eChapters

Abstract: The Trans Gangetic Plains of India is a large fertile tract of north-west India where intensive rice-wheat based farming has led to soil and water problems.  Agroforestry is among the viable options to overcome these problems. It has already shown positive effects such as increasing tree cover, augmenting wood needs of industries and ameliorating socio-economic status of farmers. Poplar based agroforestry models have been widely accepted by farmers. Site specific superior poplar clones have been developed for superiority, growth and resistance to pest and diseases. Farmers successfully grow the annual crops (sugarcane, turmeric), seasonal crops in winter (wheat, potato, mustard, mentha etc.) and summer season (cotton, moong, pearl millet, sorghum etc). The reduction in wheat grain yield varied from 10.2 to 46.6 per cent from first to sixth year as compared to open field. Selection of shade tolerant crop variety, appropriate sowing time, irrigation, seed and fertilizer dozes help to mitigate these losses. Wheat sown during first fortnight of November produced significantly higher grain yield than other sowing times. Wheat variety PBW 502 performed better amongst the six wheat varieties tested under poplar. Tree crop interactions influence the damage caused by insects and diseases. Cultural practices reduce the number of hibernating pupae of poplar leaf defoliators (PLD) which subsequently leads to lower incidence of these defoliators. Percent damaged leaves were more in fallow (5.44 - 60.53) and less in intercropped plantation (2.49 - 49.20). PLD adult emergence percentage was significantly less in intercropped and ploughed (49.5 and 67.5) than fallow (83.0) plantations

Aseptic packaging is a specialized and advanced method used to extend the shelf life of perishable foods without the need for refrigeration. This technique involves sterilizing both the food product and the packaging material separately and then filling and sealing the product in a sterile environment. Aseptic packaging has transformed the food industry, allowing products such as dairy, juices, soups, and sauces to remain fresh and safe at room temperature for extended periods. The ability to maintain product quality, nutritional value, and safety while reducing reliance on cold storage has made aseptic packaging a preferred choice in both food manufacturing and distribution. The process of aseptic packaging is both complex and precise, as it requires thorough sterilization of every component to ensure food safety. Packaging materials, typically a combination of paper, plastic, and aluminum, are carefully selected to withstand high temperatures while providing an effective barrier against contamination. This chapter explores the principles of aseptic packaging, its significance in food preservation, and the advanced technologies and materials used to achieve and maintain sterility in packaged foods.

Cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum Mill.), belonging to family Primulaceae, is cultivated throughout the Temperate Zone. Many people have enjoyed the charming plants as potted and/or garden plants. The cyclamen is one of the most famous and important commercial ornamental plants in many countries. It is commonly grown for its flowers, both outdoors and indoors in pots. It is used on a terrace, in flower boxes, in hanging baskets or in beddings. Several species, particularly Cyclamen hederifolium, are hardy and can be grown outdoors in mild climates such as Northwest Europe and the Pacific Northwest of North America. The cyclamen commonly sold by florists is C. persicum, which is frost-tender. Selected cyclamen cultivars can have white, bright pink, red or purple flowers. The use as cut flower is not important part of cyclamen production (Grey-Wilson, 2002), but not rare in Europe, especially in Germany. Some cultivars for cut flower production were bred in Europe, but cut flower cyclamen production is not popular in USA and Japan. Its popularity as pot plant led to many studies on the group, including cytology (Bennett and Grimshaw, 1991), hybridization (Gielly et al., 2001 and Grey-Wilson, 2002) and phenology (Debussche et al., 2004).

Abstract: Stall feeding to cattle is not practiced in the Andaman Islands since generations. In the morning, after milking, cattle are allowed to go for free range grazing in the nearby forest or coconut arecanut orchards. But, like mainland territory the cattle do not form herd. They are trained in such a way that come back home during evening where they are fed with concentrate before the milking. Coconut and arecanut orchards occupying more than 14000 ha land are second major land use after forest in the Islands. The forage production in the grazing lands are not sufficient to meet out the demand of huge livestock population particularly during the lean period, form January to April. An attempt has been made to know the effect of four N fertilizer levels (0, 60, 80 and 120 kg ha-1 N) on net soil N mineralization rate (NMR) and soil moisture (SM), and shoot biomass (SB), FP, shoot biomass/root biomass ratio (SB/RB), N concentration in SB, N uptake and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of three grasses [Guinea (Panicum maximum Jacq.), Para (Brachiaria mutica (Forssk) Stapf) and Hybrid-napier (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.)] under three canopy positions [under canopy (UC, representing high shade), between canopy (BC, representing low shade) and open] of coconut trees (Cocos nucifera L.) in a coconut based silvopastoral system in the Island conditions. The study has revealed that the tree reduces light 59% under UC and 32 % under BC positions, but the N fertilizer levels increase NMR by 11 to 51 % under UC and 3 to 44 % under BC positions compared to the open. SM does not differ across the canopy positions

Climate-smart Agriculture Practices and Indicators

Considering the three pillars of climate-smart agriculture such as productivity, adaptation and mitigation, different technologies and practices have been evolved.

The CSA practices are grouped under soil and land management, water management, crop management, livestock management, forestry, fishery & aquaculture and energy management. The World Bank Group (2016) has suggested broad indicators of CSA practices (Table 7.1; Chapter 7)

Digital image processing is the use of computer algorithms to perform image processing on digital images. As a subcategory or field of digital signal processing, digital image processing has many advantages over analog image processing. It allows a much wider range of algorithms to be applied to the input data and can avoid problems such as the buildup of noise and signal distortion during processing. Since images are defined over two dimensions (perhaps more) digital image processing may be modeled in the form of multidimensional systems. Introduction to image processing 
Image processing is a method to convert an image into digital form and perform some operations on it, in order to get an enhanced image or to extract some useful information from it. It is a type of signal dispensation in which input is image, like video frame or photograph and output may be image or characteristics associated with that image. Usually image processing system includes treating images as two dimensional signals while applying already set signal processing methods to them.
Image processing is a method to perform some operations on an image, in order to get an enhanced image or to extract some useful information from it. It is a type of signal processing in which input is an image and output may be image or characteristics/features associated with that image. Now-a-days, image processing is among rapidly growing technologies. It forms core research area within engineering and computer science disciplines too.

Okra or lady’s finger (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench, 2n = 2x = 130, family, Malvaceae) is classified as fruit vegetable like tomato, and eggplant and is grown in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of world. Okra growing major countries are India (occupying the first rank), Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Cameroon, Mexico, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Greece, Yugoslavia, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Myanmar, Japan, Malaysia, Brazil, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan, Ghana, Benin, Cyprus, and southern USA. Though, virtually it is not grown in Europe and north America, yet lot of people in these countries have started liking this common vegetable because of good amount of vitamin A and folic acid, besides, carbohydrates, phosphorous, magnesium, and potassium. In India, okra is extensively grown throughout the country but the states with substantial acreage under okra are Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Haryana and Punjab, both in rainy and spring-summer season. The global total area and production under okra is reported to be close to 1.15 million ha and 7.9 million tons giving a productivity of 6.8 tons/ha. India with approximately 0.5 million ha (5 lakh ha) area and production and productivity of an average of 6 million tons and 12 tons/ha, respectively accounts for close to 75% of share of world production of okra and hence has been accorded a prominent place in the list of crops under R&D by the private seed companies in India. In India, okra has huge export potential as fresh vegetable to the neighbouring countries in the Middle East, like, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Muscat, Tehran, and Abu Dhabi and SouthEast Asia, particularly Singapore, Mauritius, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Therefore, any company with its own R&D in India treats okra a worthwhile crop to keep it under its portfolio and naturally okra becomes an important crop for commercial breeding. Unless a crop makes business sense on account of substantial acreage, production and seed sale volume, there will be no point in launching a full-fledged commercial breeding programme on that particular crop. Thus, okra qualifies a good candidate for commercial breeding in India.

9.1 Introduction

Cereal crops are of global importance and the lifeline of the human civilization. The four most important cereals grown for human food in the tropics are rice, maize, sorghum and pearl millet. There are other minor cereals of tropical origin which are of local importance in the tropics. These include finger millet (Eleusine coracana), a staple food in parts of East and Central Africa; barnyard millet (Echinochloa frumentacea), cultivated in India and Southeast Asia; foxtail millet (Setaria italica), grown in parts of India; and teff (Eragrostis tef), which is confined to the Ethiopian highlands. The winter cereals wheat and barley are also grown to a limited extent in the tropics, largely at high altitudes: for example, wheat in Kenya and barley in Ethiopia. Wheat and barley are important crops in the Indian subcontinent, and are grown there in the cool season at low altitudes, but the bulk of the crop area lies outside the tropics.

The pecan is one of the important nut crops of the world occupying fifth position among the tree nuts. It is one of the most valuable nuts and a gift of North America to the whole world. In USA, it is considered as “Queen of nuts” because of its value as wild and cultivated crop. Besides USA, pecan cultivation is being done in Australia, Canada, Egypt, India, Israel, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, Turkey and South Africa. Pecan is under cultivation only for the last about 100 years but gained enormous popularity as compared to other nut fruits which are growing since time immemorial.

In India, pecan cultivation was introduced in  1935 at Government Fruit Farm, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh. Some of the pecan plants also exist at Jardari orchard, Kandaghat, Distt. Solan and this plant material was probably introduced from California during 1950 by the erstwhile Maharaja of Patiala. It’s introduction to Uttrakhand dates back to mid fifties when Dr. Boshisen, the founder of Vivekanand Laboratory planted a few saplings of pecan at Hawalbagh in Almora hills.

Introduction
• The source of contamination of meat plant is largely from the animals entering in the plant
• Severely contaminated hide/skin are the major source of abattoir contamination
• If proper hygiene of employees, equipments and clothing is not followed, then even after skinning 10,000 to 100,000 bacteria/ in2 can be detected
• Blades of knives can carry 80,000 to 40 millions bacterial per blade & hands of meat operative can have 3x109 bacteria/g of scrapings
• The chance of contamination of carcase is greater at the point of incision and minimum at the farthest point from the incision place
‘Scotoma effect’ or ‘factory-blindness’
• Persons working in any factory or abattoir on routine basis slowly and slowly becomes unaware (mentally ‘blind’) about any sub-standard hygiene or cleanliness problem existing in the surrounding
• This effect is known as ‘scotoma’ or ‘factory-blindness’
• Effect can be powerful and the any visitors to that factory or abattoir will instantly notice that sub-standard hygiene or cleanliness problem neglected by the persons working there

The Jammu and Kashmir State lies in the extreme North of the Himalayas and constitutes about 67.5 per cent of the North West Himalayan region. The State is predominantly a mountainous state with all the major Himalayan ranges and trans-Himalayas adequately represented. The State of Jammu and Kashmir located in the north Western corner of India, extends between 32o-17' and of 37o-50' North parallels of latitude and 73o-26' and 80o-30' East of meridians of longitudes and 81o East of Greenwich. The State on the basis of physiography may be divided into three main regions (i) outer Himalayas which comprise of Jammu province (ii) lesser Himalayas which comprises of Kashmir Valley and (iii) inner Himalayas which comprise of Ladakh province. Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions have distinct agro climatic characteristics. Jammu region has two different climatic zones depending primarily on altitude. Lower hills & plains bear subtropical climate with hot dry summer lasting from April to July. The summer monsoon commences around first fortnight of July and fading away in early September.

Aonla or Indian gooseberry (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) is one of the most important traditional but underutilized fruits of Indian origin, having immense potentiality of cultivation on marginal and waste lands. It belongs to  family Euphorbiaceae and sub-family Phyllanthoidae. Aonla tree thrives well throughout the tropical and sub-tropical parts of India either found growing wild or cultivated. Aonla is a quite hardy, prolific bearer and highly remunerative even without much care. It can be grown easily on calcareous and slightly saline as well as alkaline soils where common fruit crops do not thrive.
 
Aonla is regarded as sacred by Hindus and has great mythological significance. According to Hindu mythology, one day meal is arranged beneath an aonla tree during Kartik (October) when trees are laden with fruits. Hindu religion also prescribes that ripe fruits of aonla be eaten for forty days after fast  to restore health and vitality known as Kaya Kalp (Benthal, 1946).

INTRODUCTION

Plant growth regulators (PGR) are bioactive molecules that modulates the physiological processes in plants and are effective at ultra-low concentrations. Minute alteration in the concentration and bioactive forms of PGRs’ throughout the plant development phases regulate the flowering, fruit set and development. The use of plant growth substances to control fruit set, size, shape, and maturation has become important in agriculture today because they have the ability to increase fruit size, colour, and shape, thereby increasing the marketability. By hastening or delaying maturation the grower can utilize peak demands, avoid unfavourable environmental conditions, and extend the market period. PGRs are applied in fruit crops at all developmental stages for various purposes as discussed below: 

Methods of Weed Control

Prevention, eradication and control are the fundamental principles of weed control.First basic step is to prevent the infestation of a weed(s) in a locality in order to avoid their further spread. If one fails in preventing spread of weeds, eradication step must be adopted. Eradication is limited on a very small scale and adopted only when suitable methods of complete weed removal are available as eradication is cent per cent control of weeds alongwith its root system and other propagative parts. Further, if one fails in prevention and eradication techniques then different weed control methods must be strictly followed in which the objective is to bring down the weed population (with any method) to a level that economical crop yields are possible. The aim of each weed control method is to achieve reasonable good control of weeds. Following methods for controlling weeds are very common:

Preventive Methods

Try to prevent spread of weed seeds/vegetative parts with the adoption of following preventive techniques.

The proximate system of analysis consists of the analytical determinations of water (moisture), ash, crude fat (ether extract), crude protein and crude fibre. Nitrogen-free extract (NFE), more or less representing sugars and starches, is calculated by difference rather than measured by analysis.

Water

1. Water constitutes about 70 percent of an adult’s body weight and water (moisture) is the predominant constituent in many foods.
2. All foods contain varying amounts of water in the range of 20 to 90%.
3. The hypothalamus is a brain center that controls activities such as maintenance of water balance, regulation of body temperature, and control of appetite.
4. Moisture content of some foods

Water is indispensable for human, animal and plant life. Water is essential part of protoplasm. It is essential for photosynthesis. About 400 to 500 litres of water is necessary for the production of  a kilo of plant dry matter.
 
Irrigation

It is the human manipulation of hydrological cycle to improve crop production and quality and to decrease the economic effects of drought. Israelsen and Hansen (1962) defined irrigation as the artificial application of water for the purpose of supplying moisture to plant growth.

13.1 Introduction

Citrus is one of the important fruit crops in India with the production of 111.47 lakh tons from 10.78 lakh hectares with the productivity of 10.34 tons/ha at national level as compared to 25-30 tons/ha in advanced citrus producing countries (NHB, 2013). The productivity and quality of citrus is severely affected by several factors; insect pests being one of them. More than 250 insect pests were reported to attack citrus in India. A total of  22 insect species  in Punjab (Atwal, 1976) ; 50  insect species  in  Karnataka;  42 insect species  in  North-Eastern Hilly region (Pathak and Rao, 1999);  20 insect species in West Bengal and  about a dozen  insect species  in central India have been reported on different citrus cultivars. Further, the pest occurrence and distribution in India indicated that about 21 species are common throughout the citrus growing areas and remaining species may occur in some areas either occasionally or rarely. Of the reported insect pests, Asian citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri Kuwayama), citrus blackfly (Aleurocanthus woglumi Ashby), whitefly (Aleurolobus marlatti (Quaintance) and Dialeurodes sp.), leaf-miner (Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton), lemon butterfly (Papilio demoleus Linn.), leaf folder (Psorosticha zizyphi Stainton), aphids (Aphis spp. and Toxoptera spp.), thrips (Scirtothrips spp.), mealy bugs (Planococcus citri Risso), scales (Coccus hesperidus Linn), fruit sucking moth (Eudocima spp.), fruitfly (Bactrocera sp.), citrus trunk borer (Anoplophora versteegi Ritsema), bark eating caterpillar, lndarbela spp.

Northwestern Himalayan region is spread between 28°43^'-37°05^'N latitude and 72° 40^'-81°02^' E longitude covering an approximate area of 33 million ha. The major natural resources of western Himalayas are water, forests, floral, and faunal biodiversity. Although there is wide spectrum of farming systems diversity in the region, yet there are quite a few commonalities viz. crop diversity, including mixed cropping as well as crop rotation of subsistence nature rather than commercial nature of agriculture, maintenance of soil fertility through natural processes. The variability in agroclimatic conditions in the hilly regions of India due to geographical location and climatic conditions require micro planning for assuring sustainable agricultural production. Introduction of horticultural crops is more recent phenomenon and it has penetrated the traditional farming systems of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and central Himalayan region for commercial benefits than the local consumption. Climatic conditions are optimal for growth of many food, medicinal and other commercial crops and live stock occur in these hills and the need is to exploit these opportunities for economic upliftment of the region, without degradation of natural resource base, therefore a long term development approach for sustainable farming system in these hills must have an eye on conservation farming for developing various production systems since this is a highly fragile system. The agriculture including livestock continues to be the dominant sector despite the fact that the area is exposed to adverse and harsh geophysical and agri-silviculture conditions. Strategies by planting fodder trees or grasses in the waste/ degraded lands (representing 7.9, 9.8 and 11.5% of the geographical area in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand, respectively), is needed for enhancing the fodder production. In addition, farm spaces on terrace risers and improved crop production technology coupled with integration of agroforestry will help in bridging the gap between demand and supply of the fodder. The indigenous agroforestry systems such as homestead (kyaroo), plantation crop combinations, scattered trees on farm lands/field bunds and bamboo grove are practiced by the farming community. The land management operations are predominated by different indigenous agroforestry practices which have proven potential and hold promise in alleviating the poverty among rural masses of this hilly region. The agroforestry systems provide unique opportunity for integration of different components in the farming systems, which help to optimize the ecosystem functioning and better management of land, water, and biological resources. These systems need to be further improved with suitable technological interventions considering the local population need, so that the socioeconomic status of the farming communities uplifted. Experiences gained in managing natural resources through well-tested agroforestry systems have been shared in this chapter.

Bihar’s economy is highly dominated by agriculture and allied sectors. Around 85 to 90 percent of the population still lives in rural areas, where agriculture along with animal husbandry, is the main source of their livelihood. In Bihar, the gross and net sown area is estimated at 8.26 and 5.64 million hectares, respectively. Nearly 60 per cent area under cultivation in the state is rainfed (Anon, 2008). The region comes under sub-humid subtropical monsoon climate. Most of the annual rainfall (almost 85 per cent) received from south-west monsoon, occurs during June to September (Sattar, 2010). There are three crop growing seasons in the state commonly known as kharif, rabi and zaid. The important kharif season crops, which are planted in May-June and harvested in September–October, are rice, maize, sesame, sorghum and bajra. Pigeon pea is an important long duration pulse crop sown during kharif season as sole crop or intercropped with maize. The important rabi crops which are sown in October–November and harvested in February–March are wheat, rabi maize, potato, chickpea, lentil, rapeseed, mustard, barley.

Introduction

The development of software in the sphere of information technology and agriculture currently make up the majority of the economy (Shashank et al., 2006). The majority of people in our country live in rural areas, so efforts to improve the economy must be concentrated there. To make any kind of progress in rural areas, strategies should be developed that will primarily focus on some crucial points, including the sustainable use of natural resources and their conservation, increasing production and profitability by efficiently using the resources already available, and improving quality and productivity by reducing waste.