eChapters

Lifespan development examines the physical, cognitive, linguistic, emotional, social, moral and personality changes that occur from conception through old age. This chapter evaluates essential concepts related to prenatal development, infancy, childhood, adolescence and adulthood. It includes developmental stages and tasks, heredity and environment, motor and language development, emotions, play, learning, perception, personality and major psychological theories. Questions address the contributions of Freud, Erikson, Piaget, Pavlov, Skinner, Havighurst and other influential thinkers. The chapter also covers childcare, discipline, parenting, developmental assessment and legal safeguards, enabling learners to revise the fundamental principles governing human growth and behaviour across the lifespan.

SYNOPSIS

Until recently, agriculture was primarily valued for producing staple cereals. Today, there is increasing recognition that agriculture has an important role to play in improving nutrition, human health and environmental health. Helping agriculture successfully forge links with nutrition and health can enable the research, development and policy communities to more effectively address the looming challenges of hunger, malnutrition and agriculture-associated diseases. Already, there is growing momentum around the world to bring these sectors together to improve food and nutrition security of the world’s poorest people.

Keywords : Food security, nutrition, health, agriculture.

1. INTRODUCTION

During the past fifty years, the world has made substantial progress in improving the food security of millions of people. Using science and technology, agricultural extension and appropriate policies and incentives complemented with infrastructure, farmers, researchers and policymakers have worked together to increase the global production of cereals, cutting the proportion of hungry people from approximately one-third to one-sixth of the world population (Spielman and Pandya- Lorch 2010). Yet more needs to be done. Nearly one billion people still suffer from hunger. Micronutrient deficiencies affect billions more today and potentially in the long-term. Malnourishment in children’s first two years of life, for example, causes largely irreversible damage, impeding their physical growth and intellectual development, increasing their susceptibility to diseases such as diabetes and cancer and even drastically reducing their incomes as adults. Undernourished women are more likely to give birth to smaller babies, thereby creating an inter- generational trap of under nutrition and poverty.

While agriculture has traditionally been put to work to raise the productivity and production of staple crops, there is increasing recognition that agriculture is also key to improving nutrition security, individual health and environmental health. This nuanced understanding has come just in time, considering the looming challenges of hunger, malnutrition, climate change and its link to energy and resource scarcity and urbanization. Placing agriculture in this larger context may enable the global community to better address and cope with these challenges, whilst meeting the food and nutrition security needs of the world’s most vulnerable people.

This paper will briefly review the evolving role of agriculture in meeting food and nutrition security. It will identify emerging challenges, describe promising developments and highlight opportunities for leveraging agriculture-nutrition-health links to overcome challenges.

Computation has become an essential tool in life science research. This is exemplified in genomics, where first microarrays and now massively parallel DNA sequencing have enabled a variety of genome-wide functional assays that require increasingly complex analysis tools. The problem of accessibility of computational tools has long been recognized. Without programming or informatics expertise, scientists needing to use computational approaches are impeded by problems ranging from tool installation; to determining which parameter values to use; to efficiently combining multiple tools together in an analysis chain. The severity of these problems is evidenced by the numerous solutions to address them. Kowledge on software  and web-based interfaces for tools all improve the accessibility of computation. These approaches each have advantages, but do not offer a general solution that enables a computational tool to be easily included in an analysis chain and run by scientists without programming experience.However, making tools accessible does not necessarily address the crucial problem of reproducibility.

This section forms the crux of this research. Here, the data collected as per the research methodology explained in previous chapter has been analysed, results were obtained and discussed. The data were classified, tabulated and then treated with scientific methods to get the results.

After tabulation, the results were interpreted to bring out emphatically the most striking relationship between the variables. The results are presented in the form of tables, graphs and figures.

The findings are presented under the following parts in accordance with the objectives setforth.

Section I : Profile of the study respondents

Section II : Effectiveness of selected learning modules in terms of knowledge gain and symbolic adoption

Section III : Relationship and influence of independent variables towards knowledge gain and symbolic adoption

Section IV : Farmers perception about the Interactive Multimedia Compact Disc (IMCD)

Section V : Farmers opinion regarding utility of the IMCD as a tool for transfer of technology

Section VI : Strategies for better utilization of IMCD

13.0 INTRODUCTION

Cucurbits belong to the family Cucurbitaceae, commonly known as the melon or gourd family. The term cucurbits was coined by Dr Bailey. From nutritional point of view, cucurbit seeds are valued for their high oil and protein contents. Seed proteins and methionine of cucurbits are higher than legumes. Vegetatively propagated cucurbits are pointed gourd, ivy gourd and chow-chow. Long day of 16 hours and high temperature result in maleness. Short day of 9 hours results in femaleness. They are widely distributed in the tropics and warm temperate regions of south, southeast and East Asia, Africa including Madagascar, and central and south America. Cucurbitaceae family is represented by about 117 genera and 825 species. The most common uses of cucurbits are as vegetables and fruits. They are valuable sources of vitamins and minerals. The important cucurbits that are cultivated commercially are cucumber, watermelon, musk melon, long melon, round melon, bottle gourd, bitter gourd, ash gourd, ridge gourd, sponge gourd, pumpkin, squash, snake gourd, pointed gourd, spine gourd, ivy gourd and chow-chow etc. Cucurbits are used as vegetable, salads, dessert and pickle, and for making of sweets.

Vegetable: Bitter gourd, ridge gourd and sponge gourd, round gourd, pointed gourd and pumpkin are used as vegetables. Immature fruits of musk melon are also cooked as vegetable only in some areas.

Salad: Excellent salad is made from cucumber and little gourd.

Dessert: Muskmelon, water melon and cucumber are used as desserts.

Pickle: Cucumber, little gourd and bitter gourd are used for making pickles.

Sweets: Pointed gourd and ash gourd are used for making sweets.

Several products of fruits and vegetables are prepared on commercial and home scale. Products development from fruits and vegetables is the best way to utilize excess produces and save them from post harvest losses..

Value Addition

This is the process of improving the value of a commodity through processing by changing its form, increasing its shelf life or better presentation like packaging. Value addition can be done through the ways.

A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. The term may also refer to the resulting grain itself (specifically “cereal grain”). Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food energy worldwide than any other type of crop and are therefore staple crops. Edible grains from other plant families, such as buckwheat, quinoa and chia, are referred to as pseudo cereals. In their natural, unprocessed, whole grain form, cereals are a rich source of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats, oils, and protein. When processed by the removal of the bran and germ the remaining endosperm is mostly carbohydrate. In some developing countries, grain in the form of rice, wheat, millet, maize etc. constitutes a majority of daily sustenance. 

3.1 GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Indigenous communities depending mainly on hunting, collection of food from the forests and managing natural resources to meet their requirements, have lived intimately with nature. Shifting cultivation has helped these communities to earn their livelihood for centuries to become to be food secure. Besides being a source of subsistence, the shifting cultivation has also been a repository of agro-biodiversity. Not considering this, the authorities have tried to impose the practice of intensive agriculture on indigenous people for conversion to mainstream agriculture (Singh et al. 2016). The way of life of indigenous people has been grossly impacted by the stress of market oriented development, government schemes, and interventions by some NGOs. The ‘dimensions of shifting cultivation’ not only includes the area under shifting cultivation and the number of shifting cultivators in the world but, various forms, shapes, methods and other aspects of the practice on spatial and temporal basis as well (Fig. 3.1).

Harvesting and threshing are the key most important operations in the entire range of field operations required in any crop production system. Both of these operations remain still the most important operations as fruit of labour depends upon them. Crops are harvested after normal maturity with the objective to take out grain, straw, tubers etc without much loss.  It involves cutting / digging/ picking, laying, gathering, curing, transport and stacking of the crop.  Harvesting of major cereals, pulse and oilseed crops are done by using sickle whereas tuber crops are harvested by country plough or spade (Fig. 8.1).

SYNOPSIS

This millennium has brought about serious challenges as well as excellent opportunities for the betterment of humanity. The migration of rural population to urban areas is one of the major challenges foreseen. It is expected that much of the population growth is expected to take place in the cities of the developing world. By 2020, about 52 percent of the developing world’s population will be living in urban areas (IFPRI, 1999). The agricultural areas around cities offer great promise to urban and peri-urban agriculture.

The interventions on Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (UPA) suggested and initiative undertaken by FAO is timely and valuable in the interest of the teeming population demanding for both nutrition and health. The International Conference on Vegetables (ICV-2002) held during 2002 has emphasized the importance of vegetables; FAO International Workshop on Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture for Asian Countries organized during 2005 had amply emphasized the important role of horticulture; and the International Conference on Horticulture (ICH-2009) held during 2009, has amply illustrated the importance of horticultural crops particularly vegetables in UPA for the benefit of urban population.

The urbanization process is a reality that drives people to go and live in the cities. It is very pronounced in Latin America where already 85% of the population lives in cities; in Asia the average is reaching 60% whereas in Africa the phenomenon has started later and has now reached 35%. Besides the increased demand for food, there has been a rapid increase of poverty, unemployment, hunger and malnutrition in the Urban and Peri-urban environment around the world that are of great concern to central and municipal authorities.

UPA can contribute to feeding the urban population, generate income and employment and thereby reduce poverty. In reality many countries have already UPA related activities going on in areas of horticulture including vegetables, dairy production, small livestock, aquaculture and forestry. However, it has been realized that very few countries had actually investigated the real opportunities and constraints linked to the urban agriculture sector.

Keywords : Urban Agriculture, Urban Food, Peri-urban Agriculture, UPA.

The Structure of Proteins

Proteins are composed of building blocks called amino acids. A string of amino acids is called a polypeptide chain. Once such a chain has folded into its working three-dimensional shape, it is a protein. Though there are tens of thousands of different proteins, all of them are put together from a starting set of 20 amino acids. It is the order in which the amino acids are linked in a polypeptide chain that determines which protein will be produced.

3.1 Introduction

Flower and plant part based perfumes are receiving special attention at this modern age of civilization. With pre-eminent senses of smell or taste, a large brain affording a superior intellect, would lead to the use of these abilities to improve the environment, the flavour of food and the smell of the surroundings. In fragrance industry, essential oil is a generic term given to all fragrant extracts such as essential oils, absolutes, resinoids, concretes etc. Since antiquity, flowers and plant parts have been used as flavours for food, for religious rites, for beautification of homes and gardens, as incence and insect repellent, in cosmetics and personal adornment and in medicine. Fragrance compositions are used with the purpose to affect customers through their sense of smell and the job of composing fragrances is left upto an expert known as “Perfumer”.

Despite continuing invention of synthetic fragrant extracts, natural essential oils still remain the most important part of fine fragrance. Essential oils are so aromatic and are the focus of the fragrance industry. The content of a pure essential oil product gives it an unmistakable aromatic and healing quality. Nature has always provided us with food, medicine and fibre for clothing that we need to survive. Sometime a walk in the woods, a day spent swimming in Local River or lake or a beautiful sunset can lift a person’s spirit and give them a new outlook. The aroma of a pure essential oil can do the same.

Flavour and fragrance have now become every day necessities and their demand is constantly increasing across the world. Products from different extraction methods are known under different names even though their basic materials are the same. For instance, orange blossom from citrus aurantium on solvent extraction produces “orange blossom absolute” but that of steam distilled produces “Neroli oil”.

Table 19.1: Reference Guide for Landscape Plants.

1. Carnation is a

 a) Short day plant           b) Day neutral plant

 c) Long day plant            d) None of these

2. Lotus in Sanskrit is known as

 a) Water lily       b) Padma

 c) Kamala           d) Pankaja

11.14. Nanotechnology 11.14.1. Concept • Nanotechnology is science, engineering, and technology conducted at the nanoscale, which is about 1 to 100 nanometers. • Physicist Richard Feynman is considered as father of nanotechnology. The idea and concepts behind nanoscience and nanotechnology started with a talk entitled “There is Plenty of Room at the Bottom” by physicist Richard Feynman at an American Physical Society Meeting at the California Institute of Technology on December 29, 1959, long before the term nanotechnology was used. In his talk, Feynman described a process in which scientists would be able to manipulate and control individual atoms and molecules. Over a decade a later, in his explorations of ultra precision machining, Professor Norio Taniguchi coined the term nanotechnolog

Classification of Living Organisms

The classification of living organisms has passed through several changes and has reached the present stage with the gradual assimilation of more and more knowledge about them. The classification is mainly based on the morphology, anatomy, life style, habits, habitats, metamorphosis and such other characteristics. Though the concept of classification of living organisms was perhaps started by Aristotle between 384 - 322 BC, it was the Swedish Scientist Carl Linnaeus (1788), who presented the classification, which was acceptable to most of the Taxonomists. He propounded the binomial nomenclature of naming each and every organism of animal and plant origin with a genetic and species name. In his classification he was consistent in using Latin names for all the organisms.

• The axial skeleton is comprised of several key structures that form the central core of the animal skeleton.

• This includes the bones of the skull, which encase and protect the brain, the vertebral column or spine, which provides support and houses the spinal cord, as well as the ribs and the sternum, which together form the rib cage, protecting vital organs such as the heart and lungs.

• These components work together to provide structural support and protection for the body’s central organs.

Skull Bones

The skull is a complex structure that varies greatly across different animal species, reflecting their unique evolutionary adaptations, dietary habits, and ecological niches.

Generally, the skull serves several critical functions: protecting the brain, supporting facial structures, and providing attachment points for muscles involved in feeding and expression.

    1.    What is the percentage of water in an adult’s body weight
        a)    50%    b)    60%
        c)    90%    d)    70%
    2.    __________ is a direct reactant in hydrolytic processes of many foods
        a)    Water    b)    Moisture content
        c)    Both a&b    d)    None
    3.    The bond angle of the isolated water molecule (vapor state) is
        a)    109°    b)    104.5°
        c)    109°28'    d)     103.6°

Ajowan is a profusely branched winter annual herb, seed oil of which is a major source of thymol, being present to extent of 35-60%. Ajowan oil is aromatic, stimulant and carminative.  It possesses antimicrobial activity. Ajowan seeds are employed either alone or in combination with spices and condiments. It is used in pickles, confectionery and beverages.  It is a good remedy for indigestion.  A paste of crushed fruit is applied externally for relieving colic pains.  It is also used in lotions and ointments.

A. Soil Sampling

Soil is a store house of several nutrients. These are present in available and reserve forms and a dynamic equilibrium always exists between these forms of nutrients in soil. If the available form of a given nutrient element is depleted by crop uptake or by any other means, there will be immediate replenishment from the reserve source. In this context, it is also appropriate to note that soil is not an eternal source of plant nutrients. In a bid to produce more, soils are exploited very badly and they are gradually becoming deficient in several nutrients. There are several soil related constraints coming in the way of achieving sustainability in crop production.

Cells are the Working Units of Life

With the possible exception of viruses, every form of life on Earth either is a cell or composed of cells. All cells come into existence through the activity of other cells.

All Cells are either Prokaryotic or Eukaryotic

All cells can be classified as prokaryotic or eukaryotic. All plants, animals, fungi, and protists are either single eukaryotic cells or are composed of eukaryotic cells. Prokaryotic cells are either bacteria or archaea. Eukaryotic cells have most of their DNA contained in a membrane-lined nucleus, whereas prokaryotic cells do not have a nucleus. Eukaryotic cells also have more specialized structures, called organelles, than do prokaryotic cells. All prokaryotes are single-celled, whereas many eukaryotes are multi-celled.

The Eukaryotic Cell

There are five principal components to the eukaryotic animal cell: the nucleus, other organelles, the cytosol, the cytoskeleton, and the plasma membrane. Organelles are “tiny organs” within the cell that carry out specialized functions, such as energy transfer and material recycling. The cytosol is the fluid in which these organelles are immersed (The cytoplasm is the region of the cell inside the plasma membrane but outside the nucleus.) The cytoskeleton is composed of several groups of proteins that give the cell support and facilitate transportation of cellular elements. The plasma membrane is the chemically active outer boundary of the animal cell. Plant cells have a plasma membrane that has, outside of it, a cell wall.

7.1. Introduction

Like all other living organisms such as humans, animals, and microorganisms, plants also need elemental nutrients for their growth and development. They assemble the nutrients from soil, water and air. However, to obtain economical crop yield, nutrients are also supplied to the crops from external sources such as chemical fertilizers and manures and using biofertilizers. It is the present-day need to handle the soil fertility status in a more realistic and careful way to obtain maximum crop harvest. Under poor management practices, soil may become infertile and loose its importance in agricultural use. In modern days, huge food demand for the burgeoning human population does not permit to show luxury to use only fertile soil. Moderately fertile soil or even degraded soil should also be managed properly so that they may be used to grow crops. For this, plant nutrients status of the soil plays a significant role along with other soil properties. For sustainable soil fertility management, parameters such as crop to be raised, its nutrient demand at various growth stages, current nutrient status of the soil, amount of nutrient application based on the soil testing results etc are important to be considered. Balanced nutrition to the plants is the prerequisite to obtain maximum benefit. If nutrients supplied to the plants are low in quantity than their requirement, crop production is lowered down. Similarly, if the nutrients are provided in more amount in the soil or unbalanced way through fertilizer or manure applications, total crop yield is suffered. It is a very common example that excess of phosphorus leads to zinc deficiency in most crop plants and it has been observed that excess N is responsible for potassium starvation in potato. Again, excess of iron, manganese, zinc, copper shows plant toxicity. Addition of nutrients to soils in excess also causes environmental pollution when the excess nutrients are lost from soil by leaching, surface run-off and volatilization. Unscientific way of soil fertilization leads to increasing cost of cultivation and imparts adverse effect to the environment instead of doing any good. Therefore, one should have a clear knowledge on soil fertility to obtain a sustainable productivity.

A. Biology, Adaptation, and Host-Seeking Behavior of Predatory and Parasitic Insects

The study of the biological processes, adaptations, and host-seeking behaviors of predatory and parasitic insects is fundamental for enhancing the efficacy of pest management strategies. These aspects are central to leveraging natural predator and parasite behaviors for biological control.

i. Biology of Predatory and Parasitic Insects

The study of the biology of predatory and parasitic insects is a cornerstone in understanding how these organisms function as critical components of biological control programs. These insects play a pivotal role as natural enemies of pest species, with physiological and developmental traits finely tuned for the effective management of pest populations. By examining their complex life cycles, reproductive strategies, and other biological traits, researchers can optimize the use of these insects in integrated pest management (IPM) strategies.

In the classification given below only those groups have been given emphasis which contain plant pathogenic fungi or which are important from taxonomic point of view. The description includes only critical features.

Introduction

Indian oilseeds scenario has been able to surmount the crisis of prolonged stagnation with increased production in the decades of 1980s and 1990s (Prasad 1991). Nevertheless, in the face of growing demands of vegetable oil both for human consumption and industrial use, there is every need to augment the oilseed production to new heights of sustainability (Prasad 1994a).

Apart from the traditional sources of vegetable oils from annual crops like groundnut, rapeseed-mustard, sesame, sunflower, safflower, niger, linseed, castor and soybean besides cotton seed and rice bran, more than 100 species of domesticated or wild plant species of India are known to contain oil in considerable quantities (Prasad, 1994c). In addition to the production from nine traditional oilseeds mentioned above, 3 million tonnes of vegetable oil is being harnessed from secondary sources like cottonseed, rice bran, coconut, Tree Borne Oilseeds (TBOs) and Oil Palm. Subramanian et al., (2005) reported that there are over 300 different species of trees which produce oil bearing seeds. Thus, there is a significant potential for non-edible oil source from different plants for biodiesel production as an alternative to petrodiesel.

It is estimated that TBOs have the potential to contribute more than 3 million tons of oil; but only a fraction of the potential is realised currently. Seeds of many of the oil bearing trees have been used by the ethnic communities for different purposes. Apart from seed oil, the trees yield valuable by-products including cake, which have industrial applications (Hocking, 1993; Chakravarty et al., 2012).

There are many species of plants found wild or cultivated inside as well as outside the forest areas containing sizeable amount of vegetable oil having domestic and industrial utility. Out of these species.The country has enormous potential of oilseeds of tree origin like Mahua (Madhuca indica and M. longifolia ), Sal (Shorea robusta), Neem (Azadirachta indica), Simarouba (Simarouba glauca), Karanj (Pongamia pinnata), Ratanjyot /physic nut (Jatropha curcas), Jojoba (Simmondsia chinesis), Cheura (Diploknema butyracea), Kokum (Garcinia indica), wild Apricot (Prunus armeniaca), wild Walnut (Aleurites molucana), Kusum (Schleichera oleosa), Undi ( Calophyllum inophyllum), Tung (Verniciafordii) etc. which can be grown and established on the wastelands and under varied agroclimatic conditions.

The living organisms in the terrestrial ecosystem have unique characteristics of taking up the substances from atmosphere and soil for the synthesis of their own cellular component or as a source of energy. The supply and absorption of chemical compounds required for the growth and metabolism of the organisms may be defined as nutrition and the compounds required by them are called nutrients. The process by which the nutrients are converted to cellular material is known as the metabolism. Out of 118 chemical elements so far detected in the modern periodic table, 92 elements from hydrogen to uranium are naturally occurring, a large portion (more than sixty) of such have been detected in the plant tissues. But, the elements which take part in the nutritional requirement and metabolic processes of the plant are said to be essential elements, others which do not participate in such processes are considered non-essential.

4.1 General description

Most temperate forest habitats support a small number of animal and tree species with wide geographic distributions, whereas the montane forests support a large number of species with narrow geographic distributions. "For mankind's most prevalent disease, we have a multiplicity of diagnoses, each provided with maximum casualness," Prof Galbrith writes in one of his publications. Poverty is a difficult situation to be in. It would be beneficial if we knew what was causing the problem. Obviously, there isn't a single answer. Many explanations are presented because they include a small amount of truth. However, one reason of poverty is pervasive: the historical or present link between land and people. Food, clothing, and shelter are all provided by the land. Poverty exists if these are not available." This statement by Galbrith, which is relevant for shifting agriculture areas with excessive rains and turbulent rivers, summarizes the genesis and cause of every responsible individual's considerable worry for good land management and soil maintenance. To round out the aspects of this issue, there is need to add 'environment' and 'ecology’ to this.

2.1 Roots and the Rhizosphere

The rhizosphere, the region of soil surrounding plant roots in which soil and microbes closely interact–plays an important role in soil carbon cycling. The rhizosphere is only about 1-2% of Earth’s soil volume but can store up to 30-40% of Earth’s total soil organic matter. Plants secrete organic compounds such as amino acids or enzymes known as root exudates, which are key in recruiting and selecting relevant beneficial microbes to colonize in the rhizosphere (Julie Bobyock, 2023). Studying these microbial-plant interactions is critical to better understand the relationship between plant growth and the role soils play in keeping carbon from the atmosphere. It is the region that is a few distances (2-80 mm) extended from the root system. Rhizosphere zone is the region of intense microbial activity, and it is isolated from the bulk soil that often called as Edaphosphere or Non-rhizosphere.

Plant growth results from interaction of roots and shoots with the environment. The environment for roots is the soil or planting medium, and its importance is often not appreciated beyond the physical and nutritional aspects. Roots do provide structural support for the plant, and they absorb water and nutrients, but they also produce plant growth-regulating substances, such as cytokinins. The cortex of the root is largely starch storage tissue, and represents a transition zone from the soil to the stele. The cortex also provides a niche to be occupied by mycorrhizal fungi. It is not as generally appreciated, however, that roots also support the growth and functions of a complex of microorganisms that can have a profound effect on the growth and survival of plants. These microbes interact in the soil around the root that is influenced by root exudates; this zone is called the rhizosphere. The effects of rhizosphere microorganisms on plant growth or health often are ignored unless the microbes weaken or kill the plant through disease. There are, however, beneficial interactions that can occur and be enhanced if actively managed by the grower. Establishment and maintenance of rhizosphere microbial populations is a dynamic process affected by age and kind of plant, nature and treatment of soil, environmental factors, foliar applications of chemicals, and interactions of microorganisms. It is important to remember that selective or preferential development of rhizosphere populations occurs in the early stages of plant growth and root development when root exudation is maximal but, thereafter, is altered and maintained at some microbial equilibrium by both microbial and plant activity, with both being influenced by edaphic and other environmental factors.

In previous Chapter, a list was furnished mentioning common names, botanical names, family and types of the all plants mentioned in the Ramayana. The purpose was to know the total number of plants and trees mentioned besides providing reference of the Shlokas as well. This information led to identification of the plants and trees but details about their morphological and floral characters were not mentioned. Therefore, in this Chapter details of the trees and other plants have been provided. This will help to know all about their botanical standing, conservation status, nativity, morphological and floral characters so that one can know the full details including present-day status, availability and importance (Cowen, 1950; Randhawa, 1983; Roy, 2015; 2024).

1. Botanical Name: Adenanthera pavonina L.

Synonym: Adenanthera gersenii Scheff.

Common Name: ‘Red Bead Tree’, ‘Curly Bean’, ‘Red Sandal Wood’

Family: Fabaceae

Nativity: India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia to Queensland

Conservation Status: Common (Not Threatened)

Type: Tree

Morphological and Floral Characters: Red Bead Tree is a timber tree found wild in India. Leaves compound, bipinnate, green when young, turning yellow on maturity. Flowers small, yellowish, grows in a dense, drooping almost cat tail like flower-heads. Fruits curved pods, hanging, green that turn brown, coil up and split open on ripening, showing small bright red seeds which are attractive, used as beads in jewellery.

(I)  Deficiency Diseases

Mineral and vitamins, in adequate quantities, are essential in the diet of all animals. Many diseases occur due to deficiency of mineral and vitamins. Mineral and vitamins are more necessary in pigs due to their higher growth rate. It is normally seen that when pigs are reared on self made rations, they suffer more with the deficiency of one or more mineral and vitamins. Thus, it is necessary to introduce extra mineral and vitamins in the pig ration. If it is not done, its growth rate and body weight do not increase in proper ratio. The excess and deficiency of one mineral depends on quantities of other minerals present in the ration. It is frequently seen that pigs suffer from deficiency of more than one mineral and vitamin but some time pigs suffer from deficiency of one substance and excess of the other substance, so a balanced ration- with appropriate proportions of various mineral and vitamins- is necessary. Many times it is seen that some infectious diseases increase the necessity of mineral and vitamins in the body. This may cause deficiency of mineral and vitamins in the body and the animal may not recoup.

Following are the description of these symptoms and their prevention.

1. INTRODUCTION

It is hard to conceive which came first on earth, human being or food. If the human was born first, he or she needed food immediately to survive. Thereafter, the human beings continued to need food and continued to eat food throughout his or her life. Hence, the relationship between human being and food is permanent and the requirement of food for the human being to be alive is everlasting. Further, sources of food may survive in nature without human intervention but human being can not remain alive without food. This clearly signifies the permanent bondage of human being and food which is inseparable under any circumstances. ‘Thus, should we state that every human being necessarily needs food and should have right to food as soon as born.

In order to further strengthen this view, the governance which rules human beings should also be protective and enact laws to ensure food to each human being born in respective countries.

2. BACKGROUND

•   “Hunger is exclusion”, wrote de Castro (1963) a Brazilian anti-hunger advocate. “Exclusion from the land, from jobs, wages, income, life and citizenship. When a person gets to the point of not having anything to eat, it is because all the rest has been denied. This is a modern form of exile. It is death in life”.

•   Simply by being born, everyone has the right to food. A person doesn’t have to do anything to “deserve” it; the right to food is a birthright. But this does not entitle a person to sit back and ask for free food. People are responsible for doing all they can to realize their own right to food. Governments that are parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights are responsible for ensuring that all those living within their borders have the means to do so, (FAO, 2007).

•   Broadly speaking, governments should create peaceful, stable, free and prosperous environments in which people can feed themselves in dignity. Even without a legal obligation to do so, countries have a moral obligation to ensure freedom from hunger (FAO, 2007).

A. Bhattacharya

2.1.    Seed Germination
    
    2.1.1.        Drought Tolerance in Plants
    2.1.2.        Osmotic Adjustment
    2.1.3.        Cell membrane Stability
    2.1.4.        Epicuticular Wax
    2.1.5.        Partitioning and Stem Reserve Mobilization
    2.1.6.        Salt Stress and Seed Germination
    
2.2.    Seedling Drought Traits
    
2.3.    Seed Germination Under Abiotic Stress

2.4.    Salt Stress and Seed Germination

2.5.    Seedling Growth

2.6.    Stress Effects on Seedling Growth
    
    2.6.1.        Temperature
    2.6.2.        Nutrition, Salinity, and pH
    2.6.3.        Water
    2.6.4.        Under Flooding Condition
    
2.7.    Drought Stress and Abscisic acid (ABA)
    
2.8.    Salt Stress on Seedling Length
    
    2.8.1.        Salt Stress on Seedling Dry Weight
    2.8.2.        Mechanism of Salt Stress on Germination
    2.8.3.        Root Establishment Methods
    
2.9.    Root Development
    
    2.9.1.        Root System Development and Abiotic Stress
    
2.10.    Root Development Under Abiotic Stress
    
    2.10.1.        Drought Stress
    2.10.2.        Regulation of Root System Architecture by Water Availability and Salinity Stress
    2.10.3.        Regulation of Root System Architecture by Nutrients
    2.10.4.        Phosphate Starvation
    2.10.5.        Nitrogen
    2.10.6.        Potasium and Iron
    2.10.7.        Meristematic Activity Regulation by Abiotic Stress
    2.10.8.        Waterlogging Stress
    2.10.9.        Salt Stress
    2.10.10.    Temperature Stress
    2.10.11.    Illumination Stress
    2.10.12.    Nutrient Deficiency or Excess
    2.10.13.    Heavy Metal Stress
    2.10.14.    Elevated Atmospheric Levels of CO2
    2.10.15.    Mechanical Stress
    
2.11.    Biochemical Regulation of Root
        
References

Key facts
        
Agriculture and livestock
    
·    The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines adaptation as ‘adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities’. The adaptation can be considered as tackling the effects of climate change, whereas mitigation is tackling the cause of climate change such as reducing the sources or enhancing the sinks of greenhouse gases. There could be different types of adaptation such as autonomous (spontaneous) and planned adaptation (policy decision).
    
·    Autonomous adaptation includes altering varieties and/or species those are more appropriate to the altered thermal regime or with increased resistance to heat shock and drought; altering the timing or location of cropping activities; altering fertilizer rates to maintain grain or fruit quality consistent with the climate and altering amounts and timing of irrigation and other water management practices; diversifying income by integrating other farming activities such as livestock raising, integrated agriculture and aquaculture/fish farming; development and use of varieties and species resistant to pests and diseases, wider use of technologies to ‘harvest’ water, conserve soil moisture (e.g. crop residue retention) and to use water more effectively in areas where rainfall is projected to decrease and using seasonal climate forecasting to reduce production risk.

Tissue or cell samples from a living organism, different cell cultures grown in a laboratory incubator under controlled conditions, homogenates or extracts of cells and tissues, solutions of isolated and purified components (e.g. proteins, nucleic acids) can all be referred to as biological samples. As the medium of life is water, the majority of biological samples can be defined as aqueous solutions with one or more components, colloidal systems, or water-based suspensions (e.g. bacterial cells dispersed in a liquid medium). Consequently, most biochemical experiments also take place in aqueous environments. Different solids (e.g. chemical substances obtained from different companies, synthetic oligonucleotides or peptides) are also often necessary for biochemical research. In most cases, solids are dissolved in water (or sometimes in other solvents) prior to the experiments. Therefore, the methods of preparing solutions and measuring accurately the weight of the required solids will also be discussed below. Sometimes we use gases in the laboratory. These can be stored in gas cylinders (e.g. O₂), in Dewar flasks in liquid state (e.g. liquid nitrogen), or dissolved in water (e.g. HCl or NH₃). By working with gases it is very important to follow all safety instructions to avoid fire, explosions, frostbite or (in case of inhalation) asphyxia or poisoning.

4.1 Overview of Concept and Science

Preserving flowers and plant parts has been a form of artistic expression that was very popular in Victorian ages. Now, this process is moving from an art to a highly interdisciplinary science and has become a major economic activity on a global scale. Because, dry decorative products have been globally accepted as natural, eco-friendly, long lasting and inexpensive as compare to fresh flowers and plant parts, which are perishable and delicate in nature. These perishables cannot retain their fresh like appearance and beauty for several months and it becomes prodigious job to maintain these qualities. Even with preservatives, the vase life of fresh cut flowers has been prolonged to an extent of 40 per cent only. Hence, for those who want the beauty of nature around them in the form of flowers but on a more permanent basis dried flowers are a solution.

Domain of Dried Flowers

Anything from botanicals such as stems, twigs, branches, bark, leaves/ foliage, flowers, thorns/ spines, fruits, cones, seeds, roots; and minor forest products like lichens, fleshy fungi, mosses, selleginnela ferns etc. in a dried form come under the domain of dry flowers. Until a few years ago dried flowers were popular in the West with very few homes in India opting for them. But, today Indian homes have taken to dried flowers in their many forms and shapes like duck to water. There are different segments which are covered under dried flowers (Table 1).

1. MATURITY INDICES

Maturity indices (right time of harvesting) are quality factors that give clues as to when a product should be harvested to allow marketing flexibility and ensure the attainment of minimum acceptable quality to the user. It also refers to the set of criteria used to determine the stage of maturity for harvesting the horticultural crops. Commodities harvested either pre-mature or too late are more susceptible to postharvest physiological disorders, diseases and have poor shelf life than harvested at right stage of maturity. The pickers/ handlers are trained in methods of identifying produce that is ready for harvest. However, optimum harvesting stages depends upon type of produce and their final use. Horticultural crops may be harvested at two main maturity levels i.e., physiological maturity and commercial or horticultural maturity. Therefore, the proper stage/maturity indices for harvesting of all horticultural crops should be identified for their implementation during harvesting. Horticultural maturity in relation to developmental stages of the plants is depicted in Fig 3.1.

BANANA

Musa paradisiaca L

F. Musaceae

Banana, an antique food crop of the world is known as the ‘Apple of the Paradise’ and botanically named as Musa paradisiaca. Plants of the Musaceae family as a whole are strictly old world plants which are believed to be originated in the hot, tropical regions of S. E. Asia (Simmonds, 1962). Malaysia is considered as the primary centre of origin of M. acuminata (AA and AAA cultivars) and from there, it spread to India and Burma where M. balbisiana is the native. In the IndoBurman peripheral area, natural hybridization of acuminata and balbisiana types occurred and thus India is regarded as a major centre of origin for more the 300 types (AB, AAB and ABB cultivars) out of the 600 types of Musa germplasm. Mention of plantain in Ramayana (2000 BC), Arthsastra (250 BC) and in Chilappathikaram (500 AD) suggests the antiquity and long period of domestication of banana fruit in India. Present day type/cultivars were originated through natural hybridization, mutation and polyploidy breeding and perpetuated through vegetative propagation.

It was introduced to East Africa even before Christ and to the Mediterranean region about 650 AD. It reached the New World in 1516 AD and its cultivation is distributed throughout the warmer countries situated in the region between 30⁰ N and 30⁰ S of the equator. Now banana is grown widely in 130 countries like Brazil, China, India, Ecuador, Columbia, Venezuela, Florida, Panama, Cuba, Uganda, Tanzania, Zaire, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Honduras, Nigeria, Fiji, India, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Australia etc. and total (world) area is 88.5 lakh ha with a production of 97.2 million tonnes. Fifty per cent of the global production is from India, Ecuador, Brazil and China.

Family: Acanthaceae

Flowering: October-December

Fruiting: January-February

Botanical description: The plant is a stout aquatic perennial herb growing up to 1-2 m high. The stems are erect, unbranched and hairy near swollen nodes. The leaves are sessile, linear- oblong, stalkless, 10-15 cm long, occur in whorls of 6 at each node on the stem. Straight, yellow, 4 cm long spines are present in the axil of each leaf. Flowers are purple in colour, occur in 4 pairs at each node and open in opposite pair.

Introduction

Flowers are the most fascinating objects in the world and many poems are written glorifying them. They are associated with mankind from the dawn of civilization. Flowers are an integral part of our day to day life and they find a place in worshiping, religious and social functions, wedding, interior decoration and self adornment. Flowers are used to convey the human feelings. To say it with flowers is very common in western culture. Emergence of a strong middle class and changing life style has created a great demand for cut flowers in India.

8.1 Introduction

The knowledge of statistics and probability is very helpful for correct prediction of hydrological data and correct prediction of hydrological data is useful in giving good performance in all water resources projects. Since hydrological data are highly stochastic varying both in space and time, it is essential to predict them as correct as possible. The hydrologic evens do not depend on physical and chemical laws but depend entirely on nature. They cannot be predicted exactly by using any relationship but can be predicted at different probability levels by fitting suitable probability distribution functions. Application of statistics and probability in the field of hydrology can help to predict the hydrologic events in a better way. In hydrology, objectives of statistics are as follows (Suresh, 2008):

    1.    Wohler (1828) synthesized the first organic compound, urea from inorganic components.

    2.    Emil Fischer (1894) demonstrated the specificity of enzymes and the lock and key relationship between enzyme and substrate.

    3.    Michaelis and Menten (1913) developed kinetic theory of enzyme action

    4.    Watson and Crick (1953) Proposed the double-helical model for DNA structure

    5.    Ingo potrykus (1999) Golden rice- rich in b-carotene.

    6.    Glyoxysomes : Glyoxysomes are temporary in that they occur during transient periods in the life cycle of a plant such as in certain beans and nuts which store fats in their seeds as energy reserves. Glyoxysomes appear in the first few days after seed germination in endosperm cells and associate closely with lipid bodies. They disappear after the storage fats are broken down and converted into carbohydrate.

Plant–water relations concern how plants control the hydration of their cells, including the collection of water from the soil, its transport within the plant and its loss by evaporation from the leaves. Flow of water through plant and soil over macroscopic distances is driven by gradients in hydrostatic pressure. Over microscopic distances it is driven by gradients in water potential. Evaporation of water from leaves is primarily controlled by stomata, and if not made good by the flow of water from soil through the plant to the leaves, results in the plants wilting. Plant water deficit is initiated as the crop demand for water exceeds the supply. The capacity of plants to meet the demand and thus avoid water deficit depends on their “hydraulic machinery.” This machinery involves firstly the reduction of net radiation by canopy albedo, thus reflecting part of the energy load on the plant. Secondly, it determines the ability to transport sufficient amount of water from the soil to the atmosphere via the stomata in order to provide for transpiration, transpirational cooling and carbon assimilation. Water is transported by way the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum and it is largely controlled by the resistances in the continuum as determined by root, stem, leaf, stomata and cuticular hydraulic resistances. The gross effects of deficient and of excessive soil moisture on plant growth are well known, but controversy has existed for many years around the question whether the so-called “‘available moisture” is equally available for plant growth or available only with such increasing difficulty that plant growth functions are retarded before the wilting point is reached. Various measurable aspects of plant growth do not respond in the same manner to increasing moisture stress. Crops will respond to irrigations, although measured soil moisture stress is quite low. Problems of relating plant growth to soil moisture stress conditions varying with both time and soil depth are considered. Soil factors affecting density or depth are reviewed and several ways weather factors influence soil, -moisture-plant-growth relations summarized.

9. WEATHERING

The general process of production of rock waste partly by mechanical breaking and partly by chemical decomposition is known as weathering. The resulting products of weathering accumulate in the same place from which they are derived and there is no transport involved in the process.

Agents and types of weathering : The agencies which are involved in the process of weathering are atmosphere, water and organisms. The whole process of weathering may be conveniently divided into two types : mechanical or physical weathering and chemical weathering. Mechanical weathering involves those processes which bring about disintegration of rocks and minerals without any chemical activity. Chemical weathering involves various chemical processes which slowly decompose the rocks and minerals. In nature two processes are intimately associated and only under extreme conditions, they do occur as a separate entities. Mechanical weathering breaks down the rock creating more surface area and facilitates chemical weathering. Chemical weathering weakens the rock and makes it more susceptible to mechanical break down. Thus the two processes are always complementary to each other.

A. Diseases

1. Anthracnose

Occurrence & severity status

Anthracnose has a serious impact on yield and fibre quality of flax (Linum usitatissimum) and is well-known in Europe, Asia and America. Flax anthracnose increased in Germany when flax production was expanding in the 1930s (Rost 1938). The anthracnose pathogen is seed- and soilborne, causes damping off of flax seedlings (Rost 1938), and is one of the causal organisms of so-called flax-sick soils (Bolley & Manns 1932). It has been recorded in nearly every country where the crop is grown either for fibre or oil. It is known to occur in Belgium, the British Isles, Canada, Formosa, France, Germany, Holland, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Poland, U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. (including Siberia), in most of which countries its incidence has resulted in appreciable crop losses (Muskett and Colhoun, 1947). The disease is most common in cool and humid flax-growing areas (Nyvall, 1989). The disease is destructive to the crop, especially when the seed source is contaminated by the fungus. It can spread rapidly under favourable conditions causing severe local epidemics and heavy losses in yield and quality of both fiber and seed (Mercer, 1992c; Rashid, 2003b). The losses of 50% in fibre yield in an epidemic year were reported by Muskett and Colhoun (1947). Ondrej (1985) indicated a considerable loss in fibre strength on attack by anthracnose.

With the development of improved systems for monitoring environmental conditions and delivering pesticides appropriately, nanotechnology can further improve our understanding of the biology of different crops and thus potentially enhance yields. It can offer routes to plant disease diagnostics, insect-pest management and efficient pesticides utilization. Nanostructure catalysts will help in increasing the efficiency of pesticides allowing lower doses to be used.