eChapters

The Annonaceae or custard apple family comprises about 120 genera and more than 2000 species (Leboeuf et al., 1982). The genus Annona is the most economically important one, containing 120 species. The major commercial species throughout the world are: the cherimoya (Annona cherimola), sweetsop (Annona squamosa) and atemoya (a hybrid of Annona cherimola and Annona squamosa). The custard apple species name ‘squamosa’ refers to the knobby appearance of the fruit. Custard apple is a small tropical tree originating in the New World tropics, probably Central America. This species is the most widely grown in the tropical regions of the America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific. Sweetsop is synonym also named sugar apple and has many other regional names, such as Custard apple (India), anon (Spanish), ata (Portuguese), noi-na (Thailand), stis (The Philippines) and fan-li-chi (Taiwan). Sweetsop is the mostly grown Annona species. The fruit is frequently found in village markets but has not shown much potential for large commercial cultivation due to the small fruit size, frequent cracking at maturity and poor shelf life. The perishable nature and supply shortages make marketing localized or air shipment essential.

Flowers are classified into three groups- self pollinated, often cross pollinated and cross pollinated- based on the extent of cross pollination which ranges from nil to 5 percent in self pollinated, 5-12 percent in often cross-pollinated and more than 12 percent in cross pollinated flowers. The information on extent of cross pollination is important to decide appropriate breeding methods to develop and improve the crop, to maintain genetic purity of seed, and to decide safe isolation distances from varieties, related species and related genera of the crop.

3.1 Autogamous (Self pollinated) flowers

When the egg in a flower gets fertilized by its own pollen, it is, referred to as autogamy. In statistical terms, it is, explained as the probability that egg gets fertilized by its own pollen as one. The coefficient of inbreeding which also measures the probability of selfing is also one in such crops. The genetic structure of autogamous flower is homozygous. The reasons for autogamy in flowers are essentially homomorphism, cleistogamy and chasmogamy. Homomorphism refers to uniformity in placement of essential floral parts, androecium and gynoecium e.g. Aster (double flowered), Balsam, Bells of Ireland, Carnation, Clianthus, Benghal dayflower (Commelina benghalensis), Gypsophila, Lupine, Salvia, Saponaria, Sweet pea and Sweet William. In autogamous ornamental crops, cross pollination in nature is almost negligible. Autogamous pollination may be of three types viz., autogamous selfing: refers to origin of pollen from anthers of the same flower; geitonogamous selfing refers to pollen from different flower on the same shoot or genet, and xenogamy, crossing refers to pollen from different flower on a shoot from another genet.

I. FILL UPS

1. _____ is the process of bringing wild species under human management.
2. _____ is referred to as taking a genotype into new environments, where they were not being grown before.
3. Introduction of plants from a foreign country is called as _____.
4. Introduction from one state to another state is called as _____.
5. When the introduced variety is well suited to the new environment it is called as _____.

A) Conventional breeding techniques
Conventional breeding techniques for spices involve various methods to improve traits such as yield, quality, disease resistance, and adaptability. Here’s an overview of conventional breeding techniques applied to specific spices:
1. Black pepper (Piper nigrum)
• Selection: Choose superior plants based on traits like yield, quality of peppercorns, and disease resistance.
• Hybridization: Cross-breed different varieties to combine desirable traits.
• Mutation breeding: Induce mutations to develop new traits or enhance existing ones.
2. Small cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum)
• Selection: Select plants with high yield, better quality, and disease resistance.
• Hybridization: Cross different varieties to improve traits such as pod size and essential oil content.
• Seed production: Improve seed production and quality through selection.
3. Large cardamom (Amomum subulatum)
• Selection: Identify plants with higher yield and better resistance to pests and diseases.
• Hybridization: Develop hybrids to enhance flavour and size of the cardamom pods.

The term genome refers to a complete set of DNA, including all of its genes. Each genome contains all of the information needed to build and maintain that organism. In the nucleus of each cell, the DNA molecule is packaged into thread like structures called chromosomes and each species has specific chromosome number. Most of the plants are diploid and they show in each one of its body cell, twice the number of haploid chromosomes (n) found in the gametes.
There are two main types of chromosomal variation that involve changes in the number. These are euploidy (in Greek “eu”means true or even and “ploid”means unit), which involves the variation of whole sets of chromosomes and aneuploidy(“aneu” means uneven), where a single chromosome within a set varies. This variation may be either increase or decrease in the chromosome number. The euploids include diploid (2n), triploid (3n), tetraploid (4n), hexaploid (6n) or even higher degree of polyploidy. Polyploidy, thus involves more than two genomes and is, therefore, a genometic mutation involving increase in the dose of whole genome. This condition of polyploidy is more common in angiosperms.

A few months back when Sharad Deshpande was talking about some processing tomatoes, I said that there is a lot of history behind processing tomatoes. He said then why don’t you speak on the subject and I said why not. So that is how this talk happened. First, I thought I will speak on breeding tomatoes as its history is even more interesting than what has happened later. I had heard a story when I went to USA for the first time in 1982. I was with Dr Charlie Rick, the father of tomato genetics, in his lab in USDA, UC, Davis, California. He talked about how the processing industry happened, who bred the types suitable for processing, how 80 percent of processing tomatoes of the USA came from California, where we are today and what could be done in this area.

In the changing Global scenario, food, nutrition, healthcare and livelihood security are the matter of great concern to human, social and economic development. The global community is increasingly looking towards finding means of sustainable nutrition for the growing population across all countries. The emphasis is on identifying lowresource strategies acceptable to the communities that do not put an unnecessary burden on the environment (FAO, 1993).
Nutritional security denotes the consumption and equitable access to adequate quantities of healthy, safe, affordable and nutritious food by every member of the family essential for optimal health and well-being. Concern for improvement of nutritional quality of vegetables has arisen in the context of providing nutritional security to our everincreasing population because poor nutrition is linked with increased risk of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease as well as broader impacts including higher health care costs and decreased productivity.
More than 1.0 billion people globally are hungry due to food insecurity problem and about 3.0 billion people are malnourished due to poor nutrition causing mainly micronutrient deficiency.

Reproduction by asexual means is common among higher plants. The best known means of asexual reproduction are by corms, bulbs, rhizomes, stolons, or other vegetative organs. Plants normally propagated in agricultural practice by these means or by budding or grafting include nearly all fruit and nut trees, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries, grapes, pineapples, almost all ornamental shrubs and trees and a few field crops such as sugar cane, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Asexually or clonally propagated plants produce genetically identical progeny. Clones are identical copies of a genotype. Together, they are phenotypically homogeneous. However, individually, they are highly heterozygous and segregate widely upon sexual reproduction. This is not unexpected, because the types selected as commercial cultivars are likely to be vigorous ones, and a positive correlation exists between vigour and heterozygosity in most species.

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

A) Selection of Dairy Cattle

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

General selection procedures for dairy breeds

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

CATTLE BREEDS The genus Bos is classified into Bos indicus  and Bos taurus. Bos indicus belongs to tropical region and have hump whereas Bos taurus belongs to temperate region and is humpless. Milch breeds are Red Sindhi, Gir, Sahiwal, Tharparkar. Dual purpose or general utility breeds are Nimari, Kankrej, Nellore, Dangi, Rathi, Deoni, Hariana, Krishna Valley, Ongole. Draught breeds are Amritmahal, Nagori, Khillari, Vechur, Bachaur, Siri, Ponwar, Kangayam, Bargur, Malvi, Hallikar. Cross-breeds Jersind = Jersey x Red Sindhi. Frieswal = HF x Sahiwal. Jerthar = Jersey x Tharparkar. Karan Swiss = Brown Swiss x Sahiwal. Karan Fries = HF x Tharparkar. Sunandini = Brown Swiss x Non descript. Jamaica Hope = 80% Jersey, 15% Sahiwal, 5% HF. Taylor = Short horn bull x Native cow. BUFFALO BREEDS (Bubalus bubalis) Buffalo breeds are classified as Riverine type

Introduction

Animal husbandry has always been an integral part of Indian civilization and our country possesses rich biodiversity of animal genetic resources, which are spread over diverse agro-climatic regions. These resources have been developed by our ancestors over several generations and have acquired special attributes like remarkable adaptability to environment, management conditions and genetic resistance to most tropical diseases besides survival on poor quality of feed and fodder. In spite of multiple threats of change, replacement, degradation and extinction, this biodiversity of farm animals comprises of 30 well-described breeds of cattle, 10 of buffaloes, 20 of goats, 40 of sheep, 8 of camel, 6 of horses, 20 of poultry besides large number of variants of native ponies, pig, donkey, yak and mithun. This mega-diversity is not accidental, nor it is purely natural, rather, it is the outcome of thousands of years of deliberate selection and planned exposure to a range of natural conditions. The description of various breeds of most economically important species of livestock viz. cattle, buffalo, goat and sheep and their genetic improvement is as follows:

Animal Genetic Resources

Agricultural biodiversity is the product of thousand years of activity during which humans have sought to meet their needs in a wide range of climatic and ecological conditions. Well adapted livestock have been an essential element of agricultural production systems. For livestock keepers, animal genetic diversity is a resource to be drawn upon to select stocks and develop new breeds. More broadly, genetically diverse livestock populations provide society with a greater range of options to meet future demands, so the wise management of the world’s agricultural biodiversity is becoming an ever greater challenge for the international community. The livestock sector in particular is undergoing dramatic changes as large-scale production expands in response to surging demand for meat, milk and eggs (FAO, 2008).

Animal genetic resources (AnGR) include all animal species, breeds and strains that are of economic, scientific and cultural interest to humankind in terms of food and agricultural production for the present or the future. Domesticated animals are considered to be those species that are bred in captivity and modified from their wild ancestors to make them more useful to humans, who control their reproduction (breeding), care (shelter, protection against predators) and food supply (Diamond, 2002; Mignon-Grasteau, 2005). Only about 40 animal species have been domesticated since the Pleistocene. Common species include cattle, sheep, goat, chicken, duck, pig, horse, buffalo, rabbit, camel, donkey, elephants, various poultry species, reindeer, etc. All these AnGR are vital to the economic development of the majority of countries in the world playing an important role in the subsistence of many communities. Although only a subset of the diversity present in the ancestral species survived in the domestic counterparts, domestic livestock diversity has been continuously evolving.

The indigenous pig has been the basis used for pig production for a long period of time. It is small in size. Improved breeds are now being used for grading up the form the basis for pig production in the rural areas. The majority of the pig population in India is of indigenous breeds though population of crossbred and exotic pigs increased by 12.7 percent from year 2003 to 2012. The exotic breed mainly comprises Hampshire, Large White York Shire, Duroc, Landrace, and Tamworth.

Domestication of the rabbit is relatively recent and most of today’s breeds have been bred by man in the last 200 to 300 years.

The rabbit has been used as an experimental animal in genetics, reproduction and physiology since the beginning of the century, but it was not until 1950 that the first findings on quantitative genetics were published in Venge’s study of maternal influence on rabbit birth weight.

Breeds of Rabbit

There are many breeds of domestic rabbits in the world and all have different qualities. Out of the number of breeds and varieties about 38 breeds and 87 varieties are recognized and well established world wide.

For commercial purposes, the most important differences between rabbits are their size, colour breeding ability and suitability to the climate. Examples of several different breeds of rabbits are given below. Some of these might be used for improving local rabbit herds.

Worldwide, almost 90% of the human food supply is provided by only 15 crop species and eight livestock species. The eight livestock species useful to man include cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat, pig, poultry, camel and horses. All or some of these species provide milk, meat, skin, fiber and manure for use of mankind. Whereas, milk and meat are important component of human food supply, skin, fiber and manure are also useful in different manner. Goats are important food-producing animals especially in tropical and subtropical regions. Goats are the most adaptable and geographically wide spread livestock species.

A breed of livestock is a group of animals that, through selection and breeding, have distinguishable characteristics and resemble one another and pass those traits uniformly to their offspring. Or A breed is defined as a group of animals that has been selected by humans to possess a set of inherited characteristics that distinguishes it from other animals within the same species. A cluster of domestic animals of a species where individuals are homogeneous in certain distinguishable characters which differ from one to the other group of animals constitute the breeds. Breeds are primarily distinguished by visual characteristics: color pattern, polled or horned condition, or extreme differences in form and shape. Breed is indicative of the perception of the breeders and the livestock industry which decides when a group of individuals constitutes a “breed”. Livestock breeds have evolved over time through genetic changes that are both natural and selected by man.

Primarily breeds have been developed to provide increased production of meat, milk and/or wool, pashmina within a certain environmental area. This breed development is a process of continuous selection over a number of generations so as to stabilize the characters in the animals for the selected traits. The distinguishable characters are quite often color markings, size, and shape, hair pattern which may have little economic significance in terms of meat, wool or pashmina production. Breed development may have begun soon after animals were first domesticated. Breed is a group of animals related by descent and similar in most characteristics like general appearance, features, size, configuration, etc. In most cases, selection has been practiced for many generations in order to fix certain characteristics in the breed. The goat breeds have since long been described primarily in terms of physical conformation (chiefly, ear, nose, face and horn), body coat/colour characteristics and body measurements with subtle reference to production traits. Today there are more than 300 breeds of goats, and they live in climates ranging from high altitude mountains to deserts. Some breeds are known by the same name in different places, but are phenotypically different from one place to another. Conversely, there are breeds that look alike but have different names in different places.

Fermentation is one of the ancient techniques that been routinely used to maintain the quality of food products. This process involves the breakdown of complex substances like carbohydrates into smaller ones which assist in extending the shelf life of food products. Fermented foods and beverages shared the major portion of the human diet which positively affect the body. Beer is a low alcoholic drink in which malt, hops and other adjuncts like aromatic herbs, honey and others are fermented with yeast to obtain a product that offers unique flavour, taste and aroma (Sohrabvandi et al., 2012).

Communication is a key to understand things between two people. Today’s communication is entirely different from pre-historic era and has taken many evolution throughout the years. Before alphabets, signs, symbols, letters and telephone evolved, communication was restricted to interpersonal interaction (i.e.) from one person to another in the form of gestures. It is in other terms called non-verbal communication. Today, communicating between two or more people has become too easy that one can communicate with more than 10 members at a time which is in technical means called conferencing.

The growth of internet has paved way for innumerable means of communication. In other words it can be told as, communication is re-defined by technology. Texts, email, tweets, tele and video conferencing have widely saved much time of people and made them recipients of today’s fast moving world.

Communication beyond history

Ancient nomads used to communicate with the help of drawings and paintings. Chauvat Cave in France is one such example which proves that communication through cave painting had taken place 30,000 years ago Before Christ (BC). Throughout the world many such cave painting monuments has been discovered. One in South Sulawesi, Indonesia and Coliboaia Cave in Romania gives an idea about how communication would have prevailed among people those days.

Later came symbols. Historical evidences prove that, symbols were used by people around 10,000 B.C. Through rock carvings pictograms were developed by ancient people to tell a story to their next generations through logographic images. It is said that, culture among human groups have evolved through rock carvings. Later, ancient cultures developed ideograms. Egyptians had their own style of communication called Hieroglyphs. Chinese created their own characters. Lastly, the alphabets re-defined language and communication was developed around 2000 BC.

The country is at long last becoming sensitive to the serious consequences of the growing rural-urban divide in terms of investment, infrastructure and opportunities for income and employment. The rural-urban divide also leads to an expanding rich-poor divide. Since crop and animal husbandry, fisheries, forestry, and agro-processing are the main sources of rural livelihoods, the current agrarian crisis is adding to the problems of hunger, poverty and unemployment. According to the Union Planning Commission, we are off-track in achieving most of the UN Millennium Development Goals. A major cause for the growing rich-poor divide both between and within nations is unequal access to modern technology. Technology helps to achieve a paradigm shift from unskilled to skilled work and thereby move large numbers of the rural poor from the primary to the secondary and tertiary sectors of economic activity. If technology has been a major factor in promoting economic and social divides in the past, the challenge now lies in enlisting technology as an ally in the movement for economic, gender and social equity.

Brainstorming is a group creativity technique by which efforts are made to find a conclusion for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas spontaneously contributed by its members. The term was popularized by Alex Faickney Osborn in the 1953 book Applied Imagination. Osborn claimed that brainstorming was more effective than individuals working alone in generating ideas, although more recent research has questioned this conclusion. Today, the term is used as a catch all for all group ideation sessions.

Origin

Advertising executive Alex F. Osborn began developing methods for creative problem solving in 1939. He was frustrated by employees’ inability to develop creative ideas individually for ad campaigns. In response, he began hosting group-thinking sessions and discovered a significant improvement in the quality and quantity of ideas produced by employees.

Pig farming is considered as a beneficial sector in India that provides avenues of fast economic growth for new entrepreneurs and socioeconomically weaker sections, due to high fecundity rate, better-feed conversion efficiency, early maturity, small generation interval, and minimum investment on housing and equipment. Pig farming has evolved into a semi-commercial enterprise using intensive farming practises, in addition to being reared through free range management. Pig farming provides money to rural impoverished people from the lowest socioeconomic strata. As a result, effective programmes to popularise technological pig rearing of meat producing animals with enough financial supplies are required to modernise the Indian pig business and advance the productivity of small sized rural pig farms. 

Introduction

From the very early days human beings depend on animals and animal products for food and other requirements. In dairy and poultry farms high yielding animals are reared. These high yielding animals are produced by hybridization experiments. Previously the animals were developed basing on unscientific methods. Before the discovery of principles of heredity human beings have selected the animals with required characters and learned to develop the plants having the selected characters. This phenomenon is called Artificial selection. However, an increased knowledge of biology, especially genetics, has helped in improving the quality of animals and animal products as per the human requirements.

1. M/s. SALEM MICROBES PRIVATE LIMITED No: 21/10C, Bajanai Madam Street Gugai, Salem - 636 006 Mobile: +91 - 93448 37525, 70106 96630; Phone: +91 - 427 - 2469928 Email: salemmicrobes@yahoo.co.in, contact@salemmicrobes.com

Plant diseases have been documented since ancient times. Fossil data suggests that plants were impacted by illness 250 million years ago. The Indian Vedic text and Bible refer to diseases like rusts, mildews, and blights that have led to famine and significant economic impacts throughout history. Plant pathology or Phytopathology (Greek Phyto-plant pathos- suffering or ailment; logos- knowledge/study/discourse) is a division of agricultural sciences focused on the examination of plant diseases. It encompasses the recognition, comprehension, prevention, and management of plant diseases caused by different pathogens as fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes, and other microbes. Plant pathology is the nature, cause and prevention of plant diseases. Plant disease refers to the physiological functioning of the plants that are irritated by prolonged, phytopathogenic organisms biotic or infectious disease causing agents and abiotic or non-infectious causes such as edaphic, environmental, plant nutrition etc. covered under disorders. Plant disease can also be defined as it is a malfunctioning process in plant body caused by continuous irritation induced by some causal agent that alters the physiology of the plants and results in some suffering or symptom production. It may be other way stated that it is a sum total of the altered and induced biochemical reactions in plant system or part brought about by any biotic, mesobiotic agents or abiotic factor leading to malfunctioning of biological processes and ultimately manifesting at cellular and/or morphological level.

20.1 Unit Testing in Python Programming

The process of testing wheather a particular unit is working properly or not is called unit testing. A unit test checks small component in your application

Example

def testsum1():

assert sum([1,2,3])==6 def testsum2():

assert sum([1,1,1])==6 #assertion error

testsum1()

testsum2()

20.1.1 Step Involved in Unit Testing

(1) Import unittest from library.

(2) Create a class for test and inherit (unittest.TestCase).

(3) Write the test function in the class.

(4) Call unittest.main()

ABSTRACT

Systematic studies through stored specimens in herbaria and museum of defined geographical areas provide a set of baseline data for understanding the vegetation composition of a defined ecosyetm. A stored plant collection in herbaria offers a rich portrait of biodiversity, making innumerable contribution to science and human society. Digitization coupled with hosting of such information on world wide web (www) system has been accepted as an important tool for the dissemination of the botanical specimens in the form of databasing, imaging and geo-referencing of voucher specimens. In the present communication, we describe the development of the Janaki Ammal Herbarium (JAH) database that contains a comprehensive and searchable data of voucher snaps, historical background and statistical analysis of 23,225 voucher specimens. The information on JAH database is easy to extract data on botanical names, author citation, variety (if any), family, collection number, specific location, collection date, habitat, collector’s name and remarks on morphology. The goal of the present investigation is to digitize (database, image, georeference) all specimensin JAH, enabling themto be made available through a single portal. At concluding, all vouchers of JAH made publicly accessible via world wide web user interfaces, and also linked to PubMed, NCBI Taxonomy, where the site provide information related to Entrez records, comments and references of the particular species, while Wiki species site is linked to the free species directory. It also provide link of online accessible herbarium-based databases of the world.

The brinjal, eggplant or aubergine (French name) has originated in the Indian sub-continent and China (Thomson and Kelly, 1957, Purewall, 1957 and Martin and Rhodes, 1979). Brinjal is an important vegetable crop of the Far East, Bangladesh, India, China and the Philippines. Brinjal belongs to the family Solanaceae and is known under the botanical name Solanum melongena L. (2n = 24). There are 3 main botanical varieties under the species melongena(Chowdhury, 1976). The round or egg-shaped cultivars are grouped under var. esculenturn, the long slender types are included under var. serpentintumand the dwarf brinjal plants are put under var. depressum.

1) Phomopsis fruit rot or Blight
Diagnostic Symptoms
• Plants are attacked at all stages of growth.
• On leaves, circular to irregular, clearly defined grayish brown spots having light centers appear. The diseased leaves become yellowish in colour and may drop off.
• Several black pycnidiacan be seen on older spots.
• Lesions on stem are dark brown, round to oval and have grayish centers where pycnidia develop.
• At the base of the stem, the fungus causes characteristic constrictions leading to canker development and toppling of plants.
• On fruits, small pale sunken spots appear which on enlargement cover entire fruit surface. These spots become watery leading to soft rot phase of the disease. A large number of dot like pycnidia also develop on such spots.
• Infection of fruit through calyx leads to development of dry rot and fruits appear black and mummified (Fig.1).

I. FILL UPS

1. Brinjal is rich in _____ and _____.
2. In brinjal, _____ is the common feature in case of style.
3. Stigma receptivity of brinjal is _____.
4. Pollen viability in brinjal is _____.
5. The isolation distance recommended for brinjal certified seed production is _____.

Shoot and fruit borer: Leucinodes orbonalis: Pyraustidae

The pest is active throughout year, but more during monsoon period. Heavy losses up to 60% can occur.

The adult is a greyish brown medium sized moth with white and hyaline wings, having triangular brown and red markings on forewing. A crescent shaped mark facing outside at the apical margin is typical for the species. About 150-250 creamy white eggs are laid singly on leaves, tender shoots, flowers and developing fruits. Egg period is 3-5 days and the hatched larva completes its life in 15 days with 5 instars.

India is the primary centre of origin of brinjal. Decandolle (1904) reported it as native of Asia. In Europe it is not known earlier (before 17th early). According to N.I Vavilov, the egg plant originated in Indo–Burma region and china and spread to South Europe, china and Japan. Vavilov (1951) suggested China a centre of origin of brinjal. Crop is restricted mainly to South and South-East Asia, Southern Europe, China and Japan. Wild brinjal types are available in Southern Coastal area of Africa.

Botany

Solanum melongena’ L. var. esculentum - round or egg shape 
var. serpentinum – long, slender type 
var. depressum – dwarf brinjal plant 
It is often cross pollinated crop due to heteromorphic flower structure (heterostyle)

Advances in seed production techniques have revolutionized brinjal cultivation, enhancing productivity, quality, and sustainability. Traditional methods, such as manual emasculation and pollination, have been supplemented and in some cases replaced by innovative approaches, contributing to increased efficiency and reduced labor costs. Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) and grafting technologies have emerged as valuable tools, offering novel avenues for enhancing breeding efficiency and managing soil-borne pathogens. These advancements have facilitated the development of high-yielding F1 hybrids and improved pure-line varieties with enhanced resilience to pests and diseases. Furthermore, the adoption of precision agriculture techniques, including controlled environment agriculture and hydroponics, has enabled year-round seed production, mitigating the impact of seasonal fluctuations and adverse weather conditions. Integrated pest management (IPM) strategies have been integrated into seed production protocols, minimizing chemical inputs and promoting environmentally sustainable practices. Additionally, innovations in seed extraction methods, such as mechanical extraction and dry extraction techniques, have streamlined the seed processing workflow, resulting in higher seed purity and improved germination rates.

Brinjal is the fifth most economically important Solanaceous crop after potato, tomato, chilli, and tobacco. Apart from the well-known brinjal species (Solanum melongena L.), two other under-utilized species, the scarlet eggplant (S. aethiopicum L.) and the gboma eggplant S. macrocarpon are also cultivated. Brinjal, also known as aubergine or eggplant, under the family Solanaceae (Chromosome No.: 2n = 2x =24) is one of th important vegetables of the tropical countries particularly India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, Japan, Indonesia, Thiland, Malaysia and the Philippines. Brinjal is the most common, popular and principal vegetable crop grown widely in India for its various shape, size and colour of fruits. Brinjals are rich sources of potential antioxidants: anthocyanin and phenolic compounds.
Origin, domestication and adaptation in India
Brinjal (Solanum melongena) is believed to have been originated in Indo-Burma region and perhaps China is the secondary centre of origin of this crop. Various data indicate, that from the several species that evolved in Africa, one (S. insanum), gave rise to a distinct species which spread to South-East Asia as the wild ancestor of S. melongena (Lester 1998; Ranil et al., 2017). This wild progenitor of the cultivated species has wide distribution in at least 10 habitats in India which amply suggests India being the centre of origin of brinjal.

Broad dhaniya (Eryngium foetidum L.: Umbelliferae - Apiaceae) is an underutilized leafy vegetable and aromatic plant used for seasoning food items and source of medicine. It is a shade loving plant of tropical regions.  It has got status of a promising cash crop with huge export potential particularly in United Kingdom, USA and Middle East markets. Its medicinal and seasoning properties are well known in various countries like Vietnam, India and in the Amazon region (De Gumao et al., 2002). Broad dhaniya is relatively unknown in many other parts of the world and is often mistaken and misnamed for its close relative Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.).

Brassica oleracea variety italica is a type of cabbage from the mustard family (Brassicaceae) that is grown for its delicious blossom buds and stalk. Sprouting broccoli, which is native to the eastern Mediterranean and Asia Minor, was first planted in ancient Rome and then imported to England and America in the 1700s.

Botany & taxonomy Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) is an edible green plant belonging to the cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus Brassica) that is grown for its enormous blooming head, stalk, and small accompanying leaves. Sprouting and heading broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) are two varieties of broccoli. After the terminal heads are removed in sprouting kinds, axillary shoots with smaller flower heads normally grow. Heading type produces cauliflower-like heads that can be a variety of colours. 

Creating a brochure for public relations involves several important steps—from planning the content to designing the layout effectively. Here’s a guide to help you create an impactful PR brochure:
Define Your Purpose and Audience
• Identify the Objective: What message do you want to convey? Is it to inform, persuade, or promote?
• Understand Your Audience: Who are you trying to reach? Tailor your language, tone, and visuals to resonate with your target demographic.
Content Development
• Key Information: Include crucial details such as your organization’s mission, key services, achievements, testimonials, and contact information.
• Compelling Headline: Create an engaging headline that captures attention and summarizes the key message.
• Clear and Concise Copy: Use simple language and short sentences. Aim for clarity and brevity.
• Call-to-Action: Encourage the reader to take the next step, whether it’s visiting a website, contacting for more information, or participating in an event.
Brochure Layout and Design
• Type of Brochure: Choose a format (bi-fold, tri-fold, Z-fold, etc.).
• Visual Hierarchy: Use headings, subheadings, and bullet points to organize information.
• Consistent Branding: Ensure the brochure follows your brand’s colour scheme, fonts, and logos.

Bronchitis may be defined as a distressing and often serious type of inflammation affecting the windpipe, or bronchial tubes, in the chest. There are two types of bronchitis:

1. Acute Bronchitis
2. Chronic Bronchitis

Acute bronchitis: In acute bronchitis the larynx, trachea and bronchial tubes are acutely inflamed. The tissues are swollen because of irritation; large amount of mucus is secreted and poured into the bronchial tubes to protect the inflamed mucous membrane. Unless this thick, sticky material is removed, it may obstruct the windpipe, causing more severe diseases like atelactasis and pneumonia. The common cold is probably the most frequent cause of acute bronchitis.

During the acute stage of bronchitis there is usually a high fever and some difficulty in breathing. There is a constant cough. Hoarseness may also be present and some pain in the chest. Difficulty in breathing continues until the inflammation has decreased. And thick secretions have removed. Chilliness is present with internal coldness, also cold hands and feet, rawness beneath the sternum, some tightness and oppression of the chest, cough may be dry, hard, ringing, expulsive, paroxysmal, tearing which leaves great soreness under the sternum. After few days the cough, which was at first dry, becomes moist and is accompanied by slight expectoration of mucus and occasionally some blood. As the amount of expectoration increases all the other symptoms decreases, and then in turn abnormal secretion and expectoration also decreases at the end of 7 to 10 days.

Types of Brooders

Brooding is a mechanism of providing auxiliary or supplementary heat to chicks through artificial heat using brooders. Brooders are of several types depending upon the size and the nature of fuel used. These are individual, multiple units or central heating systems run by coal, wood, oil, gas or electricity. The essentialities of a good brooder are i) a dependable mechanism, ii) supply of fresh air, iii) dryness, iv) adequate space, v) easy for cleaning and disinfection, vi) protection against enemies, vii) safety from fire and viii) economy.

i) Hover brooders

Such brooders are more widely used in India wherever electricity is available. They maintain uniform temperature, convenient for operation and require very little attention. However, eclectic brooders do not heat house appreciably in very cold weather. Wet litter may be another problem requiring frequent stirring and renewal of litter.

Brooding and Rearing Practices Used for Chicken

What is Brooding?

Rearing of young ones immediately after hatching for at least 2-3 weeks, either by natural means or by artificial method is called brooding. Brooding is done by two ways i.e., Natural or Artificial ways.

Natural Brooding

In the natural method a desi fowl which acts both as incubator and brooder is used to raise only a small number of chicks. She sits on eggs (chicken) for 21 days to produce chicks from fertile eggs and broods thereafter.

Brooding is a crucial phase in poultry management that involves the care of day old chicks during the early stages of their lives. Due to their underdeveloped thermoregulatory systems, chicks cannot maintain their body temperature and thus require external warmth. Proper brooding ensures the healthy growth and development of the chicks. The brooder unit typically includes several key components and considerations.

Brooding of chicks

1. Floor brooding

• Floor brooders (canopy/hover brooder or infra-red bulb brooder) are used to keep specific area(s) within the shed at the desired temperature.

• In canopy or hover brooding method, an umbrella-like canopy with two or three incandescent bulbs (40 to 100 W) each, depending on the season) are fixed at the centre, is inverted and hung in such a way that the birds can move freely in and out of it.

• The bulbs, when put on, heat the air and the hot air is trapped by the canopy preventing the escape of hot air thereby providing warmth to the chicks.

• The height of the brooder should be around 6 inches during the first week.

Introduction

Brood Fish are the mature parent fish that are used in hatcheries for breeding purposes, they are mature enough to give sperm and egg, and their size is usually large. Generally, 2-3 years of old fishes weighing about 2-3 kg are used as brood fish. Brood fishes usually show gonadal maturity to give ovum or sperm and its management means the act of running and controlling brood f ishes. Broodstock nutrition is one of the most vital constituents for many cultured fish species. The changeable and erratic reproductive performance is an important limiting factor for the maturation, fecundity, and survival of larvae.

Broodstock management is a cornerstone of sustainable aquaculture. It involves the careful selection, conditioning, and maintenance of mature fish to ensure the consistent production of high-quality eggs and sperm. The health and reproductive success of broodstock directly influence the quality of fry and fingerlings, which are vital for successful fish farming operations. Effective broodstock management focuses on creating an optimal environment to promote gonadal development, fecundity, and survival. Key environmental factors such as water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and photoperiod are closely regulated. Additionally, species-specific nutrition—particularly diets rich in protein, essential fatty acids, and vitamins—is essential for gamete development and reproductive performance. In captive environments, many fish species face reproductive dysfunction, especially in the final stages of oocyte maturation. Hormonal treatments are commonly used to induce final maturation and spawning. For instance, in salmonids, eggs must be stripped at the precise time of ovulation to prevent overripening, which can occur within hours. Thus, hormonal manipulation is crucial to ensure precise timing and improve spawning outcomes. Species selection for broodstock is based on biological characteristics such as size at maturity, reproductive behavior, feeding habits, and environmental tolerance. Farms may choose to rear their own broodstock from juvenile stages or collect them from wild populations. Those that raise their own become selfsustaining units, independent of external genetic inputs. Broodstock are typically reared in controlled ponds or tanks, with conditions tailored to their specific needs. This includes sex separation when necessary, as different sexes may require distinct environmental or hormonal cues. For example, male and female sturgeons respond to different hormone treatments. Water parameters are continually adjusted to meet species-specific requirements

Introduction The world recently celebrated the birth of its eighth billionth baby, a major milestone in the development of the human race and the doubling of our numbers in 47 years. This tremendous growth has been driven by ambitious advances in technology and health care, soaring achievements of global prosperity and a longer life expectancy that has come to a staggering 72 years. However, the glory of these achievements is marred by how we are failing the lion’s share of the global population in meeting their basic requirements. Almost one in seven people on our planet do not have enough to eat. Food and nutritional insecurity are detrimental to human development and are a major brake on overall socio-economic development which downplays any major accomplishments we have made since not having enough to eat is an international security issue. Adequate food production, easy access and the capacity to buy food, relevance concerning nutrition and stability of these elements are all necessary for sustainable food security (Helland and Sorbo, 2014).

1. TERMS RELATED WITH BROWNING

Browntop millet (Urochloaramosa) is a warm-season crop that produces seeds that are heavier than other millet varieties. This crop is cultivated in several types of soils and climates. Browntop millet is an introduced grass that originated in Southeast Asia. It is grown in Africa, western Asia, Arabia, China, and Australia. It was introduced to the United States from India in 1915. It is also useful for controlling erosion, producing hay, feeding wild animals, and producing grain for human use. In addition, it is also utilized as a crop for wild animal food. In dry and semi-arid regions, millets constitute the main food supply. Although India is the main producer of millet, output and use have fallen. Browntop millets are nutrient-dense. Browntop millet is a miracle crop for arid and rainfed areas. Nearly all of the necessary nutrients are found in browntop millets.

Clinical conditions similar to Brucellosis have been described since the time of Hippocrates (450 BC). J. A. Marston first described brucellosis as gastric remittent fever in 1861 at Malta (Marston, 1861). Sir David Bruce in 1886 first isolated little coccobacillus from an infected soldier’s spleen. However he isolated the bacteria in a pure culture in 1887 and named Micrococcus melitensis (Bruce, 1889). Later the genus was renamed as Brucella in his honour. Similarly, Bang and Stribolg first isolated Brucella abortus from abortion material of a cow (Bang, 1897). Traum in 1914 isolated the Bacillus abortus suis. Presently we know it as Brucella suis. In 1953, Brucella ovis was first isolated in New Zealand (Budlle and Boyes, 1953) from the aborted material of sheep. Carmichael and Bruner in 1968 first isolated B. canis from the aborted placenta of a dog.

            In India first report of ‘Contagious abortion’ by Brucella was found from annual report of Imperial Veterinary Research Institute (presently Indian Veterinary Research Institute), Mukteswar, Uttarakhand (Anonymous, 1918). Seroprevalence of Brucellosis is reported from various states of India afterward (Polding, 1942; Sethi et al., 1971 etc.).