eChapters

A. History, Principles, and Scope of Biological Control

Biological Control

Biological control, defined as the use of living organisms to reduce the population of pest species, stands out as one of the most successful, cost effective, and environmentally friendly methods of pest management. This natural process is intrinsic to maintaining ecological balance and supporting the greenery of our planet by enabling plants to produce the necessary biomass to sustain diverse forms of life.

The Essence and Impact of Biological Control

Biological control is an omnipresent force in both natural and human-made ecosystems, constantly active without any human intervention. Its origins trace back over 500 million years with the evolution of the first ecosystems. The process involves naturally occurring reductions in pest populations, which historically, have allowed for the flourishing of plant life critical to the earth’s ecological systems. Without these biological control mechanisms, the amount of energy produced by plants would be a fraction of current levels, drastically reducing the earth’s capacity to support life.

Before trying to understand Hypothesis Testing and Experimental Designs, we should be conversant with the concept of Probability Distribution.

5.1 PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS

Let us look at an example to grasp the essence of a probability distribution. Let us rotate a pair of dice and observe the sum by totalling the numbers that turn upon in both the dice. Let us call this sum by a random variable X. When the first dice shows up number 1, the second dice could show 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6. Likewise, when the first dice shows up number 2, the second dice could show 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6. If we continue the experiment this way until all the possibilities are exhausted, the sample space will contain 36 elements. The distribution that can be observed will contain a sum = 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12. The starting sum will be = 2, because when both the dice show the number 1, the sum 1 + 1 = 2. Likewise, the maximum sum in the distribution will be 12, when both the dice show up a number 6. If we write the values of the random variable (sum) with associated probabilities, it is called a probability distribution.

Supply is the amount of a good or service sellers are willing to offer for sale at a specific price, in a specific market, over a specific time.
Stock vs. Supply
• Stock: All the milk a farmer has—say, 1,000L in tanks.
• Supply: What he sells—500L at Rs 50/L today. Supply is different from stock, as stock refers to the total quantity of a commodity that exists in the market, while supply is the quantity that is usually offered for sale at a particular price.
Law of Supply
The law of supply explains the functional relationship between the price of a good and its supply. When all other factors remain constant, an increase in price leads to an increase in supply. This means there is a direct proportional relationship between price and supply.
Exceptions
1. Land, rare goods, and labour supply in certain cases do not follow the law of supply.
2. The supply of rare goods cannot be changed with price fluctuations.

Food is a vital requirement for all living beings, as it provides the essential nutrients necessary for growth, development, and recovery. Humans depend on both plants and animals for nourishment, which we acquire through agricultural practices and animal farming. With the increasing global demand for food, crop yields have risen, which has led to a greater reliance on warehouses for grain storage. However, merely increasing food production is insufficient to combat hunger and malnutrition, as food security also heavily depends on ensuring that food is accessible to everyone. Crops, however, are exposed to various threats, such as pests, weeds, and diseases, which can drastically reduce yields if not managed adequately.
A significant issue is storage losses, which are driven by both biological elements (such as fungi, insects, and rodents) and environmental factors (such as unsuitable storage conditions or extreme temperatures). These losses result in various negative consequences, including:
• Reduced food quality
• Lower seed germination rates
• Loss of weight in crops
• Discolored produce
These problems can impede the marketing of harvested crops, leading to unsold goods and considerable losses for farmers and distributors.
To reduce these losses, it’s crucial to adopt proper measures like efficient treatments and continuous monitoring of storage conditions. Grains should be stored in environments that prevent deterioration. This can be achieved by ensuring thorough cleaning before storage, drying grains thoroughly (both under the sun and in the shade), and taking steps to control pests, including fumigation.

1.1. Introduction
The terms ‘counselling’ and ‘health promotion’ complement each other when it becomes a matter of an individual’s health. Health promotion is a part of behavioural social science that aims to change the systemic strategies adopted by the individual or group or by the mass community for the betterment of their health which can be achieved by talk therapy known as counselling. In the 21st century, from childhood to adulthood, all people are in a ‘rat race’ for their careers and necessities, which is one of the main reasons for stress generation. Not only that, chemical substances consumed by different food ingredients as food additives, preservatives, etc. but also induce oxidative stress and damage the functional activity of cells, tissues, organs, and systems. This ‘stress’ is a major culprit not only for the deterioration of physical health but also psychological health. Such stress imposition in daily life impairs normal physiological functions, skills, performance, and productivity. Unhealthy food, life, and work styles are also linked to the onset of pathophysiological complications that counselling and health promotion are required to overcome. Besides this, for sportsmen, pregnant women, lactating mothers, and growing children, nutritional counselling and health promotion are indisputable. For disease prevention and early recovery from disease, dietary counselling plays an immense role.
1.2. Counselling
Counselling is an intermittent, interpersonal interviewing process where the counsellor gives advice or suggestions to the client but never gives any direction. Counsellors assist the client in thinking, analysing, and acting to improve their insight power. The counsellor focuses on both the positive and negative sides of a particular event and allows the client to think and rethink its acceptability and unacceptability.

Policy influence requires credible evidence, a clear understanding of decision-making processes and communication tailored to relevant audiences. This chapter explains how extension research, programme experience and stakeholder knowledge can be converted into evidence for policy change. It discusses identifying policy problems, assessing alternatives, setting advocacy objectives, recognizing policy champions, building coalitions and selecting appropriate routes of influence. Policy briefs, research reports, dialogue platforms, advisory committees, social media and ICT-based communication are examined as practical tools. The chapter also reviews global extension-policy experiences, helping readers understand how institutional, political and socioeconomic contexts shape policy decisions and how evidence-based engagement can support effective agricultural reforms.

1.    Modern Packaging Systems
    1.1    Modified atmosphere packaging
    1.2    Active packaging-principles and applications
    1.3    Aseptic packaging
    1.4    Shrink packaging
    1.5    Vacuum packaging
    1.6    Thermal processing
    1.7     Retort pouch packaging
    
2.    Packaging of Fish and Fishery Products
    2.1    Packaging materials used
    
3.    Packaging Requirements for Fish and Fishery Products
    3.1    Packaging of fresh fish
    3.2     Packaging of processed seafoods
    
Suggested Reading

Exercise No. 1. Rainfall analysis and interpretation

Procedure: Collect the rainfall data from the Department of Agrometeorology and interprete it zonewise and district wise for various districts of Haryana. Correlate it with last year’s rainfall.

14.1 Model Organism: A model organism is a species that has been widely studied, usually because it is easy to maintain and breed in a laboratory setting and has particular experimental advantages. Model organisms are non-human species that are used in the laboratory to help scientists understand biological processes. They are usually organisms that are easy to maintain and breed in a laboratory setting. For example, they may have particularly robust embryos that are easily studied and manipulated in the lab, this is useful for scientists studying development. They may occupy a pivotal position in the evolutionary tree, this is useful for scientists studying evolution.

Abstract

The field of bioinformatics emerged as a tool to facilitate biological discoveries more than 10 years ago. The ability to capture, manage, process, analyze and interpret data became more important than ever. Bioinformatics in agricultural science has many complex aspects and problems that must be resolved due to the involvement of a wide variety of fields and subjects. Consequently, the establishment of interdisciplinary research areas is required, which should include collaboration among experimental and informatics researchers in different fields within industry, academia, and government. Thus, the Agricultural Bioinformatics Special Interest Group was established to promote interaction among researchers and provide an opportunity to report on bioinformatics studies in agricultural science: design and analysis of functional foods, scientific testing of food safety, breeding of agricultural organisms, development of environmental friendly agricultural chemicals, bioremediation and production of useful chemical materials using microorganisms, measuring and monitoring biodiversity, statistical genetics in resource ecology, and so on. The activities of the Agricultural Bioinformatics Special Interest Group include (1) Studies of applied bioinformatics in the agricultural science (2) Development of new research areas in agricultural science using bioinformatics (3) Practical application of bioinformatics technologies in the field of agricultural science (4) Development of new bioinformatics technologies characteristic of agricultural science.

5.1 Weeding and Interculture Equipment

The aim of weeding and intercultivation operation is to provide best opportunity to crop to establish and grow vigorously up to time of maturity. The main objectives of weed control are to improve the soil conditions by reducing evaporation from the soil surface, improve infiltration of rain or surface water, and reduce runoff to maintain ridges or beds on which the crop is grown and to reduce competition of weeds for light, nutrients and water. Mechanical methods of weed control are simple and easily understood by farmers. The tools and implements for mechanical weed control are mostly manual and animal operated. Manual method is most effective but is slow. It is popular in regions where labour wages are low and labour is easily available during the season. The additional cost of weeding using implements is comparatively less than the gains due to extra yields obtained. First weeding operation is mostly done between and along the rows. Remaining operations are done mostly between the rows. Hand hoes are generally used for removing weeds between plants in a row.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum Maton.) acclaimed as the ‘Queen of Spices’ is the true cardamom belonging to the family Zingiberaceae. The cardamom of commerce is the dried ripe fruit and is one of the most important valued spices next only to saffron. It is native of evergreen forests of Western Ghats of South India. Cardamom is a shade loving plant (Pseophyte) thriving well in elevations up to 600-1200 m above MSL under an average annual rainfall of 1500-4000 mm and temperature range of 10-350C. India has been the world’s largest producer of cardamom until 1979-80. Later, Guatemala emerged as world’s premier producer and the exporter of cardamom accounting for about 90 per cent of the global trade. Cardamom is also grown lesser extent in Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea and Tanzania.

Vegetables are the largest important constituent of our daily diet as well as high value cash crops for small, marginal and large scale growers. These are rich in proteins, vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre which are essential for our normal body functions, prevention of malnutrition and deficiency diseases. Vegetables also play key role in neutralizing the acids produced during digestion of fatty foods and also provide valuable roughages which help in movement of food in intestine. Some of the vegetables are good sources of carbohydrates (leguminous vegetables, sweet potato, potato, onion, garlic and fenugreek) proteins (peas, beans, leafy vegetables and garlic) vitamin A (carrot, tomato, drumstick, leafy vegetables), Vitamin B (peas, garlic and tomato), vitamin C (green chillies, drumstick leaves, cole crops, leafy vegetables and leaves of radish) and minerals (leafy vegetables, drumstick pods etc.). As per dietician recommendation, our daily requirement is 75-125g of green leafy vegetables, 85g of other vegetables and 85 g of roots and tubers with other food (http://AgriInfo.in).

Comparison of different cropping systems with reference to land use and yield advantages is possible through various efficiency indices. The various cropping and farming systems practiced in an area have to be properly evaluated to decide their suitability and relative advantages. The comparisons can be made with reference to many factors viz., yield, monetary, water use efficiency, nutrient use efficiency, total dry matter production, intensity of land use etc., The cropping as well as farming systems research are being perused at national level with major focus for identification of location specific efficient systems since 1990. However, on perusal of research publications we find that the data of cropping systems are interpreted in different ways with major focus only on production and net return on hectare basis. In fact, these two aspects are not the indicator of the efficiency of a particular system. Many advances have been made in recent years to identify the efficient system for a particular location. Some of the methodologies, which are of concern to crop scientists in general and agronomists in particular, are highlighted here for ready reference to the researchers, agronomists and crop planners. Different indicators of system efficiency are as follows (Gangwar et al., 2003).

Abstract

The chapter examines the relationship between the agricultural value chain and mobile apps. Using email survey data from mobile app developers, supplemented with basic desk research, the chapter reviews and analyzes 55 mobile apps based on their location within the value chain, the format of content delivery, the types of device used, the stage of deployment as of  2012, the type of business model used, and the geographic focus of the app. The analysis generally reveals an even distribution of apps within the three main components of the agricultural value chain but when it comes to the sub-categories within the agricultural value chain, skewed distribution was observed. Feature phones remain the dominant device for delivering agricultural information to users, however, increasing number of smartphone-specific applications gaining market. Most of the devices use text format for content delivery with voice, image and video as supplements.

7.1 Introduction

Flood is an unusually high stage in a river resulted due to high rainfall or snow melt which causes large flow of runoff in it. During flood, the river overflows the banks and inundates the adjoining areas. Flood causes heavy damages to buildings and hydraulic structures besides causing catastrophic loss to human life and property. It causes great economic loss due to disruption of many structures and damage to agricultural fields. Many forest and aquatic lives are affected by the flood. Hundreds of crores of rupees are spent every year to control, forecast and manage the flood.

Arsenic
General Information
    1.    Exists in elemental form (-3), trivalent As⁺³ and pentavalent As⁺⁵ oxidation states
    2.    Arsenic is an essential element for rats, chicks, mini-pigs and goats
    3.    The second most important pollutant for livestock. 

Source
    1.    Inorganic form is used in paints.
    2.    Pasture near smelters may be contaminated. 
    3.    Industrial effluents released into nearby water body
    4.    Insecticides (Arsenic trioxide, lead arsenate).
    5.    Herbicides (Sodium arsenite, lead arsenate)

6.1. INTRODUCTION

Low temperature is one of the major environmental factors that limit the plant growth. Many plants of tropical origin suffer cold damage when exposed to temperature below 20ºC (Graham and Patterson, 1982, Andrews, 1987). Cold temperature in crop plants are compounded by cold snap– a lower than usual drop in temperature that causes the crop to fail. Low temperature in growing season may reduce germination, retard vegetative growth by inducing metabolic imbalances and can delay or prevent productive development. Each plant species has an optimum range of temperature for its normal growth and development. It varies among the genotypes within a species, the specific temperature also depends on the growth stage and development of the particular genotype.

1. Guidelines on Analytical Terminology

    1.    Accuracy : The closeness of agreement between a test result or measurement result and a reference value.

    2.    Analyte : The chemical substance sought or determined in a sample. This definition does not apply to molecular biological analytical methods.

    3.    Applicability : The analytes, matrices, and concentrations for which a method of analysis may be used satisfactorily.

    4.    Bias : The difference between the expectation of the test result or measurement result and the true value. In practice conventional quantity value can be substituted for true value.

    5.    The bias of a measuring instrument is normally estimated by averaging the error of indication over the appropriate number of repeated measurements. The error of indication is the: “indication of a measuring instrument minus a true value of the corresponding input quantity”.

    6.    Calibration : Operation that, under specified conditions, in a first step, establishes a relation between the values with measurement uncertainties provided by measurement standards and corresponding indications with associated measurement uncertainties and in a second step uses this information to establish a relation for obtaining a measurement result from an indication.

    7.    Certified reference material (CRM) : Reference material accompanied by documentation issued by an authoritative body and providing one or more specified property values with associated uncertainties and traceability, using valid procedures.

SUMMARY

Plant tissue culture mainly comprises a set of in vitro techniques, methods and strategies that are part of the group of technologies called plant biotechnology. Tissue culture has been exploited not only to create genetic variability from which crop plants can be improved but also to improve the state of health of the planted material and to increase the number of desirable germ plasms available to the plant breeder through a shorter duration in cost effective manner. Tissue-culture protocols are available for most crop species, although continued optimization is still required for many crops, especially cereals and woody plants. Tissue culture techniques, in combination with molecular techniques, have been successfully used to incorporate specific traits through gene transfer. In vitro techniques for the culture of protoplasts, anthers, microspores, ovules and embryos have been used to create new genetic variation in the breeding lines, often via haploid production. Cell culture has also produced somaclonal and gametoclonal variants with crop-improvement potential. The culture of single cells and meristems can be effectively used to eradicate pathogens from planting material and thereby dramatically improve the yield of established cultivars. Large-scale  micropropagation laboratories are providing millions of plants for the commercial ornamental market and the agricultural, clonally-propagated crop market. With selected laboratory material typically taking one or two decades to reach the commercial market through plant breeding, this technology can be expected to have an ever increasing impact on crop improvement as we approach for the need of the hour .

1.1     Forest Resources
    
1.2     Uses of Forest
    
1.3     Deforestation and its Effects
    
1.4     Water Resources
        
    1.4.1 Water Conflicts
    1.4.2 Dams Conflicts
    
1.5    Drought
    1.5.1 Regions of Drought in the World
    1.5.2 Effects of Drought
    
1.6     Flood
    
1.7    Environmental Effects of Mineral Resources
    
1.8    Food Rseources
    1.8.1 Technological Improvements in Food Production
    1.8.2 Environmental Issues Related to Increased Production
    
1.9    Overgrazing and its Effects
    
1.10    Impacts of Intensive Farming on Soil and Water Resources
    
1.11    Effects of Agricultural Chemicals on the Environment
    
1.12    Energy Sources
    
1.13    Waterlogging
    
1.14    Land Resources
    
1.15    Land Degradation
    
1.16    Soil Erosion
    1.16.1 Types of Erosion
    
1.17     Desertification
    1.17.1 Causes of Desertification
    1.17.2 Effects of Desertification
    
1.18    Conservation of Natural Resources
    1.18.1 Conflicts
    1.18.2 Challenges and Methods

4.1    Urban Issues
    
4.2    Environmental Ethics - Issues and Possible Solutions
    
4.3    Water Conservation
    4.3.1 Rainwater Harvesting
    
4.4    Greenhouse Gases and their Sources
    4.4.1 Climate Change
    4.4.2 Global Warming
    4.4.3 The Greenhouse Effect
    4.4.4 Consequences of the Greenhouse Effect
    4.4.5 Acid Rain, 176
    
4.5    Ozone Layer Depletion
    
4.6    Nuclear Accidents
    
4.7    Waste Reclamation
    
4.8    Consumerism and Waste
    
4.9    Forest (Conservation) Act 1980
    
4.10    Wildlife Protection Act
    
4.11    The Air  (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981
    
4.12    Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974
    4.13    The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
    4.14    Environmental  Laws

INTRODUCTION

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) belonging to Family Anacardiaceae is the most important commercially grown evergreen tree of tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Due to its wide range of adaptability, high nutritive value, colorful fruits, richness in variety, delicious juicy taste and excellent flavor, it possesses high commercial value. It is sometimes also called ‘apple of the tropics’. It is believed that cultivation of mango originally started in South East Asia where it is being cultivated for last four to six thousand years. Now, it is cultivated in 112 countries of the world. India has the richest collection of mango cultivars.

11.1. INTRODUCTION

Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is the fifth most important cereal crop and is the dietary staple of more than 500 million people in over 90 countries, primarily in the developing world. It is grown on 47 m ha in 104 countries in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. Among those, USA, Nigeria, India, Mexico, Sudan, China, and Argentina are the major sorghum producers globally. Sorghum grain is mostly used directly for food (55%), and is consumed in the form of porridges (thick or thin) and flat breads; however sorghum is also an important feed grain (33%), especially in Australia and the Americas. Stover (crop residue after grain harvest) is an important fodder source to both milch and draft animals in mixed crop-livestock systems. Sorghum is also a good source of green fodder due to its quick growth and high yield and quality of biomass. Of late, sorghum with sugar-rich juicy stalks (called sweet sorghum) is emerging as an important biofuel crop. Thus sorghum is a unique crop with multiple uses as food, feed, fodder, fuel and fiber. Sorghum is generally grown in rainy season (spring) but in India it is grown in both rainy and postrainy seasons. The postrainy season sorghum grain is prized for its food value (Reddy et al., 2009).

1.1    General Circulation of the Atmosphere
    
1.2    World Climates
    
1.3    World Climate Classification by Köppen’s method
    
1.4    Climatic Classification over India
    
1.5    Asian Summer Monsoon and Rainfall Distribution
    
1.6    The Indian Monsoon
    Features of monsoon
    Monsoon circulation
    Onset of monsoon
    Withdrawal of monsoon
    Southwest monsoon rainfall
    Active phase of monsoon
    Break monsoon conditions
    Winter monsoon

1.7    Causes for Failure of Monsoon
    
    Prediction of onset of monsoon rainfall

1.8    Spatial Distribution of Weather Parameters over India
    Rainfall
    Temperature
    Humidity
    Sunshine and Radiation
    Wind speed

1.9    Famines in India
    
1.10    Historical Evidences of Droughts
    
1.11    Distribution of Drought Prone Regions over the Globe
    1.11.1    Occurance of drought in different countries
    
1.12    Distribution of Drought Prone Regions in India
    
1.13    Weather Phenomena Associated with Droughts
    
1.14    Effect of Droughts on Natural Resources
    1.14.1    Surface water resources
    1.14.2    Groundwater sources
    
1.15    Impact of Latest Droughts on Crop Production in India
    
1.16    Economic Impacts of Droughts in India
    
1.17    Economic Impacts of Droughts in other Nations
        
References

1.    Operations Research provides ___________.

(a) Earliest solution

(b) Feasible solutions

(c) Scientific approach to solutions

(d) Statistical approach to solutions

2.    Operations Research totally eliminates ___________.

(a) Quantitative approach

(b) Intuitive approach

(c) Qualitative approach

(d) Decision makers ability

TRUE ANESTRUS IN A HEIFER OR POST PARTUM COW / BUFFALO

The animal has both ovaries small and inactive

No palpable structures in the ovaries

Animal does not exhibiting estrus signs

1.    Almost all liquid foods are concentrated before drying due to

(a) Technical advantages

(b) Preservation

(c) Nutritional advantages

(d) Both (a) and (c)

2.    Which of the following compound mainly possesses anti-microbial property in garlic and onion?

(a) Acrolein

(b) Eugenol

(c) Allyl isothiocynate

(d) Terpenoid

3.    Which of the following fruit juices concentrates are prone towards spoilage?

(a) Acid

(b) Non-acid

(c) Both (a) and (b)

(d) None of these

The influence of water quality on the soil and plant growth is related to the chemical and physicalproperties of the soil, the salt tolerance of the crop, the climaticregime of the area and the method,frequencyand the amount of irrigation water applied. Irrigation water quality refers to its suitability and sustainability for use in agricultural crops. The problems thatresultfrom the use of a particular irrigation water, vary both in kind and degree, and are modified by soil, climate and crop as well as by the skill and knowledge of the water user. As a result there is no set limiton water quality, rather itssuitability for use is determined by the conditions of use which affects the accumulation of water constituents andwhichmayrestrictcrop yield.The soilproblems mostcommonlyencountered and used as a basisto evaluate water quality are those related to salinity, water infiltrationrate,toxicityanda group of other miscellaneous problems. Numerous guidelines are available for evaluation of water quality. Time to time some of theseguidelines has been updated with modification of some criteria like SAR to Adj. SAR and the Adj. R_Na and development of new concepts like water qualityIndex (WQI) whichhave increasedour predictability. Thenewguidelines are relied heavily on old ones.The modified guideline by Ayers and Westcot (1985) was foundto be themost reliabletopredict thewaterqualityforirrigation.

Irrigated agriculture is playing a major role in enhancing food and livelihood security of a country. Supply of fresh water which is an importantinput for the sustainable and economic development of agriculture are not enough to meet the requirement of all sectors of economy. Reduced water availability to agriculture from the present share of 85% of country’s water resources to about 70-75% by 2020AD wouldaffect the capacity of the country to meet the food production target, unless supplies are augmented from unconventional sources. For future agriculture there are no alternatives but to rely on non conventional sources for partial alleviation of the forecasted water scarcity. Amongthese sources extraction of marginal quality groundwater and the waste water generatedfromurban and industrial activities have thepotential to augment the water supplies. Many associatedsoil, plant and environmental problems come up when these sources of water are directly used for irrigation. For addressing theseproblems and to get more benefit from thesesourcesof water, the first step is to understand how an irrigation water source affects the soil plantsystem.Thereforeknowledge of irrigationwaterqualityiscriticaltodevelop appropriate site and crop specific comprehensive short term and long term management programs.

The influence of the vagaries of weather on all species on the earth is ubiquitious. It exerts its profound influence on the health, moods and activities of the humans, on all the Agriculture operations right from the seeding stage to the harvesting stage and on the health, behaviour and production of the animal life. Crop growth, is influenced by the variation of the meteorological parameters such as temperature, rainfall and wind etc. It is estimated that in some countries the losses due to adverse weather conditions amount to as much as 30% of the annual agricultural production. This type of losses, many times prove disastrous in the countries whose economy is mainly agriculture based, like that of ours. While the favourable weather conditions increase crop yield, the adverse weather, damages the crop giving rise to very low yield. The weather elements play an important role in governing the crop performance. Similarly weather elements also found to be controlling the Livestock production. It hence becomes necessary for the agriculturists and the veterinarians to have some basic knowledge of Meteorology to get better equipped for problem solving in their respective fields. All the weather phenomenon whether beneficial or disastrous are enacted in the natural theatre which is called the atmosphere. Hence to start with one has to study the characteristics of the atmosphere before proceeding further in meteorology.

The atmosphere is a thin layer of gases surrounding the Earth?s surface, which is retained by the earth?s gravity. The atmosphere protects life on the earth by absorbing ultra violet solar radiation and reduces the temperature extremes between the day and night. The atmosphere has no abrupt cut-off. It slowly becomes thinner and fades away into space. There is no finite boundary between the atmosphere and space. Three quarters of the atmosphere by mass is within 11 km of the planetary surface. In fact half of the atmosphere is contained within 6km from the surface. The Karman line, at 100 km is frequently used as the boundary between the atmosphere and space. The atmosphere contains by volume roughly 78% nitrogen and 21% of oxygen, trace amount of other gases and water vapour. This mixture of gases is known as air. The atmosphere also contains water vapour in smaller quantities. The amount of all these gases except water vapour is more or less constant while the water vapour is highly variable and yet its presence is essential for the development of any weather phenomenon. Based on the thermal characteristics, chemical composition, movement and density, the atmosphere is divided into four distinct layers. They are troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere & thermosphere. The first 64–80 km above the earth contains 99% of the total mass of the earth?s atmosphere and is generally of a uniform composition, except for a high concentration of ozone, known as the ozone layer, at 12–30 mi (19–50 km). Because of the pull of gravity the density of the atmosphere and the pressure exerted by air molecules are greatest near the earth?s surface. Air pressure decreases quickly with altitude, reaching one half of its value at about 5.5Km. The density of air at sea level is about 1.2 kg/m³. The atmospheric density decreases as altitude increases.

INTRODUCTION

The Ginkgo tree (Ginkgo biloba) is the only living representative of the order Ginkgoales, a group of gymnosperms of the family Ginkgoaceae. Ginkgo tree can live for as long as 1000 years and has been present for over 250 million years (“Living Fossil”). The name Ginkgo is believed to have come from the Chinese word sankyo or yin-kuo, meaning “hill apricot” or “silver apricot”. The species name “biloba,” meaning two lobes, refers to the unique twolobed, fanlike leaves. Ginkgo has been used as both food and medicine for thousands of years. It is the only tree to have survived atomic blast in Hiroshima (Singh et al., 2008).Seeds of Ginkgo were recorded in the early Chinese records on herbals as a medicine.

G. biloba extract (GBE), is the extracts of Ginkgo leaves, and is available as filmcoated tablets, liquid formulations or injectable in markets of Europe and America.

Standardized extract of the leaves of the G. biloba, labeled EGb761, is one of the popular herbal supplements. GBE has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries for treating circulatory disorders, asthma, tinnitus, vertigo, and cognitive problems. Currently, GBE is among the most commonly taken phytomedicines globally, and is approved in Germany for treatment of cerebral insufficiency (memory loss associated with Alzheimer, vascular or multiinfarct dementia) and conditions such as, tinnitus (ringing in the ears), vertigo and intermittent claudication that results in poor circulation (Mohanta, 2012).

Abstract

Design, operation and optimization of dryers demands the calculation of energy consumption, in most cases in the form of thermal energy, equipment sizing, temperature and moisture distribution of solids as well as temperature and humidity distribution of drying air. Energy calculations are very important as drying is a widespread process in a variety of industries and is highly energy demanding. In the energy analysis of the process the first step is the estimation of the minimum energy requirement followed by the estimation of energy rejection through solids stream and especially through drying air. Increase of thermal efficiency is always willing and the two most common ways for its achievement is the application of heat exchange between cold feeding air and relatively hot rejecting drying air and hot air recirculation. The later is also employed for the adjustment of air temperature and humidity gradient through the dryer. The combination of a heat pump with the dryer decreases considerably the thermal energy consumption but demands electricity and the method can be beneficial in cases of excess electricity production in the process plant, e.g. by cogeneration. Utilization of exhaust hot air from the main drying unit for the predrying of wet solids can also decrease the total energy requirement. The application of humidity adsorption from the feed air increases its drying potential, but regeneration of adsorbent is required. Grand composite curve of the process plant can reveal potential heat sources from different unit operations.

COMMON INSECT PESTS AND THEIR CONTROL

Since, insects are the most successful and one among the strongest rivals of man in the competition of existence. Due to their immense tendency of producing numerous viable propagules (eggs) i.e., their high fecundity, their population graph takes a sharp peak in a very short span of time.

A time reaches when the population of an insect type reaches to the level where from it starts causing inconvenience or injury to man, plants, domesticated animals and other human belongings, at such a juncture they are termed as insect pests.

Many, workers are of the view that “insects capable of causing 5 or more than 5% of damage to the crops, stored products, domesticated animals and other human dependences will be termed as pests”. Thus, if an insect causes a loss of less than 5% will not be considered as a pest. Moreover insect pests which cause a damage of 5-10% are said to be minor pests and those which cause a loss of more than 10% of yield are said to be major pests.

Abstract: Pelargonium (syn. Geranium), has become mainstay in temperate landscapes because of its ease of production and cultivation, long lasting bloom, range of plant habits and diversity of uses (perfumery, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and food industries). Confusion exists about nomenclature and taxonomic revision has attempted. Pelargoniums are popular seed and vegetatively propagated bedding and pot plants with numerous phenotypes (Fish type, Ivy leaved, Regal, Angels, Fancy leaves, Scented, Oak leaf) and cultivars (Double/ Bar/ Centre/ Ring/ Vein/ Picotee pattern/ Tulip/ Carnation/ Phlox/ Birds egg flowered) available on the world market. Their continued popularity has warranted extensive breeding and development of novel phenotypes particularly trailing growth habit, reduced plant size, compact form, manipulation of flowers (size, number, coloration, longevity, timing) and disease resistant cultivars. Increasing knowledge of the inheritance of traits, molecular genetic techniques and biotechnological applications are valuable tools aiding modern pelargonium breeders. The need of new cultivars remains strong as divergence among pelargonium market types increases, production system becomes more specialized and new market develops.

Origin of weeds : Weeds originated together with crop plants. They have been there since the man started cultivating crops about 10,000 BC. Man during his stage of development, explored certain crop plant to suit his own taste and fancy and cultivated them as ‘crops’. The unexplored / unwanted / troublesome plants which are interfering with his activities are considered as weeds. About 30,000 plants species have been identified as definite weeds in the World. Which are infesting crop lands, water bodies, gardens, orchards, road sides, railway lines, irrigation channels etc.

Plants are differentiated into

a) Crops: Which meet the needs of human being.

b) Weeds: Which compete or interfere in human affairs.

Jethrotull is the first person to use the word weed.

Large number of edible fruits exists in tropics and subtropics of world. Many of such fruit species are identified, domesticated and are being utilized for various purposes, though their full potential has not been exploited. There is yet another group of plants producing edible fruits with great potential in different parts of world, which are not at all being grown and utilized by people other than in a very localized manner. Such under and un-utilized fruits are made the subject for detailed study. They are evaluated for their nutritive value, potential uses for other purposes, for possibilities of commercial cultivation in suitable areas and chances for marketing. Since all of them may not be acceptable for fresh consumption as table fruit, product diversification should be thoroughly evaluated to gain popularity for such plants. Practices and techniques employed for utilizing these fruits by local people where these plant species are seen at present can be scientifically and systematically refined for commercial exploitation.

Broad spectrum of agro climatic conditions and diversity in people’s preference for taste offer great chances to identify right fruit to a particular region for commercial cultivation in India. In this context, significance of under and un-utilized fruits for exploiting potentials become more clear. Identification of such plant species in different regions, extend and method of present utilization, nutritive value and pomological significance of the products, specific climatic and cultural requirements for successful growth and development should be documented as first step for exploitation of lesser known fruit species. Some of the under and un-exploited fruit species prevalent in tropical and subtropical conditions are discussed. In addition to this, attempt is made to incorporate an exhaustive list of plant species, which have potential for utilization as fruits and are rarely exploited at present. These are confined to only limited localities where people use produces for various purposes and are in most cases little known to other parts of world.

1. Introduction

Quince is a highly nutritious underutilized fruit of sub-Himalayan region which has great economics and medicinal potential and it belongs to the group of the oldest cultural plants. Quince is known with different names, Urdu name ‘Bahee Dana’, Farsi name ‘Beh’, Greek name ‘Strythion’, Kashmiri name ‘Bamchunth’ and Hindi name ‘Bihi’ (Torkelson, 1995, Khoubnasabjafari and Jouyban, 2011). Quince is very much like pear in shape and gets a golden yellowish outer layer when mature. Quince fruit is a valuable dietary product and even then it less suitable for the direct consumption (Hricovsky et al., 2003) and for that reason they are mostly used either cooked (Alvarenga et al., 2008) or preserved (Kyzlink, 1990). However, as compared with other species, this fruit tree species is less popular throughout the world. Its predisposition to turning brown and decay is a limiting factor in the long-term storage of this fruit (Gunes, 2008). The nutritional value of the fruit is high (Bucsek et al., 1996; Kopec and Balik 2008). It is well known that quince fruit shows antioxidant effects (Silva et al., 2002) which result from the presence of a number of polyphenolic substances (Fattouch et al., 2007), e.g. flavonoids quercetin, rutin, kaemp ferol etc. (Silva et al., 2005), and also from increased levels of vitamin C (Tetera, 2006). Quince has the important nutritional and flavor composition more than many fruits. Vitamin C content of quince is nearly two times higher than in apple (Biro and Lindner, 1999).

1. Introduction

The modern cultivated strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) is one of the most delicious, refreshing and soft fruits of the world. Worldwide it is also the most widely distributed fruit-crop due to its genotypic diversity, highly heterozygous nature and broad range of environmental adaptation. The plant is cherished in gardens and in commercial fields for its beautiful red fruit that has a tentalizing aroma (Sharma, 2002; Sharma and Sharma, 2004). Being a rich source of vitamins and minerals coupled with delicate flavour, strawberry has now become an important table-fruit of millions of people around the globe. It is amongst the few fruit crops, which gives quicker and very high returns per unit area on capital investment, as the crop is ready for harvesting within 6 months of planting. However, due to several technological advances in its cultivation like, introduction of day-neutral cultivars, and protected cultivation, strawberries remain available as fresh fruit throughout the year.

At present, strawberry is grown in wide climatic zones, extending to temperate, Mediterranean, sub-tropical and taiga zones (Sharma, 2002; Sharma and Sharma, 2004). Its cultivation is influenced by the specific regional adaptations due to critical photoperiods and temperature requirements and thus its cultural systems are highly variable. Due to the constant efforts of strawberry breeders, the world-wide interest for strawberry cultivation has boosted its production tremendously, which has resulted in widespread popularity of strawberry in the last 50 years.

Abstract

Ethnobotany is the area of study which include direct interaction of human and plants. This communication compiles and evaluates 301 ethnobotanically important medicinal plants used by ethnic tribes for the treatment of different ailments living in Uttarakhand Himalaya. The state is a home of five major tribes, viz., Bhoxa, Bhotiya, Tharu, Raji, and Jaunsari. These tribal people have age-old relations with plants, and their indigenous knowledge passed from one generation to another. In this communication, a total of 90 plant families were reviewed and recorded that Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, Rosaceae, Fabaceae, Amaranthaceae Apiaceae, Combretaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Anacardiaceae and Malvaceae members are frequently used as medicinal plants. Total 68 roots of different species, followed by leaves of 55 species, whole plants of 29 species, fruits of 26 species and 28 types of seeds of different plants families used by locals for the treatment of various diseases such as fever, cold, cough, diabetes, skin problems, digestive problems and other associated ailments. The mode of application of herbal formulations varies from tribe to tribe. Herbaceous communities belonging to 160 species were the frequently used plant groups followed by trees, shrubs, and lianas. The decoction was recorded as the most frequently used method of preparation. Medicinal plants sold in the market was not primary for local people rather herbal plants locally available used as food, spice and beverages preparations. Therefore, there is a need for proper documentation and conservation planting of these unique medicinal plants growing in the Himalayas.

7.1 Introduction

A Scottish mathematician David Gibb was firstly introduced a term ‘Numerical Integration’ in 1915. Like numerical differentiation, numerical integration is also a very useful tool for scientists and engineers especially when they have an experimental data for different variables without knowing any mathematical relationship between them. Beside it, there are also many other situations where it plays an important role for integrating the functions like:

Cucurbits form an important and a big group of vegetable crops cultivated extensively in this country. This group consists of a wide range of vegetables, either used as salads (cucumber) or for cooking (all the gourds) or for pickling (cucumber) or as dessert fruits (muskmelon and watermelon) or candied or preserved (ash gourd). They are of tremendous economic importance as food plants.

2.1. Ash Gourd (Benincasa hispida)

Ash gourd (Benincasa hispida L.) belongs to the family Cucurbitaceae. The winter melon, also called white gourd, ash gourd, or “fuzzy melon”, is a vine grown for its very large fruit, eaten as a vegetable when mature. It is the only member of the genus Benincasa. This is a monotypic genus and the only cultivated species is Benincasa hispida (Thunb) Cogn, commonly known as ash gourd or petha. It has a Sanskrit equivalent ‘Kooshmanda’ indicating its antiquity in India.

Originally cultivated in Southeast Asia, the ash gourd is widely grown in China, India and other parts of East Asia. The immature melon has thick white flesh that is sweet when eaten. By maturity, the fruit loses its hairs and develops a waxy coating, giving rise to the name wax gourd, and providing a long shelf life. The ash gourd is known by many other names in India regional wise like komora (Assamese), pethakaddu (Hindi), boodagumbala (Kannada), Kumbalanga (Malayalam), Kohla (Marathi), neer poosanikai (Tamil) and Boodida gummadikaya (Telugu).

Uses

Ash gourd have enormous medicinal properties as it makes a valuable place as a popular natural cure of ailments in traditional medicinal practice. Being low in calories it is an ideal vegetable for diabetic patients and good for weight control. It also acts as a good detoxifying agent.

As per Ayurveda, ash gourd is used to treat epilepsy, asthma, lung diseases, urine retention, internal haemorrhage, and cough. It is said that the fruit juice is also effective in cases of mercury poisoning and snakebite. It could also treat mouth cancer, protecting teeth and gums when a mouth gargle of the juice is done regularly. It is also effective in bleeding of gums. Ash gourd is easily digestible and keeps the body cool. It is a natural blood purifier.

1.1 Weather Parameters

The atmosphere is a gaseous component surrounding the earth as an integral part and its interaction with ocean (water bodies), other planets of the solar system and land (Earth) generates one physical product namely weather elements (temperature, pressure, wind, humidity, precipitation, etc.,) and these form the weather and climate of the Earth. The process of generation of weather and climate of the region is purely natural and cannot be modified by the human being. But they can do adaptation to the existing climate and weather for their sustainable life. The weather can be defined as day to day change in the atmosphere in terms of heat and moisture exchange, while the climate is average of long period weather covering larger area or a region.

The particular climate of a region dictates/permits the genesis of a particular bio-organism in that domain and this selected organism’s growth and multiplication are triggered by the prevailing weather of that particular climate. Hence weather parameters of the atmosphere are very important to human being and other organisms of the Earth. The details on weather elements are given in question and answer section of this book (Annexure-I)

1.1 Forest Resources

Forest resources usually provide the raw materials for homes, workplaces, the books and newspapers, and the packaging that contains food and other products of our labor. Forest ecosystems supply our water, maintain our climate, and help purify the air, protect soils, and provide for wilderness experiences. Forests provide habitat for wildlife, and serve as preserves of biological diversity. Forests are sources of food, fuel and medicine for people all over the world. Forests shape the recreational landscape, help stabilize our farms, and enhance our cities.

About 30 per cent of the world’s total land areas are covered by forest with the area of 3.9 billion hectares. Nearly 47 percent of the world’s forests are in the tropics, 33 percent in the boreal zone, 11 percent in the temperate zones, and 9 percent in sub-tropical areas. The 94 million hectares of forest lost over the ten-year period, represented about 2 per cent of the world’s total forest cover, or an area larger than Venezuela. Two thirds of the world’s forests are located in ten countries: the Russian Federation, Brazil, Canada, the United States, China, Australia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Angola and Peru. Most of the deforestation work was performed in natural tropical forests, which lost 14.2 million hectares a year over the last decade. Africa and South America have suffered the most deforestation.

Africa was the region with the highest deforestation in the world, which lost 5.3 million hectares of forest per year in the 1990s. Forests are a major factor in the climate change issue. Forest ecosystems contain more than half of all terrestrial carbon, and account for about 80 per cent of the exchange of carbon between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. Deforestation in the 1980s may have accounted for a quarter of all human-induced carbon emissions, the second greatest emitter after fossil fuels. Forest plantations comprise 5 percent of the world’s forests. Asia has the largest area of plantations, accounting for 62 per cent of the world total. China accounts for 24 percent of that total and India, 18 per cent. Plantations supply about 35 percent of the world’s round wood. The area of forest plantations increased by an average of 3 to 4 million hectares per year during the 1990s. Half of this increase was the result of afforestation on land previously under non-forest land use, whereas the other half resulted from conversion of natural forest. There are reports that 12 percent of the world’s forests, or about 480 million hectares, are in protected areas.

4.1 Urban Issues

(i) Water Problem

The world’s population is increasingly found in the cities. Now a days, throughout the developing world, urbanization trends are gaining speed and are irreversible. From a technical standpoint, it is easier to provide water and sanitation services to people living closer together in urban settings than in dispersed rural communities. However, the costs of meeting the needs are much higher per capita, and are growing. The health risks posed by the lack of sanitation increase exponentially as densities increase and as people share drinking water and sanitation resources.

The urban environmental sanitation crisis in developing countries is taking a large health, economic, and environmental toll on all city residents. Willingness to pay for basic water and sanitation services is often high in peri- urban neighbourhoods, provided that services are appropriate, effective, and affordable. The use of a strategic sanitation approach should helps to build capacity within implementing agencies and enhances the ability of communities to make sustainable sanitation improvements.

(ii) Energy Problem

Energy is basic to development. Modern energy services are powerful engine of economic and social opportunity: no country has managed to develop much beyond a subsistence economy without ensuring at least minimum access to energy services for a broad section of its population. It is not surprising to find, therefore, that the billion who live in developing countries attach a high priority to energy services. On average, these people spend nearly 12% of their income on energy. At the same time, the provision of energy services especially through the combustion of fossil fuels and biomass can create adverse environmental effects. In rich countries, much attention is directed to the regional and global consequences of fuel combustion, because many of the local effects have been controlled at considerable expense over the past half- century. In developing countries, the local environmental problems associated with energy use remain matters of concern that are as, or even more, urgent than they were in industrialized countries 50 or 100 years ago. Further, it is the poor who suffer most severely from such problems, because it is they who are forced to rely upon the most inefficient and polluting sources of energy services for lack of access to better alternatives.

Introduction

Fermented foods are those foods which have been subjected to the action of microorganisms or enzymes that cause desirable biochemical changes and significant modification of the food (Campbell-Piatt, 1994). Fermented foods are usually produced using ingredients of plants or animals in combination with bacteria or fungi. The bacteria or fungi are either sourced from cultures maintained by humans or from the environment. The origins of fermented foods go back many thousands of years, with early evidence of the alcoholic fermentations of barley to beer and grapes to wine. Evidence suggests that fermented foods were consumed 7,000 years ago in Babylon (Battcock and Azam-Ali, 1998).Throughout the world, the fermented foods are used by the people. It plays a major role in the diet in many developing countries. Several traditional fermented foods are prepared in rural areas of many countries.