eChapters

Soils of India vary widely among different regions. The first soil map of India was prepared and classified on the basis of existing knowledge of Russian pedological principles. Govind Rajan (1971) and Govind Rajan and Rao Gopal (1978) have discussed in detail the later developments on the preparation of soil map of India and giving the equivalents of different soil groups in US Comprehensive System of Soil Classification. Soil resource mapping was initiated in 1986 and in a span of 10 years (1986-1996), a detailed database in terms of soils, their area and extent, characteristics and grouping following soil taxonomy (Soil Survey Staff, 1999) was created. The present chapter on “soils of India-nutrient status and management concerns” takes into account the following aspects:

Climate classification systems are ways of classifying the world’s climates. One purpose of climatic classification is to group together places with similar climatic characteristics. That means if an area or region is categorised under a particular climatic type, it possesses broadly uniform characteristics with respect to climate. Classifications have been based on climatic elements such as temperature and precipitation, which are measurable, and on differences in tree species, soil characteristics, topography, etc. The varied nature of earth’s surface and the many interactions that occur among atmospheric processes give every location on the earth a distinctive climate.

Although the delineation of distinct climates may seem likely a very straightforward job, establishing the criteria by which climates are delineated requires considerable subjectivity. There are many ways of classifying the climate depending on the user and the level of understanding of the climate system at a given time. Different regions of the same climate type constitute isoclimatic regions. Identification of isoclimates helps in the transfer of agro-technology and suggesting new cropping pattern. Climatic classification is based on two approaches, viz., generic or empirical approach and genetic approach. In the generic approach the classification is based on the observed climatic elements or their effects on the phenomena, usually vegetation or humankind. The genetic classification is based on climatic controls such as general circulation, net radiation and moisture fluxes.

The concept of climate classification was originally brought out to delineate natural vegetation, which is dependent on rainfall and temperature. Climate classification is unique tool to find out different climate types across the globe, out of which isoclimates or homoclimates can be traced out.

The climate of a particular place is the function of a number of factors such as latitude and its influence on solar radiation received, air mass influences, location of global high and low pressure zones, heat exchange from ocean currents, distribution of mountain barriers, pattern of prevailing winds, distribution of land and sea, and altitude.

Duck production has an immense role in improving the socio-economical status of rural farmers. In India, duck farming occupies an important place next to chicken farming. Duck contributes about 7-10% of the total poultry population of the world. Ducks are water fowl, hence, they need a semi-aquatic lifestyle. They need a pond, lake, river, canal or any such type of water bodies for their survival. Thus, they are mainly concentrated in West Bengal, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Kerala, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir and Manipur. Ducks are reared for both eggs and meat purposes. Unfortunately, duck farming is not done in an organized way in our country.

Definition of Disaster

A disaster can be defined as a sudden or catastrophic event that causes significant damage, destruction, and disruption to human life, property, or the environment. Disasters can be natural, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, wildfires, or they can be human-made, including industrial accidents, terrorist attacks, or technological failures.

Disasters often result in the loss of lives, injuries, displacement of people, infrastructure damage, and the interruption of essential services like electricity, water, and communication systems. They can have long-lasting impacts on communities, economies, and the environment.

Governments, organizations, and communities implement disaster preparedness, response, and recovery strategies to mitigate the effects of disasters, protect lives and property, and facilitate the rebuilding and restoration of affected areas.

Technical Knowledge (ITK) based special inputs / Techniques for plant growth

Growth of the plant has for long been believed to be due to the minerals absorbed from the soil and the food materials synthesized by the palnt. It is recognized that growth of the plant is very much regulated by certain chemical substances known as growth regulators. These substances are formed in one tissue or organ of the plant and are then transported to other sites where they produce specific effects on growth and development. These materials can be produced organically for improving plant growth.

3.1. Growth Promoting Substances

Are those organic solutions (like Panchagavya, Buttermilk & Coconut milk slurry, Amudhakaraisal) prepared using the plant and animal products, decayed fruit and other agricultural wastes. For example

Abstract

Mushroom has a great potential in India. Its production is gradually increasing at the annual rate of 7%. The total mushroom production in India is 1.13 million tones and on the other hand, mushroom production annually in china is 18.2 million tones. There are a no. 07 wild mushroom available in the world and medicinal properties much as anti Candida, anti tumor (including cervical, uterine, stomach cancer) and antis viral are rotally present. Of the entire wild mushroom tested, T. glolulum has the highest amount of protein, ask, Calcium, phosphorus and iron. A total of 172 wild mushrooms have been reported home NE India and majority of the wild mushroom is of the order Agaricales. There is a need to make a concerted study of the mushroom biodiversity and its use for economic activity.

INTRODUCTION

Fungi naturally present in soil and rhizosphere of various crops serve as potential biological control agents of various plant pathogens. Species of fungi occurring in the genus Trichoderma have gained significant importance for use as agents for control of several diseases of cultivated crops. The last decade has witnessed a tremendous break-through in the research efforts on biological control of plant diseases in India especially by using species of Trichoderma and Gliocladium. Several economically important plant diseases of a variety of crops were effectively managed by using Trichoderma based biofungicides.

The work on biocontrol of pigeonpea wilt by Bacillus subtilis by Dr. R S Vasudeva and his associates, published as a series of papers in Annals of Applied Biology during 1950 to 1965 can be considered as a starting point for Indian work on biological control of plant pathogens (Mukhopadhyay, 1994).

Introduction

Climate change effect is global and one of the most pressing issues of the 21^st century. It has now emerged as a significant global environmental challenge affecting crop, animal, fish, egg and milk production, water availability, human health, and terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Evidences of changes in climate, particularly to the spatial and temporal variability of precipitation and temperature are many and as a result, uncertainty, risks and farmers distress have increased manifold over the current years. India, a developing nation and primarily an agriculturally based country will be highly affected due to greater dependence on agriculture for livelihood of larger proportion of population (Johnson and Hutton, 2014). Anthropogenic forces like rise in population, economic activities, consumption patterns, social behaviour, energy resource utilization and land-use changes in terms of deforestation, use of fossil fuels, industrialization, and race towards development, high concentration of green house gases (GHG) has been released resulting in global warming, a major factor leading to climate change. This heat of climate change has been experienced globally and has affected all forms of life on earth in many ways (Campbell-Lendrum et al, 2015).

As per the fifth assessment report of IPCC (2014), proportional sharing in GHGs emission of various sectors are energy production (34%), and agriculture, forestry and land-use (AFOLU) (24%), mainly contributed by biomass burning and resource intensive agronomic activities (Houghton et al., 2012; Tubiello et al., 2015). Global food security has been threatened by climate change more so in developing nations through changes in soil properties, and is one of the most important challenges in the 21^st century to supply food for the increasing population.

Since climate change is inevitable, we must consider how best we can adapt it, so as to minimize its harmful consequences on the society. For subsistence farmers in India, adaptation in response to changes in climate patterns can be the difference between survival and calamity. There is a need to bring innovations on climate smart agriculture and also necessary agricultural reforms for emerging of a self-reliant India.

Spatial variability in soil parameters including nutrients has been attributed to the parent material, topography, landforms, cropping pattern, fertilization and manuring practices.. Blanket nutrient recommendations further widen the variability and enhance the risk of soil degradation in terms of soil organic carbon and nutrient mining, acidity, green house gas emission, water and environmental pollution. Unfavorable economics on account of blanket recommendation, adversely influence farmers to increase investments in new crop management technologies. This results in low farm productivity and poor soil health, that jeopardize food security and agricultural sustainability.

2.1 Introduction

Government provides various subsidies for agricultural produce. And seeds are also subsidized products. Anyone would like to buy for cheap. Can you imagine what role the government can play in making a product subsidized and making it available for consumption? Let's look at seeds in particular. To understand how the government reaches the rural corners, we need to understand the government model for distribution and control. Every District has a District Development Administrator (DDA) / District Agriculture Officer (DAO). Every district comprises of approximately five Block Offices. Now every Block office has a Subject Matter Specialists (SMS), an Agriculture Development Officer (ADO) and some Agriculture Extension Officer (AEO). Each AEO is assigned a circle to work in (i.e. a designated area). The AEO collects the demand of his circle and reports to the ADO. The ADO confirms the same from every AEO and sends the final report to the SMS. The SMS forwards the demand to the DDA. Every block office is in charge of at least 50 panchayats and every panchayat has 5 villages. So this is how the government reaches the rural population.

14.1 Introduction

The green revolution brought amazing consequences in food grain production but with insufficient concern for agricultural sustainability. The availability and affordability of fossil fuel based chemical fertilizers at farm level in India have been ensured only through imports and subsidies which are largely dependent on GDP of the country. Dependence on chemicals for future agricultural needs would result in further loss in soil health, possibilities of water contamination and calculated burden on the fiscal system. Indiscriminate synthetic fertilizer usage has polluted the soil, water basins, destroyed micro-organisms and eco-friendly insects, made the crop more susceptible to diseases and depleted soil fertility at the primary levels as of today (Pindi, 2012). India is an agricultural based country.

Cereal crops are interchangeably called grain crops. In many publications and correspondence, they are simply called grains or cereals. As of 2012, the top 5 cereals in the world ranked on the basis of production tonnage are rice (paddy), wheat, maize (corn), barley and sorghum. These crops are also among the top 50 agricultural commodities in the world with maize ranking second next to sugarcane. Rice (paddy) ranks third, wheat - 4th, barley - 12^th, and sorghum - 30^th. Another cereal, millet, ranks no. 42 (FAO Stat 2014, updated Aug. 18, 2014). According to Chapman and Carter (1976), “a cereal is generally defined as a grass grown for its small, edible seed.” They also explained that all cereals are angiosperms, monocots, and members of the grass family Gramineae. Similarly, Lantican (2001) defines cereal or grain crops as agronomic crops belonging to the grass family Gramineae or Poaceae which are utilized as staples; the word “cereal” is derived from the most important grain deity, the Roman Goddess Ceres. Among the food grains cereals occupies for most status in human food requirements. Cereals are grown under different agro-climatic (Upland, Low land & Rainfed) conditions and it is most important staple food of about 65% of Indian population. Cereals crop is attacked by a large number of insect pests right from initial to till the harvest of the crops. Brief descriptions of the major crops, major insect pest and appropriate control measures are given below:

5.0. Introduction

Quality control is generally defined as the regulation by law of food manufacture, distribution and sale in order to prevent health hazards and fraud to the consumers. Thus, it becomes a criminal offence to sell adulterated, filthy or contaminated foods. Quality control is the scientific control of production. There are certain basic fundamentals which are required for successful running of the food processing industry. So, for successful quality control in an industry / organization certain management systems are needed. Depending upon consumer requirement and satisfaction, quality management system is based on four important pillars like management responsibility, resource management, product / service realization and measurement, analysis & improvement. This management system is also important for ISO certification in an organization / industry.

India is a “Winter / Summer Home” for most of the Siberian birds such as Siberian Cranes, Greater Flamingo and Demoiselle Crane, also numerous species of birds from other regions of the world. These beautiful birds migrate to India every year during the winter and summer season for food, breeding and nesting. The migratory birds mainly arriving from Siberia and South East Asia move to the different wetland spots of the national parks/ wildlife sanctuaries etc. in India and are also seen in parts of the lakes and settling down in shallow or fresh water ponds. 

1.     Tissue Collection and Culture
    
2.     Trypsinization of Cells
    
3.     Cell Separation by Density Gradient Method
    
4.     Low Speed Separation of Cells
    
5.     Isolation of Lymphocyte
    
6.     Cryo Preservation
    
7.     Isolation of Spleen Cells
    
8.     Isolation of Peritoneal Macrophage
    
9.     Isolation of Blood Dna
    
10.     Differential Count of Leucocytes
    
11.     Slide Gel Electrophoresis
    
12.     Haemagglutination Assay
    
13.     Elisa
    
14.     Western Blotting
    
15.     Widal Test
    
16.     Identification of Y-chromosomes in Cattle using Pcr

2.1    Ecosystem
    2.1.1 Major Components of Ecosystems
    2.1.2 Energy and Matter Flow in Ecosystems
    2.1.3 Various Types of Ecosystems
    
2.2    Biodiversity
    2.2.1 Genetic Diversity
    2.2.2 Species Diversity
    2.2.3 Ecosystem Biodiversity
    2.2.4 Values of Biodiversity
    2.2.5 Threats of Biodiversity
    2.2.6 Endangered and Endemica Species of India
    2.2.7 Biodiversity Conservation

India is the largest producer of pulses and contributes around 25% of total global pulse production. In addition, it is also world’s biggest consumer (27% of world consumption) and importer (14%) of pulses in the world. Pulses account for around 20 per cent of the area under food grains and contribute around 7-10 per cent of the total food grains production in India. Though, pulses are grown in both Kharif and Rabi seasons, Rabi pulses contribute more than 60 per cent of the total production. Gram is the most dominant pulse having a share of around 40 per cent in the total production followed by tur/arhar at 15 to 20 per cent and urad and moong at around 8-10 per cent each. Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka are the top five pulses producing states in India. Considering the nutritional importance of pulses and its products in Indian diet, the production and availability are not sufficient. Since independence, grain production has grown dramatically but pulses production and its availability have declined. On the other hand, the per capita availability of cereal and millets has increased in spite of a four-fold increase in population. The consumption ratio of cereal-to-pulse has risen from 6:1 to 12:1.

Pulse processing is the major need of developing nations as it is the most acceptable and cheap source of protein and hence can help combating Protein Energy Malnutrition (PEM). In addition, the identification and recognition of various newer and improved processing methods can provide the basis for further development of legume processing industry. Traditionally, home cooking is applied for consumption of pulses since ages. Modernization has no doubt created a lot of ease and developed various techniques to make different edible forms of legumes/pulses. Many advancements have been happened in traditional processing methods (milling, fermentation, roasting, boiling, steaming etc). and resulted into new products. Improved techniques for efficient milling of legumes into dhal (dehusked splits) are an important area of investigation. A systematic method that eliminates wastes and losses has great significance in the Indian dietary pattern. New systems for processing legumes come under several main categories, namely, improved decortications and milling techniques; quick-cooking pulses; canned pulses; pulse flakes, expanded snack foods etc. Such new and innovative processing technologies presented in this chapter can be applied and used in developing nations. Present chapter will discuss both traditional and non-traditional means of pulse processing.

A management tool for anticipating the onset of diseases in plants is called plant disease forecasting. This management method makes use of data on the past, present, and predicted weather in a particular area to forecast the onset and severity of disease in the future. In this sense, a plant disease forecasting system notifies farmers ahead of time whether or not to modify their crop protection strategies to ward against pests. The disease forecasting method lowers financial costs, farmer production loss, and negative environmental effects when it is timely and precisely forecasted. These systems ought to be prepared for diseases like these, which don’t happen often but rather manifest destructively during opportune weather.

Requirements for Disease Forecasting

Systems for forecasting plant diseases are based on the “disease triangle,” which describes how the environment, host, and pathogen interact. Therefore, information on these variables is necessary for the accurate forecasting of a disease outbreak in the future. Following questions and answers cover various aspects of disease forecasting and pathometry, including their impact on integrated disease management, environmental considerations, and specific challenges in different agricultural settings.

There are many environmental risks associated with stubble burning. Thus the adoption of alternative straw management strategies is the best interest of all concerned. Key points when considering harvesting surplus cereal straw are: i) maintain sufficient crop residue on the land to protect the soil from erosion. This can be accomplished by keeping the stubble standing particularly after seeding; ii) harvest surplus crop residue with an appropriate frequency so as not to lower soil organic matter, soil fertility and crop productivity; and iii) fertilize crops according to soil test recommendations. The decision regarding the amount of straw to be removed should be based on the inherent value of the straw for maintaining the viability of the cropping system and protecting the soil resource versus the value of the straw for other uses (e.g., feed and bedding for livestock, industrial strawboard and feedstock for alternative energy forms). The value of retaining the straw on the land is difficult to determine but should be based on a number of factors such as: value of straw for soil erosion control; equivalent fertilizer value of the nutrients contained within the straw; value of the straw for building soil organic matter, soil quality, and soil tilth; and value of the straw for soil moisture conservation (Singh et al., 2003; Singh et al., 2009). At harvest, it is best to chop the straw as fine as possible and spread both the straw and chaff across in the field. A number of equipment have been developed for managing the straw in the field and discussed here.