eChapters

M.K. Mahawar⁴

Scientist, ICAR- Central Institute for Research on Cotton Technology, Mumbai Maharashtra

Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) is a man made fruit belong to family Rosaceae. Due to high nutritive value and market potential, this fruit is being grown by small and marginal farmers. This is the only fruit which gives quickest return in shortest time 100 to 120 days only than any other fruit which usually take 3 to 5 year in giving return. Farmers are showing their keen interest to grow this crop in all part of country due to market value. Strawberry has a unique place among all the berry fruits because of its charming red color and high nutritive value

Strawberries one of the best fruits of the world are native to North America. Strawberry fruits are aggregates made up of several small fruits, each with one seed called an achene. The flesh of the strawberry is actually an enlarged receptacle, non-reproductive material. The word strawberry comes from the old English streawberige, most likely because the plant sends out runners which could be linked to pieces of straw. The name Strawberry was also derived from the berries that are “strewn” about on the plants, and “strewn berry” eventually became “Strawberry”. Strawberry is a delicious fruit taken fresh in several ways. It also makes excellent ice cream and jam on account of its rich aroma. 

• Fragaria chiloensis × Fragaria virginiana (Diploid species) is the artificial man – made hybrid.
• Monoecious is a quick growing fruit plant and takes short span of the day to grow.
• It is a low growing perennial herb.
• It is one of the best fruit crops for the kitchen garden.
• Strawberry is a complete fruit with 98% of edible portions.
• It is rich in vitamin-C and iron.
• Ethyl ester i.e., ethyl butanoate and ethyl hexanoate are responsible for the flavour of strawberry fruit:
• Indian wild strawberry Fragaria vasca.
• Hermaphroditism is much more common in Fragaria chiloensis
• Micro propagation was first started in this fruit.
• The flowers, generally white, are borne in small clusters.
• Both self and cross - pollination occur in this fruit crop.
• Honeybees are the major pollinators.
• Mulching is an important cultural operation in strawberry cultivation.

8.1 Introduction

The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry) is one of the most preferred soft and attractive, tasty and nutritious fruit with a distinct and pleasant aroma, and delicate flavour. The fruit of strawberry is technically known as an accessory fruit and the fleshy part is derived not from the ovaries (achenes) but from receptacle. The common cultivated strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa Duch.) is a widely grown hybrid plant resulting from the cross between two American species, Fragaria chiloensis of western North and South America and Fragaria virginiana of eastern North America. Its name has been derived from farmers mulching called “Straw”, earlier the strawberries were just planted for medicinal purpose but later on Carlus Linneaus for the first time introduced strawberry as edible fruit (Lieten et al., 1995). Strawberry is herbaceous perennial. It is an aggregate accessory fruit (not a berry indeed), meaning that the fleshy part is derived not from the ovaries of the flower but from the receptacle, that holds the ovaries. Each apparent seed (properly named achene) on the outside of the fruit is actually one of the ovaries of the flower, with a seed inside it. This fruit is widely appreciated for its characteristic aroma, bright red colour, juicy texture, and sweetness. It is consumed in large quantities, either fresh or in prepared foods such as preserves, fruit juice, pies, ice creams, milk shakes, and other desserts (FAO, 2012).

It is known by different names such as Ramularia leaf spot, rust, bird’s eye spot, grey spots, and white spot. It mostly attacks leaves but can also attack fruit stalks and also fruits.

Straws consist of the stems and leaves that remain after the threshing of mature seeds. These materials are characterized by their high fiber content and lignin, while offering minimal nutritional benefits. Straws are primarily utilized as feed for ruminants, rather than for monogastric animals such as pigs or poultry.
Paddy and wheat straw: These are byproducts of grain harvesting and are commonly used as a primary feed source for cattle and buffalo. Their nutritional profile is low, with approximately 3-5% CP and 40% TDN. They are deficient in essential minerals, vitamins, fatty acids, and proteins. Paddy straw contains about 6-7% lignin in its dry matter, which is lower than that found in other cereal straws. However, it has a high ash content (17% of dry matter) and elevated silica levels. Notably, the stems of paddy straw are more digestible than the leaves. The addition of urea can enhance the feeding value of straw, although the high lignin content may diminish its palatability. Urea treated rice straw contains around 8.1-9.5% CP (normal level is 3.5-5.3%) where as urea treated wheat straw contains around 8.5-9% CP (normal CP is 2.63-4.20%). Additionally, paddy straw contains significant amounts of oxalic acid, which can hinder calcium absorption in the gastrointestinal tract of ruminants, while also contributing bulk to their diet.
Barley straw: It has a nutritive value comparable to that of oat straw, but it presents challenges due to the presence of barbed beards. Its composition includes 0.30% DCP and 48% TDN.
Oat straw: It is regarded as one of the superior options for cattle feed, being soft, palatable and more nutrient-rich than other straw types. On average, it contains 0.3% DCP, 48% TDN, 0.38% Ca and 0.07% P.
Pulses straw: These includes varieties such as black gram, green gram, moth bean, pigeon pea and cow pea, is relatively palatable and nutritious for cattle. Among these, black gram, green gram and moth bean straws are particularly noted for their palatability and nutritional value. While the energy content of these straws is similar to that of cereal straws, they tend to provide a better
source of digestible protein. For high milk-producing cattle, supplementation with energy-dense feeds like cereal grains is often necessary.

5.1 Introduction

A steam can be defined as a flow channel in to which the surface runoff flowing over the land surfaces and base flow/ground flow flowing below the ground surfaces meet. It receives the total flow from a specified basin. Streamflow representing the runoff phase of the hydrologic cycle is the most important basic data for hydrologic studies. Interestingly, stream flow is the only part of the hydrologic cycle that can be measured accurately. Stream flow is a historical data and like rainfall and runoff, it is a stochastic hydrologic variable. It is also called as discharge or rate of flow. Discharge is defined as the volume of water flowing through a cross section in a unit time.

SYNOPSIS

In all probability the ancient farmer’s market originated on the streets of villages and later on, on the streets of towns. The street food survived through decades and centuries and now it has assumed its new role in fulfilling the readymade food demand of the working people of mega cities. The street food has now more relevance to the growing urban population. With the lapse of time and migration people to the cities, the business and activities of street food got expanded in qualitative and quantitative terms worldwide.

Street Foods-An Introduction

The National Policy on Urban Street Vendors (2004) defines street vendor as a person who offers goods for sale to the public without having a permanent built-up structure but with a temporary static structure or mobile stall (or head load). Street vendors may be stationary occupying space on the pavements or other public/private areas, or may be mobile in the sense that they move from place to place carrying their wares on push carts or cycles or baskets on their heads, or may sell their wares in moving trains and buses. The total number of street vendors in India has been estimated to be ten million and the number of street food vendors has increased sharply in the past few years (Bhowmik 2005).

The preparation and sale of street food is an age-old activity with historical roots and complex socio-economic and cultural implications. Street food vendors are mostly outside the regulation of the governments and unregistered thus making them an informal sector. Similar to most other informal sector enterprises street food operations too are carried out with minimal investment, infrastructure and as familial operations. Street food outlets are seen mushrooming at crowded public places like bus stands, cinema halls, market areas and parks. They operate as temporary structures or as pushcarts parked near the roadside or at pavements. Most street food vendors operate their food stands alone and are able to generate sufficient income for sustenance.

National journals play a crucial role in the dissemination of regionally relevant research, particularly in specialized fields such as agricultural sciences. These journals act as accessible platforms for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to share findings, innovations, and solutions tailored to local contexts. Strengthening national journals is essential for fostering knowledge exchange, promoting inclusivity in scientific communication, and addressing the unique challenges faced by different regions (Fig. 12.1).
This chapter explores strategies for improving the quality, visibility, and credibility of national journals, with examples from countries across the globe, including those outside North America and Europe. Case studies of successful initiatives are included to illustrate best practices for empowering local publishing platforms, with a particular focus on non-English publications.
12.1. The Importance of National Journals in Agricultural Sciences
Agricultural sciences are inherently context-dependent. Local factors such as climate, soil type, cropping systems, and socioeconomic conditions influence the challenges faced by farmers and the solutions that are most effective. National journals provide a vital medium for addressing these region-specific issues, enabling researchers to publish studies that may not align with the broader focus of international journals. Furthermore, these journals often cater to the immediate needs of local policymakers, extension workers, and educators, ensuring that research findings are translated into actionable outcomes.

Introduction
AMR is a critical global problem that affects human, environmental, and animal health. AMR is a complex problem; it is necessary to look at it from different disciplines to frame it within the One Health approach [Shrestha,2018].The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified AMR as a top ten global public health threat.Globally, there were an estimated 4.95 million deaths associated with bacterial AMR in 2019, including 1.27 million deaths attributable to bacterial AMR [O’Neill, J. (2016)]. The economic impact is equally alarming. The World Bank projects that AMR could lead to an additional US$ 1 trillion in healthcare costs by 2050, and over US$ 1 trillion in annual gross domestic product (GDP) losses by 2030.The One Health approach is defined as a joint effort of various disciplines that come together to provide solutions for human, animal, and environmental health. AMR is linked to each of these three components due to the irresponsible and excessive use of antimicrobials in various sectors (agriculture, cattle raising, and human medicine). Under the pressure of antimicrobial selection, bacteria acquire resistance genes and mobile genetic elements that can spread to other bacteria of the same or different genus. When bacteria acquire resistance to antimicrobials, they also acquire a greater ability to proliferate in animals, humans, and the natural world. Mismanagement of antimicrobials, inadequate infection control, agricultural debris, contaminants in the environment, and migration of people and animals infected with resistant bacteria facilitate the spread of resistance [Collignon,et.,al,2018]. AMR represents a global public health problem, for which epidemiological surveillance systems have been established, aiming to promote collaborations directed at the well-being of human and ani mal health and the balance of the ecosystem. Several international organizations (The World Organisation for Animal Health [OIE], WHO, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [FAO]) have joined forces to develop a Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance-WHO. Action taken in this plan included understanding the AMR from surveillance and research. The advisory group established guidelines for AMR surveillance to ensure all countries implement integrated surveillance, which will cover the use and consumption of antimicrobials in the human and animal population. These guide lines will provide a clear understanding of how AMR spreads in different settings and specific areas. It will allow to study the correlation between AMR and antimicrobial use in a different setting (animals, humans, and environment) and to assess the effect of interventions within and between sectors [W.H.O 2015,2017].

Abstract

We are working with Soliga farmers and introducing simple ‘organic’ technologies to increase yields, diversify the farms, and conserve soil and water.  Introducing these technologies depends on a strategy of using on-farm trials for low-risk interventions and field-station trials for high-risk interventions. Low-risk interventions include the use of contour row-sowing rather than broadcast sowing, improved access to traditional varieties of seeds, and composting practices. The relatively high-risk interventions are to incorporate locally grafted high-yielding amla and related fruit trees, and selecting high-yielding local crop varieties, and crop rotation. All interventions were aimed to strengthen on-farm capacities, improve sustainable traditional technologies and enhancement of livelihood security.

29.1 INTRODUCTION

Some historians believe that it was women who first domesticated crop plants and thereby initiated the art and science of farming. While men went out hunting in search of food, women started collecting seeds from the native flora and began cultivating those of interest from the point of view of food, feed, fodder, fibre and fuel. This view is strengthened by the fact that women have been traditionally seed selectors. Even today this tradition has continued in many parts of the developing world. Women have played and continue to play a pivotal role in the conservation of basic life support system such as land, water, flora and fauna. They have protected the health of the soil through organic recycling and promoted crop security through the maintenance of varietal diversity and genetic resistance. In many hill and remote areas of developing countries such as Himalyan region, agriculture is largely in hands of women. Men tend to go to towns and cities in search of salaried jobs for fulfilment of family income. Therefore, without total intellectual and physical participation of women, it will not be possible to popularize alternative systems of land management for shifting cultivation, arrest gene and soil erosion, and promote the care of the soil and the health of economic plants and farm animals. Women also tend to look at problems in their totality from the sowing of the crop to its ultimate utilization either as food, feed or raw material for industry. Since they are usually involved in of marketing, they generally possess a clear understanding of market preferences and prejudices. Therefore, for an economically and ecologically sustainable agriculture the involvement of women farmers and farm women (agriculture farmers with and without assets) in the process of modernization of farming practices and village industries is absolutely essential. Horticulture is a major part of Indian agriculture. Although belated, their importance has now been recognized in India not only to provide the much needed balanced nutrition and gainful occupation to our populace but also to develop viable internal and export trade. Fruits like banana and vegetables like potato being energy rich are considered prominent food crops e.g. banana can produce as high as 37 million calories per hectare. Unfortunately the component of fruits and vegetables in Indian diet is hardly six per cent which should be raised at least five times so that the per capita per day consumption mathches the recommended dose of 85g. fruits, 75 – 125g. leafy vegetables 85g. other vegetable and 85g. roots and tubers. To achieve this present production of fruits and vegetables would need to be pushed up considerably by increasing the production levels and the area both.

Systematics
Domain : Bacteria
Phylum : Firmicutes
Class : Bacilli
Order : Lactobacillales
Family : Streptococcaceae
Genus : Streptococcus
Species : Str. agalactiae, Str.dysgalactiae, Str. equi subsp. zooepidemicus, Str.
uberis, Str. equi subsp equi, Str.suis, Str. canis, Str. pyogenes (human)
History
Rivolta (1873) described chain forming organisms in pus from a case of strangles in horses. In 1878-79, Pasteur recognized this organism as a pusforming agent. In 1903, Hugo Schottmuller introduced blood to differentiate various types of hemolysis. In 1928, Rebecca Lancefield reported a serological method of grouping Streptococci.
Habitat
Streptococci are worldwide in distribution. Most of the Streptococci of Veterinary interest live as commensals in the mucosa of the upper respiratory and lower urogenital tracts. They do not survive for long away from the animalhosts.

Rivolta (1873) first described the chain forming cocci in pus collected from the equine infection. Later Rosenbach established the genus ‘Streptococcus’. Nocard and Mollereau (1887) first observed the relationship between the bovine mastitis and Streptococcus agalactiae.

Properties of genus

1. Morphology : Streptococci are gram positive cocci, capsulated, non-sporing and non-motile. Each coccus cell is 1µm in diameter.  They are arranged in a pair or chain of cells as the cell division occurs in one plane (Fig. 1). The chain formation and the chain length are variable. Streptococcus equi ssp equi is a constant chain producer, other species are not. The chain length is shorter in artificial media than natural one. Young cultures are gram positive whereas the bacteria present in the pus and older cultures in the laboratory are often stained as gram negative. 

Streptococcal capsule is polysaccharide in nature. It can be subdivided into different antigenic types (e.g. S. agalactiae, S. pneumonae). However capsules of S. equi, S. pyogenes are made of nonantigenic hyalu-ronic acids containing repeating units of glucuronic acid and N-acetyl-glucosamine. Synthesis of the polymer involves the products of three genes, hasA, hasB, and hasC, which are all in the same operon.

Streptococcosis has been reported from avian species worldwide. Bacteria produce acute septicemic and chronic infection. Streptococcosis has wide range of host ranging from many avian species including wild birds.

Etiology

Streptococci are Gram-positive, non-spore forming, non-motile facultative anaerobes. They occur singly, in pairs or short chains. S. zoozooepidemicus is species associated with disease in avian species. Other species of streptococcus (S. bovis, S. dysgalactiae, S. pleomorphus) have occasionally been isolated from birds.

Whenever a thin hanging wire is loaded, it elongates and the load moves downwards. Increase in length of wire is governed by the magnitude of the load and nature of wire material. Experimentally it is found that the cohesive force between the molecules of hanging wire offers resistance against the deformation.

Introduction

Climate change specifies long-term shifts in weather patterns, which are measured over decades to millions of years. In modern times, it predominantly concerns the increase in Earth’s average temperature due to human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels10. The rise in greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide traps heat in the atmosphere, leading to global warming. In connection with animal health, climate change affects the ecosystems in which animals live, influencing the availability of water and food, the spread of diseases, and the physiological stress animals endure due to temperature extremes. Domestic animals, mostly livestock, are vulnerable to heat stress and reduced productivity, whereas wildlife faces altered habitats and increased exposure to pathogens. The connection between climate change and animal health is intricate, as changes in temperature, humidity, and weather patterns create new challenges for both domestic and wild species.

Abstract

In order to estimate the irrigation need of the crop, stress degree day index computers from canopy and air temperature could be used. During rabi manon, two varieties (Seeta, Brassica Juncea) and (Benoy, Brassica Camperteris) were grown. The canopy temperature of the crop was measured on 45th, 60th  and 75th  days after sowing and stress degree day (SDDI) was also measured. About 67, 70 and 51 per cent activation between SDDI and dry matter production could be explained at 45, 60 and 75 DAS of the crop growth period. Reflectance by mustard canopy was 940 measured. Late sown crop reflected less radiation with the advancement of growth. Extinction coefficient was also measured and the increase in the value of extinction coefficient upon irrigation showed canopy development and better utilization of increasing radiation by the crop.