eBook Chapters

Introduction

Climate change and human activities have emerged as significant factors affecting water resources in diverse regions (Kumar et al. 2022; Haddeland et al. 2014). The escalation in human water consumption for domestic and industrial purposes enhanced by the impacts of climate change has resulted in an overall decline in water availability (Liu et al. 2017; Paul et al. 2021). Rising temperatures and altered precipitation patterns directly influence water availability for ecosystems and agriculture potentially leading to greater evapotranspiration rates, intensified rainfall events, and prolonged droughts (Sharannya et al. 2021; Myers et al. 2023). Furthermore, urbanization, deforestation, and agricultural practices alter landscapes, affecting water resources in these areas.

Water shortages pose threats to ecosystem health, and socio-economic development and disrupt agricultural production (Piao et al. 2010). Thus, ensuring sustainable and efficient water usage necessitates accounting for water usage and quantifying it in a changing environment. To comprehensively assess the significance of water resources in the environment, Falkenmark (1995) introduced the concept of blue water (BW) and green water (GW) water, particularly for managing water resources in water-stressed regions. Green water refers to the portion of precipitation that infiltrates into the unsaturated soil layer and is subsequently utilized by plants through transpiration and soil evaporation. In fact, “blue water” represents surface and groundwater flow in rivers, lakes, and aquifers (Abate et al 2024; Sharannya et al. 2021). While numerous studies have investigated the spatial and temporal variation of BW and GW using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) (Feng et al. 2021; Li et al. 2009; Lyu et al. 2019), fewer publications have focused on assessing these variations and uncertainties at the basin scale under varying climate scenarios (Sharma et al. 2023). Hydrological models such as SWAT, serve as valuable tools for simulating past and future hydrological changes in the watersheds using projected climate data. SWAT specifically can simulate both blue and green flows at the watershed scale.

Abstract

Land development in urbanized watersheds poses a potential of increasing storm runoff rates, and therefore increasing the risk of flooding in the downstream areas of a watershed. To investigate the impact of change in land use practices on the watershed hydrology, an hydrological analysis was conducted on Little Kitten Creek watershed located near Manhattan city of Riley county, Kansas, USA. Prior to development, land use types in the watershed included woodland, pasture, and fallow land. However, rapid development has occurred in the watershed in the last ten years. Post development land use practices include commercial development, residential housing, and conservation (woodland and grasslands). Data collected and analyzed included digital elevation model (DEM) of study site, stream network and soil data using ArcGIS (ESRI, 2006) and Arc-Hydro Software (Maidment, 2000). Watershed characteristics such as slopes, channel length, circularity ratios, and drainage density were also computed. The delineated watershed boundary, stream segments and soil data layers were over laid to produce soil maps. Time of concentration (Tc) was determined for the pre and post development conditions in the watershed using seven different methods. The time of concentration values computed using Kerby, Federal Aviation Agency, Kinematic Wave and NRCS (SCS) methods found more reasonable compared to the remaining three methods used.

These computed time of concentration values were observed to be shorter for the post-development condition when compared to the pre-development condition of the watershed. The reduced time of concentration in the post development condition is attributed to increase in percentage of impervious areas due to increased residential development in the watershed; therefore increased rates of runoff in the watershed are expected.

Keywords: Rezoning, Time of Concentration, DEM, Kinematic Wave, Drainage density, Circularity ratio.

Shelf life for Pseudomonas fluorescens (TNAU Pf-1)

Aim: To find out the shelf life of P. fluorescens (TNAU Pf-1) using different carrier materials

Product: The talc based P. fluorescens (TNAU Pf-1) product is used for the study on shelf life.

Selective medium (King’B medium) for Pseudomonads

Abstract

This paper is the result of strong belief that if earth observation and geospatial techniques could be applied to a village to plan its natural resources in sustainable manner, the potential of this technique for common man is harnessed maximum. So analysis of one village natural environment, predicting its impact on humans, identifying certain possible inhabitable conditions due to existing nature & suggesting ways to utilize these conditions for sustainable human's and nature's existence  is the motive behind this work.

Various indicators like range of behavioural, physiological, pathological and carcass-quality parameters can be used to assess the welfare of animals. Whenever, animals undergo painful handling or any other managerial operation, they are likely to face short-term stress. In this condition an increased physiological responses, behavioural responses, injury or mortality are most commonly used; however, some animals which are kept in improper housing with less floor space may cause chronic stress leading to increased disease incidence and suppression of normal development. Therefore, the following techniques can be used to assess the animal welfare at farm level in any given situation.

Introduction

The better quality of life for the Indians who in majority depend on agricultural would be impossible by keeping the rich tradition of Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK) aside (Das, et al., 2002). According to Farrington and Martin (1988), ITK is based on knowledge, beliefs and customs which are internally consistent and logical to those holding them but at odds with the objectively deduced findings of formal science”. Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK) is the knowledge that the indigenous and local community accumulates over generations of living in local environment. It encompasses all forms of knowledge, experience, technologies, know-how, skills, beliefs and practices. These are also termed as “indigenous knowledge”, “people’s knowledge” “traditional knowledge” or “local knowledge” and are limited within a community. It is unique to a given culture, location or society.

Fishermen all over the world use some kind of traditional knowledge. ITK provides valuable insight into sustainable aquaculture, because it passes through considerable adaptation, up gradation and modification over a period of time and carried on from one generation to another as a family technology. Naturally, ITK fits well to a particular environment rather than modern technological knowledge. This knowledge has been developed outside the formal education system and refers to the large body of knowledge and skills which includes variety of fish culture practices, when and where to catch, how to process fish with a cost effective methods, and how to maintain their environment in a state of equilibrium. ITK is collective in nature and is often considered the property of the entire community, and does not belong to any single individual within the community.

1. Introduction

Biochar, produced from pyrolytic decomposition of lignocellulosic biomass, is a solid hard product and a unique green material for soil amendments. Its use has been identified in Amazon fertility as ancient indigenous practice. Through ‘pyrolysis’ (heating without oxygen) process (‘pyro’ which means caused by heat whereas ‘lysis’ means dis-integration), there are three types of yields we get: a solid product (biochar), a gaseous product (syngas/ synthesis gas), and a liquid (bio-oil). The solid item, biochar, is applied for soil amendments. It can be used in agricultural, industrial, and environmental as a functional material. Solid char, a common pyrolytic outcome is charcoal, typically used to designate the solid char product that is ignited for fuel, whereas “biochar” designates the unique solid char purposively used as a soil amendment agent. On the other hand, the gaseous and liquid counterparts of pyrolysis have commercial applications like green energy, feedstock raw materials, and precursors (Fig.1).

Abstract

Climate change is the biggest problem of today, resulting in thawing glaciers, changes in crop yield, and disturbances of water resources not only in India but in the entire world. Crop yield were predicted according mid century (2050s) by using IPCC Scenario A2 and studied impact of climate change. Out of 80 districts of Uttar Pradesh the three were selected for the case study areas namely Meerut, Kanpur and Hamirpur. FAO based model ET₀ Calculator 3.1 and Aquacrop 3.1 Plus were used to estimate reference evapotranspiration and crop yields respectively by using two major food crops rice and wheat. Crop yield were estimated the present climatic conditions (2005) and mid-century condition (2050s). According to the comparison of simulation results for present and future scenarios, crop yield of rice and wheat was predicted to increase in the mid- century (2050s). However, food security was predicted to become a threat in future, because the increase in population till the 2050s is projected, and yield was increases in the major food crops. In order to sustain the growing population, there would be required in the future, a large area for growing rice and wheat in comparison to the area presently, to meet the same food availability per capita. Hence, there would be a need to increase the production of the food crops in order to meet the growing demands of food in the study areas.

Keywords: Crop yield, Global warming, Future, Production

ABSTRACT

Assessment of technical and financial feasibility of two resource conservation technologies suitable for rice establishment1. Zero Tillage Machine (ZTM) for direct seeded rice (DSR) and; 2. Paddy transplanter machine (PTM) for mechanical transplanted rice(MTR) in Rohtas district was carried out at the demonstration farm of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Rohtas during Kharif-2012 and 2013 in a view to reduce the drudgery and cost of cultivation. An eight row self-propelled PTM (Model 2ZT-238-8) and 9 tined National Make ZTM were used for the purpose. Technical performance of these resource conservation technologies was found satisfactory. The field capacity, field efficiency, fuel consumption and cost of establishment of rice by these technologies were evaluated for the purpose. For the assessment of financial feasibility; benefit-cost ratio, internal rate of return, pay-back period and net present worth of these technologies were evaluated and demonstrated to rural youths for their quick adoption and get rid of labour-shortage and delayed transplanting of rice crop and hence saving of significant loss of Rabi crops that happens due to delayed harvesting of rice crop.

Introduction

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L) is one of the major starchy tuber vegetable crops of the world. It is a unique crop which can supplement the food needs of the country in a substantial manner. Today, potato is the need of life or poor man’s food in many countries including India. Potato production in India has made tremendous progress only with the development of new technologies in different fields of agriculture. It has been observed that the farmers are not adopting recommended practices and consequently not realizing the potential yield of potato. To understand the problems of farmers in the adoption of complete recommended farm practices, researchers as well as extension workers should come out with some concrete findings and suggestions, which can solve these problems. It has been seen that a large number of techniques and practices do not reach the farmer’s fields and those carried to the farmers get considerably distorted or often adopted partially with the result that farmers do not get the potential yield.

ABSTRACT

Grape is a commercially cultivated fruit crop in India. As a result of large-scale introduction, the origin and authenticity of many grape varieties is unclear and the subject of some controversy. Many of the varieties were mixed up and now have led to confusion regarding their correct identification. To explore the genetic relationships between different grape varieties and to analyze their diversity, molecular marker technique has proved to be useful. In the present study, 34 grape varieties have been characterized using Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) markers. Out of 93 ISSR primers screened initially, 11-showed good polymorphism. Total 174 bands were obtained, out of which 145 were polymorphic. The similarity indices were calculated using DICE coefficient and NTSYS Pc 2.1 software.

Cluster analysis resulted in the formation of two main clusters. One, of the varieties belonging to Vitis vinifera and other of V. labrusca. Varieties belonging to V. vinifera appeared more diverse by forming distinct sub-clusters based on their colour, flavour and seeds. Out of 34 varieties screened, 10 varieties are grouped in white berries cluster and 15 in coloured (red /black) berries cluster. Three white varieties- Italia, Queen of Vineyard and Thompson seedless are grouped into cluster of coloured varieties. The cluster of labrusca varieties showed homogeneity and had five varieties except Dakh, which belongs to vinifera. It may be wrong introduction. Concord separates initially from all other varieties. Incidentally, Concord is a pure selection from V. labrusca, while varieties like Bangalore blue, Black Muscat, Catawba and Muzzafar Nagar in labrusca group may be the hybrids of labrusca x vinifera. The current study thus revealed that genetic relationship among grape cultivars could be assessed using ISSR markers.

ABSTRACT

DNA based molecular marker technologies have been used extensively to study the genetic relationships and to develop markers for identification of cultivars/varieties in various crops. The present study is an attempt to assess the variability and relatedness among 49 varieties/ accessions of black pepper (Piper nigrum L) based on the data generated by both RAPD and AFLP analyses. The similarity matrix was subjected to cluster analysis and dendrogram generated using the software Ntsyspc 2.1. The dendrogram revealed an average similarity of 63 per cent among accessions. Two selections from the variety Karimunda, namely Sreekara and Subhakara, together formed a single cluster with almost 92 per cent similarity. The dissimilarity observed between the varieties Panniyur 1 and Panniyur 3 the progenies of the same parentage, Uthirankotta and Cheriyakanyakadan was only 18 per cent. Based on RAPD analysis 34 varieties were grouped into 5 clusters. Distinct clustering was not observed in AFLP analysis. The results obtained were correlated with the taxonomical interrelationships reported for these varieties. The overall study has thus helped in understanding the relationship among the local cultivars and released varieties.

1. Introduction

Several herbs have been used traditionally to prevent and treat human and animal diseases. Recently, scientific evaluation of plants and preparations of plant origin medications have received more attention. Cassia occidentalis had been reported to be used as antidote of poison, blood purifier, expectorant, anti inflammatory agent and a remedy for the treatment of liver diseases (Ghani, 1920, Kabiruddin, 1951). C occidentalis was tested for antifeedant and insecticidal properties. It was studied successfully for its anti-parasitic (Tona et al., 1999), hepatoprotective activity (Jafri et al., 1999). Stimulation of the immune system is highly desirable for the treatment of immunodeficiency and infectious diseases. The  anti-inflammatory and hepato protective effects of C occidentalis may relate to an influence of plant compounds on immunocompetent cells. The present study was undertaken to find out the effect of methanolic extract of C occidentalis leaves on the humoral immune response in rabbits.

Introduction

Research and development (R&D) is one of the main components to tackle the problems persisting or likely to take place in future. Priority areas of research are depending upon the overall situation and requirements of the problem under consideration. Under these broad areas, topic of interest for research may be varying at different geographical level from household to nation or global. If it is addressing vast geographical area like states, nations, regions and/or global, there may be many individuals/groups/institutions are working over similar type of problems. With the growing communication facilities and rising fund requirements, collaborative research programmes emerged to provide effective and economic solution to the problem with respect to time, money and manpower etc. Earlier, it was limited to high priority areas like defense and long run planning of the nations or kingdom at nation or state level. Declining environmental conditions and biological diversity became global concern in seventh decade of twentieth century. To tackle this problem, The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm) resolved to establish the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1972. Further, to speed up the progress, global community through world leaders had identified two burning priority areas during conference United Nations (U N) Environmental Programme Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992, well known as Earth Summit. One of those two priority areas was Biological Diversity. To address the issues at global levels, The Convention on Biological Diversity was signed by party nations, which was later ratified by the 187 countries. India is also one of the signatory nations and need to fulfill some time bound commitments. Moreover, later, importance of biodiversity and germplasm has been underlined by different forum at regional and global level for its present and future values in the life of human kind. Countries and various geographical regions are now becoming more and more aware about its judicious exploitation, conservation and sustained higher output over period of time.

Introduction

Water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes, is such an aquatic plant that needs hardly any introduction. This aquatic plant is considered as nuisance weed found floating freely on fresh water bodies, proliferates aggressively and therefore, spreads like wild fire. It can infest all types of water bodies, chokes waterways, canals, channels, dams, and thus damages potential water resources. Evidently, two plants produces 300 offspring within 23 days only and under ideal environment, 10 plants can multiply to 6 lakh and may cover an acre area within a period

Introduction

Aquarium fish keeping has become increasingly popular in industrialized countries and has been rated as the second biggest hobby and the most popular type of pet (Oliver, 2001). The National Pet Owners Survey 2007-08 revealed that 142 million freshwater and 9.6 million salt water fish were kept as pet in the USA alone (APPMA, 2008). The growing interest in aquarium fish has resulted in steady increase in aquarium fish trade globally. Today, with a turn over of US $ 9.0 billion a year and an annual growth of 8.0%, production of ornamental fish is an important business activity as well as one of the most popular hobbies in the world (Yanar et al., 2008).

Introduction

Tumaria wetland (29° 18' N & 78° 57'E) is a manmade wetland near Corbett Tiger Reserve, Nainital district, Uttarakhand (Figure 1). It was constructed in the year 1961 and has an average depth of 3.1 m. It was mainly used for irrigation, fish production and has been a favorite place for several migratory birds during winter season (Bhattacharjee and Bargali, 2013; Bhattacharjee,2014). Tumaria bears a humid subtropical climate; emprises hot and dry summer which commences from early October to the mid of June. The area experience wet season from the mid of June to early October and then feels the cold winter. The reservoir catchment area is 284.16 sq. km and its north area is covered with thick, reserved forest of Jim Corbett National Park (Figure 2). The infestation of Salvinia weed is one of the major problems being faced by this wetland.

The exotic free-floating weed, Giant Salvinia (Salvinia molesta Mitchell), belongs to Salviniaceae family and is a native of south-eastern Brazil (Forno, 1983). It is commonly known as water fern, water weed, Kariba weed or water spangle and African payal in India (Jones, 1987). During the past 50 years, it has widely extended throughout the world and has infester the areas of Australia, New Zealand, Africa, southern USA, the Indian subcontinent, south-east Asia and some Pacific islands (Thomas and Room, 1986) (Figure 3). In India, it was f irst established in the state of Kerala since early 1970s (Cook, 1976; Thomas, 1976 and 1979). This aquatic weed has invaded in various aquatic habitats, such as lakes, wetland, rivers, reservoirs and paddy fields.

3.1 Land Use and Land Cover Analysis

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

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

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

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

Introduction

Agriculture has been undoubtedly the major source of livelihood in the developing nations like India. Livelihood is defined as adequate stock and f low of food and cash with an individual or a family to meet its basic needs (Girish et al., 2020). It encompasses the capabilities, assets (stores, resources, claims and access) and activities required for a means of living (Chambers and Conway, 1992). Livelihoods are considered secure when households have secure ownership or access to resources and income earning activities, including reserves and assets, to offset risks, ease shocks and meet contingencies (Chambers, 1989). The livelihood security is a complex concept that is location specific, subjective and dynamic (Hogger and Ruedi, 2004). It comprises of many indicators like food, educational, financial, health, culturaland social securities. Constraints like practices of traditional methods of cultivation, lack of access to modern technology, low productivity of crops, in-adequate capital formation and low investment, widespread illiteracy among farmers, etc., have become a major threat to the educational, food, economic and social securities, thus ultimately affecting the livelihood status of farming households in the country (Hatai and Sen, 2008). Since, a large fraction of farmers in the country lives in the rural areas, they have no proper knowledge regarding the usage of modern farming techniques. Often their low level of education and lack of communication has resulted into a lack of general awareness regarding the modern research and inventions on agriculture (Makal et al., 2017). In such scenario, farmers’ trainings play important role which helps the farmers in understanding the application of latest agricultural technologies in daily farming activities. It improves the knowledge of the trainees about the improved farm practices (Srinivas and Sailaja, 2013). The major players providing these extension services in public sector are Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) and ICT-led extension interventions by Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW), Government of India. Many state universities through their KVKs, have been imparting need-based trainings to the farmers in their routine activities as well as sponsored by various departments/agencies. In last few decades, KVKs have increasingly become associated with grass root development (Saha, 2013).

Crops are grown with the primary aim of maximizing the profit for the cultivators. To achieve this goal, high yielding cultivars and suitable agricultural practices are selected. But due consideration is not given for the levels of susceptibility of the cultivars and some of the agricultural practices may enhance the chances of disease incidence and consequent losses. Hence, it becomes obligatory to determine the effects of crop cultivar and agricultural practices on the extent of disease incidence and to assess losses caused by microbial pathogens in different crops in an agroecosystem. Crop losses reflect the effects of various factors such as use of disease resistant cultivars, application of chemicals, biocontrol agents and preventive measures to reduce inoculum levels, introduction of new diseases and restriction of disease spread. Assessment of crop losses is essential to choose the most effective short- and long-term strategies of disease management. Disease assessment enables the plant pathologists is to gather quantitative information for evaluating disease management strategies, for undertaking surveys of losses and breeding for disease-resistant cultivars.

Semen metabolic activity can be assessed with the help of the following tests:
    
15.1    Incubation test
    
15.2    Methylene Blue Reduction Test
    
15.3    Resazurine Reduction Test
    
15.4    Millovonoo’s Resistance Test (‘r’ test)
    
15.5    Fructolysis Index
    
15.6    Oxygen utilization test
    
15.7     Glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase activity

15.1 Incubation Test

The longevity and viability of spermatozoa during storage is a good index of fertilizing ability of sperm. In this test assessment of motility is carried out over a period time to obtain an idea about the length of time over which acceptable level of motility is maintained in the semen sample. Therefore, this test serves as a mean of determining storage probability within a fairly short period of time.

Introduction

The success of green revolution strategies for raising agricultural productivity and production has depended on the development of crop varieties that are more responsive to increased applications of water, manure, fertilizer, and agrochemical means of protection against pests. For farmers to benefit from this process whereby investing in more inputs can lead to production of more outputs, they had to begin by buying and using improved seeds. The green revolution was clearly seed dependent. The system of rice intensification (SRI) and other agro ecological approaches follow a different strategy, on the other hand. They work with whatever crop varieties the farmer already has or prefers to use (recognizing that it is always most productive to start with whatever genotype is best suited to the farmers’ circumstances and goals). Agro ecological methods are more likely to reduce the use of external input than to increase this as they mobilize and capitalize upon potentials that already within plants and upon the interactions between plants and their biotic and abiotic environments, i.e., mutual influences among plants, other organisms, climate, soil and other inanimate factors (Altieri, 1995; Gliessman, 1998; Uphoff, 2002). This is a very different envisioning of the agricultural domain.

Abstract

Food processing involves the transformation of raw animal or plant materials into consumer-ready products, with the objective of stabilizing food products by preventing or reducing negative changes in quality. Without these processes, we would neither be able to store food from time of plenty to time of need nor to transport food over long distances. Food processing has also gained its importance in the wide variety of diet among people throughout the globe and availability of exotic food items at various places. Processing of food items enhance the taste, flavor and aroma of the food thereby increasing the overall chances of its acceptability among the masses. So, it is essential to determine and recognize the database of physical and engineering (aerodynamic and mechanical) properties of these agricultural products because these properties play an important role in designing and developing of specific machines and their operations such as sorting, separating and cleaning, also to determine the optimum in seed metering device in pneumatic planter and precision sowing machine to suite every size of these grains.

Introduction

“Quality” refers to the aesthetic appearance and freshness of fish. It also involves safety aspects such as being free from harmful bacteria, parasites or chemicals. The best quality fish is the one consumed within the first few hours after postmortem. We studied in our previous chapters that in some instances, even very fresh fish in rigor mortis are unsuitable for filleting. So, slightly older fish in post-rigor are more desirable for the processors.

The assessment methods of fish quality are divided into sensory, instrumental, chemical and microbiological. Sensory method is superior and all other methods must correlate with the results of sensory evaluation. So, sensory method must be done more scientifically under controlled conditions without the effects of test environment, personal bias, etc.

4.1. Sensory Methods

Sensory evaluation is defined as the scientific discipline used to evoke, measure, analyze and interpret reactions characteristics of fish, as perceived through the senses of sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing. There are few instruments capable of measuring sensory profile viz. Instron for texture, electronic nose for odour, microscopic imaging for structure, etc.

In sensory evaluation, appearance, odour, flavour and texture of fish are evaluated by the human senses. The process involves three steps: (1) detection of a stimulus by the human sense organs, (2) evaluation and interpretation by a mental process; and (3) the response of the assessor to the stimuli. The response of stimuli varies among individuals e.g. some people cannot taste rancid flavour and some have low response to cold-storage flavour.

Abstract

Coastal aquifers are the sources of freshwater which are being over extracted due to increase in population, agriculture and industrial activities. This over exploitation has resulted in decline in groundwater level and intrusion of sea water into the coastal aquifers making it unfit for human utilities. An attempt has been made in the coastal tracts of Pondicherry region using Electrical resistivity imaging. The survey has been attempted in six locations spread thought the study area and the interpretation has been attempted by RES2DINV software. The profile length attempted was between 150 to 300 m with electrode spacings between 5 to 10 m. The apparent resistivity ranges between 0.1 to 1183 & ohm. Sea water intrusion was prominent along the northern parts of the study area and lower resistivity isolated in kirumambakkam has been interpreted as salinity due to the presence of clay minerals. In nallavadu saline intrusion has been identified at shallow depth.

Abstract

Moisture stress is a wide spread problem seriously influencing sesame production, especially in arid regions. The present study was carried out in order to evaluate response of sesame cultivars to moisture stress and determine the best measures to increase and improve the yield of cultivars in stress condition.

Introduction

Ornamental fish is often used as a generic term to describe aquatic animals kept in the aquarium hobby, including fishes, invertebrates such as corals, crustaceans (e.g., crabs, hermit crabs, shrimps), molluses (e.g., snails, clams, scallops), and also live rock. Live rock is a general term for any type of rock encrusted with, and containing within its orifices, a wide variety of marine organisms including algae and colorful sessile invertebrates. Live rock serves as the principal biological and chemical filter in many marine-type tanks, and the encrusted organisms usually provide much of the background coloration in the tank. Ornamental fish culture is fast emerging as a major branch of aquaculture globally. Aquarium keeping is the second largest hobby in the world next to photography and the ornamental fish and aquatic plant industry is fast gaining importance due to its tremendous economic opportunities and prospects. Ornamental fish keeping is a popular hobby in developed countries and is gaining popularity in many developing countries. The growing interest in aquarium fishes has resulted in steady increase in aquarium fish trade, globally. According to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) (2006), export earnings from ornamental fish trade is US $ 251 million and more than 60% of the production comes from households of developing countries. The wholesale value of the global ornamental fish trade is estimated to be US $ 14 Billion. More than 2500 species of ornamental fishes are traded and some of 30-35 species of fresh water dominate the market. The trade with an annual growth rate of 8 percent offers a lot of scope for development. India’s share in global ornamental fish trade is negligible and at present the ornamental fish export from India is dominated by the wild caught species. The top exporting country is Singapore, followed by Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Indonesia and India. The largest importer of ornamental fish is USA. Europe and Japan, China and South Africa are the emerging markets of ornamental fish trade. The aesthetic, attractive colour and appearance of the fish appeal to children and aged alike. As the day passed, ornamental fish keeping become an interesting activity for many, in the process, generating income for the unemployed youth and farmers. The concept of entrepreneurship development, through ornamental fish farming is gaining popularity day-by-day.

Bulls are considered as the half of the herd as the genetic contribution of a male almost commensurate with that of a female. The male gamete, following deposition in the female reproductive tract, traverses a long path before it could effect a successful fertilization process. It is the beauty of the nature’s creation that in spite of encountering much of this physical and chemical stress, the male chromatin remains stable until it forms the male pronucleus following fertilization. This amazing feature is endowed by the high level of compaction of the sperm nuclear DNA which in turn is due to the replacement of the sperm nuclear histones by protamines.

Introduction

At the very outset, the varied aspects which govern the agricultural scenario in India have been taken up. Basically, India is a land of diversity and Indian climate defies an easy generalization. It comprises a wide range of weather conditions prevailing across a large geographic scale existing in the midst of varied topography. A systematic analysis reveals that Indian climate can be partitioned into six major climatic subtypes, ranging from deserts in the west, to the alpine tundra and glaciers in the north, to humid tropical regions supporting rainforests in the southwest and the island territories. The landform pattern is also found to be widely varying over places. Interestingly, tIndian soils can be divided into six categories, namely, alluvial soils, regular soils, red soils, laterite soils, mountain soils as well as the desert soils. Being a populous country whose sixty percent of the population earns its livelihood on agro-based incomes, directly or indirectly, it is important to review the robustness of the system followed in the actual practice in the Indian scenario towards the process of raising crops which ultimately feed more than hundred crores population. The review reveals that the agricultural production and farm incomes in India are frequently affected by the natural disasters such as droughts, floods, cyclones, storms, landslides as well as the earthquakes, and, indeed, the susceptibility of Indian agriculture to these disasters is compounded by the outbreak of epidemics and man-made disasters such as fire, sale of spurious seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, price crashes etc. As a sequel, the farmers are severely affected through the loss of production of agricultural crops and consequently, the loss of farm income due to occurrence of such events, and it is no denying that the management of or coping with such factors remains beyond the control of the farmers.

Scientists rely on a variety of endocrine, behavioral, autonomic nervous system and immunological end points to measure stress. Unfortunately, none of these measures has proved to be a litmus test for stress. Increased secretion of the adrenal glucocorticoids and cortisol has been found to be associated with stress and investigators frequently cite an increase in circulating cortisol as a proof of stress. Colborn et al., (1991) found that stallions secreted similar amounts of cortisol whether the stallions were restrained, exercised or permitted to mate with a mare. Serum cortisol concentrations are often used to evaluate stress, but due to the marked variability, faecal corticosterone has been used to evaluate stress in cattle (Morrow et al., 2002). Dairy cattle secrets cortisol during restrained and when approached by strangers. So it is difficult to simply use secretion of cortisol or any other hormone to differentiate between non threatening stress and distress. Further, complicating is inter animal variability in stress response. Even among the same breed some cows may produce more cortisol to the same amounts of thermal stressors.

ABSTRACT

A watershed is a topographically delineated area that is drained by a stream system, i.e. the total land area above some point on a stream or river that drains past that point. The watershed is a hydrologic unit that often is used as a physical – biological unit and a social – economic political unit for the planning and management of natural resources. Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques can be used effectively to generate the land use/land cover for evaluating the changes in an area. Conventional methods of runoff measurements are not easy for inaccessible terrain of Tamilnadu. Remote sensing technology can augment the conventional method to a great extent in rainfall-runoff studies. In this study, SCS Curve Number technique modified for Indian condition has been used for generation of CN for an ungauged watershed. A sub watershed of Manimuktha watershed is considered as study area. The daily rainfall data of Virudhachalam rain gauge station is collected and used to predict the daily runoff from the watershed using GIS based Soil Conservation Service -Curve Number (SCS – CN) method (USDA, 1972). Monthly and annual runoff values are obtained from the daily runoff values of the watershed. Base map, Soil map and Land use map of the study area are prepared by using Remote Sensing data and Survey of India (SOI) toposheets. PC Arc/Info GIS software is used for analysis.

Availability of genetic variability and exploitation of this variability are two basic requirements of successful crop breeding programmes. The presence of genetic variation in a character is a must for any improvement in that character. If all the individuals in a population are identical i.e. no variation is there, selection cannot be done, so no improvement will be done. In case of crops, if variation is not present or variation is very small, variations are created through hybridization, mutation, polyploidy etc. Selection is identification and isolation of desirable plants from a variable population. A population consists of large number of heterogenous individuals with different morphological expressions. This variability is contributed by three factors: 1. Genetic constitution of individual, 2. Environmental effect on the individual and 3. Interaction effect between gene and environment. These three factors contribute towards the phenotypic variability among the individuals of the population. Assessment of magnitude of variability present in a crop species is of utmost importance as it provides the evidence for effective selection. Phenotypic variation in a population arises due to genotypic and environmental effects.

Introduction

Agriculture is the main sector of the Odisha economy and contributes approximately 42% to the gross domestic product (GDP) and employs over 80% of the population. Despite its role, agricultural production is constrained by high climate variability where rainfall distribution is extremely uneven and this has negative implications for the livelihoods of people .Drought frequently results in crop failure, while high rainfall intensities result in low infiltration and high runoff causing enhanced soil erosion and land degradation. Land degradation in the form of soil erosion and declining land fertility is a serious challenge to agricultural productivity and economic growth (Lemenih, 2004).Studies indicate that the tribal district of Odisha have experienced high rates of soil erosion and deforestation, resulting in sediment accumulation in downstream reservoirs and rivers.

Abstract

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) played and continue to play pivotal role in better decision making of farmers for plant health management under the climate change scenario. For judicious plant health management by farmers through the use of ICT tools (viz. interactive Kiosk, Mobile Apps, Whatsapp, Webportal), information need and information access network to be assessed. Based on farmers’ information need and network, information delivery tree should be designed in ICT tools. Under this backdrop this research work was carried out among the farmers of Bhagalpur district of Bihar. The sample size was 120. From the study it was noted that the major information needs of the farmers were seed availability, crop disease management, insect pest management, weed management and weather information and pesticide application. Farmers were enthusiastic to improve their knowledge on insect pests and disease identification and management. Specifically, farmers need information on insect pest management of wheat (aphid), maize (stem borer), vegetables (fruit borer), pulses (pod borer) and oilseeds (aphid) and also disease management of wheat (leaf blight and spot blotch disease), maize (Turcicum leaf blight), vegetables (wilt and leaf spot) and pulses (wilt disease). Farmers decision making was positively and significantly correlated with crop disease management(0.196*),insect pest management of crop(0.208*) and weed management(0.239**). Through the Path Analysis it was noted that farmers decision making on disease management was mediated by the variables - Bihar Agricultural University-Kisan Diary, Mobile Apps(Bihar Krishi Apps) and Kisan Salahkar. So, it can be concluded that these much needed information should be provided to the farmers though different ICT tools and extension personnel should be trained to operate these ICT tools for accelerated use of ICT tools by the farmers.

In any work environment the managers, facilitators are equipped with some specific type of skills to perform their activity effectively. In this study, multi stakeholders were involved in the process of Precision Farming from land preparation to marketing. Every stakeholder has a specific task to be performed so as to lead the client in the direction desired. In order to achieve this, the skill components viz., Management and Facilitating skills possessed by them and their own perception on those skills were assessed.

The main objective of cropping system is to utilize the available resources in an efficient manner. There are several indices to evaluate the yield advantage of cropping system and also to compare the efficiency of different cropping system in terms of land use.

Introduction

Among the rice growing countries, India has the largest area (448 lakh ha) followed by china and Bangladesh. Total food grain production in India is estimated at 2813l.7 lakh tonnes. Rice production is estimated at 1156 lakh tonnes (Anonymous, 2010). In India, rice is grown in the state of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and West Bengal lead in the area, while West Bengal harvest highest rice production. The average yield per hectare is highest i.e., 5970 kg/ha in the Punjab during 2018-19.

Rice is grown throughout the state except Kachchh and Saurashtra. Some part of the state is growing rice as a drilled, while transplanted rice is taken in south and middle Gujarat. In Gujarat rice occupies about 10.61 per cent of the gross cropped area of the state and accounts for around 25.5 per cent of the food grain production. It is grown on an average about 7.5 to 8.5 lakh hector of land comprising nearly 70 to 80 per cent low land (transplanted) and 15 to 20 per cent of upland (drilled) rice (Anonymous, 2020). During the 2018-19, the yield of kharif rice in Gujarat was around 2247.75 kg/ha. Yield of summer rice was 3130.96 kg/ha and total production of rice in the year of 2018-19 was 1911 tonnes (Anonymous, 2020). During the 2019-20, the yield of kharif rice was 2117.81 kg/ha and yield of summer paddy was 2996.36 kg/ha and total production of rice in the year of 2019-20 was 1929.98 tonnes (Anonymous, 2020).

In Gujarat some districts like Chhotaudepur, Tapi, Navsari have highest rice productivity which covered 1.279 lakh hector area with production and productivity respectively of 3.338 lakh tonne and 2582 kg/ha and some district like Mehsana, Narmada, Panchmahal, North Gujarat etc. have medium to low productivity of paddy. But in some part of North Gujarat like Gandhinagar and Sabarkantha have low productivity of rice.

Introduction

Food safety and quality assumes paramount significance in any food industry. Globalization has driven both the food and agricultural firms to adopt systems that functions in a way to interlink food standards and international trade so as to achieve superior food quality and safety. Food industries follow several regional and international food safety procedures to procure certification from the government and other agencies in order to survive in both domestic and international markets (Ryan, 2014). The essential components in the food safety include handling, preparation and storing of the food products to ensure the food quality and to avoid food-borne diseases. The unwanted substances in a food product included by an accident is known as contaminants and the unwanted substance added to the food product to reduce the cost or to improve the other properties are known as adulterants. Contaminants and adulterants may lead to pathogens and toxins that pose serious concerns over the health of the consumer (Jha, 2016). The adulterants and contaminants are classified as physical adulterants and contaminants, chemical adulterants and residues, microbiological and pathogenic contaminants and toxins.

Hazards in food can be categorized into physical, chemical and biological.

Physical Hazards: Physical hazards are foreign organic or inorganic objects or extraneous materials in the food products. Hard and sharp physical hazards are of particular concern. Examples of physical hazards are broken glass, plastics, metal pieces, wood pieces, stones etc.

Botanically aster belongs to the family Asteraceae and scientifically known as Callistephus chinesnsis which is basically native to China aster and annual aster. It is native to China and Japan and it is cultivated worldwide as cut flower, loose flower, bedding plant, for flower decoration and for making floral ornaments. It can easily cultivate in the open fields and green houses for the production of cut-flowers. The genus Callistephus derives from two Greek words that is ‘Kalistos’ and ‘Stephos’ meaning ‘most beautiful’ and ‘a crown’, respectively. The name Aster comes from the Ancient Greek word acx^p (aster),, meaning “star”;, referring to the shape of the flower head (Janakiram, 2006).Among various flowering annuals, China aster is having an important position in Indian floriculture industry. It holds the position next to chrysanthemum and marigold among the traditional flowers. In fact, it has widely replaced an already grown annual Chrysanthemum up to greater extent in Indian floriculture industry.

This flower is most preferred for wide cultivation by virtue of its wide variation in attractive color and longer vase life. It is also very much used for beautification in landscape gardening which create mass effect. In India it is cultivated in about 1,020 ha with a production of flower 800 million tonnes. It is commercially cultivated in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Maharashtra. In Karnataka it account for 6 % of the total area and 8.8 % of the total flower production.

Asthma is a condition of sudden paroxysmal, expiratory, wheezing dyspnoea caused by an abnormal response of the respiratory center to stimulus causing hyperactivity of the vagal endings in the broncho-constricting muscles resulting in bronchial spasm; with it, hyperaemia oftlte mucous membrane followed by excessive bronchial secretion is associated.

This is true spasmodic asthma and in this other conditions of periodic expiratory dyspnoea with a different primary factor should not be included.

The disease has in most a family history and is more common in males; sometimes found in young children but more frequently begins in early adult life. Some of these have definite bronchitis also but in the most, the main is paroxysmal bronchospasm no physical sign obtained in the lungs.

The factors concerned in asthma are (i) bronchospasm from causes central and peripheral, (ii) oedema of the bronchial mucous membrane from allergy. Neuropathic predisposition.

The more immediate causes are (i) allergy, (ii) peripheral stimuli from their site of production, grouped as (a) naso-pharyngeal, (b) alimentary, (c) endocrine (d) broncho-pulmonary (iii) constitutional disturbances.

Astro-meteorology is considered as one of the branches of Astronomy along with Astrophysics, Astrobiology and Astrometry. Astronomy is the science that deals with the material universe beyond the earth’s atmosphere. It studies the nature and constitution of Celestial (heavenly) bodies and the laws which govern them including the effect they produce upon one another. It seeks to unravel the probable past history of heavenly bodies and their development. There exists a confusion between the branches of Astronomy viz., Astrophysics and Astro-meteorology with the term Astrology. Astrophysics uses principles and laws of physics to explain how Celestial bodies form and function or in other words it will help to ascertain the nature of the astronomical objects, rather than their positions or motions in space. However, the Astrology and Astro-meteorology are the subjects deal in future prediction and often considered as pseudo-science which uses position and movement of stars and planets for that purpose. Astrology links these to predict the human behaviour, while that of Astro-meteorology links the same to predict the future weather.

From ancient days, these predictions are based on one’s wisdom and knowledge in astronomy and often these astrologers are astronomers who keenly watch the stars and planets movement and guide their rulers and farmers with their guesstimates. Till date it is being lore, mainly passed to followers of this group and the methodology is not documented clearly and properly. There are many incidences of falsified predictions of astrology as reported by many reviewers elsewhere and we are not discussing the same here, owing to our interest in weather prediction i.e., astro-meteorology only. However, we have to recognize the works of the ancient astrologers who helped in developing the astronomical science.

Basically, there are two approaches in astrology viz., geocentric and heliocentric as used by the practitioner of astrology worldwide. As the name implies the Geocentric astrology is based on the calculation of planetary position as seen by the observer from the earth and thus earth is centre, while Heliocentric astrology bases its interpretation upon position within solar system with reference to the sun as centre. Though in true sense, the sun is the centre, the effect of motion as manifest on the earth is the basis of most astrological interpretation. Hence, vast majority of astrologers employs the geocentric calculations of the planetary positions for their predictions.

Withania somnifera, also known as Ashwagandha, Indian ginseng, Winter cherry, Ajagandha, Kan-aje Hindi, Amukkara in Tamil and Samm Al Ferakh, is a plant in the Solanaceae or nightshade family.

Grasshoppers : Trilophida an- nulata : Acrididae

The nymphs and adults of this grasshopper feed on the margins of leaves of Aswagandha. It is only a minor pest, nibbling on the leaves.

There are several bacteria which fix atmospheric nitrogen and do not have a symbiotic partner such as a plant. There are conclusive evidences regarding nitrogen gains due to free living bacteria (Dart and Day, 1975) The diazotrophic bacteria have been classified based on the mode of nutrition and oxygen requirement (Alexander, 1977, Knowles, 1977). Free living nitrogen fixing bacteria fix nitrogen in soil and their population in rhizosphere of plants are significantly higher than in non-rhizosphere soils

Although the economic and ecological significance of many of these bacteria have yet to be established, the most promising diazotrophs are Azotobacter, Azospirillum, Beijerinckia and Clostridium. Azotobacter and Beijerinckia are some of the most preponderant, non-symbiotic nitrogen fixing bacteria. Studies on these organisms in Indian soils have been done earlier by Rangaswamy and Sadasivam (1964) Sen and Barooah (1964) and Jagtap and Bhide (1971). Among the free living bacteria, Azotobacter is the most intensively investigated. Several species viz., A. chroococcum, A. vinelandii, A. macrocytogenes, A. agilis and A. insignis were reported but A. chroococcum is the most common specie encountered in arable soils.

This vertebra is decidedly atypical in form and structure. The body and spineous process are absent. It has the form of a strong ring, from which two curved plates, the wings, project laterally. The ring incloses a very large vertebral foramen and consistis of two lateral masses connected by dorsal and ventral arches.

The lateral masses (Massae laterales) present two deep oval anterior articular cavities (Foveae articulares craniales) which receive the occipital condyles; they are separated by a wide notch above and a narrow one below. The lateral margin is also notched, and a triangular non-articular depression cuts into the medial part of each cavity. The posterior articular surfaces (Facies articulares caudales) are somewhat saddle-shaped; they are confluent on the ventral arch, but are widely separated dorsally, and do not conform in shape to the corresponding surfaces of the axis.

The dorsal arch (Arcus dorsali,) presents a median dorsal tubercle (Tuberculum dorsale) and is concave ventrally. It is perforated on either side near its anterior margin by the inter vertebral foramen (Foramen invertebrale). The anterior border is deeply notched, and the posterior border is thin and concave.

The ventral arch (Arcus ventralis) is thicker, narrower, and less curved than the dorsal. In its lower surface is the ventral tubercle (Tuberculum ventrale), into which the terminal tendon of the longus colli muscle is inserted. The upper face has posteriorly a transversely- concave articular surface, the fovea dentis, on which the dens or odontoid process of the axis rests.

In front of this is a transverse rough excavation and a ridge for the attachment of the ligamentirm dentis.

Atmosphere can be defined as the gaseous envelope surrounding the earth. It is retained by earth’s gravity. The atmosphere has a mass of about 5.15 × 10¹⁸ kg, three quarters of which is within about 11 km of the surface. The imaginary ‘Karman line’ lies at an altitude of 100 km above the earth’s sea level, and commonly represents the boundary between the earth’s atmosphere and outer space. The study of earth’s atmosphere and its processes is called atmospheric science or ‘aerology’.

Geological evidence suggests that the age of the earth is about 4,50,00,00,000 (4.5 billion) years and life began on earth between 0.6 to 1.0 billion years after earth has formed. That is life began on earth some where 4 to 3.5 billion years ago.
The plant kingdom over the globe produce oxygen about 30,00,00,000 (3 million) kg per second which is consumed by the living beings on the earth. Air which is present in the atmosphere is a mechanical mixture of gases. The various gases, solid and liquid particles in the air that envelope the earth are bound to it by the gravitational attraction. This complex content of gases, solid and liquid particles is called atmosphere. The atmosphere extends above the surface of the earth to great heights. There is no sharp boundary between the atmosphere and the outer space. For our convenience, the height of the atmosphere is taken as 1000 km. The lowest one km which is called planetary boundary layer, contains 10 per cent of the mass of the atmosphere. All biological and human activities are confined to this planetary boundary level. The mass of the atmosphere is about 5.6 x 1018 kg (mass of earth is 6 x 1024 kg). The mass of the oceans water is about 1.4 x 1021 kg. This shows that the mass of the oceans is more than 250 times the mass of the atmosphere. The density of the dry air at the earth surface is 1.225 kg/m3 and at an altitude of 5.5 km this drops to 0.66 kg/m3 and at 30 km altitude it is about 0.013 kg/m3.

The gaseous envelope surrounding the earth is called atmosphere. Thus, atmosphere can be defined as the dynamic layer surrounding the earth above its surface containing various gases, moisture, aerosols, etc. The atmosphere is retained by earth’s gravity.

The atmosphere protects life on earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the earth’s surface through heat retention and reducing temperature extremes between day and night. The common name given to the atmospheric gases used in breathing and photosynthesis is air. The atmosphere has a mass of about 5.15 × 10¹⁸ kg, three quarters of which is within about 11 km from the surface. The atmosphere becomes thinner and thinner with increasing altitude, with no definite boundary between the atmosphere and outer space. The imaginary ‘Karman line’ lies at an altitude of 100 km above the mean sea level, and commonly represents the boundary between the earth’s atmosphere and outer space. The study of earth’s atmosphere and its processes is called atmospheric science or ‘aerology’. The atmosphere serves the life-system on the earth by the following activities.

1. Introduction

In recent years, consumers have been demanding convenient, healthy and safe foods which have ’fresh-like’ characteristics with a long shelf-life. These demands include important food quality such as appearance, texture, taste and nutritional content which are strongly impacted by the way it is processed. Another major concern among the consumers is food safety and quality. The shelf-life of the food products are mostly influenced due to the action of various harmful microorganisms and enzymes. The conventional food processing technologies, such as thermal treatments (pasteurisation and high temperature sterilisation), evaporation, drying, frying and baking can assure the microbiological safety and/or stability of processed food products, but affects the food quality and nutrients (heat sensitive vitamins, flavour and other bioactive compounds) (Zhang et al., 2019)

Abstract

Drying is one of the most important industrial operations for preservation of food material. Due to the major limitations posed by convective drying methods, there is always a need for novel drying techniques which are technically, economically and environmentally sustainable. Based on the principle of moisture diffusion due to vapor pressure gradient, atmospheric freeze drying (AFD) offers a promising alternative to conventional drying systems. A cold gas with low water vapor pressure is used as drying medium to sublimate moisture directly from the frozen material at atmospheric pressure conditions. As a result the product gets dried at much lower temperature unlike convective drying. Thus, products dried with AFD retain better nutrition, texture and color and the process is also considerably cost effective. Major limitation of the AFD process is longer drying time, which can however be accelerated by using heat pump drying or new ultrasound technology. This chapter focuses on mechanism, benefits, limitations and comparative study of AFD with other drying methods such as hot air drying and vacuum freeze drying. It provides an insight regarding effect of AFD on properties of food material based on various studies reported in literature.

Moisture present in the atmosphere plays a significant role in weather and climate of the region. There are three major components in the atmospheric moisture.

  I. Humidity

 II. Precipitation

III. Evaporation.

Humidity: The terminology related to humidity and concerned with gaseous form of water i.e. water vapour, several expressions of the amount of water vapour in the air is used. They are as follows.