eChapters

The use of seed processing equipments helps in improving the seed quality by inducing uniformity of physical properties of seeds. This help in achieving optimum plant population and desired economic yield. In certain crops like soya bean, standard seed processing may not give desired seed quality because of sensitivity towards moisture. As general practice seed need to be dried to its safe moisture content of 9 before processing. But in case of soya bean lower seed moisture may result higher mechanical damage after standard seed processing. Drier seed are more vulnerable for mechanical damage. In this practical w try to explore the importance of moisture in seed processing and also need of alternative processing equipments like spiral graders to minimize mechanical damage.

This practical in continuation of the practical no.10 explore the effects of screen sizes on different varieties. The screen sizes vary not with crops but with varieties also. To know the effect of screen sizes among the varieties we need to take the top and middle screens as standard or as recommended. These methods can be applied to any crop and to different varieties.

Seed size is an important parameter of seed vigor as it in influences the performance of seed in soil. Seed bulk at harvest contains a wide range of seed sizes but these may not all be of equal value for sowing. Farmers have always realized the necessary of using uniform seeds for good viability to obtain high emergence and growth. This will also help in getting optimum plant population and higher yields.
 
The influence of seed size on seedling vigor and crop productivity has already been proven since the days Hannaford who was considered as father of seed processing. To achieve uniformity in seed size this optimum sieve/screen size is very critical for optimum seed recovery and economical seed yield. Though the screen sizes are standardized for different crops but vary with different varieties. The shop floor should continuously explore and fine tune screen sizes for different varieties.

9.1 Magnetic seed separator

These machines use a magnetic force to separate damaged seeds or other particles from the good seeds. This is used to solve special problems in seed lots that can not be taken out with our other basic seed cleaning equipment. Most of the time it is used for vegetable and field seeds that have problems in seed damage (fish mouth in cucumber or melon seeds / cracked radish or cabbage seeds), insect damage (beetle holes in cotton seeds) or contamination with soil or plant parts (white plant parts in onion seed) etc.

The processing operations are carried out based on the principle of physical differences found in a seed lot.

Mechanical damage is inflicted on seeds during harvesting, threshing drying, processing and handling. Injury may occur from any kind of physical abuse. Threshing abuse probably is most serious but, seed conditioning and handling also contribute to seed injury. High temperatures during drying or drying too quick or excessively can cause injury. Susceptibility to mechanical injury increases as the moisture content of the seed decreases. Effect of all individual impacts received by the seed appears to be cumulative in total seed damage. Cereals are largely immune to mechanical injury presumably because of the protective outer structures, the palea and lemma. Large sized legumes are more suscepitable. Small seeds tend to escape injury during harvest and seeds that are spherical tend to suffer less damage than elongated or irregularly shaped ones.

Methods in Seed Blending

For good seed blending there are three methods and details of which given as below:

The physical properties of seeds are a basic activity for designing processing equipments and precision planters. Since these characters vary with crop or variety, one needs to have the data handy to be used on shop floor. This data also helps to quantify processing efficiency, presence of dormancy and suitability for seed treatments for all existing and new crops or varieties.

Seed processing is specialized activity and also a tool to improve seed quality further to an acceptable standard. Seed quality parameters like germination, vigour or genetic purity can be improved using processing. Say a seed lot having a minimum standard of 90% germination, but the competition in the market offering seed quality 92 or 95 % then to meet the market demand we can process the seed lots using re-milling or re-conditioning techniques. Also sometimes simple techniques like liquid density separation which uses specific density of the seed to separate good seed from inferior quality can be considered.

1.1 Problem
    1.    Compare the seed quality at different physiological maturity stages
    2.    Compare the seed recovery in acid and fermentation method

1.2 Materials
    ·    Tomato fruits – 4 batches
    ·    Plastic bucket/ Beaker
    ·    Water

Visit to a seed processing unit and attending the following questionnaire to know firsthand information on operations of shop floor

Toxic elements like Cadmium (Cd), Fluoride (F), heavy metals, radioactive metals are associated with mainly rock phosphates, other organic wastes like sewage sludge and pollutants. Their chemistry is similar to plant nutrients and replace them in their physiology leading to reduced uptake of nutrients, productivity and contaminated food chain.

The requirement of micronutrients is always in low amounts while their moderate decrease causes the deficiency symptoms and a moderate increase causes toxicity. In other words, there is a narrow range of concentration at which the elements are optimum. Any mineral ion concentration in tissues that reduces the dry weight of tissues by about 10 per cent is considered toxic. Such critical concentrations vary widely among different micronutrients. The toxicity symptoms are difficult to identify. Toxicity levels for any element also vary for different plants. Many a times, excess of an element may inhibit the uptake of another element.

Plant nutrients are naturally components of the soil orchestrated by weathering processes and that the abundance of these metals in our soil environment now-a-days is due to numerous anthropogenic activities. In the environment, heavy metals are partitioned among the various environmental compartments such as water, soil, suspended solids and biota. Processes such as dilution, dispersion, sedimentation, adsorption and desorption govern their distribution. They also exist in colloidal ionic particulate and dissolved phases,  have a high affinity for humic acids, organic colloids and oxides coated with organic matter. The soluble forms are generally ions or unionised organo metallic chelates or complexes. The solubility of metals in soil and groundwater is predominantly controlled by pH, amount of metal, cation exchange capacity, organic carbon content, the oxidation state of the mineral components and the redox potential of the system.

Use of biofertilizers in agriculture and their advantage
 
Bio-fertilizers or bio-inoculants

These are productions containing living organisms such as nitrogen fixers or phosphorus solubilises which are useful for agricultural production. Biofertilizers play a significant role in improving soil fertility and plant growth. By fixing atmospheric nitrogen both in association with plants and without plants solubilize insoluble soil phosphates into soluble phosphates there by increasing the availability of phosphorus secrete growth promoting substances and supplies to the inoculated plants.

Fertilizer (Control) Order, 1985 which is administered by Deptt.of Agriculture Cooperation, Govt. of India has been issued under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. The FCO lays, down as to what substances qualify for use as fertilizers in the soil, product-wise specifications, methods for sampling and analysis of fertilizers, procedure for obtaining license/registration as manufacture/dealer in fertilizers and conditions to be fulfilled for trading thereof, etc.

Methods of fertilizer application

Two major methods are used to apply fertilizers  
I) Application of fertilizers in solid form 
II) Application of fertilizers in liquid forms

Fertilizer

Fertilizers are defined as materials having definite chemical composition with a high analytical value that supply essential plant nutrients in available form. They are usually manufactured by industries and sold with a trade name. They are commonly synthetic in nature and also called as chemical fertilizers/inorganic fertilizers/commercial fertilizers other than lime and gypsum. Most of the chemical fertilizers are inorganic in nature.

Soil fertility evaluation is conducted for providing an adequate supply of essential plant nutriens to ensure optimum plant productivity, while maximising economic benefits and minimising environmental degradation.
 
Mathematical modelling of nutrient application

The significance of an essential plant nutrient was contained in the Liebig’s law of minimum.

Methods of soil fertility evaluation          
    I.    Nutrient deficiency symptoms on plants  
    II.    Plant analysis
    III.    Biological tests   
    IV.    Soil testing
    V.    Spectral sensing for site specific evaluation

Fertilizers are applied to supplement nutrient requirement of the crop. It should not be looked as a substitute to organic sources. After determination of nutrient requirement of a crop fora given yield and contribution of nutrients from different sources, articularly, from the soil source, it is necessary to supplement the balance from the inorganic sources. These are determined by field experimentation supplemented by pot-culture, laboratory and green housestudies, if necessary. When a fertilizer is applied all of its nutrient (s) are not absorbed by the crop. The interactions between soil-crop-season and other factors are quite significant. Only a fraction of the nutrient(s) is utilized by the crop.

The objective of nutrient use is to increase the overall performance of cropping systems by providing economically optimum nourishment to the crop while minimizing nutrient losses from the field and supporting agricultural system sustainability through contributions to soil fertility or other soil quality components. NUE addresses some but not all aspects of that performance. The most valuable NUE improvements are those contributing most to overall cropping system performance. Therefore, management practices that improve NUE without reducing productivity or the potential for future productivity increases are likely to be most valuable. An excellent review of NUE measurements and calculations was written by Dobermann (2007). Table  is a summary of common NUE terms, as defined by Dobermann, along with their applications and limitations. The primary question addressed by each term and the most typical use of the term are also listed below.

Definitions of IPNM 
Concept of IPNM 
Main objectives of INM 
Components of IPNM

Alkali soil
 
Alkali soils are those that contain measurable amounts of soluble salts mostly as carbonates and bicarbonates of sodium. 

    1.    Salt affected soils;
    2.    Classification of salt affected soils; 
    3.    Formation of salt affected soils; 

    1.    Acid soil
    2.    Causes of soil acidity   
    3.    Problem of soil acidity 
    4.    Management or Amelioration of soil acidity 
        a.    Lime requirement (LR): 
        b.    Liming reaction in soils      
        c.    Benefits of liming on acidic soils 
    5.    Calcareous soil  
    6.    Formation, characteristics & management of calcareous soil 

Organic matter and its composition 
Decomposition  
Types microorganisms involved 
Enzymes involved in decomposition process?

N-Transformation and availability in soils     
    a.    N-Cycle 
    b.    N transformation in  soils 
Phosphorus transformation & availability in soils: 
    a.    P-Cycle 
    b.    P transformation in soils 
K-transformations& availability in soils: 
    a.    K-Cycle 
    b.    K-Transformations

The following graph is a visual representation of how plant growth and/or yield is affected by nutrient concentrations

Terminology

    ·    Nutrient: Nutrients are substances required by an organism for their normal     growth and reproduction. 
    ·    Plant Nutrient: The plant nutrient is a “food” which is composed of certain chemical elements often referred to as ‘plant nutrient’ or plant food elements considered very essential for growth and development of plants. 
    ·    Nutrition: The supply and absorption of chemical compounds needed for growth and metabolism of an organism.

Soil fertility -importance

From edaphological point of view soil is a medium for plant growth. It holds and nourishes the plants. Soil fertility refers to the ability of soil to supply plant nutrients. Soil fertility and fertilizers are very much closely related terms; and cannot be neglected one from the other in their function. Soil fertility acts as a ‘SINK’ where in plants can draw nutrients for maximum productivity, where as fertilizer, acts as a ‘SOURCE’ wherein we can apply continuously different nutrients. The importance of soil fertility and nutrient 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 and high yielding seeds have no doubt increased the food production and reduced the food shortage but it has also ushered in innumerable 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 micronutrients deficiencies specially Zn, B and Mo is taking place. Further deforestation, shifting cultivation, burning of crop residues, trees, bushes, grasses and cow dung, soil erosion, nutrient losses and imbalanced nutrient application, leaching losses etc., have aggravated the depletion of soil fertility status. The productivity of Indian agriculture solely depends on scientific management of soil fertility along with judicious and efficient use of fertilizers integrated with organic sources.

Black pepper is popularly known as ‘King of spices’, it is the dried berry of the pepper vine, so important in the International Trade Market. The crop has its origin in the tropical rain forests of Western Ghats of India.  Kerala is the leading State in the production of black pepper with the ubiquitous presence of this crop in coconut, arecanut and coffee plantations. Chief pepper producing countries are Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

Coconut is the most important palm of the wet tropics as a  major source of vegetable oil which also provides food, health drink, medicine, shelter, fuel, timber and fibre.  Because of its versatile nature, it is eulogised as ’Tree of Heaven’, ‘Tree of Life’, Kalpavriksha, Tree of Abundance, Natures supermarket and king of palms.  Oil is extracted from dried endosperm  which is called ‘copra’. The unopened flowering spathe, on tapping process, yields a delicious sap (Coconut Inflorescence Sap) rich in sugars and vitamin B, is called toddy from which sugar syrup and many products can be extracted.  An intoxicating drink called arrack can be prepared by distilling fermented toddy. The hard endocarps of fruits supply fuel and charcoal and mesocarp yields fibre for coir industry. Leaves are used for thatching houses.  Young unopened leaves are used to decorate festive places.

Onion is one of the most important commercial vegetable crops grown all over India. Onions are bulbous, biennial, herbaceous and are typically grown as annual, which give off a distinctive and pungent odour when the tissues are crushed. Characteristic pungency and flavour in onion are due to a volatile sulphur compound, allyl-propyl disulphide. This organo sulphur compound has potential for anticarcinogenic secondary metabolites. Pungency varies with cultivar, growing condition, stage of maturity and storage conditions.

It is such a unique vegetable, used throughout the year in the form of salad or condiment or for cooking with other vegetables. Onions are used for flavour, aroma and taste in preparation of vegetables and used in the form of dehydrated, freezing, canning and pickling. Onion salt is prepared by dehydration and used in flavouring.

Tomato, the ‘Apple of Love’ or ‘Golden Apple’ is one of the most popular, widely grown and highly praised vegetable in the world. In India, commonly referred as ‘Poor Man’s Orange’, has wider coverage in comparison to other vegetables. Tomato universally treated as ‘Protective Food’, is eaten raw or cooked or in processed form (soup, juice, ketchup, puree, paste and powder, green tomato - pickles and preserves) or it supplies vitamin C and adds variety of colours and flavours to food. It is a very good source of income to small and marginal farmers and contributes to nutrition of consumers. Tomato seed contains 24% oil used as salad oil and in manufacture of margarine. By virtue of its many attributes, it is considered as a favourite crop for research in physiology and cytogenetics, all over the world. Tomato is also rich in medicinal value. The pulp and juice are digestible, mild aperient, a promoter of gastric secretion and blood purifier. Tomato, a primary source of lycopene, showed significant association with low prostate cancer risk and cancers of digestive tract. It is one of the best vegetables which keeps our stomach and intestine in good condition. Tomato juice has become an exceedingly popular appetizer and beverage.

Citrus is the world’s leading tree fruit crop, comprising of mandarins, sweet oranges, grape fruit, limes and lemons. It is one of the most important fruit crops grown under varying agroclimatic conditions in India except in the high hilly temperature regions. Mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata) is the most important commercial citrus in India followed by sweet oranges and acid limes. Citrus fruits are not only delicious and refreshing but also they provide vitamins, minerals and other substances. Different species of Citrus have different chemical composition. In sweet oranges, principal constituents of edible portions are sugars (glucose + sucrose) and acids (primarily citric acid and a little of malic acid), the fruits of acid groups contain primarily acids in fruit juice. Rind of citrus fruits is rich in pectin and contains essential oils and glucosides (hesperidin, naringin). Citrus fruits are a good source of vitamin C (ascorbic acid - 25 to 85 mg/100 ml juice), besides vitamin B, A and D. World-wide demand of orange is as fresh fruits, but orange marmalade is an important product and is one of the main uses of sour and sweet oranges. Grape fruit and mandarins are also taken as fresh fruits. Citrus fruit can be utilized in a number of other ways as salads, juices, squashes, cocktails, syrup, concentrates and pickles. Peel of thick-rinded fruits can also be made to delicious candy. Lemon is used in many culinary purposes. Grape fruit is utilized in preparation of wines and brandies and also for flavour and in perfumery.

Mango occupies a pre-eminent place amongst the fruit crops grown in India and is acknowledged as the ‘King of Fruits’. Mango is the pride of the garden and one of the choicest fruits known to mankind. Mango possesses unique nutritional and medicinal qualities apart from being a rich source of vitamins A and C. Young and unripe fruits are utilized for culinary purposes, preparing pickles, chutneys because of their acidic taste as well as for extraction of tannin and other astringent products. Ripe fruits are a delicacy for the table and are utilized in preparing squash, juices, nectar, jam, cereal flakes, custard powder, baby food, mango leather and toffee. Canned mango slices and pulp are indeed very popular. The inside kernel of the stone being rich in carbohydrates, calcium and fat, can be used as a source of food for certain industrial purposes.

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the most important vegetable crops cultivated in the world. It is used as raw in salads and also used as cooked vegetable in the preparation of curries. Processed items such as tomato puree, ketchup, pickle, chutney, whole peeled tomatoes and tomato powder are also consumed considerably. It is a rich source of Vitamins A & C. Lycopene and other flavonoids in tomato serve as good source of antioxidants. Tomato occupies 5 million hectares with a productivity of 34t/ha. in the world. In India it is cultivated in an area of 0.88 million hectares with productivity of 21 t/ha.

Mango (Mangifera indica L), the king of fruits, is cultivated throughout a wide range of frost-free climates (Litz 1998). It is commercially the most important fruit crop of India, accounting for more than 54% of the total mango production worldwide. The fruit of mango (Mangifera indica L.) is exceptional for its juicy, succulent, thick fruit pulp and nutrient abundance in terms of wide range of amino acids, sugars, organic acids, minerals including Ca, P, Fe, and K and vitamins. Out of several diseases which attack mango crop, mango malformation disease is a serious threat to its cultivation since it causes gross deformation of the vegetative and floral tissues (Ploetz et al., 2002; Kumar et al., 2011). Floral malformation is a major problem in mango, rendering mango cultivation unproductive in northern India and other regions of the world (Pandey et al., 1977; Ram, 1991).

Methylene-cyclo-propyl-glycine (MCPG), is a cyclopropyl derivative, grouped into the amino acids that have been isolated from the higher plants (Fowden, 1960). MCPG was identified to be closely related to two other cyclopropyl derivatives (Fig. 1), 1-aminocyclopropane – 1 – carboxylic acid from Vacciniumvitis-idaea and perry pears (Vahatalo and Viertanen, 1957; Burroughs, 1957) and â- methylenecyclopropyl alanine (MCPA or Hypoglycin A) from Blighia sapida (Hassall and Rayle, 1955; Anderson et al., 1958; Ellington, Hassall and Plimmer, 1958).

The orchids are commercially important group of flowering plants and their flowers are affluent in uniqueness in their shape, size and colour, exquisitely attractive, remain fresh condition for long period of time in comparison to other flowers. Orchidaceae is the second largest family among floriculture; about 25000 to 35000 species of orchids have been reported over the world (Rampal and Nagrare, 2006). India accounts for nearly 7 per cent of world’s orchids genetic diversity contributed 1300 species under 184 genera (Arora, 1983; Rampal and Nagrare, 2006) and 1150 species belonging to 164 genera (Satish Kumar, 1994) of which about 800 species are found in the North Eastern region of the country (Nagaraju et al., 2006) and many more are discovered year after year because of the prevailing congenial climatic conditions, diverse terrain and altitudinal variations, which provide suitable habitat for orchids.

The word Cymbidium has been derived from a Greek word ‘Kumbos’ meaning ‘hole or cavity’ referring to the structure of the base of the lip. The genus consists of 44 known evergreen species in the family Orchidaceae, subfamily Vandoideae, tribe Cymbidieae and sub-tribe Cryptopodiinae. It is distributed from northwestern India to China, Japan, south through the Malay Archipelago to the north and east Australia. (DuPuy and Cribb, 1988). Cymbidiums have been for over hundred years one of the most famous orchids in commerce.

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is one of the most important tropical fruits of the world and is commonly known as the ‘King of fruits’ for its high quality fruits which are very popular among the Indians (Sharma et al., 2008). It is the oldest and extensively cultivated fruit crop in India having high socio-economic significance. India is the home of more than 1000 mango varieties, which originated in the Indo-Burma region (Mukherjee, 1958). India is the largest producer of mango, grown in about 2.3 million hectares with an annual production of 15.02 million tones. However, its productivity is only 6.5 tones per ha against 30 tones per ha in Israel (Bijay Jumar, 2010). Improvement of productivity in mango continues to be the foremost issue in mango production (Sauco, 1993). Of late, all the mango importing countries are considering the India as a source of quality mangoes due to its varietal wealth and availability. Hence, it is imperative to improve the productivity and quality of Indian mangoes to meet the global need (Balamohan et al., 2014).

Spices play important roles in daily life and India is a rich repository of spices. Various biotechnological approaches like micropropagation, somaclonal variation, in vitro conservation, synseed technology, protoplast fusion, production of flavor and coloring components, and development of novel transgenics have great significance in conservation, utilization and increasing the production and productivity of spices. Protocols for micropropagation and production of disease free planting materials are available for many spices. Efficient plant regeneration protocols are also available for exploiting somaclonal variation ,where the available natural variability is relatively low. Technologies for isolation and culture of protoplasts were reported in a few spices. Development of transgenics for disease resistance is gaining momentum. Synseed and Micro-rhizome technology are also available for many spices for safe propagation, conservation, movement, and exchange of germplasm. In vitro and cryo preservation technologies for conservation of spices germplasm are available for many spices.

Centuries before Greece and Rome were discovered, sailing ships carried Indian spices, perfumes and textiles to Mesopotamia, Arabia and Egypt. It was the lure of these that brought many seafarers to the shores of India. Emperors, kings, senators and the aristocracy transformed spices into the mostly highly prized commodities of ancient trade routes The story of Indian Spices is more than 7000 years old. By the 1400s, when navigational equipment had improved to the point that long-haul sailing became possible, European rulers set out to change the balance of world trade by funding spice-hunting missions of their own. Christopher Columbus who, in searching for a quick route to India, reached the Americas. Vasco de Gama was the first to surround Africa, and with a crew led by Ferdinand Magellan, fully circumnavigated the globe.

Soybean, a source of 40 per cent good quality protein, 20 per cent oil and other nutrients has great potential in meeting nutritional requirements and extending health benefits through soy based food products to Indian population. Soy foods are nutritious, economical and good for health. Regular food use of about 10 per cent processed soybean flour with cereal flours or 25-30 g properly processed soybean per day in a diet entitles the consumer to derive maximum nutritional and health benefits at a relatively low-price. Soy food products like fullfatsoyflour, soy-based bakery products and dairy analogs (soy milk, soy paneer (tofu), curd (dahi), soyshrikhand, soy amrakhand), being the products of acceptable type to Indian population, have good scope. Different organizations have given input in R&D work on soybean processing. SPU Centre at ICAR-CIAE, Bhopal has been involved in development of number of soybased food products, technology and equipment for preparation of those. To make available the properly processed soy food products to our population, the centre is actively engaged in capacity building of upcoming entrepreneurs and entreprise development for soybean processing for food uses. Around 500 cottage scale soy food enterprises have been established in different states of the country.

Pesticides are an undeniable part of modern life, used to protect everything from flower gardens to agricultural crops from specific pests. Pesticides have contributed significantly to improving quality of life and safeguarding the environment. Some 20 to 40 percent of the world’s potential crop production is already lost annually because of the effects of weeds, pests and diseases (according to the FAO reports) (www.CropLifeAmerica.mht). In addition to increasing crop yields, crop protection products used in stored products can also prolong the viable life of products, prevent huge post-harvest losses from pests and diseases and protect food safety for eating.

The vegetables and fruits are largely consumed fresh and day by day, their market demand is increasing due to nutritious quality. However, market supply is not sufficient to meet public demand throughout the year as production is inadequate because crop production has not increased substantially in recent years due to climatic changes. Another important reason for low production is the economic losses incurred due to damages of insect pests and plant diseases.

Since ancient times, reduction in pest and disease incidence is sought by spraying of pesticides including conventional preparations such as tobacco decoction, Bordeaux mixture, neem leaf extract etc. During the green revolution years, the synthetic pesticides were greatly recommended for pest and disease control and thereby increasing crop yields many-fold. Having experienced the spectacular improvement in both yield and quality of marketable produce, farmers were solely dependent on synthetics and ultimately abandoned other control measures.

Labour is one of the biggest input costs for vegetable growers. Vegetable farming is labor intensive and time consuming. Frequently, it is associated with low yield and poor quality production. The constraints are high labor requirements for land clearing, ploughing, bed forming, mulch laying, seeding, transplanting, harvesting and transporting. Mechanization is interjection of improved tools, implements, machines and other equipments between man and materials (soil, water, environment, seed, fertilizer, pesticides, growth regulators, irrigation water, agricultural produce and by-products such as fruits, vegetables, and seeds, etc.)

Every research in agriculture aims at developing a promising new technology or refines an age old technology that can help addressing the improvement in crop yield. This is a worldwide scenario to meet up with the food needs of the growing population and reducing agricultural land resources. Many traditions in the world are associated with vast knowledge of cultivating the food crops, vegetables, fruits etc using selected methods that are modified based on the needs, climatic conditions and the resources available in the place of settlements. Soil based agriculture is the most popular method of growing plants since soil is considered as the main source of nutrients and water required for the healthy growth of crops. Generally it includes 3 major steps, ploughing, sowing and harvesting.