eChapters

1. Monsoon: Types and Behavior in India

The monsoon is a dynamic and vital climatic phenomenon in India, playing a pivotal role in shaping the country’s weather patterns, agricultural practices, and overall water resource management. This seasonal shift in wind patterns brings about distinct wet and dry periods, impacting various regions differently. Understanding the types and behavior of the monsoon is essential for effective planning and adaptation to this critical aspect of India’s climate (fig 1).

Types of Monsoon in India

1. Southwest Monsoon (June to September)

The southwest monsoon is the lifeline of India’s agriculture, bringing the much needed rainfall that supports a majority of the country’s crops.

4. Research Setting
Research setting presents the set of an ecosystem, here social-ecological systems, where the variables and characters are created, evolved, characterized and interact with others. Research setting is not a stale or lentic ecosystem rather it is agile, evolving and dynamic, so in this present work, we have perceived research setting as the performing social-ecology which sustains and keeps constantly characterizing the behaviour and dynamics of the variables under study, e.g. a settlement in close proximity to natural water body is expected to have interaction with ethiophonal diversity and performing economy therewith similarly, another set of respondents with the same set of variables but living in a forest ecosystem. The interaction and exposition of the variables will follow a different expression and pathway. So, while we will go for modelling, with the same set of variables but in different ecological set up, it is expected that the nature of interaction and expression will follow the unique characters of the concerned ecosystem.
4.1. Area of Study
The area of investigation of this study is situated in the state of West Bengal located in the eastern part of India. The state of West Bengal in eastern India has unique social and ecological backgrounds which influence the living standard and behavioural patterns of the people in many ways. The present research design has accommodated two agro- ecological set ups in West Bengal, India, and these are New Alluvial and Terai zone.

3.1 Conceptual Framework

Aconceptual framework is an analytical tool that is used to get a comprehensive understanding of the study. It embodies the specific direction by which the research will have to be undertaken. It is generally constructed to provide the researcher the element ofattainable and researchable problems and ideas supported by methodology, design, prospective analysis and empirical conclusion. The conceptual framework is often called as the research paradigm.

The subject matter of the present research is Resilience and productivity of agriculture in different social-ecology: the farmers’ perception, status and interpretation. It is expected that the terminologies and concepts used to frame up the topic need to undergo brief explanation for the better understanding of its meaning.

Resilience: Resilience is about anticipating, planning and reducing disaster risk to effectively protect persons, communities and countries, their livelihoods, health, cultural heritage, socio-economic assets and ecosystems. The ideas of ‘bounce back’, ‘spring forward’ and ‘build back better’ are often used in the context of resilience.

Productivity: Productivity is commonly defined as a ratio between the output volume and the volume of inputs. It measures how efficiently production inputs, are being used in an economy to produce a given level of output.

Agriculture: The word agriculture derives from the Latin ager (field) and colo (cultivate) signifying, when combined, the Latin agricultura: field or land tillage. But the word has come to subsume a very wide spectrum of activities that are integral to agriculture and have their own descriptive terms, such as cultivation, domestication, horticulture, arboriculture, and vegeculture, as well as forms of livestock management such as mixed crop-livestock farming, pastoralism, and transhumance. The Oxford English Dictionary (1971) defines agriculture as “The science and art of cultivating the soil, including the allied pursuits of gathering in the crops and rearing livestock; tillage, husbandry, farming.”

In any social science research, it is hardly possible to conceptualize and perceive the data and interpret the data more accurately until and unless a clear understanding of the characteristics in the area and attitude or the behavior of people is at commend of the interpreter who intends to unveil an understanding of the implication and behavioral complexes of the individual who live in the area under reference and form a representative part of the larger community. The socio-demographic background of the local people in a rural setting has been critically administered in this section. A research setting is a surrounding in which input and elements of research are contextually imbibed, interactive and mutually contributive to the system performance. Research setting is immensely important in the sense because it is characterizing and influencing the interplays of different factors and components. Besides the investigators must also have the basic knowledge about the socio demographic background of the people so as to have an easy understanding of their knowledge, attitude and behavior.

Research setting refers to the detail information of an area where the study has been conducted. The study area, generally comprises of a particular geographical area viz. a state, district, block, or gram panchayat area selected according to the convenience of the investigator who possess adequate knowledge regarding the location, communication facility etc. of the locality so that he/she can easily approach each and every corner of the area for data collection. Here. in this study the data collection was done mostly over telephone based on the interview schedule due to Covid-19 pandemic situation.

India is a major exporter of vegetables with 10th position in the world. In the past, the Dexport of Indian vegetables was restricted to potatoes and fresh onions, however, now, the Government of India finds great opportunities for expanding exports of several vegetables including lettuce, fresh peppers, tomatoes, squashes, gherkins, etc. Under World Trade Organization (WTO) regime, the development of stronger seed industry and improved production technology will give India a competitive edge in global market. New opportunities and challenges are emerging every day in the dynamic and global vegetable-based industries. However, such opportunities can be harnessed only if assured quality, in terms of organic farming and reduced pesticide residues, is maintained (Shanmugasundaram, 2004).

As biotechnology increasingly affects almost all aspects of human life, it is essential that the science behind this technology is explained in simple terms to the public to eliminate the misconceptions that may inhibit its acceptability. The basic question that is often asked is what is a gene, a promoter and a terminator? Genes are the basic units of heredity, composed of DNA sequences, which are transmitted from parents to offspring and which, independently or in combination with other genes, control specific traits in an organism. These traits may be, for example, plant height, flower color, fruit and seed size together with regulatory processes, such as assimilate partitioning and drought resistance. Genes are the basis for both the similarity and differences that exist among organisms, and are transmitted from one generation to another.

Abstract

Cultural knowledge on food and beverages is as old as human civilization. However, the traditional knowledge related to food habits and ecosystem conservation has been found to be unique in each cultural and ethnic group across the world. From time immemorial, the Nyishi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh has developed an unique set of traditional knowledge that allows the better utilization of food bioresources of their natural surrounding to sustain their livelihood. Historically, such knowledge was transmited through customary laws, folklore, and oral literature. Literature studies have revealed the lack of scientific investigation on ethnobiology of traditional food bioresources used by the Nyishi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. Hence, in the present investigation, an attempt has been made to unveil the hidden age-old cultural food and beverage knowledge practised among the Nyishi of Papum Pare and Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh. A total of 63 plant and 41 animal species have been reported during field survey in 4 circles covering a total of 12 different localities which includes rural, semi-urbans and urban type ecosystem in the 2 selected districts.

Plant biodiversity, in particular, is arguably the single greatest resource that humankind has garnered from nature during our long cultural development. Nowhere is the value of biodiversity more evident than in our food supply. Roughly one third of all plant species have edible fruits, tubers, nuts, seeds, leaves, roots, or stems. The World Health Organization estimates that 3.5 billion people in developing countries rely on plant-based medicine for their primary health care, in which tuber crops also play a major role (Tuxill, 1999). There are 25 hot spots of biodiversity of which Western Ghats and Eastern Himalayan are the most important ones in India. About 7% of world flora and 6.5% of world fauna are in India. Indo-Burma region is one of the eight hottest hot spots of the world, and is the centre of origin of tuber crops like Dioscorea, Colocasia, Amorphophallus and Alocasia.

Economic System

The three economic problems What, How and to whom to produce are common to all societies or economics. But different countries follow different approaches to solve basic economic problems. These approaches are called economic systems. There are 3 important economic systems.

1. Command economies
2. Market economies and
3. Mixed economies

1. Command economies (Socialist economies): In a system like this, the government controls all aspects of production and distribution. Such a government might be dictatorial or it might be democratic. Main features of socialism are public ownership of means of production, Economic planning, Economic equality, lack of competition, elimination

Heterosis

The superiority of F₁ hybrid over both its parents in terms of yield or some other characters or heterosis is increased vigours, growth, yield or function of a hybrid over the parents, resulting from crossing of genetically diverse organisms. The term heterosis was first coined by Shull in 1914. Generally heterosis manifested as an increase in vigour, size, growth, yield or some other characteristics. But in some cases, hybrid may be inferior to the weaker parent this is also regarded as heterosis.

9.1 Learning Objectives
After completing this chapter, you should be able to:
i) Understand the concept of Sample, Population, Sampling Frame, Sample Size, etc.;
ii) Differentiate between Probability and Non-Probability Sampling methods;
iii) Understand the various methods of sampling;
iv) Recognize Sampling and Non-Sampling errors;
v) Determine Sample Size.

Proper soil management without impairing soil health is the prerequisite for achieving higher productivity from agriculture land. The arable soils of tropics and subtopics are poor in organic matter due to high temperature and intense microbial activity. The importance of organic matter in improving soil fertility through maintenance of optimum levels of soil organic matter as well as plants nutrients is well recognized. There is need to encourage more ecofriendly and productive farming system.

A growing number of farmers, ecologists and scientists are coming to conclusion that conventional farming can not be sustained because in the end it does more harm than good and it is high time to think of sounder ways of farming which are healthy for the soil, environment, plants, animals and human beings.

The practices of economically sound, viable and culturally appropriate agriculture is termed as sustainable agriculture. The excessive and imbalanced use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides on soil and plant in not only harmful to soil microflora and fauna but also reduces the productivity potential of the land. The conventional intensive agriculture has depleted the soil organic matter content and plant nutrients besides the susceptibility of crops to pest and disease. Nitrates the ultimate product of N- fertilizers pollute the ground of water and food, has higher levels of non-protein nitrogen (NPN). Increasing levels of NPN in human bodies have been reported. Soil is a dynamic living system and if it is not manured to feed soil biota, soil health gets deteriorated which is essential for cycling of plants nutrients.

Abstract

Agriculture, which was once a livelihood for millions, is now turning into a not -so-profitable occupation. The interest has reduced especially among the youth because of its input intensive nature. Among all other  things, the most important input in profitable and sustainable agriculture is timely information. However, with the increasing value of the ratio of farmers to extension personnel, getting timely information is a challenge. Then again, rationally used, we are surrounded by communication devices and the most essential and affordable of all are mobile phones. They have made communication easier, faster, affordable and profitable. The boom in mobile based agro-advisory services in the developing countries around the world has found its own subscriber base among the bottom of the pyramid farmers in rural areas and has been developing their economic conditions. Their services range from crop information, market price alerts to holistic agricultural information which are available free of cost and under subscription.

The major components of soil consisting with mineral and organic matter, water and air produces a three phase systems of solid, liquid and gas. Many of the soil properties influencing crop growth and other uses depend mostly on the relative proportions of these components as well as the size, shape and arrangements of the solid matters. The physical properties of soil have strong significance in sustaining agricultural productivity. Fertiliser alone or in conjunction with suitable crop varieties and plant protection measures cannot be sufficient towards improving crop productivity unless the soil physical properties are maintained at satisfactory level. Improvement and restoration of physical properties in soil are necessary for protection of soil resources against degradation. The physical properties of soil discussed in this chapter includes soil densities, texture, structure, porosity and consistency of soils and colour of the soil.

Phosphorus is one of the essential plant nutrients, which is required in optimum amounts for proper growth of plants and soil biota. Being a constituent of ATP it is involved in various processes such as cell division, energy generation and transfer of genetic characteristics and regulation of metabolic pathways (Theodorou and Plaxton, 1993). Phosphorus constitutes about 0.2% plant dry weight (Schachtman et al., 1998). The average soil contains 0.05% phosphorus but only one tenth of this is available to plants due to its poor solubility and chemical fixation in soil (Narayansamy et al., 1981, Barber, 1984). About 98 percent of Indian soils have inadequate supply of available phosphorus (Ghosh and Hasan 1979, Hasan, 1994). A survey of Indian soils showed that out of 363 districts, only 2,2% were high, 51.5% medium and 46.3% were low in phosphorus content (Ghosh 1982).

The problem of P fertilization may become serious in coming years because of the fact that manufacture of phosphatic fertilizers requires the use of non renewable resources such as high grade rock phosphate and sulphur which are becoming costlier. The situation is further aggravated by the fact that P is readily fixed in the soil and the average utilization efficiency of added fertilizer P by plants ranges from 15-25% only (Gaur 1982, 1990). The recent report showed that 42 per cent of soil samples fell in low category, 38 per cent in medium and 20 per cent in high category (Motsara, 2002). It has been observed that the vast alluvial tracts of the country are either low or medium in available P. Hence they need P application at recommended rates.

Abstract

Since pre-historic times plants have tendered their services to mankind in the form of food, shelter and medicine. Due to the advancement of human civilization, various folklore systems of medicines were developed across the globe. Among the various folklore system of medicine, Sowa-Rigpa” is one of the oldest well recognised and widely accepted system of folk-lore medicine in the world. It is one of the commonly used of system of medicine in different parts of Tibet, Bhutan, China, former Soviet Union (some parts), Himalayan ranges, Magnolia and, Nepal. The exact origin of Sowa-Rigpa system of medicine is still not known. In the present scenario due to the awareness among the people about the determental effects of the modern chemical drugs, people preferred to use herbal based system of medicine to treat diseases. So, it is needed to understand the floristic wealth of tradional system of medicine to identify the important plants with potential source of drug candidate molecules. In the present chapter an attempt has been made to study the folklore plants used in Tibetan Mountain based Sowa-Rigpa system of medicine and food. Total 332 plant species presented as the most important in Sowa-Rigpa system of medium.

Among the various natural resources upon which all living organisms depend, soil is the unique because of its non-renewable in nature, heterogeneity in space and time and susceptibility to degradation inflicted by biotic as well as abiotic agents. Whereas, escalating population demands, in one way, to bring more land under the plough for providing food, fodder, fuel and fibre, simultaneously, on the other way, these finite natural resources are dwindling by leaps and bound, through overexploitations and mismanagement, the combined effect of which leads to land degradation, a serious global threat and major environmental issues in the present times.

Introduction
The early human beings undertook extensive exploration of wild species in different plant species before selection followed by domestication for food and other purposes. The identification and selection of innumerable wild plant species and their domestication formed an integral part of early agriculture. Thus the organized cultivation of plant species is the result of selection in and among numerous wild species followed by domestication. It started around 9000-11000 years ago and has given birth to agriculture. The evolution of numerous human civilisations/settlements across the globe is largely shaped by agriculture. Selection continued during domestication which has led to the improvement in the wild plant species and transformed wild plant species into cultivated crop plants. Subsequently, the crop plants were differentiated into distinct landraces depending on morphological features, adaptation, economic use, etc. across different continents on Earth. Selection by humans and/or by nature is a continuous and dynamic process and will continue in future as well. However, a deep understanding of genetic diversity in crop species is essential for successful selection by human beings (Naqvi et al., 2022). The objective of the selection and domestication were dynamic and varied depending on cultural, social, economic and climatic factors. In general, the major objective of selection was to increase yield and bring desirable changes in valuable traits of economic importance. The significance of selection has increased over the years and will continue to increase in future as well. The procedure and methods followed while selecting traits or genotypes of economic importance have led to the birth of a new discipline, plant breeding. In the early years, plant breeding was more of an art than a science. As science progressed, the increased understanding of the genetics of traits complemented plant breeding with scientific back-up. Subsequently, genetics has become the basis of selection, the essence of plant breeding.
Globally, the demand for food, fodder, fuel, energy etc. is increasing continuously and increased crop production is considered as the most viable and sustainable answer or solution. The major driving force for increased demand is the growing population. However, the challenges to increasing crop production are also many namely, the decreasing arable land for agriculture, changing climate (increased extreme temperatures and altered rainfall patterns etc.), decreasing natural resources like water and energy etc. (Razzaq et al., 2021). Further, global warming also impacts the overall agricultural production across crops adversely. In this scenario, the role of plant breeding is vital to sustain higher crop production on a sustainable basis. The responsibility of plant breeders also increases in terms of the development of new, high-yielding, stress (biotic and abiotic) tolerant, high-quality and higher resource use efficient genotypes continually. Historically, conventional/traditional plant breeding has made significant progress in several crops in terms of increasing production, productivity, stress tolerance, nutritional value, etc. Conventional plant breeding relied fundamentally on extensive evaluation of available germplasm for a range of traits of economic importance and utilization of genetic diversity found in the landraces and closely related species (primary and secondary gene pools) (Prohens, 2011; Mangal et al., 2024). The success in conventional plant breeding largely depends on the expertise of breeders while undertaking phenotypic selection. It mainly involved selection within broad genetic base germplasm like landraces, open-pollinated varieties, exploration of wild and related species, and their evaluation for traits of interest, followed by hybridization and cyclical selection (Hallauer and Carena, 2009). The

Chemicals are commonly employed to manage plant diseases, pests, and weeds, but they are only effective if administered promptly once an infestation has been discovered. These chemicals must be sprayed, dusted, or misted over the ground and plants. Since the chemicals are expensive, it is important to have tools for applying them evenly and effectively. Crop Protection Products (CPP) like herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides work best when they are used at the right time during the crop’s most productive times. This problem is getting worse because there aren’t enough people to do the work. In this situation, the only choice that makes sense is to automate the application process. Most of the time, poisons are put on with dusters or sprayers. Dusting is the easier way to apply chemicals. It works best with movable equipment and usually only needs simple tools, but it is less effective than spraying because the dust doesn’t stick around as long. High volume spraying is usually efficient and reliable, but it is more expensive than low volume spraying, which fixes some of the problems with the first two methods while keeping the things that work well about them.

Introduction
In the ever-evolving landscape of agriculture, the intersection of science and technology continually reshapes the way we approach crop improvement. Among the most revolutionary advancements in recent years is the advent of genome editing technologies. These powerful tools offer unprecedented precision and efficiency in modifying the genetic makeup of plants, holding immense promise for revolutionizing the field of plant breeding. Genome editing plays a crucial role in plant breeding by enabling plant breeders to make precise and targeted changes to the DNA of crops, offering significant advantages over conventional breeding methods. Besides, crop improvement, these new breeding tools shorten the time needed to introduce desirable traits into crops, from decades to just a few years. They have revolutionized plant breeding by providing breeders with the ability to efficiently create crops that are more resilient, better adapted, and can produce higher yields with fewer resources, ultimately contributing to sustainable food production and addressing the challenges posed by climate change and population growth.
This comprehensive review aims to explore the transformative potential of genome editing technologies in genetic improvement of crop plants. The review will commence by elucidating the underlying mechanisms of genome editing technologies, offering insights into the molecular machinery that drives precise DNA modifications mediated by ZFNs, TALENs, CRISPR/Cas, base editing, prime editing and other new variants of CRISPR/Cas systems, highlighting their respective strengths and limitations. From enhancing crop productivity and quality to conferring resistance against biotic and abiotic stresses, these technologies offer a versatile toolkit for addressing pressing agricultural challenges. Case studies and examples from recent research will illuminate the successes and potential pitfalls of employing genome editing in crop improvement efforts. Besides, the regulatory and ethical considerations surrounding the deployment of genome editing in agriculture will be addressed. In conclusion, this comprehensive review seeks to provide a holistic perspective on harnessing genome editing technologies in plant breeding. By elucidating the scientific principles, applications, regulatory challenges, and ethical considerations, we hope to facilitate informed discourse and decision-making surrounding the integration of these transformative tools into agricultural practices. As we stand at the precipice of a new era in crop improvement, embracing the potential of genome editing holds the promise of unlocking sustainable solutions to global food security challenges.