eChapters

Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus L.) is a member of the family Caryophyllaceae. Dianthus word was first coined by Theophrastus from Greek word “dios” meaning divine and “anthos” meaning flower. It is a half hardy, perennial plant, propagated commercially by terminal cuttings. It is being produced as a cut flower in the world. Carnation cut flower trade contributed about 15% of the world flower market. Till now, new carnation varieties have been produced mainly through conventional breeding method. The breeding procedure typically consists of hybridization, self-pollination and selection (Holly and Baker, 1992). The breeding programme did not get enough momentum due to heterozygosity, limited gene pool and inadequate knowledge of genetic make up. However genetic engineering and molecular breeding have opened the way to achieve novel colour and good vase life of flowers.

ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION

It is native of Mediterranean region and its distribution is restricted to Greece, Italy, Sicily and Sardinia (Tutin et al., 1993). According to Pliny, the centre of origin of carnation is Spain. The generic name Dianthus comes from writing of the Theophrastus who lived about 300 BC; dios, divine and anthos, flower; the flower of the gods. The species name caryophyllus is coined from Greek word Caryon, nut and phyllon, leaf. Linnaeus chose the species name, caryophyllus, after the genus of clove, as the fragrance from carnation is reminiscent of clove. The common word carnation probably comes from a Greek word coronation because of its use as decorating the crowns of Greek athletes during ancient times. Carnation has been cultivated for over 2000 years and today commercial cultivation is the result of 200 years of improvement and breeding. During sixteenth century its improvement work was started in various countries. The gardens of Italy, France, Germany, Holland and England have contributed much to the development of cultivars. The natural climates for carnation occur near 30^o N or S latitudes of equator and on the western edges of the continents.

Introdction

Fruits are an important supplement to the human diet, as they provide minerals, vitamins and fiber required for maintaining good health. Fruits are also rich in phytochemicals (7, xanthophylls, polyphenols, flavonoids, phenolic acids, organic acids etc.) which possess good antioxidant properties. India’s diverse climatic conditions ensure availability of almost all the varieties of fresh fruits and vegetables. According to FAO (2021), the country ranks first in the production of bananas (26.45%), mangoes (including mangosteens and guavas) (43.80%) and papayas (39.30%). The scenario of horticulture crops in India has become very encouraging. The percentage share of horticulture output in agriculture has become 33 per cent (Anonymous 2021). India has witnessed increase in horticulture production over the last few years. Significant progress has been made in area expansion resulting in higher production. Over the last decade, the area under horticulture grew by 2.1 per cent per annum and annual production increased by 3.9 per cent. During 2020-21, the production of horticulture crops was 334.60 million tonnes from an area of 27.74 million hectares. The production of fruits has increased from 76.42 million tonnes in 2011-12 to 108.34 million tonnes in 2022-23 (Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2022). The area under cultivation of fruits stood at 7.05 million hectares. The total production of fruits in the year 2020-21 was highest in case of Andhra Pradesh (17.70 million tonnes) followed by Maharashtra (11.73 million tonnes) and Uttar Pradesh (11.23 million tonnes) (Anonymous 2021). India now is the second largest producer of vegetables and fruits in the world. The country ranks at first position in the production of banana, mango, lime and lemon, papaya and okra. The area and production of fruits in India is presented in Table 1. The fruits namely banana, mango, citrus, papaya, guava, grapes, apple, pineapple and sapota account for more than 85 per cent of the total production of fruits. The other fruits which are produced in India are almond, walnut, jackfruit, bael, ber, custard apple, kiwi, passion fruit, peach, pear, plum, strawberry etc.

THEORY
    ·    Father of Extension: James Stuart
    ·    Word Extension: Derived from Latin roots “ex”    - Out
                                                              tensio”    - Stretching
    ·    Extension term originated in England as University Extension in 1866.
    ·    The term Extension Education first used in 1873 by Cambridge University.
    ·    Philosophy of Extension (Kelsey and Hearne, 1967): How to think.
    ·    Binet test: Intelligence test (IQ).
    ·    Function of Extension: Change in Attitude, Skill and Knowledge of an individuals.
    ·    Extension Education Process:  Extension education is a participative and continuous process.
    ·    Learning Situation: It is a condition or environment in which all the elements necessary for promoting learning are present. 
    ·    Elements of effective learning situations in Extension are:

Abstract

Medicinal plants growing around us are the biggest gift to mankind from the nature. They grow abundantly and over centuries, humans have learned how to utilise plants for the treatment of illness. The great Himalayan belt is home to many endemic medicinal plant species. These plants are the rich source of traditional medicines and form a basis for livelihood of rural and indigenous populations. The present study is aimed to investigate the medicinal wealth of Bani valley that lies in Kathua district, (J&K) which is a part of Western Himalaya. Due to varying climatic conditions, terrains and forest types, the valley is home to various endangered and endemic medicinal plant species. A total 231 plant species belonging to 69 families ranging from angiosperms, gymnosperms and cryptogams (lycophytes and ferns) were documented by frequent field surveys and reviewed by published literatures and floras. Out of 231 plant species, herb species were 142, shrub species were 43 and tree species were 46. Asteraceae was recorded as dominant family followed by Fabaceae, Lamiaceae, Rosaceae, Polygonaceae, Ranunculaceae, Poaceae, Solanaceae, Acanthaceae and Urticaceae. Ethnobotanical data used for various ailments and diseases were obtained from local tribes.

The Sun is the primary source of heat to the Earth and its atmosphere. The heat received from other celestial bodies as well as the interior of the Earth is rather too significant. The distance that separates the Earth from the Sun is about 149.0 million km. The diameter of the Sun measures roughly about 1.3824 million km. The surface temperature of the Sun is estimated between 5500^o C and 6100^o C. (or 5762^o K).

The weight of the sun is about 1.9 X 10 30kg. The radius is 6.97 X 10 8 m or the diameter of the sun is 14 X 10 5 km. The mass of the earth is 6 X 10 24 kg, the radius is 6.4 X 10 6 m. The gravitational force of the earth is 9.81m/s². Whereas the sun‘s attractive force is 274m/s². This is 25 times higher than earth’s gravitational force.

Introduction

Our national food security depends on our ability to conserve all our biological wealth.

Dr. M.S. Swaminathan (Biodiversity, Principle and Conservation, 2002)

Variation is the law of the nature. It occurs everywhere and every moment. The variety and variability of organisms and ecosystem is referred to as biological diversity. Biodiversity is the most significant asset and constitutes enduring resources for supporting the continued existence of human societies. The agricultural biological diversity more commonly referred to as agro-biodiversity, has been fast emerging as a strong, evolutionary divergent line from the biodiversity, which deals with life form at large (Kumar and Asija , 2002). Agro-biodiversity is basic to the farming system.

1.1 Introduction

Climate change is evident from the observation of increase in global average air and ocean temperatures, precipitation and extreme rainfall, widespread melting of ice, storms / storm surges flooding and rising global mean sea level, as recorded in the Fourth Assessment Report of IPCC. Eleven of the last twelve years (1995-2006) rank among the twelve warmest years in the instrumental record of global surface temperature (since 1850). 

Fruit ripening is a phenomena during which horticulture produce undergoes a series of complex physical and biochemical changes initiated through a series of hormones (Ethylene, auxin, abscisic acid (ABA), gibberellins, jasmonic acid, etc.) to attain maximum physiological maturity and favourable organoleptic properties. These changes lead to alterations in colour, texture, aroma, flavour and nutrient composition. In a nut shell, ripening involves increase in pulp to peel ratio, solubilisation of pectic substances, degradation of complex carbohydrates, organic acids and chlorophyll, accumulation sugars, flavour volatiles, polyphenolic compounds and pigments (carotenoids, xanthophylls and anthocynanins). The extent of these changes guide harvesting, readiness for processing and consumption decisions, with physic-chemical alterations serving as indicators of optimum ripeness. Respiration rate, ethylene and ABA are key regulators of fruit ripening in climacteric and non-climacteric fruits, respectively. In climacteric fruits, ABA interacts with ethylene, influencing the synthesis of ethylene itself. Although there is ample documentation on the involvement of hormones in fruit development and ripening, our understanding of the functions of various hormones throughout growth, maturation, and specific ripening processes remains incomplete.

Introduction

Rapeseed-mustard is attacked by more than 43 insect species. Out of which, mustard aphid, Lipaphis erysimi (Kaltenbach); mustard sawfly, Athalia proxima (Klug); painted bug, Bagrada hilaris (Burnmerister); pea leaf miner, Chromatomyia horticola (Goureau) and Bihar hairy caterpillar, Spilarctia obliqua (Walker) are of major importance. Other pests are of sporadic occurrence. Status of important insect pests attacking rapseed mustard in India have been given in detail by Bakhetia and Arora (1993) and Singh 2005. The occurrence of various insect pests on rapeseed-mustard is stage-specific. This has been a gift provided by nature to help avoid inter-competition among them for their fullest exploitation of the host. The insect pests attacking rapeseed- mustard as given in Table 1 and at various stages of the crop in Table 2.

1. OVERVIEW OF THE NATIONALAGRICULTURE SCENARIO - NATIONAL EXTENSION SYSTEMS, SCOPE AND IMPORTANCE

Like in many developing countries, Agriculture Sector being the backbone of the Sri Lankan economy, contributes significantly (11.3 per cent in the year 2007) to the Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and the economic growth by 7.7 per cent (Central Bank of Sri Lanka, 2007). As to the situation in 2007, 80 per cent of country’s population of 20.01 million is rural and 31.3 per cent of the total Sri Lankan work force is employed in Agriculture sector. Nearly 14.6 per cent of the population still depends on the agriculture as the main livelihood. The country’s GDP has been growing at 6.8 per cent per annum (in 2007), though that of agriculture is growing at only 3.3 per cent.

Country as a whole is constituted by 25 administrative districts all of which is encompassed into nine provinces. Of these, nearly four fifths are predominantly agricultural districts with over 60 per cent of the total population living in them. Majority of the population in these districts constitutes the farming community and they, by and large, are the ones who keep the nation feeding. Apart from plantation agriculture which looks after large scale plantation level crops like tea, rubber, coconut along with other crops like cinnamon, pepper, coffee, cloves, nutmeg etc., grown extensively for the export market, almost all other food crops are grown by farmers, majority of who own land plots less than 2 hectares. On the one hand, this makes agriculture mainstay of a major sector of the population and on the other hand they are spread nearly everywhere in the country rather thinly on the ground.

Theory

Statistics: Collection of methods for planning experiments, obtaining data, and then organizing, summarizing, presenting, analyzing, interpreting, and drawing conclusions.

Sir R.A.Fisher: Father of modern statistics.

Population: All subjects possessing a common characteristic that is being studied.

Sample: A subgroup or subset of the population.

Parameter: Characteristic or measure obtained from a population.

Statistic: Characteristic or measure obtained from a sample.

Karl Pearson: Study of correlation and chi-square test of goodness of fit.

W.S.Gosset: Student’s t-test for small sample

Francis Galton: Regression analysis.

Introduction

Floriculture is the branch of horticulture concerning cultivation of flowering and ornamental plants for gardens and floristry. It includes cut flowers, cut greens, bedding plant, houseplants, flowering garden and pot plants etc. It is a fast growing industry. Urbanization and rising living standards of the people has lead to steady increase in demand of flowers and flower products making floriculture as one of the most important commercial trades in Agriculture. It has been found that commercial floriculture has higher potential per unit area than most of the field crops and is therefore a lucrative business.

Cashew apple, a highly potential nutritional source, is almost entirely wasted now. In Goa, cashew apple juice is fermented and distilled for production of alcohol. Cashew apple is juicy and swollen. It is a rich reserve of vitamins and minerals. The cashew apple is the peduncle of the nut. Normally the apple is 8 to 10 fold large by weight compared to cashew nut, at ripe stage. Cashew apples can be of different size and shape. The ripe apple is very juicy and fibrous with thin skin. When fully ripe, it gets detached from the pedicel and falls down. In Brazil, cashew is a popular fresh fruit and dwarf types are being evaluated to fulfil the market requirements of fresh cashew apple in terms of red colour, high sugar, low tannin etc.

Modern rose (Rosa x hybrida) belongs to family Rosaceae. Rose is derived from Greek word “Rhedon” means fragrance. From the ancient time its beauty and attractiveness drag the attention of breeders to create new colours and types. Present cut roses are complex hybrids developed through interspecific hybridization, polyploidy with male and female sterility and these heterozygous genotypes are propagated vegetatively. Rose occupies the first rank among the cut flowers in international market and in India it occupied first position in cut flower export trade.

ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION

Roses have been in cultivation since the origins of civilization (Wylie, 1955). The evidence of rose cultivation is found about 5000 years ago in ancient civilization of China, western Asia and northern Africa (Shepherd, 1954). About 120 known wild species, all indigenous to temperate regions of northern hemisphere have been reported to be growing. Eleven species are reported to be growing wild in India. Among the rose species used for perfume extraction purpose Rosa alba originated perhaps in Crimea in Russia, R. borboniana originated in Isle of Reumon in 1817, R. centifolia is native to eastern Caucasus and is under cultivation since 1596. Original home of R. damascena is unknown and it was introduced to Europe from Damascus in Asia Minor during the sixteenth century. R. moschata is native to Middle East and Himalayas and is found at altitudes ranging from 1000 to 4700 meters extending from Europe. The Persian Musk, one of the forms of R. moschata is very common in India. It was introduced into England in 1599. Rosa gallica, known as French rose is native to central and southeast Europe and is in cultivation prior to 1542.

Significant information about roses in antiquity can be seen in the writings of the Greek historian Herodotus (490-420 B.C.), the Greek philosopher Theophrastus (372-287 B.C.) and the Roman naturalist Pliny (23-79 A.D.).

Originally all roses grew wild. About 120 known wild species of roses, all indigenous to the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, have been reported. The species growing wild in India are Rosa brunonii (Himalayan Musk rose), R. eglanteria, R. gigantea (syn. R. odorata var. gigantean), R. involucrate (syn. R. clinophylla), R. leschenaultiana syn. R. sempervirens, R. longicuspis, R. macrophylla, R. moschata (Musk rose), R. rubiginosa (Sweet Briar, Eglantine rose), R. walpoleana, R. sericea (Ladakh rose). Till the nineteenth century only four species, R. gallica (Red rose), R. canina (Dog rose), R. moschata (Musk rose) and R. phoenicia (Phoenician rose) played a role in the development of cultivars grown at that time.

The essential nutrients and their function in microbial cells

Banana is the eighth most important food crop in the world. It is widely cultivated in over 130 countries in the tropics and sub tropics of Asia, Africa and the United States. Plantains and bananas are next important to major cereals, forming a key component in food security and agricultural sustainability in the developing economics (Patel and Shukla, 2009, Shukla, 2010; Deepah and Paranjothi, 2010). Banana ranks fifth in the global market of agricultural commodities and is one of the largest traded fruit crops. It is popularly known as “Apple of the Paradise ”. The per capita starch output of banana from unit cultivated area is almost near cassava and sweet potatoes (Choudhary, 2015).

Nematode Control

Plant parasitic nematodes can be controlled by several methods. The nematode control aims to improve growth, quality and yield by keeping the nematode population below the economical threshold level. The control measures to be adopted should be profitable and cost effective. It is essential to calculate the cost benefit ratio before adopting control measures.

The nematode control methods are

1. Regulatory (Legal) control
2. Physical control
3. Cultural control
4. Biological control
5. Chemical control

MOLECULAR BREEDING

Molecular breeding is the application of molecular biology tools, often in plant breeding.

Genetic markers

Genetic marker is defined as a gene whose phenotypic expression is usually easily discerned, used to identify an individual or a cell that carries it, or as a probe to mark a nucleus, chromosomes or locus (King and Stansfield, 1990). Three broad classes of genetic markers are morphological markers, biochemical markers and DNA or molecular markers.
 
(1) Morphological markers

Morphological markers are based on the visually assessable traits viz., morphological and agronomic traits. However, they are limited in number.

Introduction

Many insets inhabit the soil and participate in different activities which will result in changes in soil physico-chemical properties. Thus soil is a very good habitat for some insects. Several insects spend either complete or few stages of their life cycle in soil. Soil provides protection from predators for many soil dwelling insects especially in immature stages. Few insects also undergo diapauses in soil. Soil insects include phytophagous, scavengers, predators and parasites. Among these, soil macro fauna especially termites and white grubs are very important pests of many crops and their activity also brings many changes in soil ecosystem.

Termites

Termites (Order: Isoptera) are eusocial, polymorphic and live in small to large colonies. The colony consists of different castes viz., functional reproductive (queen and king), sterile workers and soldiers, which are morphologically distinct.  The tasks of the latter two castes include foraging, nest building and care of eggs and young ones and defense. All species maintain symbiotic relationships with microorganisms, which aid in digestion. Few species build the often-spectacular mounds or arboreal nests and others build subterranean nests. They constitute important group of soil fauna and play a major role in the arid and semiarid tropics. Worker castes are dominant and are responsible for major functions in the colony. During the process of food collection, the workers generally attack the plants that are weakened due to some internal growth factors or environmental causes such as drought or poor soil conditions (Roonwal, 1978).

Cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum Mill.), belonging to family Primulaceae, is cultivated throughout the Temperate Zone. Many people have enjoyed the charming plants as potted and/or garden plants. The cyclamen is one of the most famous and important commercial ornamental plants in many countries. It is commonly grown for its flowers, both outdoors and indoors in pots. It is used on a terrace, in flower boxes, in hanging baskets or in beddings. Several species, particularly Cyclamen hederifolium, are hardy and can be grown outdoors in mild climates such as Northwest Europe and the Pacific Northwest of North America. The cyclamen commonly sold by florists is C. persicum, which is frost-tender. Selected cyclamen cultivars can have white, bright pink, red or purple flowers. The use as cut flower is not important part of cyclamen production (Grey-Wilson, 2002), but not rare in Europe, especially in Germany. Some cultivars for cut flower production were bred in Europe, but cut flower cyclamen production is not popular in USA and Japan. Its popularity as pot plant led to many studies on the group, including cytology (Bennett and Grimshaw, 1991), hybridization (Gielly et al., 2001 and Grey-Wilson, 2002) and phenology (Debussche et al., 2004).

ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION

Cyclamen originated from extreme eastern Mediterranean region and naturally grows in countries such as Palestine, Syria, Israel, Greece, Turkey, Tunisia or even Mediterranean islands: Rhodes, Cyprus and Sicily (Grey-Wilson, 2002). Cyclamen was introduced in Europe at the end 16^th century, beginning of the 17^th century, passing first through France. Somewhat neglected in the following century, the cyclamen became fashionable again in France in the 1900s. But since 1860, the first variants of the botanical or “wild” cyclamen appeared in England, then in Germany, with much bigger flowers and with varying colour shades.