eChapters

Introduction 
The preceding chapters have laid a robust foundation, introducing the concept of agricultural systems, delving into the architecture and types of crop models, and meticulously detailing the essential data requirements for their operation. We have established that crop models are powerful tools for simulating the complex interactions within the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum, driven by a rich tapestry of environmental and management inputs. Among these inputs, weather stands out as arguably the most dynamic and influential factor, wielding profound control over every aspect of crop life, from the precise timing of germination to the final quantity and quality of the harvest. Chapter 5 shifts our focus to the direct and indirect consequences of this critical environmental driver: the evaluation of crop responses to weather. This chapter is dedicated to understanding, quantifying, and interpreting how variations in meteorological conditions—such as temperature, solar radiation, precipitation, humidity, and wind—directly influence the physiological processes, developmental progression, biomass accumulation, and ultimate yield of cultivated crops. It‘s about moving from simply providing weather data to actually assessing its impact on the plant‘s performance. The ability to accurately evaluate these responses is paramount for several interconnected reasons: Firstly, from a fundamental scientific perspective, it deepens our understanding of plant ecophysiology. By analyzing how crops react to specific weather patterns, we gain invaluable insights into the underlying biological mechanisms that govern growth and development under diverse environmental pressures. This knowledge is crucial for advancing agricultural science itself. Secondly, for agricultural management and decision-making, this evaluation is directly actionable. Understanding optimal weather conditions for specific growth stages, or predicting the impact of adverse events, enables farmers

4.1. PESTS OF FIELD CROPS

Insect pests are the major constraints limiting agricultural productivity growth. It is estimated that herbivorous insects eat about 26 percent of the potential food production. Emerging problems of insecticide and disease resistance, secondary pest outbreak and resurgence further add to the cost of plant protection. Annual crop losses due to insect pests and diseases in India are estimated to be 18 percent of the agricultural output. Main causes of emerging pest and disease are favourable prevailing weather condition, absence of natural enemies, abundant food supply, use of pesticides, use of fertilizers and irrigation.

PESTS OF RICE

Borers and Defoliators

3.1 Soil Inhabiting Fungi

There’s a wild and wonderful world that remains hidden for most of us, at least most of the time. It’s an amazing ecosystem filled with fascinating creatures interacting with one another to create an intricate, dynamic web of life. It’s right under our feet: the soil ecosystem! Many organisms make up this ecosystem, and some of the most important ones are the fungi. Healthy soil is alive and teeming with an array of fungus species, each playing a vital role in its environment. Healthy soils are alive with an especially diverse array of fungal species, and many are essential to the health of the plants growing in that soil. In fact, a soil devoid of fungi is a dead soil, and is unlikely to support thriving plants. Some soil fungi are single-celled and visible only through a microscope. Others form large, underground networks of filaments that can cover an area the size of a football field or larger. Most of us are familiar with the above-ground parts of some soil fungi, the mushroom.

Fungi are one of the key microbial groups in terrestrial ecosystems that enabled colonization of land by plants and facilitated development of soil that supports most of the biota on Earth. The kingdom Fungi is one of the most diverse groups of life with an estimated 1.5–6 million species that represent heterotrophic mutualists, pathogens, and saprotrophs (Tedersoo et al., 2017). The 70,000–100,000 currently recognized species are distributed among 156 orders, 46 classes, and 12 phyla. Fungi have traditionally been identified and classified based on morphological characters of fruiting bodies and living cultures. Similar to bacteria and archaea, merely <1% of fungal species have been cultivated with established protocols, which renders large taxonomic groups undescribed and virtually unknown to science. Roughly 80% of all soil-inhabiting fungal taxa cannot be identified at the species level, and 20% cannot be reliably assigned to known orders.

Children with developmental challenges may experience difficulties affecting physical movement, cognition, communication, learning, behaviour, sensory functioning or social participation. This chapter develops awareness of different disabilities, their characteristics, possible causes, assessment and educational implications. It covers intellectual disability, autism spectrum conditions, learning disabilities, hearing and visual impairment, speech and language problems, cerebral palsy and behavioural difficulties. Questions also examine inclusive and special education, early identification, intervention, rehabilitation, family support and the roles of teachers and professionals. Attention is given to government programmes, legislation and institutional services designed to protect children’s rights and promote their development, education, independence and inclusion within society.

Chapter I: Preliminary

1. Short title, extent and commencement
 
    (1)    This Act may be called the Patents Act, 1970. 
    (2)    It extends to the whole of India. 
    (3)    It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint: 
PROVIDED that different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act, and any reference in any such provision to the commencement of this Act shall be construed as a reference to the coming into force of that provision.

2.1. INTRODUCTION

Salt stress has become an ever increasing threat to food production. It is a major factor limiting the crop productivity in the arid and semi-arid areas of the world (Ashraf, 1994; Foolad and Jones, 1992) and it affects about 10% of the total global land area (Richards, 1995). Increased salinization of arable lands is expected to have devastating global effects, resulting in 30% land losses within the next 25 years and up to 50% by the year 2050 (Wang et al., 2003).

Soluble salts can cause harm to plant, if they are in high concentration in water or soils and it limit crop cultivation world wide. Generally an array of stresses interplay in saline soils and reduces productivity of salt sensitive crops. In India, about 12 mha of land has been affected with salinity and alkalinity (Yadav and Gupta, 1984); an area of nearly 4 mha of land suitable for rice affected with salinity (Paul and Ghosh, 1986). The optimum salt concentration for the growth of halophytes is found to be about 0.5 M NaCl (Flower and Yeo, 1981). Most of the crop plants are salt sensitive glycophytes.

Definitions
 
    •    Toxicology: Knowledge (or science) of poisons, including their chemical properties, identification, biological effects, and the treatment of conditions they cause.

    •    Poison: Any solid, liquid, or gas that, when introduced into or applied to the body, can interfere with the life processes of cells of the organism - by its own inherent chemical properties - without acting mechanically and regardless of temperature.

    •    Poison = Toxicant: The term poison is now used less often. Reason: Historical application of the term (malicious) vs. a compound used as a feed additive, agricultural, or other chemical - manufactured to fulfill a perceived human need.

Milk is a highly perishable commodity. The shelf life of raw milk is in hours. In order to harness its full potential for the well being of the humanity, it is essential to extend its shelf life not only in days but also in months and years. This can be achieved by judicious application of processing and preservation technologies.

Preservation is any purposeful treatment or processing of a food which prevents spoilage and extends the shelf life of raw material to a longer than its natural keeping quality.

During storage and distribution foods are exposed to a wide range of environmental conditions. Environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, oxygen and light can trigger several reactions that may lead to food deterioration. As a result foods may be altered to such an extent that they are either rejected by the consumer or are harmful to the person consuming them. It is, therefore, essential that the good knowledge of different reactions that cause food deterioration is gained prior to understanding the principles of food preservation.

The deterioration in foods may be caused either due to internal or external chemical or microbial reactions occurring in milk. The changes may be either latent to senses of consumer, or they may be discernible by the human senses. The consumer cannot perceive latent changes visually, olfactorily or otherwise, and laboratory measurements are the only method to detect them. Still the nutritional value of such materials may be seriously impaired. Such changes include fermentation, oxidation of lipids, loss of vitamins and changes in the contents and composition of nitrogenous substances.

Non-microbial changes in foods, perceptible to human senses, may often lead to serious deterioration noticeable to the average consumer. These include discolouration and changes in odor, taste and consistency. Microbial changes may result in alteration of original properties of milk making it unfit for further processing, deterioration in flavour quality, loss of nutrients and toxin production.

3.1    Air Pollution
    3.1.1 Classification of Air Pollutants
    3.1.2  Properties of Air Pollutants
    3.1.3  Health Effects
    3.1.4 Particulate Pollution Control Equipments
    3.1.5 Gaseous Pollution Control Equipments
    
3.2    Water Pollution
    3.2.1 Causes of Pollution
    3.2.2 Origin of Wastewater
    3.2.3 Waste Water Composition
    3.2.4 Types of Water Pollutants
    3.2.5 Basic Processes of Water Treatment
    
3.3    Land
    
3.4    Marine Pollution
    3.4.1 Sources and Effects of Marine Pollution Toxics
    3.4.2 Control Measures
    
3.5    Noise
    3.5.1 Effects of Noise
    3.5.2 Major Noise Sources
    3.5.3 Noise Control Measures
    
3.6    Thermal Pollution
    3.6.1 Effects of Thermal Pollution
    
3.7     Nuclear Hazards
    3.7.1 Nuclear Weapons
    3.7.2 Types of Nuclear Bursts
    3.7.3 Nuclear Injuries
    3.7.4 Residual Radiation
    
3.8    Nuclear Waste and their Treatment
    
3.9    Solid Waste Management
    3.9.1 Role of Human in Prevention of Pollution
    
3.10    Disaster Management
    3.10.1 Floods
    3.10.2 Earthquake
    3.10.3 Cyclone
    3.10.4 Landslides

Horticultural crops include the fruit crops, vegetables, spices, plantation crops, medicinal plants, aromatic plants, commercial flower crops and ornamental plants.

Knowledge on the methods by which these reproduce is of primary importance from the standpoint of plant breeding. Besides, their annual or perennial nature also decides the methods of breeding to be adopted to get desired improvement.

Two divisions of methods of reproduction commonly recognized are:

1. Asexual i.e. vegetative parts of the plants are utilized to produce new individuals.

2. Sexual i.e. gametic fusion, the resultant zygote develops into seed which is utilized to produce new individual.

This group can be further placed in several sub divisions according to the mode of pollination. They are

a. Naturally self pollinated crop - (e.g. tomato, pepper, brinjal) wherein cross pollination occurs less than 4 % only.

b. Often cross pollinated crop- (e.g. chillies, bhendi) wherein though self pollination is more frequent, cross- pollination may occur so frequently that some methods of preventing cross pollination between varieties and strains of different genotypic constitution must be followed throughout the breeding programme.
Common breeding methods can be applied to the above two groups, however, the parents chosen for breeding under often cross pollinated crop need to be selfed for few generations to select desirable, homozygous lines.

Classifications and Nomenclature

Plants can be classified according to the following criteria: (1) botanical, (2) descriptive and (3) agricultural. Botanical classification is based on the morphological characteristics of plants as well as on their anatomy, physiology and DNA sequences. Descriptive classification is based on the environmental adaptation, growth habit and other observable features. In agriculture, plants can be broadly classified as either useful or useless. Those which are useful are called crops while those which are not useful are called weeds.

A common, well-defined system of crop classification is important in crop science and agriculture. Grouping of plants following established systems will simplify plant collection initiatives, research and breeding specialized development efforts. Having standardized botanical names will also facilitate efficient communication, dissemination and retrieval of scientific information. Additionally, the grouping of crops will indicate that these crops may have similar uses, adaptation, growth habits and methods of culture. Classifying crops by family is likewise important in intergeneric grafting. To students of crop science, a list of crops under the various agricultural classifications will be a useful reference in crop names and identification and as a review guide. To the farm manager himself, the same list will offer innumerable benefits in finding alternative crops for specific uses.

Despite these advantages, however, classifications of crops in agriculture vary from place to place and from one country to another due to differences in the primary usage of certain crops, intensity of care, extent of cultivation and other criteria under consideration. It is not uncommon to find crops having two or more classifications, used simultaneously, alternatively or sequentially. FAO(2010) in its report entitled “Crops Statistics - Concepts, Definitions and Classifications”, expressed its difficulty in the collection and presentation of statistical data due to differences in the concepts, definitions, coverage and classifications” of crops which are grown in different countries.

Book Keeping

What is book keeping?

Book keeping is defined as;

1. The art of recording business transactions (pecuniary transactions) in a regulator and systematic manner.
2. Book keeping is the science and art of correctly recording in books of accounts all those business transactions that result in the transfer of money or money’s worth.
3. Book keeping is an art of recording day to day business transactions in a set of books in a most systematic manner.
4. It is the process of analysing, classifying and recording transaction in accordance with preconceived plan.

1. GMP

Good manufacturing practices and requirements of premises, plant and equipment for pharmaceutical products

To achieve the objectives listed below, each licensee shall evolve appropriate methodology, systems and procedures which shall be documented and maintained for inspection and reference; and the manufacturing premises shall be used exclusively for production of drugs and no other manufacturing activity shall be undertaken therein.

3.1 Air Pollution

Air pollution is a phenomenon by which particles either a solid or liquid and gases contaminate the environment. Such contamination can result in health effects on the population, which might be either chronic arising especially from long-term exposure or acute due to accidents. Other effects of pollution may be damage to materials, agricultural damage namely reduced crop yields and tree growth, impairment of visibility namely tiny particles scatter light very efficiently, and even climate change global warming.

3.1.1 Classification of Air Pollutants

Air Pollutants are classified as Natural as well as Anthropogenic. Natural pollutants are those that are found in nature or are emitted from natural sources. For example, volcanic activity produces sulfur dioxide, and particulate pollution may derive from forest fires or windblown dust. Anthropogenic pollutants are those that are produced by humans or controlled processes. For example, sulfur dioxide is produced by fossil fuel combustion and particulate matter comes from diesel engines.

Air pollutants are further classified as primary or secondary. Primary pollutants are those that are emitted directly into the atmosphere from an identifiable source. Examples include carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide. Secondary pollutants are those that are produced in the atmosphere by chemical and physical processes from primary pollutants and natural constituents. For example, ozone is produced by hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen (both of which may be produced by car emissions) and sunlight.

An invasive species is an organism that causes ecological or economic harm in a new environment where it is not native. Invasive species are capable of causing extinctions of native plants and animals, reducing biodiversity, competing with native organisms for limited resources, and altering habitats. This can result in huge economic impacts and fundamental disruptions of coastal and Great Lakes ecosystems. Invasive species threaten and can alter our natural environment and habitats and disrupt essential ecosystem functions. Invasive plants specifically displace native vegetation through competition for water, nutrients, and space. Once established, invasive species can reduce soil productivity. The negative effects of invasive alien species on biodiversity can be intensified by climate change, habitat destruction and pollution. Isolated ecosystems such as islands are particularly affected. Loss of biodiversity will have major consequences on human well-being.

3.1 Biowarfare

Biowarfare, also known as Biological warfare or germ warfare, is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and fungi with the intent to kill, harm or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. Biological weapons (often termed “bio-weapons”, “biological threat agents”, or “bio-agents”) are living organisms or replicating entities (like viruses, which are not universally considered “alive”). Entomological (insect) warfare is a subtype of biological warfare.

Offensive biological warfare is prohibited under customary international humanitarian law and several international treaties. 

Genesis of Soil

World’s geography is very widely diversified in relief showing various features like mountains and hills covered with snow and trees, glaciers, higher altitudes to plain to lowest valleys, forests to barren lands, fertile fields to waste lands, plateaus, deltas, swamps, lowlands, deserts etc. Temperature varies from arctic cold to scorching hot of equator, Rainfall from aridity to per humidity. All these situations and conditions under different sets of combinations generate and develop numerous types of soil from a single type of parent material. Therefore, many types of soils may develop at a smaller area.

Physical, chemical and biological weathering processes disintegrate and decompose various rocks and minerals to make asymmetrical soil parent material. This parent material is converted in to the soil profile by soil forming processes in the presence of soil forming factors. Soil genesis is defined as mode of formation of the soil from the parent material due to the action of soil forming factors and processes. Parent material, Factors of soil formation and Processes of soil formation, are three main part of soil genesis. These are described here:

1. Parent Material,

2. Classification of parent material,

3. Factors of soil formation,

4. Processes of soil formation,

5. Types of soil forming processes.

Vulnerability of Soils

Soil vulnerability, Soil degradation, soil vulnerability index

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, lowering of water table, over grazing, deforestation, landslide, loss and change in soil biodiversity, Abandoned mines etc.

Soil vulnerability, Soil Degradation, Soil Vulnerability Index

The terms vulnerable and vulnerability are now bites of every one and used for everything. Vulnerable means to the possibility of attack or harm by any mean. Human beings are vulnerable to Covid-19, computers are vulnerable to virus, softwares are vulnerable to hackers and attackers to control system, environment is vulnerable to pollution. Vulnerabilities refer to the lack of ability to resist the effects of the aggressive environment. Soils are vulnerable to numerous threats like 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, lowering of water table, over grazing, deforestation, landslide, loss and change in soil biodiversity etc. However, this book will describe some of the most pertinent vulnerabilities for soils.

5.1 Mass Multiplication Techniques
Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) are currently produced by different methods either in vivo or in vitro (solid and liquid culture) (Friedman, 1990). Each approach has its advantages and disadvantages relative to production cost, technical know-how required, economy of scale, and product quality, and each approach has the potential to be improved. Following production, a variety of formulation and application alternatives are also available (Shapiro- Ilan et al., 2012). Mass multiplication of EPNs can be achieved through in vivo (using insect hosts) and in vitro (using artificial media) methods, with the latter being more efficient for large-scale production.
1. In Vivo Multiplication
Method: Involves rearing insect hosts (like Galleria mellonella or Corcyra cephalonica) and infecting them with EPNs, allowing the nematodes to multiply within the host’s cadaver.
Process
• Rearing of insect hosts.
• Inoculation of host larvae with EPNs.
• Collection of dead, infected larvae.
• Extraction of infective juveniles (IJs) from the cadavers using methods like the White trap.

For applying spectral data models with other machine learning and regression algorithms we have to follow all steps upto Chapter 4 till the partition of whole datainto calibration and validation data set. After that different algorithms is used to develop others models so that,the best model among the different algorithms can be identified and used for better perdiction of soil properties.
5.1 Principal Component Regression (PCR)
Principal Component Regression (PCR) is a regression technique that combines Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and multiple linear regression. It is particularly useful when dealing with multicollinearity in the predictor variables, as it transforms the predictors into a set of uncorrelated components before performing the regression.
set.seed(123)
pcr.CaCO3.pc.223SGS<- train(CaCO3.pc ~., Train_Data.CaCO3.pc.223SGS,
method =”pcr”, trControl = custom,
tuneLength=25, importance = TRUE)
Explaination for code train(CaCO3.pc ~ ., data = Train_Data.CaCO3.pc.223SGS, ...)
Formula (CaCO3.pc ~ .): Specifies the model formula where CaCO3.pc is the
dependent variable and . indicates that all other columns in Train_Data.CaCO3.
pc.223SGS are independent variables.
Data (data = Train_Data.CaCO3.pc.223SGS): The dataset used for training the model.
method = “pcr”:Specifies that the model to be used is Principal Component Regression (PCR).
trControl = custom:Specifies the training control method. custom should be an object of class trainControl created earlier, defining the resampling method (e.g., cross-validation).This example sets up 10-fold cross-validation. tuneLength = 25:Specifies the number of different values for the number of principal components to consider. The package caret will try 25 different values to find the optimal number of components.

Types of Breeds
Domestic cattle belong to the family Bovidae, sub-family Bovinae and can be classified into Bos Taurus and Bos indicus. They have 30 pairs of chromosomes, interbreed and are distributed throughout the tropics. The domestication of Bos taurus cattle took place some 8000to 9000 years ago and Hamitic longhorn and shorthorn types are believed to be their ancestors. The origin of Bos indicus breeds (humped cattle) were in western Asia. Both humped and hump less cattle were introduced to Africa from western Asia and into America and Australia from Europe by the immigrants. The European cattle Bos taurus were introduced in the tropics to be raised as pure-bred sand crossbred with indigenous breeds. As a result of crossing of native cattle with European dairy breeds, large numbers of crossbreeds have been produced in various tropical countries, which are being used in selection programs. Zebu Bos indicus cattle were introduced into United States in the nineteenth century for crossbreeding with European breeds. Breeds resulting from crosses are used in the southern regions of North America and tropical South America. Most of the cattle breed in the tropics evolved, through natural selection, for adaptability and survival to local environments. Often, breeds resemble each other with slight morphological differences, but because of constant inbreeding in one locality, independent breeds have evolved. In general, the cattle from drier regions are well built and those from heavy rainfall areas, coastal and hilly regions are of smaller build.
Classification of Cattle Breeds
Most indigenous cattle breeds in the tropics are multipurpose (milk, meat, draught) and that only a few breeds have good milk potential. Physical and economic parameters for some of the important indigenous dairy breeds and new crossbred types developed in the tropics are discussed. Indian cattle breeds of cattle are classified in to three types as under: a) Milch breeds: b) Dual Purpose breeds: c) Draught breeds

5.1 Mass Multiplication Techniques
Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) are currently produced by different methods either in vivo or in vitro (solid and liquid culture) (Friedman, 1990). Each approach has its advantages and disadvantages relative to production cost, technical know-how required, economy of scale, and product quality, and each approach has the potential to be improved. Following production, a variety of formulation and application alternatives are also available (Shapiro- Ilan et al., 2012). Mass multiplication of EPNs can be achieved through in vivo (using insect hosts) and in vitro (using artificial media) methods, with the latter being more efficient for large-scale production.
1. In Vivo Multiplication
Method: Involves rearing insect hosts (like Galleria mellonella or Corcyra cephalonica) and infecting them with EPNs, allowing the nematodes to multiply within the host’s cadaver.
Process
• Rearing of insect hosts.
• Inoculation of host larvae with EPNs.
• Collection of dead, infected larvae.
• Extraction of infective juveniles (IJs) from the cadavers using methods like the White trap.
Advantages: Simpler and requires less capital outlay.
Disadvantages: Labor-intensive and may not be as efficient for large-scale production.

4.1 INTRODUCTION

India enjoys a wide range of climates and agro-meteorological zones which are suitable for growing various kinds of horticultural crops like fruits, vegetables, f lowers, spices and condiments, plantation crops, and medicinal and aromatic plants.

India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices in the world. India stands second both in production of fruits and vegetables next to China. China contributes 21.2% in the world fruit production whereas India produces 12.6%. When we think of vegetables, China produces 49.5% and India produces 14.09%. India is the largest producer of Mango, Banana, Papaya, Coconut, Arecanut, and Cashewnut in the world. In the country, Andhra Pradesh (13.0%) is the leading state in fruit production followed by Maharashtra (11.2%). In case of vegetables, Uttar Pradesh stands first occupying 15.1% share followed by West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh in the range of 14.6% and 10% respectively. In cut flower production West Bengal ranks first.

Total horticultural production for the year 2017–18 was 311.71 million tonnes from cropping area of 25.43 million hectares of land and an estimated production for the crop year 2018-19 is 314.87 million tonnes from an area of 25.6 million hectares.

2.1. Multiple Choice Questions

1. The process of bringing a wild species under human management is referred to as ????.
   1. Selection
   2. Rejection
   3. Domestication
   4. None of the above
2. ?????was perhaps the first man to use artificial hybridization to develop several new fruit varieties.
   1. Dawrin
   2. Knight
   3. Beal
   4. Mendel
3. Plant breeding aims to ???????
   1. Improve yield only
   2. Disease resistant only
   3. Insect resistance only

Policies provide the institutional structure, direction, financial support and operational framework required for effective agricultural extension. Without clear policies, extension programmes may suffer from inconsistent decisions, fragmented implementation and unclear responsibilities. This chapter introduces the meaning, characteristics, sources and different types of policies and explains their importance to extension organizations. It examines how policies guide decision-making, establish limits, allocate resources and connect organizational goals with field activities. The chapter also introduces policy advocacy, analytical approaches and the policy-development process. Together, these concepts enable extension professionals to understand policy environments, participate constructively in decision-making and improve the responsiveness, accountability and effectiveness of extension services.

9.1 Farm Tools and Equipment for Horticulture and Plantation Crops

Agriculture in India is one of the most prominent sectors in its economy. Agriculture and allied sectors like forestry, logging and fishing accounts for about 14% of the GDP and employed 60% of the country’s population. About 43% of India’s geographical area is used for agricultural activity. Despite a steady decline of its share in the GDP, agriculture is still the largest economic sector and plays a significant role in the overall socioeconomic development of India. Nearly 80 percent of the farm population operates smallholdings, the average size of holding being 1.16 ha. Out of a total geographical area of 329 m ha, about 142 m ha constitute the net sown area. Nearly 63 percent of this area is rainfed and its contribution to the overall production is 44%.

Coconut is the most beautiful and useful of palms known to mankind. Coconut is unique, producing a host of products and by products with distinctive applications at home and in industry. It is essentially an oil seed crop providing all amenities for human life, which include food, energetic beverage, medicine, fibre, wood, shell and a variety of raw materials for production of array of products of commercial importance. In view of its versatile uses and affinity to Indian culture, it is rightly called the “tree of heaven” or “Kalpavriksha”.

5.1 Present Status

Export of pomegranate has decreased in quantity from 36,027.43 tons in 2012-13 to 20,997.02 tons in 2014-15, whereas in value term it show an increase trend during the same period. There is tremendous potential for exports of pomegranate from India and it is fact that India is largest producer of pomegranates in the world. Moreover, India produces finest edible quality of pomegranates which are available almost throughout the year. The major Markets of India’s pomegranate during the year 2014-15 were UAE, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Netherland.

The extreme temperatures those are consequences of present-day global climate changes are considered as major abiotic stresses for crop plants. Different studies clearly show that temperatures exceeding the limits of adaptation substantially influence the metabolism, viability, physiology, and yield of many plants. Plants exposed to extreme temperatures often show a common response in the form of oxidative stress. However, the extent of damage caused by extreme temperatures depends greatly on the duration of the adverse temperature, the genotypes of the exposed plants, and their stage of growth. There is ample need to develop temperature tolerance in crop plants by exploring suitable strategies. Numerous research findings support the notion that induction and regulation of antioxidant defenses are necessary for obtaining substantial tolerance against environmental stress. The development of genetically engineered plants, by the introduction and/or overexpression of selected genes, would to be one feasible strategy. However, plant adaptation to either high temperature or low temperature is a multigenic response which is very complex in nature. Thus the task of identifying the traits those correlate with stress tolerance is incredibly difficult for researchers. Plant response to continuous light depends on plant tolerance and can be modified by alteration in temperature, light intensity, CO2 level, and other environmental factors.

Extension Reform Strategies Global Perspective

In an effort to respond to the new paradigm, countries worldwide have adopted a variety of institutional reforms. These reforms are either market-oriented or non-market-oriented (Smith 1997). This distinction, provides an imperfect but hopefully useful framework for considering these reforms as individual, non-overlapping constructs. Following the discussion of Figure 3, a dynamic view of extension institutional reforms is presented in Figure 4 which suggests possible interconnections among the various constructs. Inferences drawn from the two Figures will shape the discussion in the final section.

The recent adoption by FAO and the World Bank of a fundamental vision and guiding principles for developing agricultural knowledge systems forms the focus of this section. This vision and these principles are reviewed in relation to the plethora of the ongoing agricultural and rural extension reforms.

7. 1 General

The major portion of water in a crop field gets lost through evaporation and transpiration. Evaporation is the process by which water is changed from the liquid state to vapor state. It takes place from the adjacent soil, water surface or from the surfaces of leaves of the plants. Transpiration is the removal of water vapour through plant body. Evapotranspiration (ET) is the sum of evaporation and transpiration. The process of evaporation and transpiration goes on simultaneously and difficult to separate them in a crop field.

The term consumptive use is used to refer evapotranspiration together with the water used in the metabolic activities of the crop plants. The actual amount of water used in metabolic activities is insignificant (less then 1% to ET). Therefore, the consumptive use and evapotranspiration are often used as synonymous term. It includes the water consumed by the plants for metabolic activities or transpiration plus the water evaporated from the land and water surfaces of the cropped area.

The factors affecting the rate of evaporation are the vapour pressure at the water surface and air above, air and water temperatures, wind speed, atmosphere pressure and size of the water body. Other factors remaining same, the rate of evaporation increases with an increase in the water temperature. Higher wind velocity causes greater scope for evaporation. Decrease in atmospheric pressure increases evaporation. The solute dissolved in water causes reduction in the rate of evaporation than that of pure water. The evaporation from soil surface occurs in same way to free water surface when the soil particles are surrounded by thin film of water and pore spaces are partially filled. However, in such situation greater resistance has to overcome for evaporation from the soil particles than while evaporating from a free water surface. The evaporation process practically stops when the moisture content in soil goes below a threshold value.

TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUITS

2.1 Mango
 

Mango is considered to be an allopolyploid. The chromosome number is 2n =40. The polyembryonic seedlings of cv. Vellaikolumban, earlier reported to be 2n= 80 was later shown to be a diploid. In Canary Island, a putative tetraploid viz Gomera-1 has been identified.

Floral biology

Flower starts opening early in the morning from 4-7 a.m. and maximum flowers open between 9.30-10.30 a.m. and complete 11 a.m. Dehiscence of anthers takes place at 11.30 a.m. and it continues up to 3.45 p.m. The pollen grains are oval, or triangular or oblong. Stigma becomes receptive even 18 hours before flower opening. Mode of pollination is entomophily; nectar is present to attract the insects.

The flowering duration is usually of short i.e. 2 to 3 weeks. The mango inflorescence or panicle bears mainly two types of flowers - male and perfect. The number of flowers per panicle varies between 1000 to 6000 depending upon the variety and climatic factors. The percentage of perfect flowers varies between 0.74 per cent in Rumani, 16.41 to 55.7 per cent in Neelum and up to 69.8 per cent in Langra.

1. Introduction

Olive (Olea eurpaea L.) is an evergreen species commonly grown in the Mediterranean basin. The oil extracted from the fruit is a predominant component of the ‘Mediterranean diet’, which has documented heart- and cancer-protective benefits. These derive from the lipid composition and from biologically active molecules that accumulate during olive fruit development. The oil can reach up to 30% of the total fruit fresh weight at full ripening and is highly present in the mesocarp and at lower levels in seeds. Oil increase reaches a plateau in pulp after varaison. A marked triacylglycerol accumulation in seed and pulp occurs after endocarp lignification, when about 40 mg of oil per fruit per week can be synthesized. The fatty acid profile of the oil accumulating in the fruit is important in relation to its nutritional properties. The main fatty acid is oleic acid (C18:1), which represents about 75% of total fatty acids, followed by linoleic (C18:2), palmitic (C16:0), stearic (C18:0) and linolenic (C18:3) acids (Martinelli and Dandekar, 2014).

The olive, Olea europaea L, is the only species of the botanical family Oleaceae with edible fruit. The tree blooms with small white flowers in May, and fruit set begins almost immediately afterward in May or June. Ripening is complete toward the end of November or December, depending on the variety. Its cultivation began more than 6000 years ago in the Middle East, and spread west on both sides of the Mediterranean Sea.

Introduction

Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is an important traditional oilseed crop of India contributing to 3.9 million tons of global vegetable oil ranking the sixth in the sequence of oilseed crops. Added to its importance as an oilseed, groundnut is also an important food legume cultivated in an area of about 22 million hectares worldwide leading to a production of 38.6 million tons as per the FAO statistics of 2011 (ICRISAT, 2017). China and India are the leading groundnut producers followed by USA and Nigeria. Africa with 12.40 m ha area and 11.54 m tons of production, and Asia with 11.87 m ha and 29.95 m tons, together account for 95% global groundnut area and 91% of global groundnut production. There was a substantial increase in global groundnut production by about 5 m tons in 2013, from 40 m tons in 2012. In the last decade, 2004–2013, global groundnut production increased by 24%, contributed by 7% increase in groundnut area, and 16% increase in yield. The projected global demand for groundnut and its related products is expected to increase and so there is a need to further increase production and productivity to meet the demand.

Among the different oilseed crops grown in India, groundnut is the major crops grown in kharif / monsoon season. Among different states if India, Gujarat is the prominent state growing groundnut.

Groundnut has a long history of cultivation since the plant was domesticated and cultivated by the indigenous tribes such as Incas of Peru in South America for more than 1500 years. It is believed that the cultivated groundnut was introduced into India by the Spanish colonizers (Krapovickas, 1968). Groundnut is believed to have been introduced into the USA by the African slaves. Groundnut crop has found an ecological niche in the tropical and warm temperate zones of world, due its impressive adaptability.

Rice (Oryza sativa L., 2n = 2x = 24, monocot, family Poaceae formerly called as Gramineae, grass family, self-pollinated crop) is one of the Four Big Crops (rice, wheat, corn and soybean) globally and is the world’s most important food crop after wheat and corn. In crop year 2018, there was around 167 million hectares of paddy (rough, un-milled rice) cultivated area worldwide with production of 782 million tons resulting into a productivity of 4.68 tons/ha. The top ten countries in rice production during this period globally were China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Philippines, Brazil and Pakistan. Chinese production was 212 million tones followed by India with 172 million tons (FAOSTAT). Indian production of 172 million tons of rough rice can be converted into milled rice by multiplying a conversion factor of 0.67 and this way it comes to 115 million tons.

Economics

The term “Economics” is derived from the Greek words ‘OIKOS’ and ‘NOMAS’ or ‘NEMEIN’. ‘Oikos’ means house hold and Nomas or Nemein means management. So in its original sense economics means house hold management; i.e. satisfying as many wants of the house hold or family as possible by allocating the limited resources at the disposal of the family wisely among different wants.

1.1.1 Definition and Scope of Soil Science

Definition: Soil science encapsulates the scientific exploration of one of Earth’s most vital components—soil. It goes beyond the everyday understanding of soil as mere dirt, positioning it as a dynamic and complex system that supports life. At its core, soil science is an amalgamation of various scientific disciplines, each contributing to the comprehensive study of soil. This multidisciplinary approach ensures a holistic understanding that extends far beyond the surface.

Soil science is not confined to the physical substance beneath our feet; rather, it embraces a nuanced perspective that involves decoding the intricate language of the soil. It is the science of uncovering the secrets embedded in the Earth’s outer layer—examining its history, composition, and the myriad interactions that shape its character

Plant breeding/genetic improvement aims at altering plant genotypes in a way that they suit human needs for food, feed and industrial raw products and support sustainable plant production. In that sense, plant breeding may be regarded as the evolution of plant type by the will of mankind. Plant breeding/genetic improvement is important because an improved cultivar is the most-economic and least laborious input for farmers.

Plant breeding is one of the early accomplishments of humankind. Many of the cultivated plants are the result of slow and involuntary improvement from wild progenitors by human being over centuries. In fact, the process of domestication of wild plants is one of the most fascinating chapters in the history of humankind. Concept of plant breeding came in the being through domestication as it involved selection of the most desirable types. Among the ancient domesticates, some of the vegetable crops are front-runners, like peas, radish, muskmelon, watermelon, etc. Other present day popular vegetable crops were domesticated later in the Neolithic times. Some species including certain vegetables are still undergoing the domestication process. However, for all practical purposes, the breeders have given up domestication of wild relatives of the cultivated species. Today, breeders often incorporate important characters, like resistance to biotic stresses, adaptability to environments, etc. to the cultivated forms from their wild relatives.

Selection from the available variations is the oldest and the most effective breeding procedure. However, genetic recombination at present forms the basis of modern plant breeding approach. In this respect, Josef Kolreuter’s extensive crossing experiments between 1755 and 1806 were essentially the first attempts to scientifically-reconstruct naturally occurring species and types by combining their characters. Any way, no matter what method is adopted in the breeding approach, it inevitably involves selection, which is the most difficult part of overall breeding process.

The industrial revolution in Western Europe and concomitant flourish of capitalism and increasing commercial agricultural production stimulated breeding activities as a profitable venture of capitalistic economy. Throughout the 19th century, thousands of large and small seed companies were developed in Germany, England and the United States out of this impetus.

India ranks ___________ in area and production of vegetables in the world.

A. First           B. Second

C. Third         D. Fourth

Tillage is a mechanical manipulation of soil to provide favourable condition for crop production. Soil tillage consists of breaking the compact surface of earth to a certain depth and to loosen the soil mass, so as to enable the roots of the crops to penetrate and spread into the soil. A good seedbed is generally considered to imply finer particles and greater firmness in the vicinity of seeds. The depth up to which tillage operations disturb the soil can classify the operation as shallow, medium or deep. The depth of tillage depends on the crop and soil characteristics and also on the source of power or energy available. The optimum seedbed preparation for raising upland crops, involves the many unit operations. Strength of soil is affected by soil moisture content and can be represented in terms of cone index. Compacted soil has more cone index than the loose soils. Movement of machine in the field causes soil compaction. Sometimes it forms hard pan which is to be broken by the tillage operations to enhance root growth and penetration and infiltration of excess water.

17.1 Introduction

Cotton is a major fibre crop of global importance and has high commercial value. It is grown commercially in the temperate and tropical regions of more than 100 countries. Specific areas of production include countries such as China, USA, India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Australia, Greece, Brazil, Egypt etc., where climatic conditions suit the natural growth requirements of cotton. These include periods of hot and dry weather and adequate moisture obtained through irrigation. Cotton crop is considered as one of the most important cash crops that influenced the industrial and agricultural economy of the different cotton growing countries of world. Thus, cotton is an immensely important crop for the sustainable economy of these countries and livelihood of the farming community. Cotton crop is considered as one of the most important cash crops that influenced the industrial and agricultural economy of the different cotton growing countries of world. Cotton cultivation and textile industry provide livelihood to million persons, therefore any failure of cotton crop significantly influence the economic growth of cotton belt and textile sector.

3.1 Damping-off Disease of Seedlings

The disease is quite common in nurseries or seedbeds all over the world. It is virtually a serious threat to almost all the nursery crops of vegetables and other crops including tomato, chillies, cauliflower, cabbage, brinjal, cucurbits, tobacco and a number of other crops. The economic importance of the disease is more because it takes the toll of precious seedlings in the very initial stages of the crop cultivation. The seed can become infected with a fungus which may cause darkening and softening of the seed leading to its decay. Similarly, seedlings may also be infected while sprouting or even after emergence. The disease is more serious in heavy soils with poor drainage. Abundant soil moisture with 90-100% humidity and temperature around 200C is favourable for the disease.

Training helps people to become qualified and proficient in doing some jobs (Dahama, 1979). Usually an organization facilitates the employees’ learning through training so that their modified behaviour contributes to the attainment of the organization’s goals and objectives.
 
Training needs refer to the gaps between desired and expected levels of performance. Needs may be numerous. Besides they also need group, affection, recognition and fulfilment of their talents.

Training need may be defined as difference between existing and desired performance of person(s). In other words it is a gap between job requirement and job performance. That means it is gap between the existing and desired level of competency. Thus, the attitude, knowledge and skills of a person are lower than desired if the gap is significant there is a need for training.

In India’s National Extension Programme, professional workers constitute the link between the people and the institute created to advance economic and social change upon the character philosophy, technical knowledge and compliance of these workers largely rests for the success of the programme. Hence the quality of these workers and their training is the important element to be dealt with properly and guided wisely.

In early fifties, the Gramsevak / Village Level Workers (VLW’s) served as a key-man in Community Development Programme and therefore, the Government of India aimed at imparting him by better training and supervisory assistance. As a step in this direction, Gramsevak Training Centers were started to impart training to GramSevaks / VLW’s and Extension Officers were appointed in block for better supervisory assistance.

Introduction 

In the thirst of modernization and industrialization man has contributed pollution to the life and ecology of plants, animals and microbes. Increased demand for food and fiber has lead to the chemicalization of agriculture we have reached to such a stage that modern agriculture is dependent on high yielding varieties, which can only be grown under the influence of fertilizers and pesticides. Pesticides are the man made chemicals which are being used to produce enough cheap food. In India, 90,000 MT of technical grade pesticides are used annually to control pests and plant diseases. The pesticides are classified as insecticides, fungicides, weedicides, herbicides, nematodicides and rodenticides; of which insecticides constitutes 77% of the total pesticides used in different agricultural and animal husbandry practices and in public health operations.

Climate change drastically influence water availability, salinity and several adverse soil conditions which will have direct bearing on original yields. Abiotic stress factors influence growth and secondary metabolite production in higher plants. The influences are well marked. In fact, productivities depend on the changed ecosystem also. Secondary metabolites play a major role in the adaptation of plants to the changing environment and in overcoming stress constraints. This flows from the large complexity of chemical types and interactions underlying various functions: structure stabilizing, determined by polymerisation and condensation of phenols and quinones, or by electrostatic interactions of polyamines with negatively charged loci in cell components, photoprotective, related to absorbance of visible light and UV radiation due to the presence of conjugated double bonds, antioxidant and antiradical, governed by the availability of –OH, –NH2, and –SH groupings, as well as aromatic nuclei and unsaturated aliphatic chains, signal transducing. Several plant-abiotic stress stimuli systems evidenced the multiplicity of biochemical mechanisms involved in the protective role of secondary metabolites:

India is the second largest producer of fruits with a total production of 81.0 million tons from 6.98 million ha in 2012-13. The leading states in terms of area and production are:

Hybrid vigour is used as a synonymous of heterosis. In 1910, the term heterosis was first used by Shull who defined this phenomenon as the stimulus of heterozygous, and in his word, it has been the “interpretation of increased vigour, size, fruitfulness, speed of development, resistance to insect-pests and diseases or to the climatic rigors of any kind manifested by the out breeding organism as compared with corresponding inbreds as a specific result of the unlikeliness in the constitution of uniting parental gametes”. This definition is often interpreted as not implying a genetic basis for heterosis, because the definition basically describes the phenotypes that result from the crossing of two different inbred lines. Generally, heterosis is manifested as an increase in vigour, size, growth rate, yield, or some other characteristics but in some cases, the hybrid may be inferior to the weaker parent. This also represents as heterosis (average heterosis), and if heterosis is estimated over the superior parent, such an estimate is sometimes referred to as heterobeltiosis, hence, authors feel “heterosis refers a biological phenomenon in which the F₁ population obtained by crossing of the two genetically dissimilar gametes or individual shows increased or decreased vigour over better parent or over the mid-parental value. Earlier, Power (1944)also suggested that the term heterosis should be used only when the hybrid is either superior or inferior to both the parents. Other situation should be regarded as partial or complete dominance. It can be easily explained with the help of Table 5.1.