limiting factor in artificial insemination programme in cattle.  It was the principal stimulus that led to research in the development of progestational and prostaglandin compounds. 

Advantages

1.     Improve the efficiency of heat detection

2.     Management tool, better planning of breeding activities and wider use of artificial insemination 

3.     Solve problem of unobserved estrus

4.     Maintain short calving interval

5.     Overall improvement in herd productivity and reproductive efficiency

6.     Controlled lactation

7.     Management of replacement heifers

8.     Useful in embryo transfer programmes

9.     Reduce labour

10.     Possibly reduce involuntary culling for reproductive reasons

After the Second World War, the 1940’s and 1950’s was the wide spread establishment of artificial insemination and the introduction of frozen semen in cattle breeding.  In the late 1960s came revolution in measurement of hormones in the body fluid with the introduction of sensitive radio-immuno-assay (RIA) techniques, which provided a new approach to early pregnancy diagnosis, emerging around the same time were early forms of the ultrasonic which could also employed in the detection of pregnancy. The 1970’s were to see embryo transfer and freezing of embryos in cattle becoming commercial realities and their incorporation into increasingly effective breeding improvement programme with the availability of prostaglandins (PGs) and Gonadotrophin releasing hormones (GnRH) that decade also witnessed new possibilities for estrum control in cattle and horses.  Few years later came the ability to produce the cattle embryos in the laboratories in large numbers and at low cost.

Faulty estrus detection is the most important problem in reproductive management.  There are two requirements for good estrus detection: a skilled observer must spend sufficient time to make observations and cows must show overt signs of estrus during the period of observation.  There are various ways to detect the estrus signs in cows and buffaloes as detailed below.

1.    Palpation of reproductive organs:  Routine rectal examination of all cows between 30-40 days after calving and individual cow that has not been inseminated within two months after calving should be encouraged.   This is to confirm that the reproductive tract is normal and to predict when the next estrus will occur or to identify cows for prostaglandin treatment when estrous cycles are occurring, but estrus has not been detected. 

2.     Teaser bulls:  Teaser bulls are useful in identifying estrus in large number of animals especially buffalo cows.   Teaser bulls can be prepared by vasectomy or by applying apron to a bull. 

3.     Heat detector animals:  Sexually active animals like bulls, cystic cows, hormone treated steer, cows and heifers can be used to identify estrus cows.    They may be fitted with halters containing ink- filled reservoirs and ball paint pen type devices (chin ball markers) that will mark animals that mounted or they can be used without these devices to increase the sexually activity and make visual detection programs more effective.

India has a mega animal bio-diversity, which is manifested in the form of availability of a large number of species, and a variety of breeds even within species. India is bestowed with rich and varied domestic animal biodiversity having a total of 32 breeds of cattle and 10 buffalo breeds. The diversity of livestock is not only accidental, nor purely natural; it is more the outcome of thousands of years of continuous selection. The trends in livestock population over the last three decades have shown that, there is significant increase in the population of buffaloes i.e. from 60.5 crore in 1973 to 96.9 crore in 2003, while cattle population has increased from 180.1 crore to 226.1 crore in the same period. The share of buffaloes, in the bovine population increased from 22 to 32 per cent while that of cattle has shown declining trend. Within the cattle, there has been marked shift from work animals towards milch animals which has resulted in loss of important draught breeds of cattle. Further indiscriminate crossbreeding has resulted in significant decline in number of important milch breeds like Sahiwal.

Livestock diet or ration may be made up of one or several ingredients depending on the species of animal, their physiological state, source of feed and its nutritional composition, nutritional requirements of the animals and voluntary intake of the feed. Chemical and nutrient composition with each ingredient varies tremendously and no single feed ingredient is complete in its nutrient composition with respect to animal’s requirement.  Therefore, animal feed has to be balanced properly to supply required nutrients in appropriate quantity.  Feed formulation is an art of quantitative application of science of nutrition for the optimum supply of all the essential nutrients through actual feeding of animals. This exercise may be as simple as mixing of few ingredients with simple mathematical calculation or preparation of least cost balanced ration by computer programme.  Since the expenditure on feeding is substantial in livestock production, feed formulation needs special attention of nutritionists or feed technologists. The instruments and equipments used for feed formulation and estimation of micro minerals and ingredients like Feed grinder and mixer of capacity 75 kg, Fibertech for fiber estimation, Hammer mill-particle size reduction, Mixer and grinder for feed and fodder (complete feed preparation) of capacity 250 kg, Roughage processing-Chaff cutter, Soxhtech for fat estimation, UV-vis-Spectrophotometer and Voltameter for micro mineral estimation are shown in Fig. 3.1 to 3.8.

In our country livestock are mostly dependent upon cereal by-products or the crop residues such as straws, stovers etc., which are low in nutritive value. According to the National Commission on Agriculture (1989-90), there is a shortage of 40% of concentrates, 20% of dry fodder and 40% of green fodder for meeting the nutritional requirements of livestock. Consequently the livestock is surviving on low weight, low energy and thereby leading to problems in the production and reproduction. Nutritional deficiencies as well as imbalances are implicated as the cause of infertility in animals. The clinical signs observed with the deficiency of a specific nutrient as variable depending on the degree of the deficiency. The information on the important relationship between nutrition and health is necessary for recognizing and correlating the reproductive problems.

Estrous cycle

After puberty the female enters a period of reproductive cyclicity, which continues throughout most of her productive life.  Estrous cycle is the rhythmic sexual behavioral pattern exhibited by the female, which begins at one estrus (heat) and ends at subsequent estrus.   It is the period between two estruses of the regular cycle.  The reproductive activity of the female is maintained by the co- ordinated functioning of different organs of reproduction (Table: 1.1). Estrous cycle provides repeated opportunities for the females to become pregnant. When conception does occur, the female enters a period of anestrous during pregnancy, which ends after parturition (giving birth) and uterine involution (repair and returning to normal size).

Appendices
    
I.    Released Varieties/Hybrids in Aromatic Crops from KAU
     P. Skaria Baby, P.P. Joy, Samuel Mathew, Ancy Joseph and Ragina Joseph 
    
IIa.    Released Varieties of Fruit Crops in India
    T. Radha
    
IIb    Released Varieties of Arid Fruits
    S.K. Sharma
    
III.    Released Varieties of Ornamental Plants
    P.K .Valsala Kumari 
    
IVa.    Released Varieties of Coconut
    P. Maheswarappa
    
IVb.    Release Varieties of Cocoa
    P. Maheswarappa
    
IVc.    Released Varieties of Plantation Crops
    P. Maheswarappa
    
Va    Released Varieties of Spices from Kerala Agricultural University (KAU)
    Asha Sankar 
        
Released Varieties of Spice Crops Through All India Coordinated Research Project on Spices
    K. Nirmal Babu
    
Vb    Released Varieties of Spice Crops Through All India Coordinated Research Project on Spices
    K. Nirmal Babu
    
VI    Released Varieties of Vegetables from KAU
    T.R. Gopalakrishnan
    
VII.    Research and Educational Infrastructure in Horticulture in India
    P.G. Sadhan Kumar and S. Nirmala Devi
    
VIII.    Important Websites in Horticulture
    T. Pradeepkumar 
    
VIIIa.    Horticulture Institutes in India
    T. Pradeepkumar 
    
IX.    Vital Statistics on Horticultural Crops
    National Horticulture Board, Gurgaon, Haryana
    
X.    Nutritional Values of Horticultural Crops
        Indian Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad

1.    Basic Principles
    
2.    Scale and Proportion
    
3.    Balance
    
4.    Rhythm
    
5.    Simplicity
    
6.    Unity
    
7.    Transition
    
8.    Focal Point or Emphasis
    
9.    Elements
    
10.     Variety
    
11.     Grouping
    
12.     Mass
    
13.    Sequence
        
    Further Reading

1.    Classification of Trees
    
2.    Flowering and Foliage Trees of Indian Gardens
    
3.    Palms and Cycads
    
4.    Coniferous Trees and Deciduous Trees for Temperate Climatic Situations
    
5.    Propagation and Planting of Trees
    
6.    After Care of Trees
        
    Further Reading

1.    Placement
    
2.    Growing Media
    
3.    Media Preparation
    
4.    Containers
    
5.    Potting
    
6.    Propagation
    
7.    Watering
    
8.    Feeding
    
9.    Diseases
    
10.    Precautions
    
11.    Indoor Plants

1.    Entrance Gate
    
2.    Garden Walls
    
3.    Dry Wall
    
4.    Green Wall
    
5.    Fences
    
6.    Steps
    
7.    Garden Drives
    
8.    Garden Paths
    
9.    Hedge
    
10.    Edging
    
11.    Shrubbery
    
12.    Herbaceous Border
    
13.    Flower Beds
    
14.    Carpet Bedding
    
15.    Ground Covers
    
16.    Topiary
    
17.    Creating Shapes
    
18.    Lawn
    
19.    Arches
    
20.    Pergolas
    
21.    Bridges
    
22.    Gazebo
    
23.    Vertical Garden
    
24.    Roof Gardening
    
25.    Planning
    
26.    Plant Materials Suitable for Roof Gardening
    
27.    Terrace Gardening
    
28.    Planting
    
29.    Water Graden
    
30.    Plants for Water Garden
    
31.    Rock Garden
    
32.    Plants Suitable for a Rock Garden
    
33.    Healing Garden
    
34.    Clock Garden
    
35.    Greenhouse
    
36.    Garden Adornments
    
    
References

1.    World Export/Import of Ornamental Plants
    
2.    Recent Trends
    
3.    Flower Auctions
    
4.    Domestic Trade of Flowers
    
5.    Marketing Channels and Price Spread in Traditional Flowers
    
6.    E-commerce in Floriculture
    
7.    On-line Information Systems Dealing with e-floriculture
    
8.    Flower Auctions
    
9.    Floriculture and WTO
    
10.    Documentation Indexing
        
    Further reading.

1.    Marketing Scenario of Fruits and Vegetables
    
2.    Marketing Systems of Fruits and Vegetables
    
3.    Vertical Coordination in Food Chain
    
4.    Supply Chain Management
    
5.    Post Harvest Management
        
References

1.    Biological Control of Insect Pests
    
2.    Biocontrol Agents in Vegetables
    
3.    Mass Multiplication of Predators and Parasites
    
4.    Microbial Control
    
5.    Transgenic Plants
    
6.    Biological Control of Diseases
    
7.    Conclusion
        
References

1.    Fruit Crops
    
2.    Spices
    
3.    Masticatory Crops
    
4.    Vegetables
    
5.    Plantation Crops
    
6.    Tuber Crops
    
7.    Medicinal Plants
    
8.    Ornamental Plants
    
9.    Future Prospects
        
References

1.     What is IPM
    
2.    What is a Pest
    
3.    Importance of Crops in IPM
    
4.    Impact of Environment in IPM
    
5.    Crop Stage Specific IPM
    
6.    Management Practices
    
7.    Tropical Tuber Crops
    
8.    Ornamental Plants
    
9.    Medicinal Plants
    
10.    Aromatic Plants
    
11.    Plantation Crops
    
12.    Masticatory
    
13.     Spices
    
14.    Fruit Crops
    
15.    Vegetables
        
References

1.    Breeding Systems Utilized in Production of Vegetable Hybrids
    
2.    Male Sterility-Theory
    
3.    Hybrid Seed Production in Chilli Using GMS
    
4.    Hybrid Seed Production in Muskmelon Using GMS
    
5.    Cytoplasmic Genetic Male Sterility
    
6.    Hybrid Seed Production in Onion Using CMS
    
7.    Hybrid Seed Production in Hot Pepper Using CMS
    
8.    Self-Incompatibility Systems
    
9.    Types of Incompatibility
    
10.    Hybrid Cultivars in Cauliflower and Cabbage
    
11.    Male Sterility in Tomato and its Uses in Hybrid Seed Production
        
References

1.     Groups of Polyembryony (PE)
    
2.     Mechanism of Polyembryony and the Genetic Bases
    
3.    Classification of Polyembryony
    
4.    Polyembryony – Its Practical Implications
        
References

1.    Groups of Apomixis
    
2.    Recurrent Apomixis
    
3.    Non-recurrent Apomixis
    
4.    Vegetative Apomixis
    
5.    Genetic Control of Apomixis
    
6.    Mechanism of Apomixis
    
7.    Ovule, Seed and Fruit Development in Sexual Plants
    
8.    Double Fertilization and Control of Embryo Initiation
    
9.    Sequential Events in Apomictic Pathway
    
10.    Gametophytic Apomixis
    
11.    Significance and Scope of Apomixis in Crop Plants
        
References

1.    Factors Causing Spoilage of Foods
    
2.    Methods of Preservation
    
3.    Preservation by use of Preservatives
    
4.    Preservation by Irradiation
    
5.    Preservation by Low Temperature
    
6.    Methods of Food Freezing
    
7.    Principles of Preservation by Fermentation
    
8.    Preservation by Dehydration
    
9.    Preservation by Thermal Processing
    
10.    Advantages of Processing
    
11.    Demand for Processed Products
        
References

1.    Postharvest Losses of Fruits and Vegetables
    
2.    Minimization of Postharvest Losses
    
3.    Postharvest Management Practices
    
4.    Selection of Varieties
    
5.    Harvesting
    
6.    Sorting /Grading
    
7.    Washing
    
8.    Trimming
    
9.    Curing
    
10.     Delatexing or De-sapping
    
11.    Waxing
    
12.    Pre-cooling
    
13.    Hot Water Treatment
    
14.    Postharvest Disease Management
    
15.    Regulation of Ripening
    
16.    Sprout Inhibition
    
17.    Packaging
    
18.    Transportation
    
19.    Marketing
    
20.    Storage
    
21.    Conclusion
        
References

1.    Land Preparation
    
2.    Tillages
    
3.    Planting
    
4.    Field Maintenance
    
5.    Vegetation Control
    
6.    Animal/ Bird Control
    
7.    Insects and Diseases Management
    
8.    Irrigation
    
9.    Manuring
    
10.    Harvesting
    
11.    Collection and Transportation
    
12.    Integrated Mechanization
        
References

1.    List of Spices
    
2.    Biotechnological Interventions in Spices
    
3.    Micropropagation
    
4.    Protocols for in vitro Multiplication of Some Spices
    
5.    Factors Affecting Large Scale Propagation Systems
    
6.    Field Performance of Tissue Culture Plants
    
7.    Other Tissue Culture Techniques
    
8.    Secondary Metabolites Production
    
9.    in vitro Germplasm Conservation
    
10.    Somaclonal Variation
    
11.    Molecular Marker Studies
    
12.    Disease Diagnostics
    
13.    Genetic Engineering
    
14.    Identification of Adulterants
    
15.    Future Prospects
        
References

1.    Botanical Background/Classification
    
2.    Nutritive and Medicinal Values of Fruits
    
3.    Genetic Resources
    
4.    Plant Propagation
    
5.    Design and Orchard Management
    
6.    Physiology of Fruit Trees
        
References

1.    Vegetables for Nutritional and Health Security
    
2.    Status of Vegetable Production
    
3.    Classification of Vegetable Crops
    
4.    Influence of Environment on Vegetable Production
    
5.    Management of Seedlings in Nursery
    
6.    Vegetables Based Cropping System
    
7.    Water Management
    
8.    Plant Nutrients and Integrated Nutrients Management
    
9.    Micro-Irrigation and Fertigation
    
10.    Pollination Management
    
11.    Integrated Pest Management
    
12.    Biological Management of Diseases
    
13.    Mechanisms of Biocontrol
    
14.    Weed Management
    
15.    Management of Vegetable Crops Under Polyhouse
    
16.    Post Harvest Handling and Storage of Vegetables
    
17.    Marketing and Export of Vegetables
    
18.    Export Trade of Vegetables in India
    
19.    Seed Technology
        
References

1.    Greenhouse Effect
    
2.    Global Warming
    
3.    Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
    
4.    Aerosols and Global Cooling
    
5.    Clouds and Global Warming/Cooling
    
6.    Ozone Depletion and UV Radiation

7.    Climate and Horticulture
    
8.    Climate and Cashew
    
9.    Climate and Cardamom
    
10.    Climate and Coffee
    
11.    Climate and Tea
    
12.    Climate and Cocoa
    
13.    Climate and Coconut
        
References

1.    Major Branches of Horticultural Science

    
2.    Potential Production Zones of Various Horticultural Crops in India
    
3.    Indian Horticulture
    
4.    Current Production and Projected Demand of  Horticultural Products
    
5.    Extent of Value Addition in Fruits and Vegetables
    
6.    Horticulture as Profession
    
7.    Projected Demand for Horticulture Professionals in 2020
    
8.    Major Career Opportunities in Horticulture
    
9.    Level of Employment (%) in Horticultural Processing Sector
    
10.    Conclusion
        
References

Origin and history: Apple is a “King of temperate fruits” and it’s belonging to family roasaceae. Plants are deciduous in nature. The apple fruits are well known for its sweet, pomaceous fruits. Apples have been grown for thousands of years in Asia and Europe, and were brought to North America by European colonists. Apples have religious and mythological significance in many cultures, including Norse, Greek and European Christian traditions. Apple is the premier table fruit of the world. It is typical temperate fruit tree, about 40 percent of the world’s supply being produced in China. Major apple growing countries are U.S.A, Italy, west Garmany, France, Japan and China. In India a large number of apple variety were introduce in 1887 by Mr. Alexander Coutts in his orchard called hillock head in Mashobra near Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. It was also introduce in Bangalore and Nilgiri hills (Tamil Nnadu). But it was destroy by woolly aphid in 1897. In India apple is commercially cultivated in Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Arunanchal Pradesh.

Origin and history: Jackfruit is a common and popular fruit crop of the low land tropics of eastern and southern parts of India. This fruit tree grows well without much care. It is the largest edible fruit (20-40kg), in Srilanka a fruit of about 120 kg was harvested and created the world record. The fruit is also called as poor man’s food in eastern and southern part. The tree has considerable potential, but it is yet to receive due attention in India it is not generally cultivated in regular plantations and is mainly grown in homestead for domestic uses and as a shade tree in coffee or cardamom plantations. The largest area of jack fruit is in Assam, jack fruit can grow in a wide variety of soil but in grow well in rich, deep alluvial soil.

Origin and history: Citrus is the leading fruit crop in the world. In India, citrus ranks second in area sharing 12.8% of the total area under fruit crops with 9.6% share in production. Under citrus group, mandarins are the most important, occupying 50% of the total area under citrus followed by sweet orange and limes. Citrus fruits are grown mainly in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Karnataka and North-Eastern region. 

1.    Nagpur mandarin was introduced in India in 1894 by Shriji Raja Bhosle. 

2.    Kinnow can be grown in high density planting by using the cultivar  Troyer Citrange'  as a root stock by spacing the plants at 1.8 x 1.8 m2. 

3.    Classification of citrus was given by Tanaka and Swingle. 

4.    Grape fruit is also known as Forbidden fruit, Breakfast food.

Origin and history: Papaya has long been known as wonder fruit of the tropics and is one of the five major fruit crops of tropical world, papaya fruits throughout the year and a remunerative fruit crop which is grown in almost every part of the country. It gives maximum yield per unit and income next to banana. It is generally grown as fruit plant in kitchen garden, home garden or nutrition garden and later as commercial fruit. It is also planted as a filler plant in a fruit orchard. India is the second largest producer of papaya in the world after Brazil. It is a fruit native to tropical America and commercially grown in many parts of the world viz., Australia, Hawaii, Taiwan, Puerto Rico, Peru, Florida, Texas, California, South Africa, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. In India, it was introduced by Portuguese in 1611. It is grown in Karnataka, Bihar, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Gujarat, Maharastra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh etc.

Origin and history : Banana is an important fruit of tropics. The fruit is recognized as the fourth most important global food commodity. India’s share is 32 per cent of the total fruit production. This is the only tropical fruit which is exported in large quantities and is leading fruit in the international trade. It is one of the oldest and commonest of the Indian fruit that has been cultivated since ancient times. Eve was said to have used banana leaves to covers her modesty in the garden of paradise. Banana is thus called apple of paradise. It is also known as “Adam’s fig or tree of wisdom”. It is used as staple fruit in most of the African countries and is used as ripe (table) or raw fruit (cooking). This fruit is available throughout the year. All the plant parts are being used. Banana is monocotyledonous plant true stem is rhizome which is a modified form of stem fruit is seedless due to parthenocarpy and the development of fruit is due to auxin stimulation. India has more than 300 germplasms, out of 600 reported worldwide. Edible banana has arisen as a result of natural crosses between two wild progenitors viz,. Musa paradisiaca and Musa balbisiana. Banana is being grown in many of the African countries between 300 N and 500 S latitudes. Important countries are India (1st place).

Origin and history- Litchi is a popular subtropical evergreen fruit; the white translucent flavoured aril is liked very much and is used for table purpose in India. The fruits are available during May–June in northern India. China is the biggest producer of litchi followed by India. In India major litchi producing areas are Mujaffarpur, Bihar mountain area of Saharanpur, Dehradoon, Hoshiyarpur and Gurdaspur district of Punjab.

Soil and climate - It can be grown sandy to clay loam and it prefer slightly acidic soil having pH range from 6-6.5 it has been reported that in acidic soil litchi root develop Micorrhyza. Which symbiosis of root fungus and there by Nitrogen fixation take place in atmosphere.

Origin and history  : Aonla or Indian gooseberry is also known as Indian amla. Aonla is the tropical South eastern Asia particularly central and southern India. It is commercially grown in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. In Uttar Pradesh aonla cultivation is more popular in Pratapgarh, Mirzapur and Barely. It is very rich from nutritional point of view being next to Barbados cherry in terms of vitamin C content (500-750 mg/100g pulp)which is not oxidized due to presence of tannins and even it is least destroyed during storage. Besides, it has an excellent medicinal value. It can be grown successfully in arid climate and in the soils of higher pH and poor fertility wastelands.

Origin and history: Pineapple is considered as one of the most popular tropical fruit, and is known as “Golden Queen” all over the globe. It can be grown as mixed crop in most of the orchards and also as hedge plant and as a pure crop. It is drought tolerant and suitable for marginal lands. Pineapple contain an enzyme Bromeline and volatile compound three methyl propionate ester. It is widely cultivated throughout the world and country is like Malaya, Hawaii, Brazil, South Africa, Singapore, Mexico and India. In India it is cultivated in eastern part of the country like West Bengal, Assam, Manipur, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Origin and history: Guava (Amrud) is one of the most common fruits in India.  It is a very hardy sub-tropical plant and prolific bearer. In India, it is commonly called as “poor man’s apple” widely naturalized in the country. Allahabad has the reputation of growing the best guava in the country as well as in the world. Area wise guava comes under 4th position after Mango, Banana, Citrus, in India. Uttar Pradesh has the largest area fallowed by Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and West Bengal, however it is generally grown all over India and also grown in South Asia that is Srilanka, Myanmar and tropical and subtropical country. Beside Psidium guajava some other important species which are commercially grown for rootstock purpose that is :

Origin and history : Ber is an ancient fruit crop of India and is relished for its sweet and sour fruits. It is an ideal fruit tree for arid and semi arid regions in tropical and subtropical climate. It is highly suitable for marginal land and hot arid region. It is distributed in tropical and sub tropical country in the world, including China, Pakistan, Australia and France. In India the major growing states are Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh etc. In Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi, Aligarh, Ayodhya, and Agra are the major growing region. Beside mauritiana other important species like Zizyphus rotundifolia, Zizyphus numuleria, Zizyphus rugosa, Zizyphus xylopyrus, Zizyphus micropyla is also commercially grown for rootstock purpose.

Introduction: Grape is an important sub-tropical fruit crop in India. The plant of Vitaceae family divided into two important groups first is Euvitis which have 60 species; some important species which are commercially grown are i.e. Vitis vinifera, Vitis raperia, Vitis rupestris, Vitis labrausca and Vitis champini. Second group is Muscadiana and in this group the important crops are Muscadiana rotendifolia, Muscadiana popenoii and Muscadiana munsoniana. The chromosome number of this group is 2n = 40.

Origin and history: Mango is the king of fruits which is grown in India for over 400 years. More than 1000 varieties exist today. It grown in almost all state, India’s share is about 56% of total mango production in the world. Its production has been increasing since independent contributing 39.5% of total fruit production in India. Andhra Pradesh top in the production and Uttar Pradesh is top in area. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal and Gujarat together contribute for about 82% of total production. 

Climate and Soil: Mango thrives well in tropical and subtropical climate. High humidity, rainfall and frost during the flowering period is harmful. The favourable temperature for its cultivation is about 24-27^ºC however, it can tolerant to the temperature up to 48^ºC.

Importance of Post Harvest Technology

1.     Proper handling, packaging, transportation and storage reduce the post harvest losses of fruit and vegetables. For every one percent reduction in loss will save 5 million tons of fruit and vegetable per year.

2.     Processing and preservation technology helps to save excess fruit and vegetable during the glut season (off season).

3.     The technology has become a necessity to improve the food safety and strengthen nation’s food security.

4.     The technology helps to boost export of agricultural commodities in the form of preserved and value added products.

5.     Presently mango, pineapple, citrus, grapes, tomatoes, peas, potato and cucumber being processed on a large scale.

Pollination : Transfer of pollen grains from anther to stigma is termed as pollination.

1. Self pollination

When pollen grains from an anther fallen to stigma of same flower or same plant is called self pollination or autogamy. In other word when pollen and pistil are from the same plant, often (but not always) from the same flower. In other word when transfer of pollen grain from anther to stigma of a same flower or same plant is called as self pollination. In which development of seed by self pollination is known as autogamy it is the closest form of breeding. Autogamy leads to homozygosity such species develop homozygous balance and do not exhibit significant inbreeding depression several mechanisms which promote autogamy.

In an orchard all the fruit trees do not bear equally or regularly and sometimes fail to flower and fruit under similar conditions where another fruit tree bears heavily. This failure to set fruits may be attributed to unfruitfulness. To understand the problem of unfruitfulness in orchards a familiarity with following terms is necessary.

1.    Fruit setting: It refers to initial growth of ovary and its associated parts after blossoming and taking it to maturity.

2.    Fruitfulness: It is the state of plant when it is not only capable of flowering and fruit setting but also takes these fruits to maturity and inability to do so is unfruitfulness or barrenness.

3.    Infertility: Ability of a plant not only to produce fruits but develop viable seeds and the inability to do so is referred as sterility or infertility. All fertile plants are fruitful but all fruitful plants are not fertile (Seedless fruits).

4.    Self fruitfulness: Ability of a plant to mature fruits after self pollination.

Growth, Fruiting Habits and Methods for Inducing Fruitfulness in Fruit Crops

•    Every plant has two distinct phases of development namely vegetative and reproductive.

•    In the vegetative phase, the plant only vegetative growth i.e. leaves, shoots etc.,

•    In the reproductive phases the plant produces reproductive growth i.e. flowers and fruits.

•    In case of annuals, these phases occur for a short period, each phase occurring only once and that too within the same season.

•    In perennials, the vegetative phase lasts for several years depending upon the variety and species. This is known as the pre-bearing period.

•    Once the perennial tree completes its pre-bearing period, the cycle of vegetative and reproductive phases might occur in each season or the reproductive phase may occur simultaneously along with vegetative phase without much distinction between the two.