eChapters

The collected insect samples can be inspected in the laboratory after detaching the antenna and putting them under the microscope. They can also be studied through the permanent slides of different types of antennae with the help of microscope.

Antennae are mobile sensory segmented appendages of the head. They articulate with head in front or between the eyes and arise from antennal socket. The size and shape of antennae varies in different insects. They are used for sensory perception which includes motion and orientation, odor, sound, humidity, and a variety of chemical cues. The Sensilla on the antenna acts as tactile, olfaction, carbon dioxide, temperature, wind, humidity, and sound receptors.

Structure of Antenna: Antennae consist of three parts

Introduction

Carotenoids are pigments found in plants that contribute to photosynthesis and provide various health benefits. Measuring carotenoid content in leaves can help assess plant health, productivity, and the effects of environmental conditions. The determination of carotenoids typically involves extraction followed by spectrophotometric analysis.

Materials and Equipments

• Fresh leaf samples

• Acetone, hexane, or a mixture of acetone and hexane (for extraction)

• Mortar and pestle or homogenizer

• Centrifuge and centrifuge tubes

• Spectrophotometer • Volumetric flasks and pipettes • Analytical balance

Fluids and electrolytes are critical in managing dehydration, electrolyte imbalances, and shock in animals. These life-saving interventions restore homeostasis in various disease conditions. Fluid therapy is tailored based on species, body weight, disease condition, and hydration status, ensuring proper restoration of blood volume, electrolyte balance, and acid-base homeostasis. Principles of fluid therapy
1. Types of fluids
Crystalloids: Normal saline, Ringer’s solution, and lactated Ringer’s solution (LRS). Colloids: Plasma, hydroxyethyl starches, and dextrans. Dextrose solutions: For energy supply and hypoglycemia.
2. Routes of administration:
Intravenous (IV): For severe dehydration and shock.

24.1 Introduction
A dairy by-product can be described as a valuable commercial product generated during the production of a primary dairy item. Examples include skim milk, buttermilk, residual ghee, and whey, as depicted in the diagram below. Utilizing these by-products not only enhances plant profitability but also makes essential nutrients accessible to humans while reducing environmental pollution from dairy waste. However, converting these edible substances into non-food items is often unjustifiable, particularly in regions facing milk shortages. Effective management of by-products is crucial for ensuring profitable dairy operations, as every component of milk offers significant nutritional value that should be preserved. Consequently, there is growing global interest among researchers in maximizing the utilization of these by-products. Nonetheless, it’s important to note that while many dairy by-products can technically be processed into useful commodities, feasibility alone does not justify their widespread utilization. If capital and resources are to be assigned to a plan to utilise by-products, their processing must be economically viable. Therefore, it is essential to prioritise the research and development of cost-effective technologies for the improving and utilisation of dairy by-products. A dairy by-product can be described as a commercially valuable product generated during the production of a primary dairy product. Examples include skim milk, buttermilk, ghee residue, and whey, as illustrated in the diagram below. Utilizing these by-products enhances operational efficiency, provides essential nutrients for human consumption, and mitigates environmental pollution from dairy waste. However, converting edible materials into nonfood items may not be justifiable, particularly in regions facing milk shortages. Profitable dairy operations depend significantly on effectively managing by-product disposal. Every component of milk should be processed wisely to preserve its nutritional value. Consequently, there is growing global interest among researchers in optimizing the utilization of these by-products. Nonetheless, while it may be technically feasible to process any dairy byproduct into useful goods, it doesn’t necessarily mean it should be done.

Koch‘s Postulates (Pathogenicity test)

Robert Koch developed the following postulates in 1883 on the basis of which an organism could be attributed to be the cause of a specific disease.

i)Recognition: The suspected organism must be found in every case of disease (Presence of organism in the diseased tissues).

ii)Isolation: The organism must be isolated in pure culture from every case of disease (Isolation in pure form).

iii)Inoculation: The isolated pure culture when introduced into the same species or variety of susceptible host must be capable of reproducing the original disease with its typical symptoms (Pathogenicity).

iv)Re-isolation: The organism must be re-isolated from the artificially infected host and its characteristics must be exactly like those observed in step 2 (This step was added by E.F. Smith).

If all the postulates are proved true, then the isolated pathogen is identified as the actual causal organism responsible for the disease.

In our country livestock are mostly dependent upon cereal by-products or the crop residues such as straws, stovers etc., which are low in nutritive value. According to the National Commission on Agriculture (1989-90), there is a shortage of 40% of concentrates, 20% of dry fodder and 40% of green fodder for meeting the nutritional requirements of livestock. Consequently the livestock is surviving on low weight, low energy and thereby leading to problems in the production and reproduction. Nutritional deficiencies as well as imbalances are implicated as the cause of infertility in animals. The clinical signs observed with the deficiency of a specific nutrient as variable depending on the degree of the deficiency. The information on the important relationship between nutrition and health is necessary for recognizing and correlating the reproductive problems.

The Insecticides Act, 1968 and Insecticides Rules, 1971 regulate the import, registration process, manufacture, sale, transport, distribution and use of pesticides with a view to prevent risk to human beings or animals and for all connected matters, throughout India. However, recently the Union Cabinet gave its approval for the introduction of the Pesticides Management Bill with the aims of improving the quality of pesticides available to Indian farmers and introducing new, safe and efficacious pesticides. This bill will replace the existing Insecticide Act 1968.The pesticides’ regulations in India are governed by two different bodies:

Calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) are the two most abundant alkaline earth cations in soils. They both occur as soluble ions in soil solution, exchangeable, non-exchangeable and in organic material. Soils from arid regions are richer in Ca (1-2% CaO), while those from humid zones have a low content (0.01-0.02% CaO). On the other hand exchangeable Mg is found in very small quantities in calcareous soils. Sometimes, in acid soils, Mg²⁺ represents the largest quantity of the sum of exchangeable bases.

Principle

The method is based on the principle that calcium, magnesium and a number of other cations form stable complexes with versenate (ethylendiaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt, EDTA) at different pH. A known volume of standard calcium solution is titrated with standard 0.01N EDTA solution using murexide (ammonium purpurate) indicator in the presence of NaOH solution.

The end point is a change of color from orange red to purple at pH 12 when the whole of Ca forms a complex with EDTA. Calcium plus Mg are also present in the solution and can be titrated with 0.01N EDTA using buffer solution and a few drops Eriochrome Black T indicator. The end point is a change of color from red to blue at pH 10. Beyond pH 10, magnesium is not bound strongly to Erichrome Black-T indicator to give a distinct end point.

1. Botanical Name: Ficus auriculata Lour.

2. Family : Moraceae

3. Common Name : Elephant Ear Fig, Roxburgh fig

4. Name in Indian languages

Fagoora, Phagoora, (Hindi), Timla, Tirmal (Kumaoni), Heiba (Manipuri), Theibal (Mizo), Chanadumari (Nepali).

Leaf Relative Water Content (RWC) is a key indicator of plant water status and is used to assess water stress, physiological health, and the efficiency of water use in plants. It reflects the amount of water in the leaf relative to its maximum water capacity and is a useful measure in plant physiology and stress studies.

Materials and Equipment

• Fresh leaf samples

• Analytical balance

• Oven or drying equipment

• Desiccator

• Caliper or ruler

• Distilled water

• Petri dishes or similar containers

• Weighing boats or paper

Introduction

Chemicals that kill or retard fungi are fungicides. Most chemicals used to control plant diseases are ”protectants“ and must be applied before infection to protect the plant from invasion by a pathogen. Protectant fungicides are usually effective against a broad range of fungi and protect the plant against infection on the surfaces of the plant to which they are applied. Often, they require multiple applications during the growing season to maintain coverage as new growth emerges and weathering removes past coverage. A few chemicals are termed ”eradicants“ since they can eliminate an established infection. Some newer fungicides are systemic, meaning that they are absorbed by the foliage or roots and move within the plant to the site of infection. Systemic chemicals may be protectants, eradicants, or both systemic fungicides can be absorbed by the plant without harming it, and transported to other tissues where they are toxic to fungi. These compounds can control and eradicate established infections, but they are also vulnerable to fungi developing resistance, as they generally only target one step in a biosynthetic pathway to kill the fungus. To minimize the development of resistance by chemical overuse, fungicides are classified into groups based on their chemical activity.

Object: Breaking of seed dormancy to facilitate germination.

Material required: Seeds, water, sharp needle, sharp razor, sandpaper, acids, Potassium nitrate and gibberellic acid. 

Definition: Inability of a viable seed to respond the favorable environmental conditions for germination is known as dormancy.

1. True bone tumours. Neoplasms arising from cells of mesenchymal origin, derived from a common ancestry and whose function is primarily skeletal boen formation. These tumours fall into four main groups according to the predominant cell type present. By reason of the mutability of the cells metaplasia is common and intermediate stages are found.

1. Botanical Name : Ficus palmata Forsk.

2. Family: Moraceae

3. Common Name: Wild Himalayan fig

4. Name in Indian languages

Anjiri, Bedu, Khemri, Jangli-Anjir (Hindi), Pheru (Gardwali), Bedu (Kumauni), Phegra, Fagura, Khasra, Daghla, Anjir (Himachali), Phegwara, Phagoru, Fagu, Anjir (Punjabi), Heibam (Manipuri), Manjimedi (Telugu), Pepri (Gujarati).

Ectodormancy: A kind of dormancy which is due to environmental factors.

EDTA: An important chelating agent often used in modern nutrient solutions. It forms soluble complexes with metal ions such as that of iron and prevents from precipitation in the solution.

Elaiosomes: Greek élaion means “oil” and sóma means “body” , are fleshy structures that are attached to the seeds of many plant species. The elaiosome is rich in lipids and proteins, and may be variously shaped. Many plants have elaiosomes that attract ants, which take the seed to their nest and feed the elaiosome to their larvae and by which the seed get dispersed.

Electrical conductivity: Electrical conductivity is the measure of a material’s ability to allow the transport of an electric charge. It is used to measure the level of salinity in water or soil. When electrical conductivity is more, then salinity is more since as salt concentration is more in water or soil, then those salts will conduct more of electricity. Normally measured in μS/cm.

Electrical impedance: The application of alternating electrical current to pre-frozen or frozen plant tissues to predict damage or measure injury, respectively.

27.1 Introduction

Crop improvement depends on genetic variation present in nature or created by hybridization followed by segregation and recombination. Again, gene transfers are possible only from the lines and species that are sexually compatible with the concerned species. Interspecific gene transfers pose many problems, including the loss of F₁ hybrids during embryo development due to abortion of the endosperm in the developing hybrid seeds. Embryo rescue technique was developed to rescue such interspecific hybrid embryos, and it has been widely used for this purpose. It is to be mentioned that embryo rescue can be used only in such cases where sexual hybridization is successful in producing zygotes that begin to develop into embryos.

Besides, the technique of somatic hybridization by protoplast fusion was developed to enable gene transfer from the species that do not produce zygotes on hybridization. This method has been extensively used and some useful lines have been derived. But this method is limited to utilization of genes present in plant species. Again, the results of somatic hybridization are unpredictable since many somatic hybrids fail to regenerate complete plants and the transfer of specific genes or groups of genes depends entirely on chance.

The recombinant DNA technology (also called genetic engineering) has permitted the transfer of genes from any organism into any organism. Besides, chemically synthesized genes can be transferred and integrated into genomes of various organisms to enable the expression of these genes. A gene transferred into an organism by genetic engineering is called a transgene. 

Analytical Reagents

Chemical reagents are supplied in different grades and each grade has a distinct purpose and range of uses. The purest grade is analytical reagent (AR), the second is laboratory reagent (LR), the third is guaranteed reagent (GR) and fourth is technical grade. Second and third form of reagents have a lot of impurities. Therefore, for the determination of micronutrients, AR grade reagents should be used.

Distilled Water

Distilled water is always used in chemical analysis. The quality of distilled water varies from single distilled water to double or triple distilled water depending upon the requirement of analytical technique(s) e.g. double distilled water (glass distilled) is always recommended for micro nutrient and heavy metal analysis.

Introduction
Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.), a tropical perennial tree native to West Africa, is the most productive oilseed crop for biodiesel, yielding up to 5 tons of oil per hectare (Mekhilef et al., 2011). Indonesia and Malaysia are the largest global producers, accounting for over 85% of the world’s palm oil (Atabani et al., 2012). Palm oil is extracted from the fruit of the oil palm and is widely used in both food and fuel applications. However, its cultivation has raised environmental concerns, including deforestation, habitat loss, and carbon emissions (Gui et al., 2008). Efforts are being made to promote sustainable palm oil production to mitigate these impacts (Mekhilef et al., 2011). Deforestation, habitat loss, and carbon emissions are only a few of the serious environmental issues brought on by its cultivation (Fargione et al., 2008). Oil palm plantation growth has been connected to a decline in biodiversity, especially in tropical rainforests that are home to endangered species like Sumatran tigers and orangutans (Fitzherbert et al., 2008). According to Carlson et al. (2013), the conversion of peatlands for the production of oil palm contributes to climate change by increasing greenhouse gas emissions.
History of Oil Palm as Biodiesel Feedstock
Oil palm has been used for cooking and lighting for thousands of years in Africa and Southeast Asia (Obahiagbon, 2012). Research into its use as a biodiesel feedstock began in the 1980s, with Malaysia pioneering biodiesel development (Zainal et al.,2017).
• 1982: The Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia (PORIM) successfully tested palm oil-based biodiesel in diesel engines (Yusoff, 2006).
• Early 2000s: Commercial production expanded in Indonesia and Malaysia, driven by government policies and renewable fuel demand (Mekhilef, 2011).
• Sustainability challenges have led to the establishment of certification schemes such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) (Ruysschaert & Salles, 2014).

The Acceptance Quality Limit, commonly called AQL, is a statistical sampling system used to determine whether a production lot satisfies a predetermined level of quality. Inspectors examine a randomly selected sample and accept or reject the entire lot according to the number and seriousness of defects found. AQL does not require absolute freedom from defects; instead, it establishes an acceptable threshold based on the product, buyer expectations and defect criticality. It provides an efficient and objective alternative when complete inspection is impractical. Textile and apparel inspections commonly follow ISO 2859-1 or ANSI/ASQ Z1.4, which prescribe inspection levels, sample sizes and acceptance-rejection criteria.

Preparation of Bordeaux mixture

Materials: Iron, beaker, copper sulphate, lime, weighing balance, plastic container, wooden stick and muslin cloth.

Bordeaux mixture derives its name from the place of its discovery, Bordeaux, France.

Ingredients required for the preparation of 100 litre of 1 percent elicoid mixture are:

1.Copper sulphate (blue vitriol or bluestone) : 1 kg

2.Quick lime (unslaked) : 1 kg

3.Water 100 litres

Method

•Dissolve 1kg powdered copper sulphate crystals in 50 litres of water in a mudpot or plastic bucket.

•In another 50 litres of water dissolve 1kg of quicklime.

•Stir thoroughly with the help of wooden stick.

•Put a filter cloth on the mouth of 3^rd container.

•Pour the contents of both the containers in a 3^rd container simultaneously and stir it thoroughly.

•Make up the desire volume (ie. 100 litres).

•Test the mixture before use for the presence of free copper, which is harmful to the plant.