eChapters

Introduction and History

Niger, Guizotia abyssinica (L.f.) Cass. [Asteraceae] is commonly known as nigerseed [English]; noug, guizotia oléifère [French]; verbesina da Índia, abisin, negrillo, ramtilla [Spanish]; ramtil, nigersaat [Dutch]; [Amharic];[Chinese]; Ram-til[Hindi]; Gurellu [Kannada]; Verri-nuvvulu (Telugu) Karalle[Marathi] and Jhusetil [Nepali] Niger’s other synonym is Guizotia oleifera DC., Polynya abyssinica L. f.

Niger (Guizotia abyssinica (L. f.) Cass.) is an oilseed crop cultivated in Ethiopia and India for its edible oil. Niger plant is originated in highlands of Northern Ethiopia (Weiss, 2000). The crop is reported to have been introduced into India from Ethiopia during around2000BC. The Ancient Agau people of Ethiopia had a well-developed agriculture, who traded with Egypt which facilitated the exchange by barter that included Niger too (Weiss, 2000). Currently, Niger is an important oilseed crop of Ethiopia. Ground niger seeds and chillies are the main components of the traditional stew known as wat of Ethiopia. Niger is the most important oilseed crop of Ethiopia contributing to 50% of the country’s oilseed production. Although the crop is grown throughout the country, the main production centres are Begemdir, Gojam and Welaga (Weiss, 2000). Since the Ethiopian government actively supports the oilseed industry, production was on steady increase till 1974. With the fall in the production post-civil war in 1974, most of the niger produced is consumed domestically and the exports got dwindled.

3.1 INTRODUCTION

The chemistry of the soil is much more complex than can be represented simply by precipitation, adsorption, or exchange processes. The complexity arises from the time scale of soil chemical reactions in which the structure and dimensions, the extent and distribution of pores, and the content and mobility of water in them, interact immensely with the reaction chemistry. The fourth process adding to this complexity is the dissolution of native and reprecipitated soil constituents by percolating water containing solutes accumulated by natural processes or added by man. The fifth complicating factor compounding the time scale is that very often the resultants of soil chemical reactions are large complex molecules, occasionally polymeric, made up of several constituent groups or atoms. It is by no means clear which of the four processes participate in a chemical reaction and in which order. That a process reoccurs during a prolonged reaction is very likely.

Such complexities explain why no single model related rigorously to the retention and release of cations and anions, can provide a basis for a laboratory procedure to test and compare the chemical properties of soils. In this chapter, some of the soil reactions that are important to plant nutrition and pedological processes are discussed, principally those leading to relatively simple compounds accumulating in soil.

4.1 Introduction

Many important traits such as yield, quality and some forms of disease resistance are controlled by many genes and are known as quantitative traits or characters (also called ‘metric’,‘polygenic,’ ‘multifactorial’ or ‘complex’ traits). The regions within genomes that contain genes associated with a particular quantitative trait are known as quantitative trait loci (QTLs). The identification of QTLs based only on conventional phenotypic evaluation is not possible. A major breakthrough in the characterization of quantitative traits that created opportunities to select for QTLs was initiated by the development of DNA (also called molecular) markers in the 1980s.

One of the main uses of DNA markers in agri-horticultural research has been in the construction of linkage maps for diverse crop species. Linkage maps have been utilised for identifying chromosomal regions that contain genes controlling simple traits (controlled by a single gene) and quantitative traits using QTL analysis. The process of constructing linkage maps and conducting QTL analysis–to identify genomic regions associated with traits–is known as QTL mapping (also called ‘genetic,’ ‘gene’ or ‘genome’ mapping). DNA markers that are tightly linked to agronomically important genes (called gene ‘tagging’) may be used as molecular tools for marker-assisted selection (MAS) in plant breeding. MAS involves using the presence/absence of a marker as a substitute for or to assist in phenotypic selection, in a way which may make it more efficient, effective, reliable and cost-effective compared to the more conventional plant breeding methods. The use of DNA markers in plant (and animal) breeding has opened a new realm in agriculture and horticulture called ‘molecular breeding’.

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br. 2n = 2x = 14, grass family Poaceae, cross-pollinated and with C4 photosynthetic path-way) is the stable food for millions in the semi-arid tropics. It is adapted to drought and poor soil fertility. Pearl millet is a dependable nutritious source of food for millions in marginal agricultural areas. It is the world’s hardiest warm-season cereal crop. It can survive and produce grain even on the least fertile soils in the driest regions, on highly acidic and saline soils, and in the hottest climates. Pearl millet covers an estimated 31 million hectares worldwide with production of 30 million tons and productivity of almost 1 ton/ha and is grown in more than 30 countries located in the arid and semi-arid tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Insects are the most successful arthropods in animal kingdom. They are found in almost all habitats on earth except for the frozen polar environments at the highest altitudes and in the immediate vicinity of active volcanoes. They are the only invertebrate animal (animals without backbones) with wings. The success of insects on the planet is due to their ability to fly and rapidly colonize new habitats. The study of insects is called entomology and entomologists are those scientists who study about insects.

Sun’s radiation corresponding to that of a black body temperature is
about
(A) 50000 K           (B) 60000 K
(C) 70000 K           (D) 140000 K

Q. 1 In which of the following tractor components, the speed reduction takes place? 
(A) Gear box        (B) Differential
(C) Final drive       (D) All of the above

Soil pollution is defined as presence of xenobiotics (e.g. chemical compounds, radioactive elements) that alters the soil properties viz., both chemical, physical and biological properties of soil. Soil pollution, including heavy metals, may be of natural origin, like volcanic eruptions, atmospheric lightning, animal excrements or ore leaching. Nevertheless, human activity and mostly chemical industry, mining and metallurgy, as well as municipal waste management and traffic emissions are the main source of environmental pollution.

Abelia grandifolia Villarreal (Caprifoliaceae): Eng.- Glossy Abelia; Kash.– Abeel [NI]. A vigorous, arching, medium sized semi-evergreen shrub commonly grown in gardens for hedging. Leaves ovate, short petioled, entire, dark glossy-green. Flowers born in axillary cymes and terminal panicles, slightly fragrant, produced over a long period from June to October; sepals 2-5; corolla funnel form, white tinged pale- pink.

Introduction

• Agriculture with its allied activities is the largest sector in India with 70% dependency of its rural households for their livelihood and 82% of farmers in the country are small and marginal.
• Agriculture sector alone contributes about 14.5% towards gross domestic product (GDP) of India.
• Food grain production has experienced a considerable jump from about 51 million tonne during 1950 to 291.95 million tonne in 2019-20 as per second advance estimates. The production of horticulture products has doubled over the past quarter century and the value of global trade in horticulture crops now exceeds that of cereals. For the first time, horticulture production surpassed food production in India during 2013-14 and continues to excel currently.
• India is characteristically a country of small agricultural farms, where approximately 80% of total land holdings in the country are less than 2 ha (5 acres) with 30% irrigated land only.
• India produces wide variety of agricultural products because of its varied agro-climatic regions but low farm productivity is major concern, which is around 33% of the best agricultural farms world over. Indian farmers can get more remuneration from the same piece of land with fewer inputs, once the productivity gets increased.

Food grain production has experienced a considerable jump from about 51 million tonne during 1950 to 291.95 million tonne in 2019-20 as per second advance estimates. The production of horticulture products has doubled over the past quarter century and the value of global trade in horticulture crops now exceeds that of cereals. For the first time, horticulture production surpassed food production in India during 2013-14 and continues to excel currently.

Agriculture is the largest human activity in the world which depends on climatic parameters. Despite technological advances, such as improved crop varieties, genetically modified organisms, and irrigation systems, weather is still a key factor in agricultural productivity, as well as soil properties and natural communities.

The general systemic states are generalized in nature and involve whole body systems. They are common to many diseases and contribute to the pathogenesis
of the disease. Pathogenesis is defined as the changes in functioning at the cellular level and establishment of disease process. Hyperthermia,
hypothermia, fever, toxaemia, septicaemia, bacteraemia, shock, dehydration, acid-base imbalance, hyponatremia, hypokalemia etc. are some examples of
general systemic states.

The primary function of the digestive system include prehension of food material, its digestion, absorption, excretion of undigested material and
maintenance of internal environment. All the these functions are accomplished through the four major functions of the gastrointestinal system.

Pathogenesis of heart failure in animals and humans is a complex phenomenon. The major abnormality in heart failure is myocardial contractility failure, disturbances in rhythm and rate of the heart, disturbances of pre load and after load, forward failure, backward failure, fluid accumulation, RAAS activation, hypoperfusion of organs, oxidative stress, activation of proinflammatory cytokines etc.

Integrated farming system is a multidisciplinary whole farm approach, which enables the farmers to identify opportunities and threats and act accordingly. It is a dynamic approach which can be applied to any farming system around the world. It is very effective in solving the problems of small and marginal farmers.

Small millets such as foxtail millet, proso millet, finger millet, barnyard millet, kodo millet, fonio millet, teff and little millet and pseudo cereals such as buckwheat,quinoa, amaranth and cockscomb and chia are the oldest crops and staple food for millions of people around the world. Small millets and pseudo cereals are the main source of fodder and feed material for livestock.

Chia seed is an ancestral crop having fascinating history of 5500 years. It was the third most important grain of pre-columbian society. Chia seed is common name given to species of Salvia. Salvia hispanica, Salvia columbariae and Salvia polystachya are most important species among all Salvia seeds. Salvia belongs to family of Lamiaceaeis, first native to Mexico and later introduced to Spain by Hernan Cortes (Ortiz de Montellano, 1978), but in next 200 years 17 chia became virtually unknown to human and required research to establish the nutritional aspects of chia and reintegrate as food in modern diet.

The word market is derived from the latin word “marcatus” which means “merchandise or trade or a place where business is conducted “. The term market has been widely used in various means, such as:

• A place or a building where commodities are bought and sold (e.g. Super market)

Confectionery is an vital food item of great acceptance among wide range of population. It has been relished as a major food delicacy from ancient times. The term confectionery is describes a spectrum of sweet goods and takes on different meaning depending on the country in which it is used, for example in the United Kingdom the term applies to any sweet product including cakes. In the United States confectionery is candy and includes sugar confectionery and chocolate confectionery.

1.1. Origin and distribution

• Centre of origin is Central Asia, the Near East, Ethiopia and the Mediterranean
• There are two sub-species
  • Pisum sativum sub. sp hortense, the garden pea
  • Pisum sativum sub. sp arvense, the field pea

Agrobiodiversity is a key resource for humanity. All of the food retirements humanity depends on are fulfilled by agrobiodiversity. Not only this, fodder, fiber, firewood, and many other basic needs of humankind are also met by agrobiodiversity. Human’s dependence on agriculture - not only for survival and sustenance but also for socioeconomic progress, maintenance and celebration of cultural ethos, physical, intellectual, emotional, ethical, and aesthetic development, and psychological contentment and happiness - is inevitable.

Agrobiodiversity is critical for food security for the entire humanity as well as for the food sovereignty of a country. If we are to usher in a sustainable future - that is, a future to be witnessed by healthy, vibrant, and happy humanity (Singh 2019) - there is no choice other than protecting, conserving, and augmenting agrobiodiversity.

Joana et al.(2016) have written a critical review on biofilms and have discussed newer methods to study biofilms. These have given a deep knowledge on the physiology, structure and composition of biofilms. More polar amino acids were present in ABPs but QSPs were made up of higher number of neutral amino acids.This helps in recognition. Web application WebLogo help in generating sequence logos (Crooks et al., 2004). The uncharged polar amino acid is present at the first, third and fifth positions.The basis of SVM model is on the amino acid composition of the peptides. The Weka model is based on selected eight inputs which is trained on the NT5 dataset and is accurate, sensitive and specific.Peptide drugs are FDA approved and a total of 242 sequences of biotech peptides/proteins are available at the Drug Bank database. To identify potential anti-biofilm activity for characterization the peptide sequences are submitted on the module of dPABBs. The prediction outcomes are displayed under the ‘Putative ABPs’ section(http://ab-openlab.

 

Important Points

• A farmer with limited funds may operate in a range of increasing returns to capital is however, not an irrational producer.
• A firm is a particular business firm.
• A higher rate of accumulation of capital relative to the rate of population growth adds to the real stock of capital of a nation.
• A profit maximizing farmer will maximize the output for given level of outlay.
• An isolation curve is negatively inclined.

 

Appendix - 1:
Physical Properties of Seed – bed / Puddled Soil

Tillage is the process of getting the soil ready for planting and maintaining it loose and weed-free while the crop is growing.  The main goal and core function of tillage are broken down into three phases:

1. Creating a suitable seedbed,
2.  Eliminating weed competition, and
3.  Enhancing the physical quality of the soil.

Remotely gathered data are available from a range of sources and data collection techniques is often one type of tool that is not always found within the public domain easily. This is larger due to the fact that most of the data are acquired by equipment is expensive to build and maintain. However, there are many types of basic imagery, high-quality imageries are readily available widely at subsidized costs, particularly the purpose intented.

The world’s greatest source of cow and buffalo diversity is India, and countries like Australia, South Africa, Latin America, and the USA employ Indian cattle breeds to grow their livestock industries. The number of cattle in the nation represents 17% of all cattle in the world. 22-25% of the Indian cow population is made up of the best native milk, draught, and dual-purpose animal genetics. The majority of local cattle breeds are excellent drafters. Native livestock breeds are clearly superior in their use of subpar feed, have better heat tolerance, and greater resistance to tropical diseases.

Potato is one of the major non cereal food crops in the world and ranks fourth after rice, wheat and maize. Due to its high production potential per unit area and time, the crop has been recorded for sustaining millions of lives during the times of war and hunger. Native of South America, this crop was introduced into India in
early seventieth century. Currently India ranks 3rd for area and 2nd for production in the world [AICRP (Potato) Bulletin No. 2].

Introduction

Entrepreneurship has a significant impact on the country’s economic growth and standard of living. As a start-up founder or small business owner, the person contributes not only towards oneself but also towards the local community, state, region, and country. Starting a new venture requires resources and facilities. Small scale enterprises generally find it difficult to have these resources and facilities of their own. Adequate finance is life and blood to start and run enterprises as it facilitates an entrepreneur to have enough funds to procure land, labour, materials, plant, machinery etc. Recognizing it, the government has come forward to support small entrepreneurs by providing them funds and other needed facilities.

8.1 Introduction

Common onion, Allium cepa L., is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. It has been cultivated for more than 5000 years. However, its wild species do not exist. Allium is a Greek word. Onion is native of Central Asia. According to Vavilov onion originated in Pakistan, however, others opined it to have domesticated in the mountainous regions of Central Asia comprising Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and north Iran. Jones and Mann proposed the area comprising Pakistan and Iran or South East Asia as the centre of origin. Onion is very important in cookery. 

1. Introduction

Membranes separation processes have gained widespread applications in food industry. High selectivity of membrane has been exploited for separating a particular component from complex liquid food mixture and for controlled release of active ingredients like preservatives or flavor compounds. Today, a number of chemical processes utilizing the unique properties of membrane have been developed for commercial application in food industry with specific advantage of low energy requirement. Membrane separation/molecular sieving is one among those food engineering principals which has found broad range of applications including concentration of heat labile compounds, recovery of solvent, downstream processing, flavor volatile recovery, deacidification, desalination, waste water treatment etc

Study of Carpentry Hand Tool

Introduction

The process of making the wooden components is called carpentry. Carpentry deals with the mechanical work of making wood components such as making beds, roofs, wardrobes, tables, cases, utensils, floors, etc. It manages the structure work, furniture, cabinet making and so on joinery, i.e., preparation of joints is one of the significant activities in all wood works.

The products produced are used in making furniture, musical instruments, and building constructions like doors, windows, desks, chairs, cupboards, etc., of a place utilizing a specific kind of wood with the help of tools known as carpentry tools. Different wooden pieces are connected to make a useful product. Wood is used to make furniture, boxes, doors, windows, industrial floors, stairs, pencils etc.

Introduction

Welding is a fabrication process in which two or more materials or metal pieces are joined or fused with the application of heat, pressure, or both allowing them to cool and this causes fusion. Besides the work piece, a filler material is also sometimes added to the joint to form a pool of molten material that cools to form a joint based on welding and that will be stronger than the parent metal.

Arc Welding and its Types

It is a process of joining two metals using an electric current generated by the power supply, which gives the required amount of heat to metal pieces through which the metals melt and when the metal cools, which results in the binding of the two metals. In the case of this type of welding, the power supply is given, which creates an electric arc between the electrode and the metal rod. Both A.C. or D.C. power supplies can be used in arc welding and both consumable and non-consumable rods can be used.

Introduction

It is considered to be one of the most ancient machine tools, having evolved from the early tree lathe, which was a new mechanism for turning and milling items held between two nearby trees at the time. The job rotated sporadically due to a rope wound around the work, with one end linked to a flexible limb of a tree and the other end being pulled by a worker. Then hand tools were employed.

The machine was given the name “lathe” when a strip of wood called “lath” was used to support the rope during its construction. This technology evolved over centuries, and in 1797, an Englishman named Henry Maudslay invented the first screw-cutting lathe, which is the ancestor of today’s high-speed, heavy-duty production lathe.

9.1. Introduction

In a fast-paced world, demand for pre-cooked, fresh-like, and convenient products without preservatives is increasing. This demand has triggered the need for better alternative packaging materials for food products like MAP (Modified Atmosphere Packaging), CAP (Controlled Atmosphere Packaging), edible packaging, biodegradable packaging, etc. Packaging plays a crucial role in transport, distribution, storage, retailing, and end-use, a means of ensuring safe delivery to the ultimate consumer in sound conditions at optimum cost. It performs the functions depicted in Fig.1 for both fresh as well as processed products (Opara et al., 2007; Opara, 2009).

5.1 Jute Seed Production

Jute ranks secand next to cotton as the most important natural fibre and it recognized as the ‘golden fibre’. Its products being biodegradable and environment friendly in contrast to synthetic substitutes, a renewed interest in this natural fibre has been generated in the recent past throughout the world. Important characteristics of jute fibre are its silky lustures, high tensile strength, low extensibility, considerable heat resistance. Because of its great abundance and shortage of cotton, jute is blended with cotton and jute/cotton blended yarns are produced mainly to take advantage of the lower price of jute fibre (Doraiswamy et al, 1998). Several diversified product is also made from jute. Since currently the paper industry has been using it as a raw material for paper. It is also being used in geotextile. The jute sticks are largely used as fuel and also for making gun powder.

Agriculture nowadays is facing a complex problem. It’s the rate at which we are turning arable land into non-arable. To solve this problem, we cannot simply stop farming and wait for the Earth to return to its natural state. Hence, alternative farming methods have become increasingly popular in recent years. Hydroponics is one of these options that can help produce crops without soil and other resources needed for crops to grow.

2.1 Definitions

Hydroponics is the term for growing plants without soil and in a water-based solution, the roots may be physically supported by an inert medium such as perlite, gravel, or other substrates. While it can be used to grow all kinds of crops, hydroponics is particularly effective for growing leafy vegetables, herbs and salad greens that have high water requirements, as well as for growing plants that have very shallow root systems. 

Introduction

The Eastern India Region comprising of Eastern UP (8.67 Mha), Bihar (9.41 Mha), Jharkhand (7.97 Mha), West Bengal (8.87 Mha), Assam (7.84 Mha), Odisha (15.57 Mha), and Chhattisgarh (13.51 Mha) occupies about 21.8% of the country’s geographical area. Endowed with plenty of natural resources, the Eastern Region of India states has not yet been able to harness its potential adequately in terms of improving agricultural productivity, poverty alleviation and livelihood improvement. Of the total geographical area of 71.84 M ha, the net cultivated area in the region is 31.21 Mha with a cropping intensity of 150%. The total food grain production from the region is 86.71 million tonnes (31.5% of the total production of India) during 2016-17. There is a large gap between potential and productivity of major field crops, livestock, fisheries, etc. in the region.

Soil Colloids A colloid, also known as colloidal solution or colloidal system, is a mixture in which finely divided particles (less than 1µm in size) known as dispersed phase are suspended in a medium, called dispersion medium. The particles must be dispersed in a medium and both the dispersed phase and dispersion medium may be solid, liquid or gaseous which leads to numbers of possible colloidal systems. In soil, the clay fraction (< 2µm in size) together with finer fractions of some organic matter forms the composition in a state of colloidal nature, known as soil colloids. The soil solids as dispersed phase predominates in the dispersion medium (soil solution). As such, colloids in a soil are referred to as ‘sol’. Clay colloids display the most reactive fractions of soil governing their distinct properties such as adsorption and exchange of ions, zeta potential, flocculation and other electrokinetic phenomenon.

The utilization of biomass presents a promising avenue for addressing the challenges of resource scarcity, waste management, and environmental sustainability. This book chapter delves into the multifaceted applications of biomass, with a particular focus on the processing of straw, a versatile agricultural residue. From providing essential bedding material for animals and enhancing agricultural practices to playing a pivotal role in horticulture, cushioning, mulching, and composting, this chapter examines the diverse roles that processed straw assumes. Furthermore, it explores its significance in paper and cardboard manufacturing and its emergence as a renewable fuel source, underscoring how thoughtful biomass utilization paves the way toward a more environmentally conscious and resilient future.

Transforming organic materials, such as agricultural residues, food waste, or biomass, into valuable bio-based products is crucial for waste management. This process, called biochemical conversion, employs various enzymatic, microbial, or chemical reactions to break down complex organic compounds into simpler molecules like sugars, fatty acids, and amino acids. These intermediates can then be further processed into biofuels, pharmaceuticals, and other bio-derived materials, making this process promising for sustainable energy and resource management. Biochemical conversion typically includes pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentation, and purification. It offers a sustainable alternative to conventional fossil fuel-based production methods, reducing environmental impacts and dependence on non-renewable resources.

A large number of herbicides are currently available in the market hence selection of suitable herbicide needs judicious understanding of the product and the requirement. When large number of chemical options are available it can make the process of selection a bit confusing. So it is important to know the crops in which a herbicide can be used, the weeds it will control, the appropriate rate, adjuvants included in the formulation. The different uses of the chemical and the different situations for which it will be useful. In addition to these it is important to understand the mode of action of the herbicide and also the mechanism of action of the chemical.

Introduction

Soil is a non-renewable resource that sustains life, providing ecosystem services such as biomass production, contaminants filtration, raw material supply, nutrient, and hydrological cycle (Panagos et al., 2020). It contributes about 95% to global food production (Borrelli et al., 2020). Soil is a major global biodiversity pool and a large carbon pool on Earth. Therefore, it plays a crucial role in regulating energy and mass flow and their transfer between the biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere (Ferreira et al., 2021). Climate change and unsustainable management practices are threatening the soil’s natural capital resulting in soil degradation occurring simply from erosion to contamination and leading the soil to completely unproductiveness under severe conditions, leading to food insecurity (Ashoka et al., 2017; Syed et al., 2022)

1. Indian Major carps belongs to which family?

 a) Cobitidae

c) Ariidae

b) Cyprinidae

 d) Clupeidae

2. Body of carps is covered by which scales?

 a) Placoid

b) Ganoid

 c) Cycloid

3. Family cyprinidae includes......

 a) Catla catla

c) Cirrhina mrigala

d) Ctenoid

 b) Labeo rohita

 d) All of these

4. Selection criteria for cultivable fish includes .........

 a) It should have a fast growth rate

 b) It should be a hardy and resistant to disease

 c) Its flesh should be tasteful and with high nutritive value

 d) All of these

5. Why carps are suitable for culture?

 a) They can tolerate low oxygen content

 b) They have fast growth rate

 c) They feed on plankton,decaying weeds and debris

 d) All of these

Correlation

In a statistical analysis, when two variables are studied simultaneously, then it is called “Bivariate study’. Now, in a bivariate study, if it is found that change in the values of one variable then in sympathy with the change in the values of other variable, then these two variables are said to be associated and the association is termed as correlation. In other words, the term correlation indicates the relationship between two such variables in which with changes in the values of one variable, the values of the other variable also change. In short, the tendency of simultaneous variation between two variables is called correlation.

Types of Correlation

Correlation can be classified by-

• Positive and Negative correlation: The correlation may be classified according to the direction of change in the two variables. In this regard, correlation may be either positive or negative. Positive correlation refers to the movement of variables in the same direction. Negative correlation efers to the movement of variables in the opposite direction.

• Simple, Partial and Multiple correlations: When only two variables are studied it is a problem of simple correlation. When three or more variables are studied simultaneously, it is a problem of multiple correlations. On the other hand, in partial correlation we recognize more than two variables, but consider only two variables to be influencing each other the effect of other influencing variables being kept constant.

• Linear and non-linear correlations: In linear correlation for every unit change in the values of one variable, there is constant change in the value of other variable. The perfect positive and negative correlations are also linear correlations. In non-linear correlation the change in the values of one variable does not have a constant ratio to the change in the other variable.

3.1 Land Use and Land Cover Analysis

Concept and Importance: Understanding the significance of land use and land cover analysis in watershed management for assessing spatial patterns of human activities and natural ecosystems.

Land use and land cover analysis is a fundamental tool in watershed management, providing valuable insights into the spatial patterns of human activities and natural ecosystems within watersheds. Here's an exploration of the concept and importance of land use and land cover analysis in watershed management:

a. Concept: Land use refers to the human activities and practices conducted on the land, including residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, recreational, and conservation activities. Land cover, on the other hand, refers to the physical and biological features of the land surface, including vegetation, water bodies, bare soil, impervious surfaces, and artificial structures. Land use and land cover analysis involves mapping, classifying, and quantifying the spatial distribution and temporal changes of different land use and land cover types within watersheds using remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and field surveys.

b. Significance: Land use and land cover analysis is essential for watershed management due to its significance in understanding the interactions between human activities and natural processes, assessing environmental impacts, and guiding land management decisions. Key reasons for the importance of land use and land cover analysis in watershed management include:

Fruits and vegetables are perishables and the post-harvest losses from the point of production at the farm gate till it reaches the consumers is estimated as 30-35 per cent which constitute a major economic drain of more than 33 billion USD equivalent to Rs 2,40,000 crores annually. In order to reduce the losses at various stages, nanotechnologies have come as potential strategies to minimize the losses while improving the marketability and profitability of perishables. One of the plants derived natural compounds “hexanal” which is known to extend the shelf-life of fruits when it is used as a pre-harvest spray or post-harvest dip as a nano-emulsion. Since, it is a highly volatile compound, efforts were undertaken to entrap the compound in the polymer-based nano f ibres (as nano stickers) or as a cyclodextrin inclusion complex (as nano pellets) in order to preserve the perishables. Further, hexanal vapour was also evaluated to preserve fruits. In this book chapter, various nanotechnologies tested, evaluated and technologies developed over the years are elucidated. Overall, the literature review suggests that use of any of the nanotechnologies delivered as pre-harvest spray, post-harvest dip, nano-stickers, nano-pellets and vapour singly or in combination found to reduce the infestation of post harvest diseases, minimize the losses and extended shelf-life by 2-3 weeks that help the farmers to get lucrative prices due to the late arrival in the market besides significantly improve the productivity and profitability of orchards.

Causes and Mechanism
I. External Causes/ Extrinsic Causes
1. Physical Causes
1. Trauma by cutting objects and blunt objects
2. Electrical – Lightning, high frequency current
3. Heat -Sun stroke, burns, fever
4. Cold Local tissue freezing, cold shock
5. Radiation
UV / X /cosmic radiations
6. Pressure
Increased or decreased pressure