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ABSORPTION (of light): A process by which light is taken-up by another material. Examples include soot consisting of tiny black particles, which absorb all visible light; and nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant mostly from diesel and gasoline engines, that absorbs blue light resulting in air with a brown tint.

Introduction

The term pesticide refers to any chemical or mixture of chemicals intended for preventing, attracting, repelling, controlling or regulating a pest, including unwanted species of plants and animals during the production, shipment, transit, storage, processing or distribution of any food or agricultural commodity. The term includes compounds classified as insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, accaricides, rodenticides, plant growth regulators, sprouting inhibitors, chemosterilants, desiccants etc. The term excludes substances like animal drugs and food additives. Pesticides are chemicals used to destroy or control weeds, insects or other pests. The term pesticide residue refers to the remnants of the pesticide after weathering and it consists of the parent molecule and the degradation products which are toxicologically significant. In general, the pesticides, by virtue of their inherent toxic nature are recommended to be used as per Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) only. If GAP is not followed, contamination of the produce with the residues may pose significant health risk to consumers, non target organisms, biota and environment as a whole. When a pesticide is used for pest control purposes, they may reside in the form of metabolites.

Pesticide residues occur as the leftover of any pesticide after its application for pest control and it includes the parent compound and its toxic metabolites. Pesticide residue analysis may be defined as qualitative and quantitative analysis of samples drawn from agricultural field, market and environment for pesticides and toxic metabolites. Pesticide residues are invariably present in micro – quantities and generally estimated at ppm/ ppb levels. After application of the diluted spray solution, they are present at sub microgram levels in the substrate and hence their estimation at ppm or ppb levels is very cumbersome and need to be performed with utmost care. Moreover, the residue data generated should be accurate, reliable and reproducible. The level of residue in any edible commodity has to be below their prescribed maximum residue limits (MRL) value for market acceptance and below maximum permissible intake (MPI) for safety to consumers. Pesticide residue data are mainly utilised by regulatory authorities for estimation of MRLs and for assessing impact on human health and environment, particularly their adverse effect on non-target organisms. The detection of the pesticide residues must be confirmed beyond doubt and confirmation by GC-MS/MS or LC-MS/MS is generally acceptable. Since pesticide residues include parent compounds, isomers and toxic metabolites, appropriate methods of detection should be selected so that all the components are measured separately. Environmental samples/ market usually contain residues of large number of pesticides, for which multi residue methods are required for estimation/screening of such samples.

Revolutionizing skin cancer detection
The diagnostic process for skin cancer is evolving. Physicians have in the past relied upon physical exams to be followed by scanning and biopsies taking anywhere between 15 days to return results. Although most abnormalities turn out to be non-cancerous, this is distressing to patients and contributes to healthcare costs. Additionally, certain growths that turn out to be cancerous remain undiagnosed since they have not been visible.
Breakthrough startup Damae Medical is set to reverse this process. The startup has developed an advanced probe that is able to take 3D images of the skin to unveil the full extent of abnormalities in real time. This enables doctors to diagnose in an instant, enabling improved personalized treatment. When an operation is required only diseased tissue is removed to prevent unnecessary treatments and improved outcomes in patients.
The Origins in the Institut d’Optique
The beginnings of Damae Medical can be traced to Palaiseau-based Institut d’Optique where in 2013 two photonics students envisaged potential in an emerging imaging tech. Together with the inventor himself in 2014, they cofounded Damae Medical by taking an exclusive license to the core family of patents held by three partner institutions. While this contract was beneficial in launching the company to an early growth spurt, in the long run created difficulty in exercising control. This was resolved by taking an equity-forcontrol purchase in 2019 by Damae to acquire the foundational patent

We get energy from food. We need energy for all the activities which we get by eating. The body structures as muscles, organs and bones are composed of the nutrients contained in food which are absorbed by the body.

Nutritional requirement of the major nutrients

Nutrients are the substances which are found in food and drive biological activity. They are essential for the human body. These are categorized into proteins, fats, carbohydrates (sugars, dietary fiber), vitamins and minerals (Sugishima, 2019). They perform the vital functions like building all parts of the body as muscle, bone, teeth and blood. Out of the 20 different kinds of amino acids that make up proteins nine are not synthesized in the body and are therefore called essential amino acids. These essential amino acids have to be supplemented through food. High-protein, low-carbohydrate diets have been found to be effective.Protein is an important component of every cell in the body. Large part of hair and nails are made up of proteins. The human body uses protein to build and repair the tissues, helps in making enzymes hormones and other body chemicals. Protein is an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin and blood.

Animal Genetic Resources

Agricultural biodiversity is the product of thousand years of activity during which humans have sought to meet their needs in a wide range of climatic and ecological conditions. Well adapted livestock have been an essential element of agricultural production systems. For livestock keepers, animal genetic diversity is a resource to be drawn upon to select stocks and develop new breeds. More broadly, genetically diverse livestock populations provide society with a greater range of options to meet future demands, so the wise management of the world’s agricultural biodiversity is becoming an ever greater challenge for the international community. The livestock sector in particular is undergoing dramatic changes as large-scale production expands in response to surging demand for meat, milk and eggs (FAO, 2008).

Animal genetic resources (AnGR) include all animal species, breeds and strains that are of economic, scientific and cultural interest to humankind in terms of food and agricultural production for the present or the future. Domesticated animals are considered to be those species that are bred in captivity and modified from their wild ancestors to make them more useful to humans, who control their reproduction (breeding), care (shelter, protection against predators) and food supply (Diamond, 2002; Mignon-Grasteau, 2005). Only about 40 animal species have been domesticated since the Pleistocene. Common species include cattle, sheep, goat, chicken, duck, pig, horse, buffalo, rabbit, camel, donkey, elephants, various poultry species, reindeer, etc. All these AnGR are vital to the economic development of the majority of countries in the world playing an important role in the subsistence of many communities. Although only a subset of the diversity present in the ancestral species survived in the domestic counterparts, domestic livestock diversity has been continuously evolving.

Pulses occupy an important place in hill agriculture. They are complementary to cereals in production and consumption being an important source of protein and nitrogen fixing ability which helps in improving soil health. Thus, cultivation of pulses has a positive relationship with our environment, human health and food security. Pulses produced in the hills are famous for their cooking quality, taste and flavour.
 
Himachal Pradesh has emerged as a model hill state in which agriculture is a dominant economic activity and major source of employment and income to the rural people. Being a hilly state, agriculture is practiced on about 10% of the geographical area. Out of which nearly 80% is rainfed. During the last three decades, the farming scenario has changed significantly. The area under fruits, vegetables and cereals has increased tremendously at the cost of pulses and oilseeds. There is, therefore, an urgent need to reverse this trend as pulse cultivation will not only increase soil health but save precious foreign exchange.

Definition and Concept Agro-Forestry

Agro forestry is an age-old practice of integrating farming with practices, preferably on the same unit of land on sustainable basis. Agro forestry systems have received increasing emphasis in the recent years because of their potential to yield fodder, fuel wood and small timber in addition of food. Shortage of fuel woods for construction and commercial purpose. Implementation of development activities like mining, quarrying and river valley projects are the other reason for deforestation. Shifting cultivation, which is practices in the North-Eastern zone of India, has also affected forest acreage.

Definition: The practices of including trees in crop or animal production agroecosystem. Agro forestry may be defined as an integrated self- sustained land management systems, which involves deliberate introduction / retention of woody components with agriculture crops including pasture / live stock, simultaneous or sequentially on the same unit land, meting the ecological and socio -economic needs of people. Or Agro forestry is a collective name of land use system and technologies where woody perennials are deliberately used form the same land management units as agricultural crops and or animals in the same form of spatial arrangement of temporal sequence. In agro-forestry systems, there is both ecological and economic interaction between different components.

Measurement of water used in irrigation ensures the application of required amount of water in crops. Knowing the rate of flow the adjustment to period of control at gates, etc. can be done to regulate the water at different branches of canals. To get the total control over the supply of water there should have the provision of water measurement at the critical points in irrigation systems.

Units of Measurement

Water is measured at rest or in motion. The water of reservoir, ponds, tanks, etc. at rest is measured in volumetric unit as liter, cubic meter, hectare-meter and hectare-centimeter. Water flowing in rivers, canals, channel, etc. is measured in liter/s, liter per hour, meter per second and hectare-meter per hour or day.

Introduction

Food and water safety is a public health concern. “It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver” is a famous quote by Mahatma Gandhi. To provide good health and to maintain it properly for all citizens, the country need to assure the quality and safety of food consumed by it's population (Attrey, 2016). Apart from nutrition and taste, a more important part of food is the safety standards during manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import. Food safety is particularly important in India, where an inordinately high percentage of population suffer from malnutrition and food borne diseases (Bahuguna, 2016). Food borne diseases in India have increased the frequency of mortality and morbidity. Around 5.82 crore cases of food borne diseases and 3.51 lakh food associated deaths were reported in 2010. Nowadays the consumption of unsafe food is being considered as an alarming threat to the growing global food markets. Adulteration and synthetic milk in India, powdered infant formula with melamine in China and adulteration of beef in Europe are a few examples. These issues can be resolved to a great extent, through appropriate food laws and policies. A country should not only possess appropriate statutory, regulatory legislations, policies in place for the su-pply of safe and good quality food at all times, but also should assure that the same is imple-mented seriously (Attrey, 2017).

Apart from health, food safety is vital for economic growth and progress as well. In India, the food processing industry holds tremendous opportunity. It has high employment potential, can boost exports of agro-products out of the country and also provide better returns to farmers for their produce. The concept of food quality and food laws is not totally new in India because food was considered an important aspect of healthy living even in ancient India. India took an important step towards building a safe food culture a decade ago by enacting the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act. In one stroke, it brought about a paradigm shift in the way we look at food safety regulations in India. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) are mandated under Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 to protect people from this threat. In its role of a food regulator, FSSAI can be proud that it touches the lives of each of the 1.3 billion people in the country. More than just reaching the people, the watchful eye of FSSAI is assuring them that the food they get in any form, raw or processed is safe to consume (Agarwal, 2016).

Agricultural finance generally means studying, examining and analyzing the financial aspects pertaining to farm business, which is the core sector of India. The financial aspects include money matters relating to production of agricultural products and their disposal.

1. Introduction

Fruit products have their unique identities having large content of micronutrients, polyphenols, vitamins, flavonoids and other nutritional compounds. Characteristic appearance and flavors distinguish among various fruit based products like juice, puree, jam, jelly, squash and other several varieties. Main concern of this fruit processing industry is the stability of the products throughout the post processing storage. Thermal treatment as mean of preservation of these products is the common process implemented so far. It ensures the safety of the product but lacks in retaining the nutritional intact that like of fresh fruit. Today’s consumer demand for minimally processed fruit products and “natural” fruit products tend to think of alternative thermal processing.

High pressure processing (HPP), a relatively new concept compared to conventional thermal processing, also sometimes known as high hydrostatic pressure (HHP), or ultra high pressure (UHP) processing, is a non-thermal food processing method that subjects liquid or solid foods, with or without packaging, to pressures ranging between 50 and 1000 MPa. HPP has already been established itself as an alternative to thermal processing. In food processing it is of great interest due to its ability to inactivate food borne microorganisms and enzymes, at low temperature, without the need for chemical preservatives and it is less detrimental than thermal processes to low molecular weight food compounds such as flavoring agents, pigments, vitamins, etc., as covalent bonds are not affected by pressure. Pressure-treated foods have sensory properties similar to fresh products, which is a major advantage in fruit processing as it matches consumer demand for healthy, nutritious and ‘‘natural’’ products. HPP of fruit products offers the chance of producing food of high quality, greater safety and increased shelf life (Hayashi 1989; Gould 1996; Butz and Tauscher 1998).

The average productivity of pulses (Table 1) is only 460 kg/ha but it ranges from 199 kg/ha (Moth bean) to 1719 kg/ha (Field pea). Year to year fluctuation in productivity of different pulses was also observed. The highest productivity i.e. 1067 kg/ha was observed during the year 2006-07 & the lowest productivity i.e. 497 kg/ha was recorded during the year 2008-09. The trend of area under pulse crop during the last ten years has also shown a wide fluctuation. Year to year and crop to crop variations are most pronounced.  The crop wise major pulse growing districts in Rajasthan are as follows.

The average productivity of pulses (Table 1) is only 460 kg/ha but it ranges from 199 kg/ha (Moth bean) to 1719 kg/ha (Field pea). Year to year fluctuation in productivity of different pulses was also observed. The highest productivity i.e. 1067 kg/ha was observed during the year 2006-07 & the lowest productivity i.e. 497 kg/ha was recorded during the year 2008-09. The trend of area under pulse crop during the last ten years has also shown a wide fluctuation. Year to year and crop to crop variations are most pronounced.  The crop wise major pulse growing districts in Rajasthan are as follows.

Introduction

Nature is dynamic; it causes inheritable changes in all living organisms. For thousands of years, farmer around the world have been selecting and conserving varieties of different crop plants that they cultivated. This process has generated a rich wealth of varieties in each crop plant, seen to be most abundant in countries near the equator and India is no exception. In the world there are Mega centers of biodiversity of which aware present in India, this is because in India, the different soils and agro-climatic situations are present, so Indian farmers grow a large number of crops. Generation of Indian farmers, with their continued selection and conservation, has created a rich wealth of varieties in many crops. Therefore India is the original home of many crops such as rice, little and kodo millets, red gram, moth bean, jute, pepper, cardamom, many vegetables and fruit species. These plants were identified from the wild, selected and cultivated by Indian farmers over hundreds of years. The present wealth of varieties in India includes both crops that originated in the country and those that were introduced from the other countries during the distant and recent paste are soybean, sunflower, oil palm and kiwi fruit.

The Indian economy is predominantly rural and agriculture oriented. In agriculture, 85% of the holdings are less than two hectares and the declining trend in the average size of the farmer holdings, poses a serious problem. Majority of them are dry lands, which depend on erratic monsoon rains. The rest of the area is cultivated with supplemental irrigation. The farmers concentrate mainly on crop production, which is invariably subjected to a high degree of uncertainly income and employment.

In India the cultivable land is 143.8 million hectares and there is very little possibility of extending it further. Therefore, to meet the requirement of food grains for increasing population, the only option open is through time and effective space utilization in agriculture. The time concept relates to increasing the intensity of cropping under assured irrigated conditions, whereas space utilization pertains to building up of vertical dimension through multi-tier cropping and farming system approach. Thus by making use of these time and space concept either in irrigated or in rained areas, the productivity per unit area per unit time can be substantially enhanced. Therefore the only way to increase an agricultural production in the small/marginal units of farming is to increase the productivity per unit time and area. This may be achieved of quicker maturing varieties with equal yields or by improving techniques of culture, fertilizer use, weed and pest control.

Crop improvement

Crop improvement refers to the genetic alteration of plants to satisfy human needs. It deals with the improvement of crops and production of new crop varieties, which are far superior to existing types in all characters. In pre-history, our ancestors in various parts of the world brought into cultivation a few hundred species from the hundreds of thousands available. In the process they transformed elements of these species into crops though genetic alterations that involved conscious and unconscious selection, the differential reproduction of variants. Through a long history of trial and error, a relatively few plant species have become the mainstay of agriculture and thus the world’s food supply. This process of domestication involved the identification of certain useful wild species combined with a process of selection that brought about changes in appearance, quality, and productivity.

11. 1 Introduction

Agricultural drainage is the removal of excess water from the farmland for the purpose of providing favorable soil air environment for plant growth. Removal of water may take place form the surface or below the surface of the land. The practice of lowering ground water table below the root zone depth to improve the plant growth or to reduce the accumulation of salts in soil is also called as drainage.

Drainage system is broadly classified as surface and subsurface drainage. Removal of excess water over the land surface is known as surface drainage and that of removing water below the surface is known as subsurface drainage. The flow of water in the form of evaporation or evapotranspiration also play important role in improving drainage situation. It gives the idea of the time required to get the wetland workable though it is not called a type of drainage as because this is very slow process and cannot be controlled by the human activities. However, using of certain tree plants e. g. , Eucalytus, Poplar, Casurina or similar species in wet fields, which transpires at high rate and improves the drainage problem by lowering the shallow water table is the new idea known as bio-drainage.

1. Introduction

Storage is an important part of any food grain processing chain. Storage of raw and processed food grain has been used by humans since time immemorial as a prerequisite for insuring food security due to off time availability, and for holding seed grain for long periods (Pande and Mishra, 2012). After harvesting grains may be required to be stored for long periods before these are marketed or used as food or seed. The grain storage is mainly carried out for three purposes viz (i) to retain a supply of food (ii) to service a trading system and (iii) to retain seed for planting the following season (Hall, 1980). Storage is, therefore, carried out by the producer, trader, processor, and the exporter and at all these levels the methods adopted affect the quality of food stuffs. The length of time grains can be safely stored will depend on the condition it was harvested and the type of storage facility being utilized. Grain storage and handling is a major concern for food grain growers and processers worldwide (Mohan et al., 2011; Pande and Mishra, 2012). Depending upon the condition and uses food grains may be stored in different storage structures using traditional or modern storage methods. Different storage structures are used by farmers with the traditional names like Gumma, Oliya and Jute bag. Caswell (1973) recorded 50 to 60% of insect damage on food grain after six months of traditional storage. A typical range of storage methods encountered in tropics and subtropics region is given in Table 1.

1. Introduction to Organic Farming

Definition and Principles of Organic Farming

Organic farming is not merely a set of agricultural practices; it is a profound philosophy that seeks to redefine humanity’s relationship with the land. At its core, organic farming is an intricate dance with nature, a commitment to fostering biodiversity, ecological balance, and sustainability.

Defining Organic Farming

Organic farming is a departure from conventional agricultural methods that rely heavily on synthetic inputs. It is an agricultural system that embraces natural and traditional approaches to cultivation.

1. Introduction

India is a land of large varieties of fruits and vegetables due to its vast soil and climatic diversity. India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, with an annual production of fruits 45.5 Million tonnes and vegetables 90.8 Million tonnes. It contributes 10.23% and 14.45% of the total world production of fruits and vegetables (F&V) respectively (NHB, 2010). Though fruits and vegetables are grown only on 7–8% of gross cultivated area, these contribute more than 18.8% of the gross value of agricultural output and 52% export earnings from total agricultural produce. These have a high export potential of 20-30 times more foreign exchange per unit area than cereals due to higher yields and higher price available in the international market (Sen et al., 2012). According to estimates, the per capita consumption of fruits and vegetables in India is only around 46g and 130g which are far below the stipulation of a minimum of 92g and 300g respectively as recommended by the Indian Council of Medical Research and National Institute of Nutrition. The low availability is mainly due to considerably high post-harvest losses. About 15-20% of the fruits and vegetables are wasted every year in the country, due to poor post-harvest management and lack of infrastructural facilities for processing and storage, amounting to a revenue loss of over Rs. 625 billion.

The sensorial, nutritional, and organoleptic quality of fresh produce starts deteriorating after harvest as a result of soon after harvest the altered plant metabolism and microbial growth. The quality deterioration is the result of produce respiration and transpiration, senescence, ripening-associated processes, wound-initiated reactions, development of postharvest disorders, microbial proliferation leading to postharvest quality loss. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the respiration and ripening processes and the physiological and biochemical changes during ripening. The best way to reduce respiratory metabolism is to reduce the storage temperature. All biological processes proceed more slowly at lower temperature (Yahia, 2007). In general, O₂ levels must be reduced to less than 10 % to see a reduction in the rate of respiration. Respiration rate is temperature dependent; so, as the temperature reduces the amount of oxygen required also drops. Therefore, oxygen levels must be substantially reduced at low temperature for it to affect the rate of respiration. It must however, be ensured that O₂ levels do not fall below extinction point as anaerobic respiration and decay may occur. Tolerance to low O₂ varies between species and cultivars and is also time dependent. Commodities may be able to tolerate low O₂ for short periods of time. Low O₂ can also be tolerated when CO₂ is low.

Plant hormone is an organic compound synthesized in one part of the plant body and translocated to another part where in very low concentration it causes a physiological response. However, this definition could not demarcate the vitamins and other growth influencing substances from hormones. For this reason, the term Phytohormone was introduced with included vitamins, growth hormones and flowering hormones. Phytohormone can be defined as an organic substance produced naturally in higher plants, controlling growth or other physiological functions at a site remote from its place of synthesis and active in minute amounts, whereas, an organic substance, which promotes growth, i.e., irreversible increase in height or volume, when applied in low concentration to the shoots of plant is known as growth hormone.

The plant hormones are naturally occurring as they are synthesized by the plant. On the other hand, there are several manufactured chemicals, which often resemble the hormones in physiological action and molecular structures, are called growth regulators. Generally, there are five classes of phytohormones.

The phytohormones universally present in all plants are classified as under: