eChapters

A. Bhattacharya
    
8.1.    Glycolysis in Plants
    
    8.1.1.    Oxidative Decarboxylation of Pyruvate
    
8.2.    Citric Acid Cycle
    
8.3.    Oxidative Phosphorylation
    
    8.3.1.    Efficiency of ATP Production
    
8.4.    Photorespiration
    
8.5.    Effect of Abiotic Stresses 
    
8.6.    Effect of Drought on Respiration
    
8.7.    Effect of Waterlogging on Respiration
    
    8.7.1.    Plant Metabolism and Energetic Alteration Under 
        Waterlogging
    
8.8.    Effect of Low Oxygen on Respiration
    
8.9.    Effect of Higher Day and Night Temperature on Respiration
    
8.10.    Respiration Under Low Temperature Stress
    
8.11.    Effect of Salt Stress on Respiration
    
    8.11.1.    Reactive Oxygen Species
    8.11.2.    Physiological and Biochemical Processes
    
8.12.    Effect of High CO2 Concentration on Respiration
        
References

Key facts

Agriculture
    
·    Agriculture production (plant growth) is highly dependent on climate since crop growth is influenced by solar radiation, temperature and precipitation and sensitive to climate variability and weather extremes (droughts, floods, severe storms).
    
·    Climate change is projected to have an effect on local agriculture and the net result could be harmful (e.g. frequent droughts, salinization of agriculture land due to sea level rise) or beneficial, (e.g. enhance CO₂ and higher yield, longer growing season, increased precipitation) or mixed.
    
·    Climate change or a doubling of GHGs (2 x CO₂) is projected to cause both gains and losses of agriculture land.
    
·    Each crop has a specific temperature range at which vegetative and reproductive growth will proceed at the optimal rate and exposures to extreme temperatures during these phases can impact growth and yield. Higher temperatures during the reproductive stage of development can affect pollen viability, fertilization and grain or fruit formation. 
    
·    Warming generally allow plants to grow faster that are below their optimum temperature, however for cereal crops faster growth means there is less time for the grain itself to grow and mature, reducing yields. 
    
·    Night-time temperatures are rising faster than daytime temperatures and are expected to continue rise in the future. According to International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines, the rise of night time temperature decreases rice yield by 10% for each 1°C increase in growing-season night time temperature in the dry season.

Key facts
    
•    Pesticides are chemicals that are broadly used to protect crops, livestock and other animals and plants from pests and diseases. They are classified according to the type of pest to be controlled (algicides, herbicides, fungicides and insecticides).
    
•    Commercial production of DDT began in 1943. At that time, DDT was considered to be a wonderful invention. It was cheap to produce, very toxic to insects and much less toxic to mammals and its usage resulted in a sharp decline of mosquito borne diseases. In 1962, it was discovered that DDT was causing egg-shell thinning in bird eggs and thus was leading to the near extinction of bird species such as peregrine falcons and bald eagles.
    
•    Pesticides use has greatly helped to increase and improve the world food production. Use of pesticides also increases farmer’s profits by preventing crop losses due to pest attacks and weed infestation.

2.1    Definition of Droughts
    
2.2    Types of Droughts
    2.2.1    Meteorological Droughts
    2.2.2    Agricultural Droughts
    2.2.3    Hydrological Droughts
    2.2.4    Socio-economic Droughts
    
2.3    Criteria for Classification of Droughts
    Meteorological Droughts
    Agricultural Droughts
    Hydrological Droughts
    
2.4    Data requirements in Drought Analysis
    
2.5    Drought Indices
    2.5.1    Rainfall-based Indices
    2.5.2    Climate Derivate Based Indices
    2.5.3    Remote Sensing Based Indices
    2.5.4    Processes Based Indicators
    
2.6    Assessment of Drought Prone Regions in India
    
2.7    Indicators for Declaration of  Droughts in India
    2.7.1     Rainfall Deficiency
    2.7.2    Area Under Sowing
    2.7.3    Normalized Difference Vegetation Index
    
2.8    Drought Management Procedures in India
    
2.9    Drought Code adopted by Local Governments
    
2.10    Spatial Variability of Droughts and their Frequency of Occurrence in India
    
2.11    Drought Vulnerability Assessment
    
2.12    Vulnerability of Society to Drought
        
References

STUDIES ON HUMAN RELATIONS
Introduction

A human relation is frequently used as a general term to describe the ways in which managers’ interact with their employees. A number of things were happening in United States in the 1920s and 1930s, organizations were growing in size and in their dependence upon technology. Social groups were breaking down. The combination of all these factors with the growing dissatisfaction with paced, mechanized, highly standardized work led to changes in two major directions. Management science developed as a technical discipline, concerned with the establishment of efficiency models of managerial and organizational behaviour. The other perspective was initiated by the work of Human Relation scientists. They are discussed in detail here.

1.    Normally economic growth refers to ___________.

(a) Growth in actual nominal per capita output

(b) Growth in potential real per capita output

(c) Growth in actual real per capita output

(d) Growth in potential real per capita output

2.    Which one of the following is not true about economic development?

(a) Problem of under developed country

(b) Its discontinuous and spontaneous change

(c) It means more output only

(d) Its innovative process

Administration

Term Administration is derived from a Latin word Administaire which means to serve. The word administration is also derived from the English word administracioun, which is in turn is derived from the French word administration, which itself has its root from the Latin word administratio, which means ad (to) and ministratio (give service). The term administration is a more general and comprehensive connotation and may be defined as the universal process of organizing people and resources efficiently so as to direct activities toward common goals and objectives. Administration is a distinct skill and directed towards the guidance, leadership and control of the efforts of a group of individuals towards some common goal.

Administration is the art of guiding, coordinating and integrating policies established for any organizational unit to effectively and efficiently achieve the purpose of the organization.

Seed is the basic input of agriculture, and its importance has now well recognized in the food supply chain since the warranty for production could be succeeded only based on the availability of seed. Seed becomes the quality seed, on possession of specific characters, viz. germination, vigour, purity and health status, hence, seed production becomes the specified scientific technology with the foreseeing of quality and storability in addition to productivity. From time immemorial, seeds are being imposed with some management techniques for improvement in seed quality and thereby the productivity. These seed management techniques are known as seed treatments. Generally, seed treatment is the application of biological, chemical agents and physical techniques to the seed in order to obtain the benefit of plant protection, production and invigouration. Basically, seed treatments are intended to improve the quality of seeds since nothing can substitute poor quality seed, no matter how lavishly other inputs are spent on the crop established from such seeds. Even for a resource poor farmer, high quality seed would be a great advantage because it ensures the best utility of all inputs in addition to the augmentation of yield increase by 15 to 20%.

In general, seed treatment could broadly be classified into physical and physiological treatment. Physical treatment is external seed treatment, while physiological is impregnation of needy substances into the seed through various seed management techniques. Some of the germination augmenting physiological seed treatments are seed fortification, seed hardening, seed priming, dry permeation and pre-germination. In addition, some of the seeds are imposed with special treatments such as dormancy breaking treatment such as soaking in water, mechanical scarification, acid scarification, bio-scarification, scorching, warm stratification, cold stratification and electrical seed treatment. The common physical seed treatments are seed pelleting, seed coating/film coating and seed colouring. Seeds are also imposed with some other physical treatments that can act on the physiology of the seed such as irradiation, magnetic and electrical seed treatment. In addition, irrespective of seed, seeds are given with protective treatment when they are taken for storage, which are commonly termed as pesticide seed treatment. Seeds are also given with corrective treatment at their initiation reduction with seed quality characters during storage, which are termed as mid storage correction.

1. Onion belongs to the family ...........................

   a) Alliaceae

   b) Brussicaceac

   c) Crucifereae

   d) Chno podoceae

2. Pungency in onion is due to ...........................

   a) Dially / disulphide

   b) Carbonates

   c) Sulphonates

   d) Allypropyl Disulfide

10.1 Introduction

Rainwater is the main source of water for agriculture but its current use efficiency for the crop production is low ranging between 30-45%. The rising demand for water for non-agricultural uses is proportionately decreasing its share for agricultural uses. Efficient methods of water harvesting in the farm reservoirs including farm ponds and its management for subsequent uses in agriculture with improved water use technologies are vital for increasing the productivity and reducing poverty in rainfed ecosystems. It is not to be forgotten that the harvested water in the pond is a very valuable commodity. It may be used for industrial use or for irrigation in agriculture. The harvested water is also a good source to meet the water demand of domestic animals and for human beings (Fig. 10.1). The stored water of the pond can be used for fish farming, tree plantation, intensive irrigation to small area and extensive supplemental irrigation to rainfed crops. Stored water in a pond is developed resource and is, therefore, more expensive than the natural resource. Hence, there is a need to utilize it judiciously and efficiently.

1. 1 Introduction

Irrigation is the artificial application of water needed to the crop field. It is the process of uniformly wetting the root zone depth. The wetting may be done over the land surface or below of it. The application of water in excess to the requirement or accumulation of water in crop field due to rain or unplanned seepage is not considered as irrigation. However, irrigation is supplemental to rainfall. Irrigation water is considered as single most important inputs for crop production.

3.1 Introduction

Energy comes in many forms like chemical, radiant, mechanical, electrical, nuclear etc and can transform from one type to another. Energy can also be transferred or moved from one object to another. Electromagnetic (EM) radiation is a form of energy that can take many forms, such as radio waves, microwaves, X-rays and gamma rays even sunlight is also a form of EM energy. Visible light is a small portion of the EM spectrum, which contains a broad range of electromagnetic wavelengths.

Electromagnetic waves, a self –propagating transverse radiation, are created when an atomic particle, such as an electron, is accelerated by an electric field, causing it to move. The movement produces oscillating electric and magnetic fields. The electric and the magnetic components of the wave are perpendicular to each other and also perpendicular to the direction in which wave is travelling in a bundle of light energy called a photon. Photons travel in harmonic waves at the fastest speed possible in the universe: 186,282 miles per second (299,792,458 meters per second) in a vacuum, also known as the speed of light. There are three important characteristics of the electromagnetic radiation, its frequency, amplitude and speed (Figure 3.1).

1. DEFINITIONS

Various definations of weed have been proposed. Weed is defined as a valueless plant growing wild, especially one that grows on cultivated ground to the exclusion or injury of the desired crop. Weed means any undesirable or troublesome plant, especially one that grows profusely where it is not wanted. The weed have also been defined a plant considered undesirable. Weeds are commonly unwanted plants in human-controlled settings, such as farm fields, gardens, lawns and parks. A weed may be any plant that grows or reproduces aggressively, or is outside its native habitat. Some plants that often are considered to be weeds are Bermuda grass, creeping Charlie, dandelion, golden rod, poison ivy, ragweed, wild carrot, wood sorrel, nutsedge etc.

3.1 Important Soil Physical Properties

3.1.1 Analysis of Soil Texture

Soil texture refers to the relative proportions of sand, silt, and clay on weight basis. Soil texture was recognized from very early times by experienced farmers from the feel of moist soil placed between the thumb and forefinger. The size groups arbitrarily classified by the International Society of Soil Science (ISSS) into clay (< 0.002 mm), silt (0.002 0.02 mm), fine sand (0.02-0.2 mm), and coarse sand (0.2 2.0 mm). Each soil textural name specifies the weight percent of each fraction falls within certain defined limits. The determination of the percentage of the soil separate present in a sample is called particle-size analysis.

Each type of particle present makes its contribution to the nature of the soil as a whole. Sandy soils are usually quite permeable to air, water, and roots, but they have two important limitations. One is their relatively low water-holding capacity; the second is that they are poor storehouses for plant nutrients. These limitations of sandy soils can, of course, be overcome if both fertilizer and irrigation water are available, but the costs are large.

Clay not only have a large surface area per gram, it also has electrically charged particles. These charges give clay the capacity to attract plant nutrient ions to its surface in forms available to plants, but sand lacks this capacity. Clay holds much more water than sands because they have a large surface area to be coated with water. One important problem with clay soils is their stickiness. When wet, they stick to ploughs, boots, or whatever they contact. Loam and silt loam soils are highly desirable for most uses. They have enough clay to store adequate amount of water and plant nutrients for optimum plant growth but not so much clay as to cause poor aeration or to make working with them difficult.

A. Diseases

1. Alternaria leaf spot

Occurrence & severity status

In the years 2012 and 2013, black leaf spot disease was observed on ramie plants in Hunan and Hubei Provinces, China (Yu et al., 2016). Yu et al. (2016) claimed that their report was the first report of Alternaria leaf spot of ramie in China.

Symptoms

In the field, the symptoms of this disease included dark green to black big spots on leaves (Fig. 20A), often resulting in upwardly curled leaf margins (Yu et al., 2016).

Man-directed evolution of distinct types and cultivars (cultivated populations) of self-fertilised crops had their beginning about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. As a breeding system, self-fertilisation favoured constancy and fitness (Stebbins, 1950) of the genotypes to the immediate environment. This provided an alternative to the slash and burn migrant agriculture of the Neolithic farmers (7,000-6,000 B.C.) and to stabilisation of production.

Manu Smriti (700–500 B.C.) proclaimed Subeejam Sukshetre Jayate Sampadyate meaning that good seed in a good field yields abundant produce. The knowledge that good seed is essential for a good harvest, led to conscious efforts for selecting types which provided a dependable source of food. Besides their utility as food, choice of plants and their seeds as progenitors of the next generation depended on personal fancy, observation and experience. As farmers learnt their crop plants better, they sorted them out into similar types (species). While migrating from the centres of origin they carried seeds of mixed populations.

Self-pollinated cereal crops of barley, wheat, oats and important grain legumes such as lentil, peas and chickpea spread from the Near East Centre, first to far and remote areas of Asia, Europe and Africa; and subsequently in comparatively recent times, to the Americas and Australia. In new environments, the introduced mixed populations diversified into well adapted identities of land races. These land races continued to be the main basis of cereal production till early 1900. Improvement in crop plants made by some early civilisations was mainly through introduction and mass selection, based on the natural tendency of preserving the seeds of preferred colour and size from vigorous, healthy and more productive plants.

It was only after the rediscovery of Mendel’s laws in 1900 that breeding procedures based on the knowledge of the genetic principles and the inheritance pattern of different characteristics were developed. This permitted the improvement of crops with objectivity and predictability.

1. Introduction

The remains of almond, found in several archeological sites, show the importance of this crop since centuries. Being storable after drying, the fruits can be transported everywhere, this is the reason why, these nutritious nuts have followed the human migration. The easy adaptability of this species to poor soils has favored their spread. It is an elixir for good health and a panacea for all ills. Almonds have long been an integral part of India’s cultural heritage, especially during festive seasons and weddings. In an increasingly health-conscious nation like India, the demand for almonds is ever increasing. However, several problems plague production and limit output which has led to high import.

1.1. Nutritional value

Almonds are good source of fat, in which 80% is in the form of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) which decreases unwanted cholesterol of body. Almonds contain omega-6 fatty acid which is good for heart. The amount of saturated fat is very less in almonds. Almonds have high amount of phosphorus and calcium which is required for bone growth. Magnesium, manganese, vitamin B6 and Vit. E are also available in almonds. Almond oil contains glucosides, minerals, vitamins and is rich in protein. Nutritive value of almond has been presented in Table1.

9.1 INTRODUCTION

The annual production of organic carbon by photosynthesis on land is about 6x 10¹⁰ tonnes (Table 9.1), most of which eventually decomposes on or in the top 50 cm of the soil. This organic matter can be in lumps as big as a mature oak tree (say 0.5xl0²m³) or as small as a bacterium (0.5 x 10~¹⁸m³). It can be in material as resistant to decay as oil palm nuts, which persist for years in soil in the humid tropics, or as transient as mammalian protein. Yet in the long run, no fraction of the organic matter in plants and animals can withstand decomposition to carbon dioxide and water. If this were not so, any completely resistant fraction would by now cover the surface of the earth. Although under normal conditions organic matter does not accumulate indefinitely in soil, exceptions can occur, as, for example, when a soil becomes permanently waterlogged. When a geologically stable surface has been under the same vegetation for a long time, the soil approaches steady state conditions, with the annual losses of organic matter balancing the annual input. Thereafter the organic matter content of the soil remains constant, until the next vegetational change or geological catastrophe. This process, in which losses and gains proceed simultaneously, is described as turnover and may be defined (for carbon) as ‘the flux of carbon through the organic carbon in a given sample of soil’. Turnover time is then the amount of carbon in the soil system (or part of that system) divided by the annual input of carbon into the system (or part of that system). Turnover and turnover time will be discussed more fully in Section 9.2.5.

Maize or corn (Zea mays, 2n = 2x = 20, Family Gramineae now called as Poaceae, cross-pollinated crop) is produced more than any other grain crop globally. In the Western world, the term maize is used interchangeably with corn. The reason for this is that all grains were called corn under early British and American trade and the name was retained for maize because it was the most common grain in commerce. Although the origin of the word maize is also controversial, it is generally accepted that the word has its origin in Arawac tribes of the indigenous people of the Caribbean. On the basis of this common name, Linnaeus included the name as species epithet in the botanical classification Zea (Zea mays L.) as reported by Smith (2001).

SCAPULA

OX: It is a flat, triangular bone situated on the antero-lateral part of the thorax. It is directed obliquely downward and forward. It has two surfaces, three borders and three angles.

The lateral surface is traversed by the scapular spine which divides it into the supraspinous and the infraspinous fossae. The spine is rough and tuberous in the middle and is prolonged downwards to form the acromion process (Fig.2.1). The medial surface presents subscapular fossa and its upper part presents anteriorly a triangular rough area and posteriorly a rough line (Fig.2.2).

Soil sampling is the first step of soil analysis. As very small fraction of the huge soil mass is used for analysis, it becomes extremely important to get a true representative soil sample of the field.

The United States of America (USA), European Union (EU), Brazil and China are four of the largest agricultural producers and users of agricultural pesticides in the world. Comparing the inclination and ability of different regulatory agencies to ban or eliminate pesticides that have the most potential for harm to humans and the environment can provide a glimpse into the effectiveness of each nation’s pesticide regulatory laws and oversight.

Cucurbits account for the largest group of tropical vegetables, consisting of cucumber, muskmelon, bitter gourd, bottle gourd, ridge gourd, sponge gourd, snake gourd, pointed gourd, bitter gourd, ivy gourd, wax or ash gourd, chow chow or chayote, pumpkin, summer squash, winter squash, watermelon etc. They all belongs to the family Cucurbitaceae. They are herbaceous in nature and are characterized by tendril-bearing vines and adaptation to warm climate of the tropics and subtropics. Among the different genera of cucurbit vegetables, three genera viz., Cucumis (cucumbers, melons), Cucurbita (pumpkins, squash), and Citrullus (watermelons), are economically important in the world while the others hold regional importance. Most of the cucurbits are grown for its immature fruits and are consumed as salads or cooked vegetable. While, muskmelon and watermelon are used fresh as dessert fruits. Pumpkin and squashes are used in confectionaries besides as cooked vegetables. Mature ash gourd fruits are used in sweet candy preparation.

Cucurbits are low in calories, minerals, or vitamins. However, bitter gourd is rich source of vitamin C, the squash, pointed gourd, and muskmelon contain good amounts of carotene, kakrol is high in protein, and pointed gourd is rich in calcium. Bitterness in some species of cucurbits was attributed by the varying degree of bitter principles, cucurbitacin. Bitter gourd is known for its hypoglycemic activity due to phytoceutical, cheratin in the fruit, which lowers blood sugar level.

Initially, rural development followed a top-down approach based on the information collected through the traditional survey method. It was soon noticed that the perception of the development professionals from the “top” was at variance with the perception of the rural masses. Visits were made and extractive surveys were carried out with the help of structured formats and questionnaires. These surveys had several biases such as spatial, season, person, caste, religion, project, education, etc. These limitations led to a search for a new method for understanding rural situations. New methods and approaches such as Farming System Research (FSR), Exploratory Survey and Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) were attempted during the 1970s to overcome the deficiencies of conventional survey methods. Moving away from extractive survey questionnaires, two families of approaches and methods, referred to as Rapid Rural Appraisal and Participatory Rural Appraisal evolved in the 1980s and 1990s.

Origin of PRA

Participatory Rural Appraisal is ‘an approach and methods for learning about rural life and conditions from, with and by rural people’. It is defined as a family of approaches and methods to enable rural people to share, enhance and analyse their knowledge of life and conditions, to plan and act.

According to Robert Chambers (1992), there are five main trends that decorate the principal method of PRA: Activist Participatory Research, Agro-ecosystem Analysis, Social Anthropology, Field Research on Farming Systems, and Rapid Rural Appraisal.

Foot and Mouth disease

Foot and mouth disease is a contagious viral disease of cloven footed animals caused by a picorna virus and characterized by presence of vesicles in oral mucosa and foot (Fig.1.1).

Etiology

• RNA virus of picornaviridae family

• Picorna virus

• Serotypes A,O,C, SAT-1, SAT-2, SAT-3, Asia-1, serotype ‘O’ is most common in India.

Pathogenesis

Inhalation is the main route of infection in ruminants; however, ingestion of contaminated feed and water, inoculation of contaminated vaccines, insemination with contaminated semen and contact with fomites such as clothing, instruments etc. may also transmit the infection. When animal gets infected through respiratory tract, viral replication starts in pharynx followed by viraemic spread to other tissues and organs like epithelium of mouth. Viral excretion commences about 24 hours prior to the onset of clinical form of disease and continues for several days. The aerosols of infected animals contain large amount of virus particularly of swine. Large amount of virus is excreted in milk. In cattle and sheep, virus may be detectable up to 2 years and 6 months of exposure, respectively.

Old and Modern biotechnology
Agriculture has evolved since the dawn of human civilization, first as a means to guarantee food supply and then, as a source of family income and improved profitability. Domestication of plants and animals that were found in the wild combined with gradual, long-term changes in their quality and quantity were the first signs of what is now collectively termed “Agriculture”. At that time, agriculture replaced the former nomadic habit of food collection for immediate consumption. Domestication of plants and animals, followed by food storage, coincided most probably unintentionally, with the growth of microorganisms. Thus, was born the classical food fermentation, the earliest known application of biotechnology, focusing on the use of microorganisms to produce food products.
Gradual improvements in agricultural techniques, domestication of additional plant and species from the wild, step-by-step selection of better performing and more adapted genotypes, along with intuitive breeding continued at a slow pace. Mendel’s discoveries and laws revolutionized genetics, and led at the beginning of the 20th century, to planned and controlled breeding experiments. Breeding or the “old biotechnology” was harnessed as a most successful tool, resulting in better crops and farm animals, and “Green Revolution” of the 1960s was achieved. Many achievements are still being successfully implemented since then.

Experiment No.- 1
AIM
To determine the sucrose content in condensed or evaporated milk using the Lane-Eynon method.
Principle
The Lane-Eynon method is used to measure sucrose in condensed milk by utilizing the reducing properties of sugars. Sucrose, being a non-reducing sugar, is first hydrolyzed into glucose and fructose (reducing sugars). These reducing sugars then react with Fehling’s solution, producing a brick-red precipitate of cuprous oxide (Cu2O) when heated. This allows for the accurate determination of sucrose content after the hydrolysis (inversion) process.
Reactions
• Reaction of Fehling’s Solution
• CuSO4 + NaOH → Cu(OH)2 + Na2SO4
• Cu(OH)2 + Reducing Sugar (RCHO) → Cu2O (brick-red precipitate) + RCOOH
This reaction forms cuprous oxide (Cu2O), a brick-red precipitate. The intensity of this precipitate correlates with the concentration of reducing sugar in the sample, providing a way to determine sucrose content.

3. Contemporary Crisis in Global Agriculture
Over the past century, bunch of initiatives have been taken and achieved worldwide in expediting human welfare. Societies have also changed to great extent as a result of quantum leaps in technology, rapid globalization, and innovations in agricultural production systems. Perhaps the world ‘free of fear and want’ envisioned at the foundation programme of the United Nations is still a far cry.
Similarly, much work left to be fulfilled the vision of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and to make ‘a world free of hunger and malnutrition and one in which food and agriculture contribute to improving the living standards of all, especially the poorest, in an economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable manner’.
Amidst great plenty, millions of people still face pervasive poverty, inequalities, joblessness, natural resource depletion, environmental degradation, displacement, migration, disease, and deprivation. Majority of humanity’s progress has reached at a significant cost to the environment. The impacts of climate change are already being felt, and if left unabated; definitely will intensify to a considerable extent in the years coming. Besides, population dynamics will radically change demographics over the decades ahead. Growth in the world’s population is projected to be concentrated in Africa and South Asia and in the biggest cities.
Then agricultural production has to maintain pace with those of rising population for atleast a sustainable world. Although, agricultural production more than tripled between the years of 1960 and 2015, where Green Revolution owes to robust crop production and a significant increment in the use of land, water and other natural resources for agricultural purposes. This period witnessed a remarkable progress in both of industrialization and globalization of food and agriculture. At the same time changes in the length of food supply chains took place as the physical distance from farm to plate has increased dramatically; the consumption pattern of processed, packaged, and prepared foods has changed simultaneously in everywhere though the most in rural communities.

4.1 Introduction
Workplace design focuses on the structure, dimensions, and layout (placement and orientation) of various elements that surround one or more workers. These elements may include seating (e.g., working chairs), work surfaces, desks, equipment, tools, controls, displays, passages, windows, heating and cooling systems, and more.
The goal of ergonomic workplace design is to enhance work performance in terms of both quality and quantity by achieving the following objectives:
• Reducing physical strain and workload on workers.
• Simplifying task execution by ensuring efficient information exchange with the surroundings and minimizing physical constraints.
• Promoting occupational health and safety.
• Ensuring the ease of use of workplace elements.
Designing an ergonomically sound workplace is a complex process requiring consideration of numerous interacting and variable components. It involves addressing multiple requirements, some of which may conflict. Workplace design must account for the relationship between its components, the worker, task requirements, environmental conditions, and the natural body movements and postures workers adopt.
4.2 Principles of Workstation and System Design Workstation Design Principles
1. Reduction of Static Muscular Work: The human body is built for movement, which aids in blood circulation, supplying oxygen and nutrients to tissues. Static pressure—whether from external sources (supporting surfaces) or internal sources (muscle tension)—hinders blood flow. Static muscle contraction increases both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, causing the heart to work harder. Workstations should minimize static pressure, as workers often spend extended periods at them. Guidelines for workstation design primarily focus on reducing static loads and promoting dynamic movement.

Environmental contaminants are defined as substances introduced into the environment, either naturally or anthropogenically, that pose potentialharm to living organisms and ecosystems (Masindi and Muedi, 2018).These contaminants include a diverse range of pollutants, such as chemicalagents, biological contaminants and physical pollutants (Ahmed et al.,2021). Understanding these contaminants and their toxicity is of paramountimportance, given their profound implications on human health, biodiversityand the overall functioning of ecosystems (Samuel et al., 2023).Environmental contaminations are pervasive in nature and originated fromdiverse sources. Industrial activities are major contributors, releasing heavymetals, organic solvents, and particulate matter into air, water and soil(Williams, 2019). Similarly, agricultural practices contribute to contaminationthrough excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides, which often runoff intoaquatic systems, causing eutrophication and harming aquatic life (Zahoor and
Mushtaq, 2023). Urbanization and improper waste management have alsointensified the problem with plastics and emerging contaminants finding theirway into ecosystems (Singh et al., 2022). Even natural events like volcaniceruptions and forest fires contribute to environmental contamination, thoughtheir impacts are often localized and episodic compared to the persistent andwidespread pollution caused by human activities (Ernst, 2012).The study of environmental contaminants and their toxic effects is of vitalimportance for several reasons in today’s context of escalating global pollution(Hussain and Reza, 2023). First, it provides insights into the health risks posedto humans and wildlife (Pereira et al., 2015). Many contaminants, such as lead,mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), are known to have chronic andacute toxic effects on biological systems, affecting neurological, reproductivand immune functions (Priyadarshanee et al., 2022). These substances interactwith biological systems in complex ways, often leading to adverse outcomessuch as bioaccumulation, oxidative stress, endocrine disruption and ecologicalimbalances (Satkar et al., 2024). Heavy metals like lead and mercury are
known to accumulate in organisms and disrupt critical biological functions,while synthetic chemicals like bisphenol A (BPA) can interfere with hormonalsystems, resulting in reproductive and developmental issues (Pan et al., 2024).Such impacts underscore the need to understand how these substances interactwith living organisms, identify their exposure thresholds and mechanisms oftoxicity to formulate strategies for risk assessment and mitigation (Kumar andSingh, 2023).

The vegetables form an essential component of the human diet especially in case of India and some South Asian countries where sizeable population is vegetarian. India ranks second in the production of vegetables after China and occupy 5.993 million hectares area and the total annual production is around 90.83 metric tonnes (Gopalakrishnan, 2007). There is a need of around 5-6 million tones of food to feed 1.3 billion India’ population by 2020 AD. It is an established fact that any attempt at improvement of agricultural production by using new cultivars with the recommended package of practices has invariably resulted in the increase in activity of damage by pests and diseases. Vegetables are more prone to insect-pests and diseases mainly due to their succulence as compared to other crops. The pest problems on vegetables can be more serious because of the favourable conditions which are provided for multiplication by the present methods of cultivation. The major constraints in vegetable production include the extensive crop losses due to increased pest infestation directly or due to viral diseases vectored by insects. The extent of crop losses in vegetables varies with the plant type, location, damage potential of the pest involved and cropping season. The crop losses to the tune of 40 per cent have observed in vegetable crops. The increased demand and limited productivity of local cultivars, led to introduction of high yielding varieties and hybrids. As a result dramatic changes in pest scenario occurred and minor pests became major pests. Indiscriminate use of pesticides has led to severe ecological consequences like destruction of natural enemies, effect on non-target organisms, pesticide residues in vegetables and resistance of the pests to pesticides. The modern pest management is aimed at educating the farmers on various issues of pest management like identification of the pests, natural enemies, and judicious use of pesticides with alternate methods of pest control like cultural, mechanical, biological and behavioural (use of pheromones) management. The strategy for the control of insect-pests on vegetable crops is necessarily to be different from the other crops because of the nature of utilization of vegetables. This is especially true in the case of chemical control. Insecticides which are highly toxic and are known to leave hazardous residues cannot be recommended on vegetables. The vegetable crops have been grouped into summer and winter vegetables depending upon their season of cultivation in majority of areas. The present chapter deals with the insect pests infesting summer and winter vegetables and their possible management options.

I. Scope and Importance of Horticulture
• The total Geographical area of India is 328.73 ha which stands seventh position in the world.
• India’s population is about 138.5 crores as on November 5, 2020 (UN data) which stands second in the world after China.
• Population depends on agriculture is around 55-70%.
• The term Horticulture derived from two Latin words, Hortus - Garden, Cultura - Cultivation.
• Protected enclosures are used to grow vegetables, flowers and ornamental plants etc

1.1. Origin and distribution

• Originated in Peru, Ecuador, Bolvia of South America and name came from Aztec word Tomato.
• First report from Italy in 1544.
• Leading producers in India - UP, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab and Bihar.

1.2. Economic importance

• Rich source of minerals like calcium, sodium, trace elements like copper, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B complex (thiamine), essential amino acids and healthy organic acids like malic, citric, formic, oxalic and acetic acids.
• Attractive red colour due to lycopene and yellow colour due to carotenes.
• Peculiar flavour due to presence of ethanol, acetaldehyde and volatile flavour in fruit.

Computers: Input and Output Devices

3.1 Input Device

Input devices are the pieces of hardware that allow to enter or input data into

a computer.

Keyboard

• A computer keyboard serves as a data input device.

• A keyboard is a device containing keys, each of which denotes an

alphabet, number, or number instruction that may be served to a computer

to do multiple tasks.

• The keyboard is a significant input device, both computers and laptops

use keyboards to enter commands into the computer.

Mouse

• Mouse is a pointing device.

• The mouse is used to open various files and programs by directly clicking

on the various icons on the system.

• A mouse has three buttons on top and one trackball on the bottom, which

are used to select and move the mouse.

• A touchpad is provided as an alternative for the mouse on laptops, which

aids in mouse pointer movement.

Hydrology examines the occurrence, circulation, distribution, and properties of water in the atmosphere and on Earth. Solar energy drives the hydrologic cycle through evaporation, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, runoff, and groundwater movement. Rainfall first satisfies interception, depression storage, evaporation, and infiltration before excess water begins flowing across the surface and into channels. When runoff entering a river exceeds its conveyance capacity, flooding may occur. This chapter explains clouds, precipitation measurement, rain-gauge networks, rainfall consistency, infiltration, runoff mechanisms, hydrographs, unit hydrographs, empirical runoff models, and stage-discharge relationships. These concepts provide the scientific foundation required for analysing floods and designing appropriate control measures.

Hybridization is a potent technique to create variability for selection and breaking yield barriers, evolve varieties having built in high potential. The selection of suitable parents for hybridization is one of the most important step in hybridization program. Selection of parents on the basis of phenotypic performance alone is not a sound procedure since phenotypically superior lines may yield poor recombinations in the segregating generations. It is therefore essential that parents are chosen on the basis of their genetic value. Some of the commonly utilized techniques for assessing the genetic value of a genotype are:

16.1 Introduction
According to Howard (2001) the major world crop palms are coconut palm (Cocos nucifera L), African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) and date palms (Phoenix dactylifera L). Many other palm species provide products for international commerce and also grown as ornamentals. Some palm species are of local or regional importance and have great potential for expanded development and distribution. In general, commercial production of palms regularly starts on or near natural habitats with little agricultural development.

Chemical ecology is the study of ecological interactions between organisms mediated by chemical produced by those organisms. In short it is considered as the ecological functions of the chemicals. An insect, in various stages of its life history, performs various activities like host plant location, host plant selection,  feeding and oviposition, mating, escape from its natural enemies etc. and the chemicals play a crucial role than visual and audio signals. Chemical ecology encompasses the studies of these chemicals based interactions.

Under agricultural conditions, the nitrogen removed is usually greater than the nitrogen input. To maintain fertility, nitrogen must be returned to the soil. This takes place mainly by biological nitrogen fixation, which is responsible for the major reduction of dinitrogen to ammonia that is used by the plants. Biological nitrogen fixation accounts for most of the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen in to Ammonium, thus representing the key entry point of molecular nitrogen into the biogeochemical cycle of nitrogen (Fig.4.1). Some bacteria can convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonium. Most of this nitrogen fixing prokaryote is free living in the soil.

9.1 Introduction

Flood water which is in the form of a hydrograph when passes down a river section undergoes several changes in its form. There may be some addition of water to the river section when the flood wave passes down the river section. There may be some diversion of water from the section. Thus, depending on the addition or abstraction of water to the incoming flood water, shape of the flood hydrograph in the downstream section may change. Sometimes channel storage and resistance to flow of water in the channel section also affects the shape of the flood hydrograph.

Nearly 70 percent of the cultivated crops all over the world are cross-fertilized and depend on insects like honeybees for pollination. At present, several countries are making desperate efforts to achieve self–sufficiency in food production by physical expansion of the area under cultivation, production of better quality seeds and animals, bringing more waste lands under cultivation, use of fertilizers,pesticides and irrigation. However, in the past decade or so, food production has come to a point of stagnation for some cultivated crops. Emphasis in the future therefore, should be on full use of under used resources. In order to maximize horticultural production, pollinators can be used as an important resource or input as improved variety of seed, timely irrigation, doses of fertilizers and plant protection.

Findings of the present investigation on effectiveness of self-help groups (SHGs) in improving livelihood and empowerment of rural poor in Kanker district of Chhattisgarh are presented under the following headings:
    6.1 Features of SHGs formed under different programmes 
    6.2 Socio-personal, socio-economic and communicational profile of the members of SHGs
    6.3 Dynamics and effectiveness of SHGs  
    6.4 Impact of SHGs on livelihood of the members 
    6.5 Influence of SHGs on empowerment of rural poor
    6.6 Overall impact of SHG approach 
    6.7 Constraints faced by SHGs 

The state of Odisha located in the Coromondal coast of India has a tropical monsoon climate characterized by high humidity, high rainfall (1497 mm) and short and medium winter. It is the 10^th largest and 11th most populous state accounting about 5% of the geographical area and 4% of the population of the country. The geographical area of the state is 15.57 m ha, out of which 0.62 m ha is arable land. Agriculture contributes 28% to  state domestic production and employs 64% of the work force.

Introduction

Plant paprasitic nematodes are one of the limiting factors in the production of horticultural crops in the country. The visible symptoms of nematode attack are: Reduced individual plant growth, varying degrees of chlorosis, wilting of the foliage and sometimes death of the plants.

The roots, damaged by nematodes are not efficient in the utilization of available moisture and nutrients in soil resulting in reduced functional metabolism. Nematode infested roots are easily infected by various pathogenic fungi and bacteria and aggrevate root damage. These deleterious effects on plant growth result in reduced yield and poor quality of crops as in citrus, banana, grapevine, pineapple, papaya and vegetable crops. Decline or death of highly prised ornamentals and turf is often the result of nematode infestation.

The genus Clostridium belongs to the family Clostridiaceae. The genus name was originated from the Greek word ‘kloster’ means spindle, referring to their individual rod shape. Clostridia are gram positive, large, sporulating anaerobic rods (except C. piliforme which is gram negative). At present, there are more than 200 numbers of species under the genus Clostridium. Among them, 15 species can produce potent toxins and are considered as pathogenic for animals and human. The animal pathogenic Clostridia can be classified as neurotoxic, histotoxic and enteric.

Most food legumes have a long history of domestication almost as long as cereals, and during this time they have been subjected to conscious and unconscious selections for better adaptation to environmental condition as well as better seed yield. In general, crops during their ontogeny faces a number of abiotic stress viz., excessive and/or low soil water stress, soil salinity stress, high as well as low temperature stress. It has been well documented that crop yields would be greater in many cropping regions if more water were available. 
Availability of water for agriculture is being challenged increasingly because of growing demand for water from other sectors such as industry, urban use, and for social and environmental purposes. Water stress may conceivably arise either from an insufficient or from an excessive water activity in the plant’s environment. Many physiological characteristics are correlated with the water potential of mesophyll tissue but the correlations are species specific. There is a general hierarchy of sensitivities among general physiological activities. Most sensitive are cell expansion, cell wall synthesis, protochlorophyll formation, and nitrate reduction. Generally turgor pressure is still accepted as the best indicator of water stress in plants. The specific mechanism by which turgor regulate physiological function probably relate to cell walls and membranes. Cell membrane structure, and spatial arrangement of enzyme, transport channels, cellulose synthesis rosettes, and receptor proteins may be dependent on turgor pressure.

Nuclear Disasters

What is NUCLEAR ENERGY or NUCLEAR POWER?

It is the energy released in nuclear fission or nuclear fusion.
Motive power generated by nuclear reactor.
Where atomic energy of a substance get converted in to electrical energy.

Efforts to Mitigate Natural Disaster at National and Global Level

What is A ‘Disaster’?

It as ‘an event that has occurred unexpectedly with destructive consequences’ - (UNOCHA 2005). 
It as ‘a calamitous event resulting in loss of life, great human suffering and distress, and large scale material damage’ - (IFRC2005).
None of the international agencies take animals into account in their definitions

A) Selection of Dairy Cattle

Proper selection is the first and the most important step to be adopted in dairying. Records are the basis of selection and hence proper identification of animals and record keeping is essential. Cross-breed animals with exotic inheritance of about 50 percent are preferable.
 
Bringing animals from different agro-climatic conditions causes problems due to non-adjustment in many cases. In case, purchase becomes absolutely essential it should be from similar environmental conditions as far as possible.

General selection procedures for dairy breeds

Selecting a calf in calf show, a cow in cattle show by judging is an art. A dairy farmer should build up his own herd by breeding his own herd. Following guidelines will be useful for selection of a dairy cow.