eChapters

In beginning of aerial photography, the photos were taken to evaluate existing topography, plan observation and sampling incursion. After World War II, the assessments of aerial photographic data were much more difficult, and real geological data started to be extracted. The use of stereoscopic pairs enabled geologist to explain height structural features. But, the basic use of remote sensing data were collected was in explanation. These trends of comparative photography until development took place into the satellite age when satellite imagery began popular and commercially available. The availability of various imageries in several combinations opened a option to analyze regions in much more detail. Apart from this, the multiple flying allowed a prospect to be viewed in various light during differnt seasons. The development drastically decreased the cost of regional exploration by minimizing repeated trips to a place for reassessing. This permitted data to be gathered from the tropics and arid regions that was previously difficult task in wide regional field exploration. As computer age progressed being developed and enhanced the value of data that allows imagery as digitally highlighted specific features. Ground features like differential cropping, drainage patterns, and folds/faults may be identified.

6.1 general description

Between 13,000 and 3,000 BC, Neolithic period, mountain people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America have practiced shifting cultivation (Mazoyer and Roudart 2006). A cultivation phase, consisting of removing forest and crop production for 1 to 3 years, is followed by a fallow phase, in which agriculture is discontinued to allow soil nutrients to recoup (Conklin 1961). Conklin (1961) distinguished between total and partial shifting cultivation. Pioneer shifting cultivation, in which primary or apex forest is cleared annually, and replaced by shifting cultivation, which entails clearing mostly secondary forests, are both essential forms of cultivation that are primarily practised for farmers' subsistence. Partial shifting cultivation, on the other hand, is done as a supplemental or temporary activity (Conklin 1961). Throughout history, indigenous peoples have used fire to manage their land and natural resources. Pastoralists and hunters-gatherers in Africa's savannas, for example, have used fire to preserve the ecosystem's productivity for livestock and game for millennia (McClanahan and Young 1996). In pre-colonial times, indigenous peoples in North America also significantly altered the landscape, establishing and preserving pastures and open forest savannas through regulated burning (Pyne 1982, cited in: Schneider 2000).

In the earlier chapter the major soil vulnerability namely, water and wind erosion, depletion of soil organic matter, loss of plant nutrients, salinity, alkalinity, acidity, pollution and contamination, compaction, sealing, crusting, water-logging, aridity, landslide and abandoned mines were described. In this chapter two more parts, Importance of remote sensing (RS) and geographical information system (GIS) in soils and Watershed management are also included after seeing their importance in agriculture and soils. Restoration means that by various actions or processes to return something to its original owner, site, place, or condition. In this context our aim is to restore our mother soil from various vulnerabilities by different actions and processes to its natural and original condition up to the maximum possible extent. Management is defined as the scientific methods to attain targeted production through planning, organising, training and fixing targets for employees. Therefore, after the restoration, soils should be managed according to scientific method of action by scientifically selected and trained staff to perform the assigned responsibilities, effectively, efficiently and rapidly within stipulated period. On these guidelines restoration and management of vulnerabled soils is described here,

After precipitation, run-off and surface water storage in lakes and man-made reservoirs, the next steps in the hydrological cycle are infiltration through the unsaturated zone and groundwater dynamics in the saturated zone. Well-established applications of isotopes in groundwater hydrology are

The practice of smoking the trees to induce off-season crops in mango is

A. Smudging      B. Bending

C. Ringing         D. Notching

Definition of Breed

A breed is a group of animal’s related similar characters like general appearance, size, features and configuration etc. A group of individual which have certain common characteristicsthat distinguish them from other groups of individuals is known as Species.

Insect pests cause huge losses ranging from 5 to 80% of even up to 100%. Acute food shortage following world war –II and Bengal famine (1943) due to failure of rice crop due to a paddy disease indicate the severity of the loss, caused by the pests and diseases. The insects in storage on an average consume and spoil an additional 4 million tones of grains every year. All this indicates the importance of plant protection by which we can save millions of tones of food grains which are otherwise eaten away by different pests. Losses due to insect pests in Indian agriculture are 23.3 per cent. One of the practical means of increasing crop production is to minimize the pest associated losses.

A pest is any organism which occurs in large numbers and conflict with man’s welfare, convenience and profit.

Pests are often controlled with man made chemicals which have many harmful effects, for example:

The chromosomes provide physical basis by which genetical stability and continuity of individuals and populations are maintained in each generation. Chromosomes also play an important role to generate variation which is an essential component of evolutionary process. Although crossing over during meiosis is responsible for generation of variability, but structural changes in chromosome too are important for causing variation and evolution, since genetic and cytological analysis of individuals of related species or isolated populations within the species have shown that they may differ by various kinds of changes in their chromosomal structure. The structural changes usually may result from spontaneous chromosome breakage. But under normal condition/s such breakage is an rare event and its frequency is dependent upon environmental conditions, i.e., temperature, various high energy radiations (e.g. X, λ and β-rays) and some chemicals. Chromosome breakage is reported to be higher in some hybrids and in presence of particular genes. Certain chromosomes and chromosomal segments (centromeric and other heterochromatic regions) are more likely to undergo breakage. But stability and continuity of structural changes in the chromosomes depend on the behavior of the broken ends. There is no change if broken end rejoins at the same chromosome but a change may occur if it rejoins with the end of other chromosome or if remains unattached. In case of a pair of homologous chromosomes if one chromosome has any structural change and other one is normal we customarily call it a structural hybrid.

Importance

Ginger is a perennial herbaceous monocotyledon, usually grown as annual, and is known to human as spice as well as medicinal crop. The word Zingiber is thought to come from the Sanskrit word singabera meaning ‘shaped like a horn’. It probably got its name because the rhizomes look like deer’s antlers. It first appeared in the writings of Confucius in the 5^th century B.C.

The economic part is the underground rhizomes, which is pungent and aromatic. It is valued for its medicinal properties and is useful against gastritis, dyspepsia, cold and cough. It is widely used in food, beverages, confectionery, etc. Baby ginger or young ginger results from early harvesting and is a gourmet quality product with a tender, low-fiber texture and is mostly used for pickling. Rhizome contains proteins, fibre, starch, essential oil, Zingiberol, Glutamic acid, Aspartic acid, Glucose, Fructose, and Sucrose. Most ginger varieties have about 3-6% crude fibre, 1.5-3.0% volatile oil and 4-10% oleoresin. The major pungent principle in ginger oleoresin is gingerol. Among the gingerols 6-gingerol, 8gingerol and 10-gingerol are very important in contributing the pungency. Gingerol (Hydroxy methoxy phenyl decanone) on storage gets converted to another compound called shogaol. The age of ginger oleoresin can be assessed based on the shogaol content. Chemically, gingerol is a relative of capsaicin, the compound that gives chilli its spiciness. Cooking ginger transforms gingerol into zingerone, which is less pungent and has a spicy-sweet aroma.

6.1 Introduction

This chapter presents the impact evaluation (summative) of the vegetable IPM programme that was conducted by the Central Integrated Pest Management Centre (CIPMC) Jammu in the sub-tropical areas of Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts. These districts were selected purposively as the maximum numbers of IPM-FFS were conducted by CIPMC in these three districts. Ex-post facto research design (with/without) was employed for conducting the impact evaluation of vegetable IPM-FFS programmes conducted between 2003-04 and 2007-08. This design uses a pre-existing situation as the treatment instead of actual manipulation of the variables. An ex post facto study uses a comparable site as the control to find the programme effects.

An Ex-post facto research is a systematic empirical inquiry in which the scientist does not have direct control of independent variables because their manifestations have already occurred or because they are inherently not manipulated. Inferences about relations among variables are made, without direct intervention, from co commitment variation of independent and dependent variables. This kind of research is based on a scientific and analytical examination of dependent and independent variables. Independent variables are studied in retrospect for seeking possible and plausible relations and the likely effects that the changes in independent variables produce on a single or a set of dependent variables. The ex-post facto design was also used by Peshin and Kalra (1998); Reddy (2006); Maraddi et al., (2007) while evaluating the IPM programmes. The indicators for evaluation of the IPM-FFS programme were selected based on the requirements of the research design.

11.1. History of Plant Quarantine in India

The first recorded plant quarantine measure in India dates back to 1906, when perceiving the danger of introducing the Mexican boll weevil, the Government of India directed that all cotton imported from the New World should only be admitted to India after fumigation with carbon disulphide at the port of entry.

In India two categories of regulatory measures are in operation for controlling pests, diseases and weeds. In the first category regulatory measures are aimed to prevent the introduction of exotic pests and diseases into the country or their spread from one State or Union Territory to another (Plant Quarantine). The second pertains to suppression or prevention of spread of pests and diseases in localized areas within a State or Union Territory.

The former derives its authority from the Destructive Insects and Pests (DIP) Act 1914 of the Central Government and the latter from Agricultural Pests and Diseases Acts of the various States. The legislative measures against crop pests and diseases were initiated under the DIP Act of 1914 which was passed by the then Governor General of India in Council on 3 February 1914.

Prior to the establishment of the Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage in 1946, under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the various rules and regulations of the DIP Act were enforced by the customs department. The quarantine regulations are operative through The Destructive Insects and Pests Act, 1914 (which has been revised 8 times from 1930 to 1956 and amended in 1967 and 1992).

Soil physics is the study of soil’s physical properties and processes. Soil physics deals with the dynamics of physical soil components and their phases as solid, liquids, and gases. Physical properties of soil include texture, structure, density, porosity, consistency, temperature, colour and water content. The physical properties depend on the amount, size, shape and arrangement and mineral composition of its particles , kind and amount of organic matter and the volume and form of its pores and the way they are occupied by water, air at a particular time.

Goods and services are created through process of production. After production they have to be transferred or moved from the original producers to the final consumers. This involves the creation of market and the undertaking of number of activities such as buying, assembling, transportation warehousing, risk bearing, financing, selling etc. This constitutes the subject matter of marketing. Hence there is the need for the study of market.

Biological control is defined broadly as the “use of natural or modified organisms, genes, or gene products” to reduce the effects of pests and diseases. The many approaches to biological control can be categorized conventionally into regulation of the pest population (the classical approach); exclusionary systems of protection (a living barrier of microorganisms on the plant or animal that deters infection or pest attack) and systems of self-defense (resistance and immunization) (Anchal Sharma et al., 2013). The agents of biological control include the pest- or disease-agent itself (sterile males or a virulent strain of pathogens), antagonists or natural enemies, or the plant or animal managed or manipulated (immunized) to defend itself. Principles of plant health care are offered, know the production limits of the agro-ecosystem, rotate the crops, maintain soil organic master, use clean planting material, plant well-adapted, pest resistant cultivars, minimize environmental and nutritional stresses, maximize the effects of beneficial organisms and protect with pesticides as necessary.

Biological control is the control of one organism by another. This control may be expressed as either a longer population of the pest or as a restriction or prevention of the severity or incidence of pest damage without regard to the pest population (Cook and Baker, 1983). Biological control depends on knowledge of biological interactions at the ecosystem, organism, cellular, and molecular levers and often is more complicated to manage compared with physical and chemical methods. Biological control is also likely to be less spectacular than most physical or chemical controls but is usually also more stable and longer lasting. In spite of biological controls having been used in agriculture for centuries, as an industry biological control is still in its infancy. Biological control is now being considered for an increasing number of crops and managed ecosystems as the primary method of pest control. One reason for its growing popularity is its record of safety during the past 100 years considered as the era of modem biological control (Anchal Sharma et al., 2013). No microorganism or beneficial insect deliberately introduced or manipulated for biological control purposes has, itself, become a pest so far as can be determined, and there is no evidence so far of measurable or even negligible negative effects of biocontrol agents on the environment. The new tools of recombinant DNA technology, mathematical modeling, and computer technology combined with a continuation of the more classical approaches such as importation and release of natural enemies and improved germplasm, breeding, and field testing should quickly move bio-control research and technology into a new era.

1.1. Terms and definitions

1.1.1. Landscape gardening

• Branch of floriculture deals with the study of ornamental gardening or garden features.
• Bringing an area or piece of land into a garden using naturally existing features like undulations, terraces and plain surface to have more naturalistic effect than artificial.

1.1.2. Ornamental gardening

• Place for growing plants which are consciously directed for ornamental or practical use.

6.1 Competition

Soil microorganisms in particular are perceived as active competitors that have evolved diverse strategies to facilitate resource acquisition. Activities including motility, coordinated behavior, and antibiotic production can tip the competitive balance, resulting in numerical dominance or local extinction of competing populations. Functional consequences of microbial social behaviors have been studied extensively and demonstrate the importance of factors such as relatedness, kin discrimination, enforcement of cooperation, and competition among relatives to microbial survival and f itness in the environment (Adil Essarioui et al., 2017). However, most investigations have focused on interactions among closely related taxa, often among species or genera. Yet, in natural environments, coexistence of individuals from diverse microbial phyla and kingdoms is common. In particular, bacteria and fungi commonly coexist in soil, but there has been relatively little study of the role of species interactions in mediating the dynamics of specific bacterial and fungal populations in soil. Moreover, we have little understanding of the extent to which the ecological context, and specifically plant host or plant community diversity, may influence bacterialfungal interactions in soil. Such studies are needed to begin to establish a more complete understanding of the ecological and coevolutionary dynamics of soil microbial populations.

Microbes have coevolved to engage in complex networks of interactions with coexisting kin and non-kin individuals in the soil and in association with plants. Microbial antagonism and resource competition within complex communities have been the focus of many studies that have explored the effects of diverse factors on the ecological outcomes of these interactions. However, the concurrent impacts on these processes of plant species richness and plant host, which jointly structure the environment within which rhizosphere microbes interact, have received far less attention. This is despite the fact that both plant community richness and plant species have been shown to impact microbial community composition and function in rhizosphere soil, with potential implications for microbial interactions and pathogen suppression in natural and agricultural habitats.

7.1 Conducive Soils

Without a conducive environment, plant disease does not occur. Soils that favour the disease/ and the pathogen are generally referred to as conducive soils. Inoculum of powdery scab is the either the spore ball (an aggregation of thick walled, tough, resting spores, comprising an average of 700 spores) or the swimming spore (zoospore) that each spore of the spore ball releases. Spore balls of powdery scab have been shown to persist for long periods (Brierley et al., 2008). Exactly, how long they can survive has not been fully determined, but experimentally and anecdotally, it is much longer than a typical rotation. Inoculum may be seed-borne or soil-borne and whatever the source spore balls are able to cause infection and disease. Seed tubers may carry spore balls within powdery scab lesions or may carry spore balls symptomlessly where they have been picked up from adjacent infected tubers or contaminated machinery (e.g. on grading lines). In addition, recently, it has been found that tubers may be latently infected. That is where tubers are infected but symptoms are not expressed. Latent infections may be associated with conditions that are unfavourable for disease development, such as sub-optimal temperatures.

i. Soil Moisture: A high soil moisture content both encourages swimming spore release and facilitates movement to the host. It is generally accepted that swimming spores are unable to move through the soil without free water within the soil matrix (i.e. soil saturation). Many studies confirm the importance of free water in soil as a requirement for infection. The occurrence of wet soil conditions prior to tuber initiation, enabling inoculum multiplication, has been cited as important for high levels of powdery scab. Alternatively, prolonged wet soil conditions after tuber initiation can lead to high levels. In experiments investigating soil moisture, there is disagreement over the importance of constant versus fluctuating soil moisture conditions in powdery scab development. However, it is difficult to make clear comparisons because soil moisture levels have not always been measured and factors that may affect disease development (e.g. soil type, initial inoculum level) will have differed from experiment to experiment. Some studies have shown that constant high soil moisture has suppressed powdery scab development possibly due to low oxygen/high carbon dioxide levels rendering swimming spores inactive.

Camphor plant is valued for presence of camphor in its wood and leaves. Camphor is chiefly a pharmaceutical product though it is used in preparation of artificial essential oils like lavender and lavendin.  It is used as incense and in balms of various kinds.  It is employed as a masking agent in perfumery and sometimes used to achieve lift in perfume blends. Redistilled brown oil is used directly in soap perfumes for a masking effect. Oil is a source of safrole which is a starting material for production of various perfumery chemicals. In 13th century, Marco Polo noted that camphor oil was highly valued by Chinese as a medicine, scent, and embalming fluid.

Orchid Morphology

Most of the orchids are perennial herbs with simple leaves. Although the specialized flower structure confirms to a standard plan, the vegetative parts are shown great variation, a large number of them being epiphytes, or terrestrial and a few saprophytes are leafless in nature. Orchids can be divided into two groups - monopodial or sympodial depending upon their habit of growth. Monopodial orchids such as Vanda have a main stem which continues to grow year after. Sympodial orchids such as Cymbidium have a main stem, which terminates growth at the end of each season. A new shoot then grows from the base forming its own bulbous stem called pseudo-bulb, which eventually flowers. The pseudo-bulb or thickened stem is a very useful device for the storage of food and water and function like bulbs. In addition to the epiphytic orchids, there are also grounds orchids or terrestrial orchids, which grow like ordinary plants with their roots in soil. Most of the temperate zone orchids are terrestrial and tropical orchids are epiphytes.

Preference of herbicides for weed management in Agriculture and Horticulture

Weeds are unwanted and undesirable plants which interfere with the utilization of land and water resources and pollute atmosphere with their allergic pollen thus affecting human welfare adversely.  They are the plants out of place, growing where we want other plants or no plants at all.  They compete with desirable and beneficial vegetation reducing the yield and quality of the produce.  The effect of weeds in agriculture or horticulture is greatest.  There is a scanty reliable study of worldwide damage to crop yields due to weeds.  Whether the data are available or not, it is well known that losses caused by weeds exceed the losses from any category of agricultural pest, viz., insects, nematodes, diseases, rodents etc. Weeds account for 45% while insects 30%, diseases 20% and other pests 5% of the total annual loss of agricultural produce186.

Introduction

    1.    Food Science is the application of the physical, biological and behavioral science to the processing and marketing of foods (Margaret, 1968).

    2.    Technology can be defined as the science dealing with knowledge of doing things efficiently and effectively.

    3.    Food science helps us understand the theory example: what methods can best be used to store and preserve food to maintain quality and prevent spoilage.

    4.    Food technology demonstrates how the food is stored, preserved, processed and transported and has been responsible for development of new techniques for processing and preservation of food on a commercial scale and for packaging it in such a way that it can be sold conveniently.

    5.    Food science deals with the study of facts of the physical, chemical and biological sciences as they influence the processing and preservation of food.

    6.    Food technology deals with engineering and other scientific and technical problems involved in transforming edible raw materials and other ingredients into safe, nutritious and appetizing food products (Desrosier, 1977).

    7.    Food science is concerned with basic scientific facts about food, where as food technology concerned with the processing of raw materials into foods that meet human needs and wants.

    8.    Indian agriculture has undergone a sea change during the past half a century. Starting with the campaign for “grow more foods” in the forties, India reached self sufficiency during the eighties.

Greens and salad crops are grown for their foliage and are used since antiquity in soups, boiled, pickled or eaten raw and are recognized as important ingredients in the diet. Stephen Switzer, in Practical Kitchen Gardner (1727) identified 30-40 species as raw salads. Plants like Purslane, Burdock, Orache, Borage, Salad Burnet, Sea Kale, Dandelion, French Sorrel, Alexanders and many other plants are used as greens.
 
Greens and salads are very well represented in the garden works of John Randolph and Joseph Prentis in Williamsburg who  described that markets carried a wide selection of greens making available to the general public. But the salad greens were not mentioned in local diaries as often as common vegetables like cauliflowers, artichokes or melons, because they were used more as a garnish than as a main dish.
 
The popularity of individual varieties of greens changed over time. Many of the minor greens, like Purslane and Alexanders were common in the 17th century and before, but largely disappeared by the 18th century. Rocket, or Arugula, was listed by all authors in 16th and 17th century works but fell out of favor in England by the middle of  18th century.

Introduction

Plants are the main source of nutrition to farm animals for their maintenance and production.  But, under certain conditions, plants intoxicate farm animal life due to the presence of some deleterious substances called phytotoxins. Such plants include a variety of fodder plants (Jowar, wheat straw, Lucerne), grasses (Millet grass), ornamental or fencing plants (Crotons, Nerium sps) and weeds.

(Tribulis) in the farm premises.
Generally, farm animals avoid such plants and weeds due to their unpleasant taste and offensive odor but during fodder scarcity caused by drought, floods or overgrazing, animals consume these plants. In addition, animals introduced into new areas, stall fed animals also sometimes lose their sense of discrimination and ingest such plants containing phytotoxins.

Though the pesticide application represents viable solution to pest control, however indiscriminate use poses threat to target as well as non-target crops. The side effects of pesticides therefore have to be considered based on their use and on the agricultural system to which particular pesticide is used. Studies should be implied on effects and persistence of pesticides in crops and is consequent effects on soil microbial flora and associated nitrogen metabolism. Safe alternate methods like development of relatively cheaper biopesticide should be encouraged. More efficient methods have to be developed and validated for dissipation of pesticide residues in food grains. Human health and environment has gained great importance in the modern world. The widespread use of insecticides has resulted in problems caused by its interaction with the natural biological systems. Study showed that higher amounts of acetamiprid have some negative effects on corn plant physiology. Thus, the use of pesticide should be controlled following the standards of developed countries to protect health and the environment.

1. Introduction

Pecans (Carya illinoensis) are one of the most desirable trees to plant in home yards. Their size and natural beauty as a shade tree and its capacity to produce a nutritious food make them valuable. Pecan is the most widely cultivated and the most economically important member of the North American hickory group. Beyond its native range, pecan is commercially grown from the southeastern USA to the south-west (California) (Hanna, 1987, Peterson, 1990, Harlow et al., 1991). Pecan is from an Algonquian word, meaning ‘a nut requiring a stone to crack’. In Mexico, pecans and walnuts share the same Spanish name, neuz, which is a cognate of the English word nut. In the USA, pecan is considered the queen of nuts because of its value both as a wild and as a cultivated nut and acceptable quality of meats (Woodroof, 1979). Pecan is also considered as ‘queens of nuts’ because of its value both a wild and as a cultivated nut and acceptable quality of meats. As compared with other nut fruits which have been grown since time immemorial, pecan has been under cultivation only for about one hundred years but has gained enormous popularity.

1. Introduction

Persian walnut is of great importance across worldwide where nuts are harvested from wild stands, backyard gardens and rarely from commercial orchards that vary considerably in their size due to degree of management. The walnut is an old tree cultivated before the Greek age and appreciated for centuries for its fruits, wood and other parts utilized in several ways. Before the discovery of the phenomena of allelopathy, someone considered the walnut an un-healthful tree, since peasants used to wake up with migraine or fever after they had slept under a walnut tree. Some others considered the walnut a cursed tree, and in fact in Italy an old walnut tree growing in Benevento, has long been considered the place where the witches used to dance during the night of Saint John and, therefore, that tree was named “Tree of the Witches” (Avanzato, 2010).

Nuts are collected for home consumption, sale at local roadside stands and markets and for shipping to cities. Walnut trees are further utilized for their high quality timber to make a wide array of products. The leaves, bark and other plant parts are used for medicinal remedies and trees are grown and maintained for soil conservation purposes (Mamadjanov, 2006b). A diverse mix of seedlings, local selections, and advanced cultivars are grown for nut production, many with unknown origins, including some of which are the direct result of selection from the wild.

1. FOOD AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE

Food is the basic necessity of all the living world and the man is no exception to this. The basic purpose of food is to provide energy for the routine body functions and protect the body from various diseases. Life cannot be sustained without adequate nourishment for a healthy and active life, diets should therefore, be planned and consumed on sound nutritional principles (Fig. 1). For want of nutritious foods, consequence is the prevalence of malnutrition. There are several diseases that are related with deficiency of nutrition food, if not consumed. Such diseases include Kwashiorkor that can develop in children consuming insufficient protein even if total calories are sufficient. Marasmus is often due to the cessation of breast feeding and the attempt to replace it with foods, inadequate in protein such as rice broth. Other nutritional diseases still found particularly in the developing world are childhood blindness (vitamin A deficiency), rickets (vitamin D deficiency), beri-beri and infantile beri-beri (inadequate thiamin intake), pellagra (inadequate niacin intake), anemia (iron deficiency), goiter (iodine deficiency), etc. To cope up with this, the diet needs to be supplemented with nutritious food components including fruits and vegetables to make it more suitable for the growth and development of body.

Out of different types of foods, the fruits and vegetables constitute an important component of the food. Horticultural crops occupy a prominent position both in the importance and production in the world. The temperate fruits and vegetables are an important part of the horticultural crops, in terms of production and role in human health. These crops assume all the more importance due to their antioxidant activity, and presence of minerals and vitamins. Both fresh and processed fruits and vegetable, their different products are consumed. They are also called as protective foods. Fruits and vegetables are major sources of important vitamins like B and C and minerals such as Ca, Fe, P and K.

Spices: It is defined as vegetable products (non-leafy parts) or mixture thereof, used for flavouring, seasoning and imparting aroma in food. It may be whole form or in ground form e.g. Pepper, Cardamom, Clove, Cinnamon, etc.

Research related to biochemical analysis has been greatly benefited due to the development of chromatographic technique, since this technique makes it possible to resolve mixtures of closely related substances on a milligram to picogram range and to identify individual components by comparison with reference standard compounds. Chromatography ‘gives information where other analytical means have failed’ [Tswett, M. (1906) The macro-chemical and micro-chemical detection of carotene. Ber. Deut. Botan.Ges. 24 : 384- 393].

5.1 GENERAL DESCRIPTION

As more is discovered about tropical soils, shifting cultivation has gained popularity as a symbol of change and showing "ingenious adaptations to unfavourable environments, based on a remarkably complete knowledge of local ecology and soil potential" (Allan 1972). The acidic tropical soils are found in about one billion ha of land in the World. Out of this, about 700 million ha of land is in the high rainfall tropics and, 300 million ha in the savanna, and practically all of it is in developing countries (IBSRAM 1987). The shifting cultivator lives in a humid tropical area with acidic soil. The use and protection of the forest to restore soil fertility is "at the heart of every agricultural system," and the tropics' swiddeners have devised a way that works (Benneh 1972). The integrated swiddener prefers field locations with existing mature forest, either "primary" or "secondary," because it recognises that it is vegetation which supply nutrients to the crop (Dove 1983a; Allan 1965; Rambo 1983; Posey 1983). The availability of nutrients to food crops increases after a burn, but these nutrients fast deplete due to leaching and erosion (Nye and Greenland 1960 and 1964). Nye and Greenland (1964) discovered the soil within the shifting cultivation to be quite variable due to fallen timber, termite mounds, and irregular ash distribution following the burning. These differences will be used to create microsites that will be planted with various crops based on the swiddeners' understanding of which crops benefit from rich soils and which are unaffected by poor soils. The field is left fallow after the cropping cycle is completed (typically 1 - 4 years), while tree crops may be harvested for years. If the site is not utilised for a long time, it will recover its fertility; if it is used too soon, degeneration will occur. It may be difficult to detect degeneration, particularly if it occurs gradually over multiple generations. It's especially tough with Shifting cultivators since they "look to be so self-sufficient, so well integrated with their surroundings" (Street 1969). The assumption is that the longer the land is left fallow, the greater the soil recovery will be. The system should be sustainable if extended fallows can be maintained. Shifting cultivators’ response to the requirement to produce food without using manures, fertilisers, or alluvial deposition is soil replenishment by fallowing (Greenland 1974). The technique works if a long fallow time is maintained; if the fallow period is shortened, soil fertility falls. Shifting agriculture is considered environmentally sound while population pressure is mild, but it is environmentally damaging when land scarcity precludes a long enough fallow interval to recover soil productivity. It's crucial to distinguish between traditional shifting cultivation and shifting agriculture in a state of disequilibrium (Watters 1971).

Abstract

The recent disastrous tsunami of December 26, 2004 has not only alarmed the administrative and the planning machinery to have tsunami mitigation strategies for India. But also signalled the geoscientists to have a deeper look on the phenomenon of tsunami and the vulnerabilities of the Indian coasts. In this context, the authors have conducted a study primarily to evaluate the responses of the coastal Geosystems to the tsunami inundation, as it is a very vital component in f raming strategies for mitigating the effect of tsunami. The study has revealed that the central coastal parts of Tamil Nadu, namely Cuddalore – Nagapattinam districts, which were worst affected by the recent tsunami, expose a combination of landforms of tectonic, fluvial, fluvio – marine and marine processes. These different landforms have responded differently to the recent tsunami viz: as facilitators, carriers, accommodators, absorbers, barriers etc. on the basis of the same, different eco – friendly, cost effective and result oriented methods are suggested to mitigate the effects of tsunamis.

Introduction

Tsunami is an unfamiliar term and also a scantily referred term in the dictionaries in India till December 26, 2004. Even the students of geosciences were all along been taught about the origin and impact of tsunamis by citing examples from the Pacific Ocean. But the term tsunami has now become a widely known and a commonly deliberated phenomenon in India amongst various cross sections of the society irrespective of age and literacy. However, the historical tsunami data (USGS & GSI websites)

So far much have been talked about the best hydraulic sections, as these appeared to be most economical sections. But as it appears may not be always true and there are exceptions to each individual site conditions.

9.1 Suitable and Economical Cross Section

Best hydraulic sections are most economical in lined and unlined canals. In lined canal this section is economical as long as the cost of earth work (excavation and embankment) is less than the cost of lining per unit length of channel and this is the most usual case. These sections, besides having least area and perimeter also have minimum top width. Therefore land width required is also minimum, in comparison to other wide sections. But if the cost of earth work / excavation is more, such as in rocks, or in very heavy cutting/filling, best hydraulic section do not remain most economical, and recourse to alternative section must be worked out.

Even in unlined channels in deep excavation or in deep filling recourse must be taken to narrower and deeper sections as far as possible.

Also the type of lining in the bed may be cheaper than the lining on sides and in such cases, lining of best section is no more most economical and cost economics of various alternatives including increase in bed width has to be worked out, see para 4.1 and 6.3.

Soil is a strange full of wisdom particularly in terms of biodiversity. Soil biota consists of the microbes (bacteria, fungi, archaea and algae), soil animals (protozoa, nematodes, mites, springtails, spiders, insects and earthworms) and plants, living all or part of their lives in or on the soil or pedosphere. Millions of species of soil organisms exist but only a fraction of them have been cultured and identified. Micro organisms (MOs) (fungi, archaea, bacteria, algae and cyanobacteria) are members of the soil biota but are not members of the soil fauna (Sachidanand et al., 2019). The soil fauna is the collection of all the microscopic and macroscopic animals in a given soil. The size of a soil organism can restrict its location in the soil habitat. Smaller members of the microfauna like nematodes are basically aquatic organisms that live in the thin water f ilms or capillary pores of aggregates preying or grazing on other aquatic microfauna such as amoebas. Soil has a direct effect on the environmental conditions, habitat and nutrient sources available to the soil biota. The term pedosphere is often used interchangeably with soil and captures the concept that the soil is a habitat where the integration of spheres occurs. These spheres include the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and the biosphere. Numerous biogeochemical processes regulated by soil biota occur in the pedosphere.

The physical structure, aeration, water holding capacity and availability of nutrients are determined by the mineral constituents of soil, which are formed by the weathering of rock and the degradative metabolic activities of the soil MOs. Soil microbiology is the study of organisms in soil, their functions, and how they affect soil properties. It is believed that between two and four billion years ago, the first ancient bacteria and MOs came about in earth’s oceans. These bacteria could fix N2 , in time multiplied and as a result released oxygen into the atmosphere. This led to more advanced MOs. Soil biology plays a vital role in determining many soil characteristics. The decomposition of organic matter by soil organisms has an immense influence on soil fertility, plant growth, soil structure, and C storage. As a relatively new science, much remains unknown about soil biology and their effects on soil ecosystems. The soil is home to a large proportion of the world’s biodiversity.

1.1. General Discussion of Milk

“The cow is the foster mother of the human race. From the days of the ancient Hindoo to this time have the thoughts of men turned to this kindly and beneficent creature as one of the chief sustaining forces of human life”.

William Dempster Hoard (1836-1918)
Former Governor, State of Wisconsin, USA (1889-1891)
Founder of Hoard’s Dairyman (1885)

The oldest written records of the human race are in Sanskrit and are preserved in India. At the time these records began, about 6,000 years ago, milk had already become an important article of food. In fact, so important was the cow to these early people of South and Central Asia that wealth was measured in numbers of cattle, and the cow was in time made a sacred animal and is still so considered in India.

According to the best authorities, the domestication of cattle must have occurred somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. The cow was worshipped in Babylonia, and in Egypt about 20,000 B.C. Over fifty references to cows and milk are found in Old Testament and the Promised Land was described as “a land flowing with milk and honey”.

Milk is the only food of the young mammal during the first period of its life. The substances in milk provide more energy and the building materials necessary for growth. Milk also contains antibodies which protect the young mammal against infection. A calf needs about 1000 litres of milk for growth, and that is the quantity which the primitive cow produces for each calf. There has been an enormous changes since man took the cow into his service. Selective breeding has resulted in dairy cows which yield more than 5,000 litres of milk per calf, i.e. five times as much as the primitive cow. Some cows can yield 10,000 litres or more.

A. Bhattacharya
    
5.1.    Chlorophyll
    
5.2.    Response to Drought Stress
    
5.3.    CO2 Fixation Under Drought
    
5.4.    Response to High Temperature Stress
    
5.5.    Response to Low Temperature Stress
    
5.6.    Effect of Cold Stress on CO2 Fixation
    
5.7.    Cold Acclimation and its Role in Providing Freeze-tolerance
    
5.8.    Response to Salinity Stress
    
5.9.    CO2 Fixation Under Salinity Stress
    
5.10.    Response to High Light Intensity Stress
    
5.11.    Stress-induced Changes
         
    5.11.1.    Effects on Photosynthetic Pigments
    5.11.2.    Effects on Photosystems
    5.11.3.    Effects on Gas-exchange Characteristics        
    5.11.4.    Effects on Activities of key Photosynthetic Enzymes
    
5.12.    Improvement in Photosynthetic Capacity Under Stress by Engineering Photosynthesis-related Genes or Transcription Factors
    
    5.12.1.    Transfer of C4 genes/traits to C3 plants
    5.12.2.    Role of Transcription Factors in Regulation of Genes Involved in Photosynthesis
    
5.13    Role of Mitogen-activated Protein Kinases (MAPKs) in Photosynthesis
    
5.14    Conclusion and Future Prospects
        
References

AGRI BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Agribusiness is a generic term. It includes food production, farming, seed supply, agrichemicals, farm machinery, wholesale and distribution, processing marketing and retail sales. John. H. Davis of Harvard University first used the term Agribusiness in 1955. Prospects of agri-business India (McKinsey and Confederations of Indian Industry 1997)    
Food industry offers one of the largest opportunities in India today
By 2005 - 07, the food industry will grow three fold to reach us 70 $ billion, and increases in forthcoming year. India can be the world Largest Food Factory
   
India’s food production today is equal to that of USA, second to China
Value added foods will grow faster rates ($30 to $60) million.
Growing the food industry will raise agricultural yields, increases income and create employment and economic development.

3.1 Concepts of Soil Sampling

Samplinginvolvesthe selection fromthe total populationof a subset ofindividuals upon which measurements will be made. The measurements made on this subset (or sample) will then be used to estimate the properties (or parameters) of the total population.Samplingisinherent toanyfield research programinsoilscience because the measurement of the total population is impossible for any realistic study.

Samplingdesign involves theselection of the mostefficient method forchoosing the samples thatwill be used to estimatethe properties of the population. The definition of the population to be sampled is central to the initial formulation of the research study. The sampling design defines how specificelementswill be selected from the population, and these sampled elements form the sample population.

Pedogenetic and soilgeomorphic studies focus on determining the processes thatformed the soilproperties or landscapes under study and the environments that controlled the rates of these processes. Pedonscale studies are closely associated with thedevelopmentof soil taxonomic systems andfocus onvertical, intrapedon processes. Soil geomorphic studies are the interface between quaternary geologyand soil science and soil geomorphologistsfocus on lateral transferprocesses and the historical landscape evolution. Hence sampling is difficult for a particular population and is differentfor differentstudy.

MANGO

(Mangifera indica, Anacardiaceae; 2n=40, Origin; Indo-Burma)

• India contributes 56% of total mango production in the world
• Highest productivity in the world– Venezuela
• Pollination: House fly (Musca domestica)
• The flower is hermaphroditic with male and female flowers in the same flower panicle.
• Inflorescence-Panicle
• Hybridization work was started by Burns and Prayag in 1911 at Pune in MH.
• Caging technique of breeding was used in Mango by Dr. R. N. Singh.
• In mango, only 0.1% flower develops fruit to maturity.
• The optimum temperature range for its growth and development is 24°C to 27°C.
• It can tolerate up to 48°C during fruit development with regular irrigations, which improve fruit size, quality and maturity.
• For flower bud differentiation, suitable temp is13°C–19°C.
• Mangoes are highly susceptible to low temperature injury/Chilling injury.

The plants collect water by its root system available in the soil medium. A soil rich in nutrients cannot ensure success of crops unless the presence of satisfactory state of water and air, mechanical attributes and thermal regime. The physical properties of soil and plants greatly influence the movement, retention and use of water. The soil should provide sufficient pore spaces and size distribution and decomposition of rocks and for the movement and retention of water for plant needs. Rainwater, irrigation, groundwater, seepage, etc. , contribute in replenishing the water in dried up soils. In all the cases thorough understanding of behavior of water is required to ensure the need of water to plants and optimize the use of irrigation water.

These crops are cultivated in an extensive scale in large contiguous areas, owned and managed by an individual or a company and whose produce is utilized only after processing e.g. Coffee, Tea, Rubber, Coconut, Cocoa, etc.

India comes in a tropical region and so it has a tropical monsoonal climate. The climate of India is governed by mountain ranges as well as direction of rain winds like south-west and north-east monsoon and alternate season is the main feature of Indian climate. Climate in South India is generally hotter and extremely humid than that of North India.

Seed handling ensures the potential utilization of seed material. Collection and utilization of quality seeds are indispensable in producing quality planting material and better seedling establishment. After selecting the quality seed source, collecting good quality seeds physiologically and genetically is considered the first step in seed handling, followed by processing seeds, testing, storage, and pre-treatment for germination. The main goal of seed handling is to attain an excellent seed survival rate. The chances of seeds getting damaged during any stages of seed handling because of careless or rough approaches are very high.

From the regeneration point of view, the quantity of seed production per tree correspondingly has a vital role to play. If considered virtually, only one successful seed (or two if the species is dioecious) would serve to replace the parent tree(s); hence the production of seeds during the lifetime of a tree is absurd. A full-grown Eucalyptus camaldulensis tree may produce a million or more seeds per year and live further, producing seeds for over a century. Each year’s production could help afforest

1.1. Origin and distribution

• Most species are native to Asia, with smaller numbers are native to Europe, North America and North Western Africa.
• China roses are the ancestor of the present day popular roses.
• Native of Himalayan regions, Asia, China, Japan, Europe and North America.

1.2. Economic importance

• King of flowers
• Symbol of beauty, fragrance and used to convey of love.

The concepts of biosafety and biosecurity are central to efforts to protect human health against the risks posed by exposure to hazardous biological agents. Biosafety, a term used to describe the collection of technologies, processes and practices a term used to describe the collection of technologies, processes and practices aimed at preventing the unintentional exposure to biological agents, has in particularaccrued increasing importance in recent decades as a result of the trend towards globalization and concomitant growth in international communication, transport and trade (WHO, 2020). In this international context, the outbreaks of highly-infectious diseases that have occurred in the last years serve to underscore the urgent need for effective prevention and detection and response to biological risks, in accordance with the International Health Regulations (IHR).

Thank you, Dr Tikoo, for a nice introduction and thanks to ATPBR for inviting me to deliver this WebCon. I would like to start with a small introduction that this particular talk is structured as a general introduction to thrips and thrips-transmitted viruses. There is a bit of interest in everyone with regard to the black thrips which has caused havoc in the last couple of years. The topic has significant importance to plant breeders with regard to the new invasive Western Flower thrips, one of the most dreaded thrips, across the globe and the problems associated with the management of resistance in protected cultivation, and, finally how do we go about with regard to the entire management of the thrips and thrips-transmitted virus problems.

Intellectual property (IP) encompasses creations of the human intellect, including inventions, artistic and literary works, as well as symbols, names, and designs. Intellectual property rights (IPR) are legal mechanisms thaprovide creators with exclusive rights to use, manage, and profit from their creations. These rights help protect the interests of innovators and promote continued creativity and innovation.
Intellectual Property Rights refer to the legal entitlements granted to individuals or organizations over their creative and intellectual works, such as patents, trademarks, and copyrights. These rights grant exclusive control or usage privileges for a specific duration, often creating a temporary monopoly. While the concept of intellectual property began to take shape in the 19th century, it was only during the 20th century that it was formally integrated into global legal frameworks.
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) safeguard the creations of the human mind, such as inventions, artistic and literary works, brand names, logos, designs, and images used in commerce. These rights help foster innovation by allowing creators and inventors to benefit economically from their work.
Key Points
1. Intellectual Property Rights are legal protections acquired by creators or owners of intellectual works.
2. Intellectual property encompasses intangible assets that result from human creativity and thought.

Introduction
The most extensive diversity is found in the realms of plants and insects, encompassing over 1 million arthropod taxa, primarily comprising insects, which have been comprehensively described, along with more than 350,000 plant taxa. Notably, a substantial portion of the described insect species serve as either pollinators or herbivores. Over millions of years, insects and plants have coevolved, constantly adjusting and adapting to each other’s characteristics. Plants have developed numerous morphological and biochemical features to withstand damage from insects, while in response, insects have evolved a range of defensive and adaptive mechanisms. These mechanisms include behavioural, morphological, physiological, biochemical, and genetic traits, enabling them to either tolerate or adapt to the defensive traits of plants (Schmelz et al., 2006; Wu et al., 2007; Howe & Jander, 2008; War et al., 2018). Plant defenses against insect pests can be broadly categorized into two main types: antibiosis and antixenosis resistance. Antibiosis involves the direct impact of plant defensive traits on insect growth, development, and survival. In contrast, antixenosis defense relies on morphological or chemical factors that alter insect behaviour, deterring them from feeding and laying eggs on the plant. The trichomes, spines, cuticles, thorns, and lignified cell walls, are the morphological traits of defense that directly protect plants from insect pests. The biochemical defense mechanisms are typically activated in response to insect attacks and are characterized by their dynamic nature (War et al., 2018). Plant volatiles serve a significant function in the indirect defense of plants against insect herbivores. They accomplish this by either deterring the insect pests or by luring the pests’ natural adversaries. Among the various attributes associated with plant defense, chemical barriers, whether they are induced by stress or present constitutively, along with the nutritional composition of the plant, are regarded as particularly crucial for impeding insect growth and development (Peters & Constabel, 2002; War et al., 2019).
Chemical resistance entails the production of secondary metabolites, whether inherently present (constitutive) or induced as a response to a threat, to fortify the plant’s defense mechanisms (Figure 1). Constitutive defense metabolites, initially stored in an inactive state, referred to as phytoanticipins, become activated when herbivores attack. This activation is facilitated by the enzyme ß-glucosidase, which subsequently triggers the release of various aglycone metabolites possessing biocidal properties (Morant et al., 2008). Metabolites that are induced in response to herbivore activity are referred to as phytoalexins. These compounds encompass a variety of substances such as isoflavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, and more. They are recognized for their capacity to influence the growth and viability of herbivorous organisms (Walling, 2000). Furthermore, a notable role in imparting host-plant