eChapters

Dragon fruit, commonly known as pitaya/pitahya (Hylocereus sp.) is a  climbing perennial cacti belonging to the Cactaceae family and the subfamily Cactoidea of the tribe Cactea (Raveh et al., 1993). It is a perennial climbing cactus plant native to tropical areas of North, Central and South America. Main countries growing dragon fruit are Vietnam, Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Thailand and Taiwan. Cultivation also occurs in Australia, Israel and Reunion Island. The European Union and Asia, especially China are the largest import markets of dragon fruits (Vinas et al., 2012).

Tropical root and tuber crops are the third important group of food crops after cereals and pulses. Tuber crops hold a premier position among food crops in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. These crops are rich in starch and calories and have great potential in meeting the food and energy needs.  More than 840 million people do not have enough food to meet their basic daily energy needs. Far more - an estimated 3 billion - suffer the insidious effects of micronutrient deficiencies leading to hidden hunger. Apart from its popular use as food, tubers also find an important space in cattle feed and agro industries sector.Tropical tuber crops possess high photosynthetic ability coupled with the capacity to yield under marginal lands, adverse biotic and abiotic stress etc (Ravindran et al., 2008).

The Indian Himalayan region is a well known abode to numerous plants of medicinal significance. The Western Himalayan ranges are home to a diverse flora of variety of endemic medicinal plants making it a biodiversity-rich region (Samant et al., 1998).  The ancient system of traditional medicines has been using these endemic medicinal plants since time immemorial. Of late the resurgence of herbal system of medication has led to an unprecedented rise in extraction of such plants from the wild for medical preparations. Most of the times the plant collection is unscientific and unthoughtful of ecological status of the medicinal plant, especially herbs. As a result, unplanned collection and other human interferences have brought a threat to survival of several important medicinal plants of the IHR an  example being  Brahmakamal.

The palmyrah palm exists both in the wild as well as in cultivation, ranging from sea level about 800 amsl. It is usually grown in seasonal tropical or subtropical climates on sandy soils. It is a very adaptable palm, however, growing well in dry areas and is quite drought resistant. It also grows in per-humid areas and survives water logging quite well. The worldwide distribution of natural and cultivated populations of the palmyrah shows that it occupies a band on either side of the equator and extends laterally over a considerable girth. The country wise distribution of the palms are Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Upper Volta, Nigeria, Gaban, Congo, Sudan, Tanzania, Madagascar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Lubeigt, 1977), Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia (Kovoor, 1983). In India, the palms are wide spread in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.  Isolated patches are also seen in Assam, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh (Anonymous, 1948). The palmyrah is considered as a slow grower and the growth rate decreases in regions of higher altitude (Tjitrosoepomo and Pudjoarinto, 1982).

Wild edible plants have played an important role in human life since time immemorial. People depend on the wild plant resources for various purposes like fire wood, timber, non-timber forest products, medicines and food (Pushpangadan, 1995). In many cases, rural communities depend on wild edible plants, to meet their food needs in periods of food shortage. Indian subcontinent is blessed with varied and diverse soil and climate conditions suitable for the growth of various plant species. It has been estimated that 9000 of the 15,000 higher plants occurring in India are commercially useful. Of these 7500 are medicinal, 3900 are edible, 700 are culturally important, 525 are used for fiber, 400 are fodder, 300 for pesticides and insecticides, 300 for gum, resin and dye and 100 for incense and perfume (Anonymous, 1992-1993).

Ever since the dawn of civilization, dependence on plants has been indispensable for human survival. Transformation from food gathering to settled agriculture necessitated domestication of plant species useful for mankind leading to co-evolution of plants and man in absolute harmony with nature. Natural disasters like famines, floods, epidemics have often led people to search new plant species for human consumption. Out of an estimated total of 80,000 plants of possible economic use, about 30,000 plants have been found to be edible in nature and approximately 7,000 plants have been cultivated by mankind at one time or the other, of which only 158 plants are widely used for food (Wilson, 1992). Among these, 30 crops provide 90% of the world’s food and only 10 crops supply 75% of the world’s food budget. Out of the above only three crops, rice, wheat and maize provide 60% of the world’s total food requirement (Paroda, 2000). This dangerously narrow level of food base may imperil the existence of mankind during a time of impending crisis in unforeseen times in the future.

Nowadays, revolutionary changes in entire globe have led to the economic, cultural and scientific development in our society and have augmented considerable changes in our food habits and life-style. Continuously growing population had noticeably increased the pressure on land, water and energy resources. All these resources are scarce and going to be exhausted in coming decades at the present rate of consumption. Undoubtedly, production of food is more imperative than the production of energy or any other bioproducts. Moreover, with the world population rising to 9 Billion in 2050, with many inspiring to a western life style and diet, this challenge should be addressed urgently (Draismaa et al., 2013). The challenge to produce about 70% more food by 2050 for a growing and increasingly affluent world population has motivated several review papers addressing the different dimensions of the food system and food security (Verburg et al., 2013). Presently, human beings consume approximately 2.5 billion tons of dry weight of harvested crops which include approximately 2.3 billion tons of cereals (e.g., rice, wheat, and corn kernels) and grass from managed pastures (Smil, 2000).

Halophytes are salt-resistant or salt-tolerant plants which thrive and complete their life cycles in terrestrial or aquatic habitats having high salt concentrations. Aronson (1989) compiled a partial list of halophytes containing 1560 species in 550 genera and 117 families. Menzel and Lieth (1999) listed as many as 2600 plants under salt tolerant flora. Although halophytes represent only 2% of terrestrial plant species, they are present in about half the higher plant families and represent a wide diversity of plant forms. Because of their diversity, halophytes are regarded as a rich source of potential new crops. Halophytes are tested as vegetables, fodder and oilseed crops under field trials. The oilseed halophyte, Salicornia bigelovii, yields 2 tones/ha of seed containing 28% oil and 31% protein, similar to soybean yield and seed quality.

1. Introduction
 
The bryophytes are found everywhere in the world except in the sea. They grow on wet soil or rock, the trunk of trees, in lake, river and even in Antarctic island. The bryophytes are placed taxonomically between algae (Fig. 1) and pteridophytes (Fig. 2); there are about 24,000 species in the world. They are further divided into three phyla, Bryophyta (mosses 14,000 species, Fig. 3), Marchantiophyta (liverworts 6,000 species, Fig.4a,b) and Anthocerotophyta (hornworts 300 species, Fig. 5). They are considered to be the oldest terrestrial plants, although no strong scientific evidence for this has appeared in the literature. This hypothesis was mainly based on the resemblance of the present-day liverworts to the first land plant fossils, the spores of which date back to almost 500 million years. Among the bryophytes almost all liverworts possess beautiful cellular oil bodies (Fig. 6) which are peculiar, membrane-bound cell organelles which consist of ethereal terpenoids and aromatic oils suspended in carbohydrates- or protein-rich matrix, while the other two phyla do not. These oil bodies are very important biological markers for the taxonomy in the Marchantiophyta (Asakawa, 1982, 1995; Asakawa et al., 1979b, 2008c, 2012b, 2013a,b; Asakawa and Ludwiczuk, 2008a,b; Ludwiczuk and Asakawa, 2010).

Climate change and variability are concerns of humankind. The recurrent drought and desertification threaten seriously the livelihood of over 1.2 billion people who depend on land for most of their needs. The global economy has adversely been influenced due to droughts and floods, cold and heat waves, forest fires, landslips and mudslips, icestorms, duststorms, hailstorms, thunder clouds associated with lightning and the sea level rise (Fig. 1). The year 1998 was the warmest and declared as the weather related disaster year, which caused hurricane havoc in Central America and floods in China, India and Bangladesh. Canada and New England in the U.S suffered heavily due to icestorm in January while Turkey, Argentina and Paraguay with floods in June 1998. In contrast, huge crop losses were noticed in Maharashtra (India) due to unseasonal and poor distribution of rainfall during 1997-98. The 1997/1998 El Nino event, the strongest of the last century affected 110 million people and costed the global economy nearly US$ 100 billion. A string of 16 consecutive months saw record high global mean temperature in 1997-98.

Seed Sampling

The size and quantity of seed sample required for seed quality testing remains small as compared to the seed lot hence, representative samples are randomly drawn for this purpose. The process of obtaining a uniform and representative sample from a seed lot for seed quality testing is called seed sampling. The samples are prepared in accordance to ISTA rules to ensure that small size sample should represent truly and in the same proportion all constituents of seed lot.

Mini seed testing lab analytical register

Seed storage is the preservation of viable seeds from the time of collection to the required for sowing. It is important to get adequate plant stands in addition to healthy and vigourous plants.

Objectives

i. To maintain initial seed quality during storage period by providing suitable conditions.

ii. To maintain the seed germination and emergence rates.

iii. To prevent the seed deterioration during storage period.

iv. To maintain the physical and physiological seed qualities.

The seed moisture content is the amount of water present in the seed. It is generally expressed in percentage of dry and wet seed weight. It is the loss in weight of the original sample when it is dried. High moisture content in seed sample favors the mechanical damage, seed longevity, incidence of disease and insect pests.

Objective

i. To know the moisture content of seeds by suitable methods
ii. To suggest the seed drying.

Seed Viability Test

Germination test for a seed lot is a pre-requisite to know its potential of emergence under field condition. However, this test requires few days to weeks and a month in some cases. Tetrazolium test gives quick information on seed viability or germinability. It makes possible to distinguish red coloured living parts of seeds from the colourless dead ones. Staining of seeds determines  viability.  Completely  stained  seeds  are  viable  while,  partially and comparatively unstained seeds are non-viable. This test is not valid as compared to seed germination test.

Seed Germination Test

Germination is the process of emergence and development of seed embryo into a plant under favourable environmental conditions of water, soil, sunlight and temperature. The best example of germination is the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm plant. It reflects the ability of seed to produce a normal plant under favourable environmental conditions. The germination rate of a particular seed lot is a key indicator of its performance in the field.

Physical purity test determines the proportion of pure seed, other crop seed, weed seed, inert matter, moisture and germination components in the seed lot by weight in percentage in accordance to prescribed Seed Standards. It thus, helps in improving the plant stand, raising a pure crop by eliminating other crop seeds, weed seeds and disease free-seeds. Seed must not be sold until the percentage of pure seed, other crop seed, weed seed, and inert matter are in accordance to seed physical purity standards. Physical purity test is required for seed certification or seed law enforcement and it is a pre-requisite for ger- mination test.

1. Isolation distance

Seed
The seed, in botany is a mature ovule, consisting of an embryo together with a store of food all surrounded by a protective coat and bear ability to develop a new plant on optimum conditions of soil, moisture and light. It usually develops after the fertilization on an egg cell by male generative cell from a pollen grain. Seeds of some species develop without the intervention of the male cell, formed entirely of ‘mother’ tissue. Such seeds are called apogamic seeds. In seed technology, the seed is seed or any vegetatively propagated material produced from seed crop in accordance to Indian seed standards and has potential to develop new crop in presence of soil, moisture and light.

Notified Varieties of Different Seed Spices