eChapters

Entomology, a Greek word entomoV, entomos, “ that is cut in pieces or engraved/segmented”, hence “insect”; and -logia, logia -study, is the scientific study of insects , a branch of arthropodology. The arthropods made their appearance during the earliest Devonian period while humans appeared only in Quarternary. Insects possess an immense degree of evolutionary maturity as against man, account for more than two-thirds of all known organisms, date back some 400 million years, and have many kinds of interactions with humans and other forms of life on earth. Entomology is a speciality within the field of biology and it is rooted in all human cultures from prehistoric times.

In India, insects were known from Vedic era and records of insects in India were evident from India’s mythological epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharatha. 

2.1 Nitrogenous biofertilizers

These biofertilizers augment nitrogen to the plants through fixation of atmospheric nitrogen, either symbiotically or asymbiotically. The major nitrogenous biofertilizers are:

2.1.1 Rhizobium

The word Rhizobium is a Greek word where “rhiza” refers to root, and “bios” refers to life. Rhizobium was first named by Frank (1889) which means ‘root living’ in Latin (Fig. 3). Some species of Rhizobium were later moved to new genera based on phylogenetic analysis. It consists of 49 rhizobial species and 11 non-rhizobial species.

Introduction
The process of culturing plant cells, tissues, organs and protoplast on artificial media under controlled and aseptic circumstances is known as ‘Plant Tissue Culture’. It is predicated on the idea of “Cellular totipotency”, which describes a cell’s capacity to develop into a whole plant in the right cultural environment. This characteristic of cells has broad applications in the manipulation of plant cells to enable fast plant multiplication and the in-vitro regeneration of whole plants following the genetic transformation. Around a century ago, the idea of tissue culture was first put forth, to grow entire plants in vitro from somatic cells (Haberlandt, 1902). The tissue culture system has advanced with the identification of different concentration, ratios of auxin and cytokinin, which are critical for the regeneration of adventitious roots and shoots (Skoog and Miller, 1957). Appropriate explant, or plant organ removed, including cotyledons, leaves, roots, shoot apices, nodal segments, hypocotyls, anthers, embryos, and seeds. The explants are thoroughly cleaned with sterile double-distilled water, surface sterilized with a disinfectant such as sodium hypochlorite or mercuric chloride and aseptically cultured in an artificial medium in test tubes/ flasks, jars, and Petri dishes. Several factors influence a plant’s capacity to regenerate, such as the presence of a plant growth regulator (Gerdakaneh et al., 2020), the explant type (Dhar and Joshi, 2005) and the basic medium’s composition (Sundararajan et al., 2017).
The most widely used media include major elements, carbohydrates, growth regulators (auxins, cytokinins etc.), microelements, vitamins, amino acids and several media compositions have been created specifically for plant tissue culture (Atkinson et al. 2012). While 2,4-dichloro phenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) at concentrations of 0.5-4.0 mg/L typically induces callus, or a homogeneous mass of undifferentiated cells, auxins at concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 5.0 mg/L, favour rooting by cell elongation. Similarly, cytokinin’s induce fast cell division and the growth of shoot buds/shoots. Agaragar, agarose, and GelriteTM are examples of chemically inert, powdered gelling agents added to the culture medium to solidify it before it is autoclaved. After the medium has been added to the culture containers, they are autoclaved. Explants in the culture vessels are injected under aseptic circumstances in a laminar air-flow cabinet equipped with high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters (pore size 0.2–0.3 mm). Explants that are placed in the right growth medium under the right circumstances dedifferentiate, or mature cells that have increased DNA/ RNA and protein production return to their meristematic state. Regrowth in the agar-gelled medium results in an amorphous mass of cells known as ‘callus’. Suspension culture, a method of cultivating cells in a liquid medium, produces a suspension of individual cells. Every three to four weeks, the developing tissue must be sub-cultured onto a new medium because an increase in cells or calli causes the medium to run out. In the end, the organogenesis pathway is utilized to create ordered structures like roots, branches, flower buds, etc. from these cells and tissues. The synthesis, preservation, and application of

Impact assessment extends programme evaluation by examining the broader and longer-term changes associated with an intervention, programme, policy or technology. In agricultural extension and rural development, impact assessment is important for determining whether interventions have produced meaningful, sustainable and attributable changes in farming communities, livelihoods, technology adoption, institutional systems and environmental conditions. This chapter introduces the concept, purpose and contexts of impact assessment and explains the Impact Assessment Framework through the relationship between inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes and impacts. It discusses the meaning and selection of impact indicators and examines social and behavioural, socio-cultural, technology-level, environmental and institutional indicators relevant to agricultural extension. The chapter further presents quantitative, qualitative, participatory and mixed-method approaches to impact assessment, including statistical and econometric methods where appropriate. Environmental Impact Assessment and Social Impact Assessment are also considered as important dimensions of comprehensive assessment. Particular attention is given to issues of causality, attribution, data quality, time lags and external influences that can affect the interpretation of impact findings

Abstract
The western Himalayan region is rich in a variety of natural resources owing to the existence of a range of biophysical and climatic interactions. Mountain inhabitants have been living in harmony with these natural resources for generations to meet their subsistence needs out of these resources.  However, recent decades have witnessed a substantial imbalance between man and nature that has adversely affected the livelihood of native people. Several anthropogenic and natural factors are responsible for this change. Furthermore, the exposure of mountain societies to outside world has opened up a number of new livelihood options based on both natural resources and other forms of human capital. The local people have adopted some livelihood practices suiting to the changed conditions at the expense of the age-old agri-silvi-pastoral mode of livelihood. There is an emerging challenge for policy makers and planners to make developmental interventions and tailor made livelihood options suiting to the changed scenario. Several government and non-government organizations and other agencies initiated a number of programmes that focus on natural resource management vis-à-vis livelihood improvement in the region. However, for want of cause and effect analysis many of these programmes are not yielding the desired results. This chapter provides an overview of the traditionally important livelihood practices of the western Himalayan region and some of the emerging livelihood supporting activities based on natural resources of the region. A case study of Bhimtal lake catchment where transformation of traditional livelihood has taken place at a rapid pace due to the influence of tourism and urbanization has also been included to highlight the emerging scenario. The paper suggests some useful policy options for planning livelihoods in the western Himalayan region of the country.

Farming system is a complex inter-related matrix of soil, plants, animals, implements, power, labour, capital and other inputs controlled in part by farm families and influenced by varying degrees of political, economic, institutional and social forces that operate at many levels. In farming system there is integration of farm enterprises such as cropping systems, animal husbandry, fisheries, forestry, sericulture, poultry etc.

Micronutrients are those elements essential for green plants but required in very small quantity for their growth and development. There are altogether eight micronutrient elements in soil consisting of iron, manganese, zinc, copper, boron, molybdenum and chlorine with the recent addition of nickel. These together with large number of other elements usually present in plants with small concentrations are formed as trace elements. Another element, cobalt is known to be required for microorganisms concerned mainly with nitrogen fixation in legumes affects indirectly the growth of many higher plants, thus, may be considered to be included in the list of essential micronutrient element. Similarly, Vanadium and sodium although present as beneficiary elements for plant growth may also have the possibilities to be enlisted into this group of elements.

Introduction

Since ancient times, addition of chemicals to food and food products has been done in order to to accomplish specific functions. Spices, smoke, vinegar, and alcohol were utilised to preserve foods more than 10,000 years ago. Usage of additives in food increased dramatically in the early 1900s, in tandem with advances in food chemistry and preservation. New, tasty, convenient, and healthy meals continue to be in high demand. As a result, by the early 1960s, over 2500 different types of additives were identified and utilized by developing countries in their diets. Basic foods are additive free, but as we increase the level of processing for conversion into an array of products, variety of additives are incorporated to increase the shelf life; to retain the nutritional value as well as to achieve higher standard of sensorial characteristics.

INTRODUCTION

Biodiversity  refers to varieties of life on the Earth including  animals, plants, microbes and genes within them, their habitats and ecosystems and all variations within a given ecosystem, biome or entire planet. Biodiversity is the basis of life on Earth, important for the functioning of ecosystems, provides us with products and services without which we cannot live. Consider our food range in India. It ranges from Indian bread (chapatti), rice and rice products and related curries and other varieties made out of different vegetables. These food items are made of wheat, paddy, maize, bajra, ragi, potato, tapioca, sweet potato,  yams and corns, pulses like pigeon pea, green and black gram, Bengal gram, soyabean, vegetables like tomato, brinjal, cucumber, pumpkin, drum stick, bitter gourd, snake gourd, bottle gourd and various gourds, French bean, amaranth and  so many leafy  vegetables, spices and condiments like chilly, cardamom, ginger, turmeric, pepper, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, fenugreek etc. This is the diversity of food we have in India. Similarly, all other groups such as herbal medicine, ornamentals, timber and non-timber species are also very diverse.

Abstract

Ladakh, a geographically isolated region, is known for its tough terrain and harsh climatic conditions. It remains cut off from rest of the country for 6-7 months in a year during winters. With limited food, fuel and other resources the people here have developed and sustained a long unique relationship with plants. They have been using both cultivated and wild ones as medicine, food, and fodder since centuries. The local populace possesses good knowledge of traditional methods of utilization of plant resources for diverse purposes, which they have acquired from their ancestors. However, this indigenous knowledge and age old practices are fast disappearing from the tribal communities, and there is an urgent need to save this treasure from getting irretrievably lost. Therefore, the present study is an attempt to document the various wild and cultivated plants along with their ethnobotanical uses as per the ancient practices of these tribal communities. For this purpose, an ethnobotanical survey was conducted in various villages of lower Ladakh. The investigation revealed a host of plants put to use by the natives in different indigenous ways. The scientific, family and local names of 50 species belonging to 48 genera and 31 families along with their uses have been enlisted in the present communication. As per the information gathered from the local inhabitants, these plants are categorized into five different groups. More than 50% of these are used as medicines, 38% are edible, 24% as fuel and 20% as fodder. Approximately 38% plants are employed in construction, as ornamentals, or sources of dyes, incense, cosmetics, etc.

Introduction

Vegetable crops are a big group of crop plants, consisting of diverse kinds with differing breeding systems and varying consumer preferences. In India there are native vegetables like eggplant (Solanum melongena), beans (Lablab purpureus), cucumber (Cucumis sativus) and a few gourds, namely smooth gourd (Luffa cylindrica), ridge gourd (Luffa acutangula), snake gourd (Trichosanthes anguina) and pointed gourd (Trichosanthes dioica), while there are several introduced crops and which have long history of domestication and adaptation like garden pea (Pisum sativum), onion (Allium cepa), bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria), watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) etc. and also some others like tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum), cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var.botrytis), cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata), chillies, (including Capsicum), frenchbean (Phaseolus vulgaris) etc, which have been introduced during the last 4 or 5 centuries. With such a diversity of crops, characterization and evaluation of genetic resources in each of them become a stupendous responsibility requiring extensive infrastructure facilities and varying methods of evaluation. The National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), New Delhi with its Regional Stations at Shimla, Bhowali, Akola, Thrissur, Jodhpur, Hyderabad, Umiam-Barapani, Base Stations at Ranchi, Cuttack and Satellite centre at Amravati and Indian Institute of Vegetable Research (IIVR), Varanasi-designated as National Active Germplasm Site (NAGS) for vegetable crops and Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bangalore, are holding over 40,000 germplasm collections in different vegetable crops.

A large number of lines have been collected from various parts of the country. A number of varieties have developed either through selection from local landraces or through hybridization resulting in development of a large number of open pollinated varieties with resistance to some important diseases, such as wilt. Also, a number of hybrid varieties have been developed both by public and private institutions, however there is a scope to increase further yield and nutritional quality using some of the modern techniques, such as molecular marker aided selection. The promising genetic resources utilized in vegetable improvement work have been described under following three heads

In India, being predominantly an agricultural country, livestock is emerging as a driving force in the growth of agricultural sector. Contribution of livestock to agriculture GDP has been rising steadily during the last three decades from 13.88% in 1980-81 to 27.28% in 2010-11 (BAHS 2012). About 70% population of the Country is engaged in agriculture and more than 50% of people below poverty line are associated with livestock production. India is blessed with a rich genetic resource of bovines, with an estimated number of 304.76 million (Livestock Census, 2007), which is 19% of the world. India continues to be the highest milk producing country in the world with an estimated production of 121.8 million tonnes during 2010-11 of which more than 53% is contributed by buffaloes (105.34 millions). Similarly, India ranks first in buffalo, second in cattle and goat, third in sheep, fourth in duck, fifth in chicken and sixth in camel population of the world. India is the third largest egg producer in the world (BAHS 2012). India posses a large treasure of domestic animal biodiversity with 37 breeds of cattle, 13 breeds of buffalo, 23 breeds of goat, 39 breeds of sheep, 6 breeds of horse/pony, 8 breeds of camel, 2 breeds of pig and 15 breeds of chicken registered under National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources, Karnal.

1. Introduction

Thermodynamics is science of energy and may be defined as “The branch of science which deals with the Interoction between the heat and work is referred as Thermodynamics

’Thermo’ means heat and ’dynamics’ means motion. It deals with energy interaction when work is converted into heat energy or vice versa. Precisely, thermodynamics may be defined as a science which deals with energy transformation from one form to another and dealing with relationship among the properties ofthe system. In power plants, internal combustion engines, boilers, nozzles, diffusers etc. are the example where heat is converted into work. In compressor, turbine, cooling of engines by water, application of brakes in a vehicle etc. are the examples where work is converted into heat.

Tomato
1. Damping off
Pathogen
Pythium aphanidermatum
Fusarium spp.
Sclerotium spp.
Symptoms
Damping off is the most important disease of tomato. Several seed and soil borne fungi can kill before the tender redical and plumule establish in the nursery bed. The pre emergence damping off and seed rotting is the usual cause of poor seedling stand. This type of damping off causes hidden loss but the post emergence damping off is more serious problem. Seedlings get infected near the soil line (collar region) after emergence and give wire stem symptoms. The tissue become soft, water soaked and weak causing the seedlings fall over and later on they die. The entire action is so fast that leaves remain green but they are unable to stand further.

All animals, including domestic animals and humans, depend entirely on their sense organs and nervous system for information about external environment and the internal status of their bodies. Sensory inputs, together with the genetically inherited organization and properties of the nervous system is responsible for the all knowledge and determines how each animal behaves.

Nervous system may be viewed as an anatomical arrangement of neurons with a large number of different kinds of synapses through which sensory information from the periphery of the body is transmitted through numerous sensory neurons to a set of neurons in a central region of the body, where the information is integrated and from which impulses are then directed out through numerous motor neurons to effectors.

The central nervous system is distinguished from the peripheral nervous system in that it is made up of a concentration of tracts, ganglia and nuclei. Thus nervous system is a structural and functional mechanism involved in the coordination of an animals responses to internal and external environment.

Neurons : The central and peripheral portion of the nervous system are comprised of nerve cells (neurons) and supporting tissues.

Supporting tissues : The supportive tissues of the peripheral nervous elements consist primarily of connective tissue and specialized cells called neurolemma or Schwann cells. The supportive tissues of central nervous system are glia cells or neuroglia. These cells have functional and nutritive roles in addition to their roles as supportive tissue.

1.    Introduction    468

2.    Biofuel Cell    470

    2.1.    Microbial-based Biofuel Cells, 471
        2.1.1.    Microbial bioreactors producing H2 for conventional fuel  cells, 475
        2.1.2.    Microbial fuel cells producing electrochemically active metabolites in  
                the anodic compartment, 476
        2.1.3.    Microbial fuel cells operating in the presence of artificial electron relays, 477
        2.1.4.    Microbial fuel cells producing electricity during wastewater treatment, 483
        2.1.5.    Microbial fuel cell producing  electricity from acetate or butyrate, 484

Introduction

Work-dwelling or workplace well-being describes all aspects of the working lifespan of workers from the point of view of quality, safety and physical environment. It pronounces the workers’ feelings about their work, their working environment, the climate at work and work organization. According to WHO (2010), a healthy workplace environment not only merely finds the absence of illness but also a state of comprehensive physical, mental and social comfort. Work and health hence have a reciprocal relationship that concerns occupational health wellbeing and confers decent work environments i.e. (i) payment of reasonable income; (ii) safety-security in employment and working environment; (iii) guarantee of equal opportunities and treatment for all; (iv) enclosure of social protection for the workers and their families; (v) offering prospects for personal development and inspiring social integration and (vi) allowance of workers to express their apprehensions and to organize (ILO, 1999). In the entrepreneurial sphere, globalization along with fast industrial progress is supposed to be accountable for occupational health hazards and related workplace ill-being, work insecurity, the lack of protection for workers’ health and well-being in the form of work-related accidents, illness and stress, lack of workers’ compensation and paid sick leave, lack of maternity protection, excessive hours of work, etc.(https://www.ilo.org/). This was evidenced in the recent report of ILO (2023) where it was found that 2.3 million people around the world surrender to work-related accidents or diseases every year which links to over 6000 deaths every solitary day (www.ilo.org). Subsequently, there are about 340 million occupational accidents where 160 million are fatalities of work-related illnesses annually in the World.

Introduction
Market milk holds a crucial place in human nutrition, economic development, and the dairy industry. Its consumption patterns and marketing strategies continue to adapt, influenced by evolving lifestyles, consumer preferences, and advancements in processing and packaging technologies. Regulatory frameworks ensure its safety and quality, while the wide range of milk types caters to diverse dietary and cultural requirements around the world.
Modern dairy farms rely on advanced milking machines that prioritize both efficiency and hygiene. These machines use vacuum-operated devices to gently extract milk from cows’ teats without causing discomfort. The collected milk is immediately transferred into refrigerated tanks to maintain its freshness and prevent bacterial growth. Speed and efficiency in transporting milk to processing facilities are critical to ensuring its safety and quality.
At the processing plant, milk undergoes standardization, an essential step where the fat content is adjusted to produce different types of milk, such as whole milk, toned milk, double-toned milk, and skimmed milk. This ensures uniformity in fat levels, meeting market specifications and regulatory standards such as prescribed by FSSAI in case of India.
The milk then undergoes pasteurization, a process of heating it to a specific temperature for a defined period to eliminate harmful bacteria while preserving its nutritional value. Pasteurization has significantly improved milk safety, reduced health risks, and extended its shelf life. Following this, the milk is homogenized, where fat molecules are evenly distributed to prevent cream separation. This centres a smooth texture and consistent flavor preferred by consumers.

It is well recognized that sustainable management and sustainable livelihoods are inseparable. If neglected and if the present trends are not corrected in time, everyone’s future is threated. On the other hand, there is increasing recognition of living examples and demonstrated evidences of how the eco agricultural practices can help provide a solution to some of the major problems of today and tomorrow. Also, the main stream international agencies are emphasizing that agro-ecological approaches are the way forward. What the policy makers, farmers and people would like to know is How !it has been our experience that is most countries of the developing world the answer to ‘How’ of eco-agricultural is being demanded! In January 2016, a global team was invited by the office of Prime Minister of India to discuss and prepare an approach paper on Agro-ecology ( or Eco Agriculture including Organic farming). The team consisted of J. Fagan, Hans Harren, M.H. Mehta and A. Thimmaiah who after intensive discussions had prepared several presentations – first given to the group of top officials of Government of India departments and institutions as organized through the office of the prime minister. This was later followed by a meeting with Prime Minister Modi. During this meeting, the clear question asked was, “You need not convince us that agro ecology and organic farming are the way forward, but the question is how? How do we expand this system to national scale ?”

In drip irrigation water is distributed throughout the field from a system of pressurized pipelines. The pressure must be sufficient to overcome the frictional losses and elevation differences. The system also deserves discharge from all the emitters and the emitters must dissipate the pressure difference between the inlet to emitters and atmospheric pressure.

The flow through the drip pipes may be laminar or turbulent or a combination of both. The laminar flow is characterized by the layers of cylindrical tubes of which the maximum velocity is at the center about double of the average velocity. The turbulent flows having pulsatory cross current velocities and maximum velocity is about only 1.25 time of the average velocity. Turbulent f lows loss more energy than laminar flow due to development of the cross current velocity.

Reynolds Number

The criterion for distinguishing the flow from laminar to turbulent was developed by Osborne Reynolds (1842-1900) and was named as Reynolds number; Re . The Reynolds number in circular pipes flowing full is expressed as