eChapters

1. Which of the following is an example of freshwater mussel?

 a) Lamellidens marginalis b) Lamellidens corrianus

 c) Pictada fucata d) Both a & b

 2. ......... is secreted by the mantle of the pearl oyster as a protection against foreign objects.

 a) Pearl b) Swarm

 c) Prismatic layer d) Nacreous layer

 3. Shell of pearl oyster is composed of ......... layers.

 a) Two b) Three

 c) Four d) Five

 4. Which is the outermost layer of shell?

 a) Prismatic layer b) Nacreous layer

 c) Periostracum layer d) None of these

 5. ......... is the outermost, greenish-brown, thin, translucent layer made up of conchiolin.

 a) Nacreous layer  b) Mantle

 c) Periostracum d) Perismatic layer

1. The first scientific account of the lac insect was given by …. . . .

 a) J. Kerr (1782) b) W.Kritz (1882)   

 c) Pamella Britz (1888) d) None of these

 2. The scientific name of lac insect is …. . . .

 a) Tachardia lacca b) Tachardia indica   

 c) Tachardia suzi d) Tachardia essart

 3. Lac is secreted by insects for …. . . .

 a) Feeding b) Reproduction  

 c) Protection from predators d) Both a & b

 4. The life cycle of lac insect takes about …. . . months.

 a) Two months b) Six months   

 c) Ten months d) Twelve months

 5. The life cycle of lac insect consists of …. . . .

 a) Nymph instar b) Pupa   

 c) Adult  d) All of these

Introduction

R language is a popular and versatile tool for hydrological data analysis and visualization, offering several powerful packages for handling and analyzing hydrological parameters such as river flow, precipitation, groundwater levels, and water quality parameters. R language provides a wide range of statistical functions for hydrological parameter analysis, including time-series analysis, frequency analysis, trend analysis, and regression analysis. Moreover, R’s powerful graphics capabilities make it possible to create high-quality and customizable visualizations of hydrological data. In addition to its statistical and graphical capabilities, R also offers a wide range of packages for data manipulation and cleaning, making it a powerful tool for preprocessing hydrological data. R’s ability to handle and analyze large datasets also makes it well-suited for processing and analyzing large hydrological datasets. Furthermore, R has a strong community of developers and users who regularly contribute new packages and tools, providing a constantly evolving stage for hydrological analysis. Overall, R is a versatile and powerful tool for hydrological data analysis and visualization, offering numerous capabilities and resources for informed decision-making in water resources management and related fields.

Introduction

The hydrological cycle transfers water and energy between the land and atmosphere, but its regional characteristics make accurate modeling challenging. Hydrological models aim to predict hydrological events and processes, but there are uncertainties in their output due to the complex nature of the system and assumptions made. Empirical models use statistical or mathematical relationships, while process-based models use equations to represent physical processes.

Hydrological modeling involves various steps, leading to uncertainties that can affect the accuracy of model predictions. The four main types of uncertainties commonly encountered are data, model, parameter, and climate uncertainty. Data uncertainty arises due to errors or gaps in the input data, model uncertainty stems from limitations in the model structure or assumptions used, parameter uncertainty arises due to uncertainties in the values allocated to various model parameters, and climate uncertainty refers to uncertainties in the future climate projections used as inputs.

Introduction

Climate variability can have significant impacts on agricultural production, affecting both the demand and supply sides of farming. As climate change continues to negatively impact our ecosystem, food production, and human livelihood, this topic has gained widespread attention from researchers and academics worldwide. Given that agriculture is highly dependent on factors such as precipitation and temperature, it is considered one of the most climate sensitive sectors (Sagar et al., 2022).

Climatic data is complex and nonlinear, with significant fluctuation across time components, resulting in greater volatility. This means that stochastic climatic variables, including rainfall, temperature, relative humidity, and other weather parameters, often exhibit conditional heteroscedasticity, leading to irregular residual mean and variance across time series.

Introduction

The generation of vast quantities of agricultural waste/ agri-waste is mainly due to crop residue and agro-industries unutilized products. Rice, wheat, sugarcane and fiber crops are the main components of agri-waste. In India, Wheat, rice and sugarcane are extensively cultivated and consumed by everyone, resulting in considerable agri-waste (Koul et al., 2022). Due to rapid population increase and food security for all, an extension of agricultural land, cropping patterns and multiple uses of the same crop field around the year are some main contributors to a significant rise in agricultural waste. About 380 million tons of agri-waste is produced in India annually, of which the contribution of paddy straw is about 130 million tons. 

In comparison to wheat and sugarcane residue, rice straw is easily degradable, and a significant part can be consumed as animal fodder, roof thatching, combustion, composting and soil mulching in rural areas; however, in urban areas, it creates issues (Mehta et al., 2023). Generally, with short intervals between rabi and kharif crops, controlling crop disease and pests and lacking environmental pollution concerns, farmers always manage their crop residue through stubble burning once or twice a year (Jeff et al., 2017). About 15 20 million tonnes of agri-waste will stubble burning every year in India, releasing vast amounts of smog and other air pollutants in the atmosphere and destroying several beneficial soil microbes, resulting in soil pollution. In India, the primary crop burning on the farm is cereals (58 %) and fiber crops (23 %); however, other crops, viz., sugarcanes, pulses, and oilseeds, can contribute the rest of the total (19%) stubble-burning of agro-waste (IARI 2012).

Introduction

In Organic farming; agricultural management system uses eco-friendly management practices and biological fertilizers derived largely from plant residue, animal excreta and nitrogen-fixing cover crops. It favorably affects the quality and yield attributes of crops. In modern agriculture system, development of organic farming in relation with the environmental hazard triggered by the huge application of inorganic pesticides and synthetic fertilizers in conventional agriculture, and it has abundant ecological aids. Spent mushroom substrate (SMS) can be used as such fertilizer. It is an organic mass that can be converted into humus in the soil.

Mushrooms are a fleshy, macroscopic, saprophytic, spore-bearing fruiting structure of a fungus (edible fungus) belonging to class Basidiomycetes except few which belong to Ascomycetes. It grows on dead and decaying organic materials derived from the agriculture, horticulture, poultry, brewery waste materials for its cultivation. Mushrooms are delicate, nutritional and medicinal fruit bodies of fungus which are used as an important ingredient of human dishes. It contains protein, minerals, vitamins and essential amino acid. Mushroom industries does not only produce edible mushroom but also produces virtually in-exhaustible supply of a co-product called spent mushroom substrate (SMS). Mushroom industry is flourishing day by day and not just mushroom as a whole is being used but many of its other uses are also studied and performed like using mushroom production for bioremediation or using mushroom waste which is known as SMS for different purposes. Therefore, growing mushrooms just for consumption is not true but its growth has many underlying purposes through which not just humans but the entire ecosystem is benefitted (Staments, 2005; Phan and Sabaratnam, 2012).

In this chapter, the essentials of basic statistics are explored, with a focus on obtaining all key measures of basic statistics with just a single click. Additionally, the process of creating informative data distribution graphs is also explained.

Basic Statistics

Basic statistics offer fundamental tools that help us to make sense of data. Below, you’ll find concise descriptions of key basic statistical measures.

i. Arithematic mean (average)

The average represents the central value of a dataset, calculated by summing all values and dividing by the number of data points.

ii. Median (middle value)

It is the middle value in a dataset when all values are arranged in ascending order. It’s less sensitive to outliers.

iii. Mode (most common value)

The mode is the value that appears most frequently in a dataset.

iv. Variance

Variance measures how much individual data points deviate from the mean. A higher variance indicates a greater spread.

v. Standard deviation

The standard deviation is the square root of the variance. It provides a measure of how spread out the data is.

vi. Range

It is the difference between the maximum and minimum values in a dataset.

This chapter provides an insight into the genotypic and phenotypic correlations between plant traits. It incorporates the study of genotypic and phenotypic path analysis and the understanding of genetic variability, all illustrated through practical examples in R, relevant to plant breeding research.

Path Analysis

Path analysis explains not only the direct impact of one character on another but also indirect effects mediated through other variables in the system. The approach is similar to the analysis of variance and is sometimes referred to as the analysis of correlation coefficients. A notable feature of path coefficients is that they are standardized partial regression coefficients, devoid of units. This standardization allows for the direct effects of different variables to be compared and ranked based on their magnitude. This approach was first applied in plant studies by Dewey and Lu in 1959, particularly to examine the factors influencing seed yield.

Path Coefficients

In the computation of path coefficients, a path diagram is translated into a series of simultaneous equations. These equations reveal the direct and indirect contributions of causal variables to the outcome. For example, in the field of plant breeding: consider the yield of forage (Y) being influenced by different variables. These could include the leaf length (X1), leaf width (X2), and number of leaves per plant (X3).

2.1Introduction

Agriculture includes both self-employment and wage employment. This require precise information about who does what. Majority of farmers have small Land holding and landless labourers. This needs understanding of activity performance of men and women. Gender-based division of labour is universal, but culture and community diversities cause differentiation. Gender, therefore, has to be recognized as the social characteristic that cuts across caste, class, occupation, age and ethnicity. It is gender that differentiates the roles, responsibilities, resources, constraints and opportunities of women and men in agriculture for which precise gender information is the need of the day. Building gender into agricultural development will lead to: Building inherent strength of women and men to mutually learn, Overcoming gender based prejudices etc.

2.2

Importance of Gender in Agriculture Agriculture play an important role in livelihoods of the rural poor and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Agriculture can be the engine of growth and is necessary to reduce poverty and food insecurity. The changes in Agriculture sector generate new sources of opportunities for livelihoods and food security, they also pose significant qualms. Equity distresses are being raised.

2.1 Introduction

Women entrepreneurs may be defined as the women or a group of women who take initiative to set up a business enterprise and to run it smoothly. According to Government of India, women entrepreneur is defined as an enterprise owned and controlled by a women and having a minimum financial interest of 51 per cent of the employment generated in the enterprise to women. Women entrepreneur are those women those women who generate business ideas or select the best opportunity, mobilize resources, combine the factors of production, undertake risks and operate the enterprise in the most effective manner with a view to earning profit.

The verb empower means to bestow power. Empowerment of women implies creating conditions for enabling the women to be motivated for task accomplishment by taking personal responsibility. In the context of empowerment through enterprise, empowerment of women involves access to resources and markets, actual ownership and active control. These factors act as the bullwork for empowering women through enterprise.

7.1 Summary

Climate change is a complex global phenomenon that poses significant challenges for agriculture including uncertainty about future weather patterns, soil conditions, and other environmental factors. Farmers are facing the difficult task of interpreting and responding to these changes in order to maintain their livelihoods and ensure food security for growing populations. In this context, mental modelling has emerged as a useful approach for understanding how farmers interpret and respond to climate change. Mental models are cognitive representations of how individuals understand and make decisions about complex systems, and can be used to identify key drivers of behaviour and decision-making.

The present study has explored the social, ecological, and economic factors that influence farmers’ mental models on perception of climate change, level of uncertainty and trend of agricultural change in the selected study area. It argues that farmers’ mental models are shaped by a range of factors, including their own experiences and observations, social networks and interactions, access to information and resources, and broader economic and political contexts. The present study has also highlighted the role of uncertainty in shaping farmers’ mental models and decision-making. Uncertainty about the future impacts of climate change can create significant challenges for farmers, as they must make decisions based on incomplete information and uncertain predictions.

The current research work was carried out in the new alluvial zone which is one of the agro-ecological regions in the state of West Bengal. To conduct the study, three villages located in the Haringhata block of Nadia district were chosen randomly. A total of 90 farmers were selected with 30 respondents each from the villages of Kastadanga, JalkarBhomra and Subuddipur. Initially a list of contact farmers was collected from the Kastadanga SKUS and few contact farmers were selected randomly from the list. Afterwards Snowball sampling method was followed to select respondents.

Introduction

The agricultural sector in India has focussed more on agricultural output and food security. From the year 1965 to 2016, India’s food production was multiplied by 3.7 times while the population was multiplied by 2.55 times. More than one f ifth of rural households with self-employment in agriculture as their principal occupation were having income less than the poverty line (NSSO, 2011-12). In the early 1980s, the farm income per cultivator was 34 per cent of the income of non agricultural workers. In the year 1993-1994, the relative income of farmers was one-fourth of the income of the non-agricultural workers. According to SAS 2012 2013, the average annual income of farm households from the farm as well as non farm sources was Rs. 77,112 which is 60 per cent from farm activities and 40 per cent from non-farm activities. In April 2016, the Government constituted an Inter Ministerial Committee to examine issues relating to DFI and recommend strategies to achieve the same. The target was to change the farm to non-farm income ratio from the existing 60:40 in 2015-16 to 70:30 by 2022-23. A seven-point strategy was proposed and several initiatives were taken to increase the income of farmers. The last available estimates on the income of agricultural households are based on the Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) during 77th round (January – December 2019). As per the survey results, the average monthly income per agricultural household from all sources was estimated to be. Rs. 10218. Thus, the present study was taken to know the awareness, knowledge and perception of farmers towards doubling farmers income. Understanding the farmers awareness, knowledge and perception would help to develop specific strategies for increasing the farmers income.

Introduction

Agriculture is the main occupation in India which engages nearly 119 million of farmers and 144 million landless labourers (Census 2011). According to the Agriculture Census (2012), about 80 per cent of Indian farmers fall under the small and marginal category. The average size of land holding in India is 1.15 ha which will tend to decrease in coming years due to land fragmentation, industrialization and urbanization which are forcing farmers to quit farming and look for more viable livelihood options (Bhattacharyya et al. 2018). Specially small and marginal farmers are exposed to high risk of farming due to climate vagaries, uncertainties in production and market demand, lack of access to support services and markets, limited scope of farm mechanization and the consistent failure of half-hearted government efforts which have been unable to make farming an exciting profession to the old as well as new generations. In Indian context, agriculture has never been a profession for the literate section of the society due to lower production and profitability. NSSO report (2012-13), in alignment with the current scenario, says 40 per cent farmers want to quit agriculture if they get alternatives.

Owing to several biotic and abiotic stresses, the problem of agrarian distress in India has accentuated in recent years. Government of India has taken initiative in its annual budget of 2016-17 and initiate a number of steps to alleviate agrarian distress and improve the situation before the fight for food security faces disastrous challenge from mass migration of Indian farmers to other occupations. The steps taken by the Government of India are improving irrigation efficiency, providing crop insurance, improving market infrastructure and its efficiency, promoting organic farming, restoring soil health and so on.

Introduction

India pre-dominantly an agriculture-based country, requires constant endeavors to seewhether rural and agricultural credit facilities are enhanced with time. As a part of theseefforts, agricultural credit cards and cash credit facility were introduced in lending system. The Kisan Credit Card is a credit card programme launched by Indian banks in August 1998. The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) developed this model scheme to supply term loans for agricultural needs based on the suggestions of the R.V. Gupta Committee. Its goal is to provide financial assistance to farmers in order to address the agricultural sector’s comprehensive credit needs. All commercial banks, Regional Rural Banks, and state cooperative banks are among the participants. Short-term credit limitations for crops are in place, as are term loans. Personal accident insurance covers KCC credit card members up to Rs. 50,000 for death and permanent disability and up to Rs. 25,000 for other risks. The premium is split evenly between the bank and the borrower. The validity period is five years, with the option of an additional three year extension, Kisan Credit Card provides cash and term credit to farmers for a variety of linkedoperations such as pump sets, land expansion, planting, and drip irrigation. Soil Wellbeing Card programming has been institutionalized and online programming built for eight statesunderthee-Government Program to provide coordinated supplement administration suggestions based on soil test edit reaction approach. Ranchers receive data through avariety of channels, including Common Service Centres, Internet Kiosks, and SMS, as partofthe Nationale-Governance Plan for Agriculture. Farmers are spared from the exorbitant interest rates charged by traditional banks under the KCC plan. The interest rate on KCC loans ranges from 2% to 4%. This low interest rate aids farmers in repaying loans more quickly, taking into account the crop’s harvesting season and the date the loan was provide.

Introduction

A woman is the nucleus of a family, particularly in rural India. For the rural women, the day starts early in the morning with the responsibilities of fetching water, fodder and fuel, cooking food and looking after the livestock and children. Promila et al. (2003) revealed that farm women spent 15:64 hrs/day and 16:58 hrs/ day for productive work during the slack and peak period, respectively. The time saved by farm women from farm activities during the slack period was diverted towards care of children, family members and household works. Still, there is no recognition for their hard work; just because their work is not evaluated in terms of money.

The contribution of women in agriculture is estimated to be about 50 to 60 per cent. In many places, the entire livestock management is looked after by women only. They help in farm operation, take their animals on distant lands for grazing, washing, milking, fodder, breeding management, sale of milk, if necessary by taking it to the market and so on in addition, perform the functions related to house management. Even though, women are playing a very important role in innovation decision process, they are not allowed to try and see whether they are capable of managing farm and family affairs independently or with the help of family members.Adequate attention is also not being paid for the social and economic development of farm women and to encourage them to avail training facilities on farm and dairy management practices for supplementing their family income through development of occupational skills and proficiency.

Introduction

Horticulture crops cover large varieties of fruits, vegetables, flowers and plantation and spices crops. Among these, vegetable cultivation is the major attraction to farmers as it is comparatively more remunerative the field crops. Vegetables not only provide maximum output but also give more income per unit area of land. Vegetable cultivation among small land holders has always been source of supplementary source of income and provides gainful employment through intensive cultivation and thus vegetable growers are normally more prosperous than those who grow cereals, because of higher returns.

Brinjal (Solanummelongena L) is a commercial vegetable crop belongs to the family of solanaceae. It is a nannual crop. It is mainly used for culinary purpose. Brinjal has been considered as one of the important vegetable crop. The brinjal growers can increase production of brinjal through adoption of new varieties and with improved technologies. A first-hand knowledge regarding existing status of adoption of improved technology helpful to the extension workers for concentrating their efforts to create favorable condition for better adoption of the innovations of brinjal cultivation. Arvind kumar singh (2017) revealed that more than half of the respondents belong to middle age group, educated up to higher secondary, had medium level ofland holding, medium level of annual income, sources of information and low level of material possession. Further headded, that he possessed low level of farm power.

Introduction

India is the second-largest producer of vegetables in the world after China. India accounts for 16 percent of the world’s production of vegetables. India home to 17.74% of the world’s population has only accounted for about 2.4% of the world’s geographical area and 4% of its water resources. Vegetables play an imperative role in nutritional security, economic viability and fit well into the predominant intensive cropping systems prevailing in different parts of our country. More than 60 kinds of vegetables are grown in India in tropical, subtropical and temperate agro-climates. India is the largest producer of okra and ranks 2nd in the production of potato, onion, cauliflower, and cabbage. During 2013-2014, India produced 162.19 million tonnes of vegetables and vegetable export from our country was worth Rs. 5462.93 crores. For a balanced diet, an adult who works moderately needs about 300 grams of vegetables per day, of which about 50 grams should comprise root vegetables, 50 grams of leafy vegetables and 200 grams of other kinds of vegetables as per Dietary Guidelines for Indians, NIN, 2011.

The vegetable is one of the important crops of Jharkhand, which is being cultivated on a commercial scale. About 3.2% of the gross cropped area of the State is devoted to vegetable crops. Vegetable development depends not only on production but also on the marketing system. Vegetable cultivation being labour intensive can substantially increase employment and livelihood avenues too. Vegetable growers face many challenges in the course of marketing their products and their marketing behaviour varies under different circumstances. Keeping this in view, the present investigation entitled “Marketing Behaviour of vegetable growers in East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand” was undertaken.

Introduction

Agriculture is one of the important pillars of the Indian economy. According to a report from FICCI, about 54 percent of Indian population depends directly on agriculture and it accounts for around 17.3 percent of GDP (FICCI, 2018). In the last two decades, powered by the Government policies and strong engagement of the industry and institutions, agriculture is rapidly evolving into agribusiness in terms of approach and structure. Transformation of Agriculture to Agri-business is one of the important strategies where enterprising farmers practice profitable agriculture.

India has become the third largest startup ecosystem hub. India is home to highest number of unicorn startups after US and China with 26 unicorns out of 250 plus total unicorns globally. At a time where with the increasing population and demand for better quality and higher quantity of food. India currently has more than 49,000 plus startups, 1500 plus investors, 250 plus incubators, and 26 unicorns (NASSCOM, Srivastav, 2018). The Indian startup ecosystem is ranked at number 37 and the global ranking of its top three cities are Bengaluru, New Delhi and Mumbai for the year 2018. In 2020, Bengaluru again continued its title “silicon valley of India” (Spews, 2021).

In a bid to double the farmer’s income by 2022, the Government of India is continuously looking for ways to boost agricultural production, food processing and marketing avenues through the integration of latest technologies and innovations; thus creating a huge scope for food and agritech startups in the country (Balaji, 2018). Many agritech startups in India are mainly in marketplace segment where e-commerce companies provide fresh and organic fruits and vegetables procured directly from farmers. Very recently many startups have come up providing innovative and sustainable solutions for farmer’s problems. Startups have provided solutions such as biogas plants, solar powered cold storage, fencing and water pumping, weather prediction, spraying machines, seed drills, vertical farming, etc (Sachitanand, 2018). EM3 Agriservices offers farming services and machinery rentals to farmers on a pay-for-use basis.

Introduction

Silk also known as the “Golden Fibre” is admired all over the world for its lustre, strength and smoothness. Sericulture industry is an ecofriendly agro based activity of mulberry cultivation, silkworm rearing and production. It is a labour intensive, rural cottage industry providing subsidiary employment and supplementing the income of semi-literate and semi-skilled poor workers throughout the year [Chanotraet al., 2019]. The term ‘sericulture’ includes economic activities which receive poor workers in the value addition at each stage like (i) raising plants for feeding the silk-worms (in the form of the mulberry plantation); (ii) production of disease-free silkworm layings (dfls), eggs, or seeds; (iii) indoor rearing of silkworms till the cocoon stage which produces silk (about 30-day egg-to-cocoon cycle), and (iv) sale of silk cocoons produced.

Silk industry can be broadly classified into; (a) sericulture, (b) post-cocoon technology – reeling (yarn production), spinning and twisting of silk yarn from the cocoons; and (c) weaving, fabric production, printing and dyeing, finishing, garment designing, marketing etc. These activities also provide the auxiliary enterprises of by-product utilization and machine manufacture including spun silk yarn manufacture and pupae oil extraction, thus creating livelihood for the small and marginal farmers and labour force.

Asia is the key producer of silk in the world producing over 98.5 per cent of the global output. There are more than 40 silk producing countries, but the majority of its production comes from China and India, followed by Brazil, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea and Japan. Unlike temperate countries, India has a distinct advantage of practising sericulture all around the year, as a result of its tropical climate, yielding a stream of about 4-6 crops (Savithri and Sujathamma, 2019).

Scheduled Caste Sub Plan (SCSP) and Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) were initiated by the government to guarantee funds to SC/STs both at State and Centre in pro portion to the size of their respective population. It was in 1974-75 in the Fifth Five Year Plan period that the Government of India introduced the policy of the Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) and later in 1979-80 in the Sixth Five Year Plan period the Special Component plan (SCP) which was renamed as Scheduled Caste Sub Plan in April, 2006 and renamed as Allocation for the Welfare of Scheduled Caste (AWSC) in February, 2017.Specifically, the SCSP and TSP mandated that pub lic resources towards SC/ ST welfare must be earmarked in proportion to their share in total population.The Narendra Jadhav Committee was constituted by the Planning Commission in 2010 in this regard.Every year, the Union Budget makes allocations exclusively for the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe.This fund is spent through the Scheduled Caste Sub Plan (SCSP) and the Tribal Sub Plan (TSP).As per the recommendations of the committee the earmarking of funds for all Central Ministries/Departments taken together should be at least 16.2% and 8.2% of the total Plan outlay respectivel under the SCSP and the TSP. The aim of such dedicated allocation is to promote nutritional security, livelihood security and entrepreneurship among these communities.

Stride of ICAR-IIVR and Operational Are

Amid nutritional and livelihood security of tribal population ICAR- Indian Insti tute of Vegetable Research (ICAR-IIVR), Varanasi has adopted 2724 tribal house holds from 24 villages of six clusters namely Faripan, Manvasa, Bakuliya, Chet wa, Jugail, Dahakudandi of Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh and one cluster from Ranchi, Jharkhand for implementation of TSP programme of the institute. Similarly 2566 Scheduled Caste (SC) households have been adopted from 33 vil lages of five different clusters of Varanasi, Mirzapur and Chandauli districts for implementing SCSP programme.

The psychological sets that can be barriers to communication can be characterized into several basic categories. These sets can occur in the sender or in the receiver in the communication process. The sender has the ability to recognize these barrier categories when they occur and to transform communication to overcome them. However, the receiver is a different story. If the receiver is interested in communication, he or she can recognize when these barriers arise and can consciously overcome them. On the other hand, when a receiver is passive in the communication process, he or she does not recognize the barriers and the sender can do little to overcome the blockage.

Fact Inference Confusion

The Fact-Inference confusion has three basic components:

• Making an inference for fact

• Failing to recognize

• Acting on the inference as if it were fact

Until the third component occurs, the inference for fact does not really become a barrier to communication. When we act on the inference as if it were a fact is when this barrier becomes a major stumbling block to communication.

Static Viewpoint

Of the barriers to communication, static viewpoint, sometimes called frozen evaluation, is the one that sometimes infects faculty members at colleges and universities. It is a failure to recognize change over time. It may also be a major affliction of our parents who make judgments about your activities based on their experiences as teenagers or young adults without realizing that the mores and standards of society have changed in the intervening twenty or thirty years.

Concept of Review of Literatures

The Review of literature is a systematic, explicit, and reproducible method for identifying, evaluating, and synthesizing the existing body of completed and recorded work produced by researchers, scholars, and practitioners. The Review of literature is also a resource paper, which includes the current knowledge including substantive findings, as well as theoretical and methodological contributions to a particular topic. These are available mostly in academic and scholastic journals.

Review of literature provide the basics for research in nearly every academic f ield. The aim of review of literature is to highlight what has been done so far in the field of interest and how our findings are related to earlier research. The review of literature also indicates the following by providing referential inputs.

(i) Approaches

(ii) Methods

(iii) Variables used

(iv) Statistical procedure

(v) Expected results

(vi) Provides theoretical background to our study.

(vii) Helps justify how our findings are related to our body of knowledge in our field of research.

(viii) Establishes a link between what we propose to study and what has already been found. It helps us to refine our research methodology.

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 commending by 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.

The physical, social, or experimental context in which research is carried out is referred to as the research setting. This context must be accurately described in a study publication because it may have a significant impact on the findings and how they are interpreted. For instance, in a paper describing the social behavior of chimpanzees, the authors may need to provide the following information about the research environment: where the chimpanzees were observed (in the wild or in captivity), the number of chimpanzees observed, and whether they belonged to the same social group, the geographic location, the time of study, the season/weather conditions, the availability of resources like food/water/shelter, and the presence of environmental factor.

Area of the Study

The present study was taken up in West Bengal. From West Bengal, District Uttar Diaper, Blocks Kaliyaganj, Villages Radhikapur was selected.

The present research had been conducted to study the Entrepreneurial communication and the process, factors and impact in Agricultural enterprise and allied sectors of selected block of West Bengal and in the end the comparison is made. The study had been conducted at villages Radhikapur from blocks Kaliyaganj of West Bengal. A pilot study was conducted to understand the area, its people, institution, communication and extension system of these states.

An exhaustive list of respondents was prepared critically with the help of some villagers. From the list, 75 respondents from the village were selected for the study through Systematic Random sampling method. The primary data were collected with the help of structured interview schedule by following the personal interview method. The secondary data were collected from our departmental library, internet, Department of Agriculture, West Bengal, Bidhan Chandra krishi Viswavidyalaya, etc. for establishing the conceptual framework of the study.

The general objective of the study is to estimate and analyze the “Entrepreneurial communication: The process, factors and impact in Agricultural enterprise and allied sectors of selected block of West Bengal” and the specific objectives are:

1) To study the present status of the entrepreneurial communication.

2) To measure the unique features entrepreneurial communication over the general communication.

3) To generate micro level policy implementation based on the empirical research.

4) To estimate intra and inter level of interaction among dependent variable and independent variable.

5) To isolate factors impactions on Entrepreneurial behavior.

7.1: Summary

19 Independent variables and 6 Dependent variables were selected for the study respectively and measured with the help of exact scales developed by previous social science researchers or by modifying the developed scale by structured interview schedule for requirement of the study.

Independent variables selected for the study are, Age (x1), Education (x2), No. of enterprise (x3), Year of enterprise (x4), Family size (x5),Average Family education (x6), Material possessed (x7), Size of land holding (x8), Size of homestead land (x9) No. of fragments (x10), Crop yield (x11), Cropping intensity (x12), Annual Income (x13), Family expenditure (x14), Marketed surplus (x15), Marketable surplus (x16), Family labor (x17), No. of male workers (x18) and No. of female workers (x19). The Dependent variables selected for the study are, cosmopo lite Farm enterprise information (y1), localite Farm enterprise information (y2), Information seeking and responding behavior (y3), Entrepreneurial communication behavior (y4), Economical communication (y5) and Transportation cost (y6).

Research methodology is a detailed plan of investigation and the blue print of procedure for carrying out the research. In this chapter, discussion on the methodology has been made to understand the concepts, methods and techniques, which are utilized to design the study, collect information, analyzing data and interpreting the findings for revelation of truth and formulation of theories. The entire chapter has been broken up under following sub-heads for easy understanding:

1. Locale of research

2. Sampling design

3. Pilot study

4. Variables and their measurements

5. Methods of data collection

6. Statistical tools used for analysis of data

5.1: Locale of research

The present study has been conducted in a INDIA-BANGLADESH cross border village named Mitrapur in the state West Bengal. Villages from Haringhata block in Nadia District.

Introduction

The Government of India created a historic act, by enacting the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the largest employment generating programme in the world, ensuring the right to work in a country with a population of over one billion. The Government of India passed the NREGA 2005, (Central Act No. 42 of 2005). NREGA was renamed as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) on October 2nd, 2009. MGNREGA is the first ever law, in the world that guarantees wage employment at an unprecedented scale. This Act gives legal guarantee of at least one hundred days of wage employment in a financial year to a rural household, whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled and manual work. The Act is applicable in the Districts notified by the Government of India, the implementation of the Act calls for the formulation of Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme by the State Governments.

The key processes in the implementation of MGNREGA are the adult members of rural households submit their name, age and address with photo to the Gram Panchayat, which in turn registers households after making enquiry and issues a job card which contains the details of adult member enrolled and his/her photo. Registered person can submit an application for work in writing (for at least fourteen days of continuous work) either to Panchayat or to Programme Officer, who will accept the valid application and issue dated receipt of application, letter providing work will be sent to the applicant and displayed at Panchayat office. The employment will be provided within a radius of 5 kilometers and if it is above 5 kilometers extra wage will be paid. If employment under the scheme is not provided within fifteen days of receipt of the application, daily unemployment allowance will be paid to the applicant.

Introduction

Agriculture is vital to the Indian economy in terms of job creation, with nearly half of the Indian population relying on agriculture and related activities for a living. A large proportion of the population, particularly in rural areas, is illiterate. The rural population, which is illiterate and ignorant, is unable to cope with the complexities of agricultural technology management. As a result, vocational training and technology dissemination are few viable options for increasing production efficiency and achieving rapid and sustainable agricultural development. The State of Odisha derives more than a quarter of its revenue from agriculture. More than 40% of the people in the state of Odisha depend on farming as their primary source of income and way of life, making up more than 53% of the state’s workforce. whereas agricultural technology has developed into a logical extension of the traditions, conventions, knowledge, and skills that date back to the early days of human civilization and have continued to evolve over time. It was not just agriculture that produced food or other biological means; rather, it essentially presented a wide range of traditional values to make it abundantly evident that “TECHNOLOGY and TECHNIQUE” are the cultural means to satisfy the biological as well as social demand for life. To provide the necessary acceleration to the agricultural development, Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) Scheme was launched during 2005-06 in order to enrich farmer’s skills, knowledge and competency several developmental programmes/projects, in agriculture and allied sectors. In the state Odisha, a district level autonomous institute has taken the main responsibility of all technology dissemination activities at district level for development of farmers and farm women through its bottom –up approach. During 2010 the reforms made in ATMA project and farm persons were given due importance to its multifarious activities like training, demonstration, information support, input supply, market-oriented facilities, linking credit and exposure visit etc. These multi-purpose activities provide ample opportunities for the farm communities and makes the resources accessible for them. Additionally, ATMA served as a link between individuals in need and those with the means necessary for undergoing rapid technological change. It is also critical to evaluate various stakeholders of ATMA in order to enhance both its organisational and functional approach. This includes various parameters such as efficiency of skilled professionals of ATMA, availability of resources and feedback from farmer beneficiaries among other factors.

Introduction

The term, “non-governmental organization” or NGO, came into use in 1945 because of the need for the UN to differentiate in its Charter between participation rights for intergovernmental specialized agencies and those for international private organizations. At the UN, virtually all types of private bodies can be recognized as NGOs .They only have to be independent from government control, not seeking to challenge governments either as a political party or by a narrow focus on human rights, non-profit-making and non-criminal (Ali Mostashari, 2005). On the contrary India is one the poorest countries housing one third of the total world poor population. 43% of Indian children are malnourished, a third ofthe world’s total. Over 25% of Indians are illiterate, and more than 20 million children are out of school (Asheesh Bisht et al., 2013). India is a highly populated and predominantly rural country. It is classified as a country of medium human development, ranked 128th in the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Index 2007. Life expectancy is 63.7 years at birth, and four fifths of the population lives on less than $2/day. The adult literacy rate is 61 percentages. India has a long history of civil society based on the concepts of daana (giving) and seva (service). Numerous organizations were established during this period, including the Friend-in-Need Society (1858), Prathana Samaj (1864), Satya Shodhan Samaj (1873), Arya Samaj (1875), the National Council for Women in India (1875), and the Indian National Conference (1887). Mahatma Gandhi’s return to India in 1916 shifted the focus of development activities to economic self sufficiency.

Introduction

Corona viruses are a huge family of viruses that cause many chronic diseases. A novel corona virus is an advanced strain of virus that has not been formerly identified in humans. Accepted recommendations to avert the spread of disease include regular hand washing, covering of mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, avoid close contact (social distancing) with anyone showing symptoms,etc. Since majority of the people, especially children are sitting inside their home the usage of digital platforms are also increased dramatically.

COVID-19 and the associated lockdown in the country, has made a significant impact on the life of the population, across boundaries. Roughly saying, it has been near to a year since the foremost case of corona virus was reported in India, which was reported on January 30th 2020. Today that is, on 10th December 2020, 69,383,534 corona cases were reported, 1,578,707 deaths and 48,155,526 cases were recovered globally. In India 9,768,643 corona cases were reported, Of which 141,817 deaths and 9,253,388 cases were recovered. Whereas in Kerala, 2562 deaths, 658633 confirmed cases and 596593 recovered cases were reported. The only fluctuations are in the statistics, but the conditions are the same in each day. Of this study, we aim to create awareness on COVID-19 through interactive and pleasure seeking games. This helps to make them aware about the severity of the pandemic and also improves their psychological health. Lack of awareness and the passive attitude of people is the major factor of this situation. Children and the older adults are the major two communities more convenient to disseminate the information and at the same time they are the most vulnerable groups to the corona virus. Children are more enthusiastic and older people are more precaution. By providing the same games for both age groups, the interaction between both becomes closer and thereby improves the mental well-being of both in a family. So that the games were most effective in all respects. Games are activities usually undertaken for fun and enjoyment, but it not only meant for fun but also gives edutainment. Games are an effective tool to disseminate information by entertaining way.

Introduction

The success of green revolution strategies for raising agricultural productivity and production has depended on the development of crop varieties that are more responsive to increased applications of water, manure, fertilizer, and agrochemical means of protection against pests. For farmers to benefit from this process whereby investing in more inputs can lead to production of more outputs, they had to begin by buying and using improved seeds. The green revolution was clearly seed dependent. The system of rice intensification (SRI) and other agro ecological approaches follow a different strategy, on the other hand. They work with whatever crop varieties the farmer already has or prefers to use (recognizing that it is always most productive to start with whatever genotype is best suited to the farmers’ circumstances and goals). Agro ecological methods are more likely to reduce the use of external input than to increase this as they mobilize and capitalize upon potentials that already within plants and upon the interactions between plants and their biotic and abiotic environments, i.e., mutual influences among plants, other organisms, climate, soil and other inanimate factors (Altieri, 1995; Gliessman, 1998; Uphoff, 2002). This is a very different envisioning of the agricultural domain.

Introduction

Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are the organizations engaged in particular plethora of activities aimed at protecting and promoting the varied interests of the people. As the name suggests, NGOs are the state independent voluntary groups working towards various social causes – ‘Charitable Purposes’. Section 2 (15) of the Income Tax Act 1961 explains charitable purpose as those activities aimed at the relief of the poor, education, yoga, medical relief, preservation of environment including the watersheds, wild life forests and preservation of monuments or places or objects of artistic or historic interest and the advancement of any other object of general public utility. These ‘Not–for Profit’ organizations differ from other business as the main aim of such ventures is charity not generating profits. These NGOs are prohibited from distributing the income generated from their working among its members. There is no single consolidated act dealing with the formation and registration of NGOs. This is because an NGO is an umbrella term for all the charitable ventures. An NGO, in itself, can have various structures. These can be registered as societies, trusts and as private limited. Non-profit companies commonly referred to as section 8 companies therefore an NGO can be registered under any of the three acts i.e., Company Act (2013), Societies Registration Act (1860) and Indian Trust Act (1862).

Methodology

In the present study, the researcher has tried to present a broad picture of the role of media with his empirical observations on news in some selected print media and TV channels. The content analysis of news along with comparative method between print and electronic, news related to problems in rural governance and other news were taken into consideration.

Introduction

As Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of Nation, rightly pointed out that “The true India is to be found not in its few cities, but in its seven hundred thousand villages. If the villages perish, India will perish too”. (GoI website) Primarily India is an agrarian society, where more than 70% people lives in countryside. As majority of our population reside in rural hinterland and their livelihood depends on agricultural and economic activities related to it. People from rural areas migrating to mega cities or urban areas or industrial townships to seek jobs in service sectors. The seasonal migration of laborers to big cities has become a regular feature in our economy. These uprooted people feel lucky to get something to earn for near and dear ones. 58 per cent of these rural households are employed in farming sector i.e. cultivation, livestock rearing and other agricultural activity, which in turn contributes less than 60 per cent to their average monthly income. These were the findings of the ‘Situation Assessment Survey of Agriculture Households’ for the 2012-2013 crop years, from July to June. A brief overview of Indian economy reveals that agriculture contributes 16.5 per cent of the GDP contribution, compared to Industry’s 29.8 per cent and service sector’s 54.4, as per the census of 2015. It is also worth to recall that despite the big claim of booming Indian economy, the share of informal employment in total employment has remained above 90 per cent throughout the period 2004-05 to 2011-12, the Economic Survey 2014-15 revealed.

Introduction

Enhancing productivity and profitability are two major factors of agricultural growth for the future. Over dependence on monsoon and limited scope for area expansion made agriculture development is critical to generate employment and additional income for the rural poor. Major part of agricultural population is small and marginal farmers who are economically vulnerable and poor. The consequence of inclement weather on crop production affects ultimately livelihoods of farmers. In the changing scenario improvements in farmers’ productivity and profitability, diversification of agriculture have been acknowledged to enhance profit, generate additional employment for rural masses and to conserve the natural resources.

Integration of different component at farm level is the need of hour to enhance the profitability of agriculture production system. Jharkhand state a resource rich state wheremonocroping in rainfed agriculture with small undulated upland is in practice. Rural economy is mixed type where forest produce particularly lac play important role. To enhance rural economy, integration of agriculture with forest based intervention appears to be viable option to enhance profits and productivity of upland which is almost sixty percent of total cultivable land. Even though moisture is available during Rabi free grazing made imperative cultivation of second crop. Continuous aberrant weather demand the inclusion of forest resources to be exploited in diversified and integrated manner as forest interventions require little water.

7.1 Summary

Climate change is a complex global phenomenon that poses significant challenges for agriculture including uncertainty about future weather patterns, soil conditions, and other environmental factors. Farmers are facing the difficult task of interpreting and responding to these changes in order to maintain their livelihoods and ensure food security for growing populations. In this context, mental modelling has emerged as a useful approach for understanding how farmers interpret and respond to climate change. Mental models are cognitive representations of how individuals understand and make decisions about complex systems, and can be used to identify key drivers of behaviour and decision-making.

The present study has explored the social, ecological, and economic factors that influence farmers’ mental models on perception of climate change, level of uncertainty and trend of agricultural change in the selected study area. It argues that farmers’ mental models are shaped by a range of factors, including their own experiences and observations, social networks and interactions, access to information and resources, and broader economic and political contexts. The present study has also highlighted the role of uncertainty in shaping farmers’ mental models and decision-making. Uncertainty about the future impacts of climate change can create significant challenges for farmers, as they must make decisions based on incomplete information and uncertain predictions.

Introduction

While experimenting with chemicals, sometimes we need to dry the chemical/ solution (solid, liquid or gas) using a process like evaporation or distillation, mainly to remove water or different solvents. Drying is the process of evaporation or distillation to remove water/solvent from a solution, solid or even from gas. Generally, a drying agent (usually an anhydrous inorganic salt) is used for this process, which reacts with the water (present in the chemical/ solvent to be dried) to form a hydrate. For example, anhydrous MgSO4 is one of the drying agents. The drying agents are recognized by their capacity (the rate at which they absorb water) and their intensity (the amount of water left behind in the solvent at equilibrium). No chemical reaction or change in phase occurs during the drying process.

Type of Solvents

Apart from water (a universal solvent), there are three families of organic solvents used in laboratories.

1) Oxygenated solvents: Alcohols, Ketones, Glycol ethers, Glycol esters, etc.

2) Hydrocarbon solvents: Aliphatic and Aromatic hydrocarbons.

3) Halogenated solvents: Chlorinated hydrocarbons.

Introduction

For agricultural applications as well as for research work, often we need to prepare solutions of different agrochemicals of varying strength, as per the requirements. Agrochemicals are used to help crop plants grow, produce, and protect them from biotic/abiotic stresses. Many of the agrochemicals (insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, rodenticides, molluscicides, nematicides, etc.) are used to protect the crop from insect pests and diseases. However, some of them (fertilizers and soil conditioners) are used to augment crop yield. While in the previous chapter (Chapter 8) we discussed about preparation of laboratory solutions, in this chapter we will briefly discuss about the preparation of different agrochemicals.

Agrochemical/agrichemical is a generalized term used for the chemicals applied in agriculture. In general, it also includes the feed-supplements used in f isheries and animal husbandry.

Agrochemicals

Fertilizers

Fertilizers are used to augment growth of crop plants and to mitigate nutrient deficiency in the soil. Fertilisers can be organic (containing natural substances, prepared through natural processes) and inorganic fertilisers (synthetic fertilizers, manufactured artificially using chemical processes using natural deposits, by chemical alterations).

Soil Conditioners

Soil conditioners include manure, livestock and leaf compost, peat that help making the soil in good condition. They are laid on the top soil and then mixed properly. They not only increase nutrient contents in the soil but also improve aeration and water holding capacity.

AMR has been prevalent in almost all European countries from past decades. A 2021-2022 report published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on AMR in zoonotic and indicator bacteria from humans, animals and food origin reported vast differences in antimicrobials resistance levels among the European countries, with comparatively higher AMR percentages in the southern and eastern parts of Europe (ECDC, 2022, 2023). The resistance levels ranged from very high for tetracyclines, sulfonamides and ampicillin, moderate for ciprofloxacin to low levels for third-generation cephalosporins (cefotaxime and ceftazidime) in human cases infected with Salmonella spp. in 2022 (ECDC, 2023). The trends are dynamic and over a decade of 2013 2022, the human isolates from 12 and 15 countries reported a statistically significant reduction in tetracycline and ampicillin resistance, particularly for S. typhimurium (ECDC, 2023). The ciprofloxacin and cefotaxime combination, a highest priority critically important antimicrobials (CIA), had very low and rare resistance levels for Salmonella isolates of humans and animal and their derived meat.

Livestock species wise variation was also observed in the resistance pattern in imported meat, being higher in poultry meat isolates compared to pig or cattle meat for Escherichia coli (ECDC, 2023). High to extremely high levels of f luoroquinolone resistance from Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli of both human and animal origin isolates exist, due to which the fluoroquinolones can no more be used as a treatment option for human Campylobacter infections (ECDC 2023). The combined occurrence of erythromycin resistance and ciprofloxacin in Campylobacter spp is considered of high public health importance, and the report mentioned that the combined resistance for these antimicrobials was higher in C. coli compared to C. jejuni from food-producing animals and humans. However, while the ciprofloxacin resistance showed an increase in over 13 study countries, seven countries reported reduced erythromycin resistance for C. jejuni. Overall, resistance to conventional antimicrobials was frequent in Campylobacter and Salmonella from humans and animals. Increasing trend in resistance to one of two CIA for treatment in humans has been observed in poultry-originated Salmonella serovars and Campylobacter while combined resistance was is low in few Salmonella serovars and C. coli isolates from humans and animals in some countries (ECDC, 2023).

Introduction

Until the 20thcentury, bacterial infections were the number one cause of human death. In the 1940s, antibiotics became the lifelines for treating serious infections that saved millions of lives. Despite the advantages derived from the use of antibiotics, resistance to these drugs emerged. Unfortunately, resistance to most antibiotics emerged in time-course even for the most powerful antibiotics developed.Resistance to antibiotics is a challenge to the scientific community in keeping up the pace of antibiotic discovery.World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Reporthas listed antibiotic resistance as one of the greatest threats (WEF, 2020).United Nations (UN) has warned that drug-resistant diseases could account for 10 million deaths each year by 2050. By 2030, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) could likelylead up to 24 million people into extreme poverty(IACG,2019). Currently, at least 7,00,000 people die each year due to drug-resistant diseases (IACG,2019). The emergence and widespread of antibiotic-resistant organisms is a global challenge and needs a multi-dimensional approach to address the fundamental issues to minimize drug-resistance.The Antibiotic Resistance Genes Database (ARDB) contains a repository of around 23,000 antibiotic resistance gene or protein sequences conferring resistance against over 240 antibiotics (ARDB). Computational Biology (Bioinformatics) has become one of the important tools in studying antimicrobial resistance. It employs a range of computation techniques to make predictions about the biological phenomenon.

Introduction

The epidemiological risk and hazards to global health security posed by AMR has been reiterating in several World Health Assembly (WHA) declarations and has been prioritized under the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA). The Indian Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) has also identified AMR as one of the top priorities for collaborative work with WHO and the first National Action Plan on AMR has been implemented (2017-2022). India ranked fifth in antibiotic consumption in food producing animals (ruminants, pigs, and poultry) in 2010. Even though there has been a gradual reduction of 3.6% in antibiotic consumption during 2011-2019 (Koya et al., 2022), with mounting incomes and shifting in dietary patterns in favour of the consumption of animal protein, especially for poultry, the veterinary antibiotic utilization is projected to further rise by 312%, elevating India to the fourth rank by 2030 (Van Boeckel et al., 2015). FAO has already reported some of the peak resistance rates among common commensal and environmental bacteria against antibiotics like penicillin, cephalosporins, erythromycin and co-trimazoles in India (INFAAR). Resistance to the broad spectrum fluoroquinolones and third generation cephalosporin antibiotics is already more than 70% in Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and, Acinetobacter baumannii and more than 50% in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Even the microbial resistance to carbapenems, the last-resort antibiotics, is extremely high among gram-negative microorganisms (Sumanth et al., 2016). To overcome these incidences, it is impulsive to understand the microbe and drug interaction in host system.

Introduction

Malnutrition remains a pervasive global challenge, affecting millions of individuals across the world, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Despite significant advancements in agriculture and food production, a large segment of the population still lacks access to essential nutrients, leading to severe health consequences and perpetuating cycles of poverty and underdevelopment (Müller and Krawinkel, 2005). Malnutrition, defined as the inadequate intake of essential nutrients required for optimal health and development, encompasses both undernutrition and over-nutrition (WHO, 2023). While undernutrition, characterized by deficiencies in energy, protein, vitamins, and minerals, remains a significant concern, over nutrition, manifesting as obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases, is also on the rise, particularly in urban settings (Wells et al., 2020). The consequences of malnutrition are far-reaching, impacting physical growth, cognitive development, immune function, and overall well-being, with long term implications for productivity, economic prosperity, and societal stability (Saunders and Smith, 2010).

Rice, a staple food for more than half of the world’s population, plays a central role in global food security and nutrition. However, conventional rice varieties often lack sufficient levels of key nutrients, such as iron, zinc, vitamin A, and certain amino acids, leaving populations reliant on rice-based diets vulnerable to micronutrient deficiencies and associated health risks (Peña-Rosas and Mithra, 2019). Iron deficiency anaemia, zinc deficiency, and vitamin A deficiency, are among the most prevalent forms of malnutrition worldwide, particularly affecting women and children in resource-constrained settings where rice consumption is high (Dipti et al., 2012)

Significant Progress and Prospects

It is widely acknowledged that biofortification presents a promising and cost effective agricultural strategy to enhance the nutritional status of malnourished populations globally. Approaches to biofortification, including crop breeding, targeted genetic modification, and mineral fertilizer application, offer significant potential for combatting mineral deficiencies in human diets. The development of biofortified food crops with enhanced nutrient content such as iron, zinc, selenium, and provitamin A has shown promise in addressing micronutrient deficiencies prevalent in both developing and developed nations. Over the past decade, both national and international initiatives have made substantial contributions toward achieving these goals. These efforts have resulted in the release of biofortified varieties across various crops, including rice, maize, wheat, potatoes, vegetables, and millets. The majority of these varieties have been developed through conventional breeding methods without sacrificing crop yield, making them readily accepted by both growers and consumers.

One of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals is the cultivation of nutritionally rich crop varieties with heightened levels of micronutrients such as iron, zinc, calcium, total protein, lysine, tryptophan, anthocyanin, provitamin A, and oleic acid, coupled with reduced levels of anti-nutritional factors. In the past decade, 142 biofortified varieties, spanning rice, wheat, maize, pearl millet, small millet, lentil, chickpea, and other crops, have been developed under the auspices of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Biofortified varieties typically do not impact ecological conditions, soil, or water requirements differently from traditional varieties. Additionally, they do not incur extra cultivation costs, and their economic output is comparable to traditional produce, leading to their widespread adoption. In India, the scale-up of biofortified varieties has gained momentum, with substantial quantities of breeder seeds being produced and distributed to public and private seed agencies for further multiplication and dissemination to farmers. Over the past six years, approximately 10 million hectares of land have been cultivated with biofortified rice, wheat, pearl millet, mustard, and lentil varieties.

Introduction

Millet is a very important cereal grain that many people around the world eat. In fact, over a third of the world’s population consumes millet. It’s the sixth most produced cereal crop globally. Some common types of millet include Jowar (Sorghum), Sama (Little millet), Ragi (Finger millet), Korra (Foxtail millet), and Variga (Proso millet). Among these, Bajra and Sama have more fat, while Ragi has the least. Millet has been cultivated for thousands of years and is used in many parts of the world. In the past, even the Romans and Gauls enjoyed millet-based porridges. Today, China, India, Greece, Egypt, and various African countries are the major producers of millet. In rural areas, some types of millet, like Finger millet and Sorghum, are eaten by people, while others are primarily used as animal feed. These millets have packed with several beneficial nutrients and play a crucial role in traditional diets in many regions. Compared to commonly used rice and wheat, millet is three to five times more nutritious. While wheat and rice mainly provide food security, millet offers not only food security but also health benefits and livelihood opportunities. It can help manage health issues like diabetes and high cholesterol.

In India, Karnataka is the top producer of millets, accounting for over 58% of global production. Despite its nutritional and health benefits, many people in India are not aware of the advantages of consuming millet. (Upadhyaya et al., 2007). Millets are fantastic crops when it comes to pest management. Traditionally grown millets don’t require pesticides and the land used for millet cultivation remains largely pest-free. Some millets, like foxtail millet, not only resist pests themselves but also serve as natural protectors against pests in storage conditions for other crops like green gram. This means there’s no need for fumigants to keep them safe. It has a treasure trove of micronutrients, including vitamins and beta-carotene, which are now seen as essential as pharmaceutical pills. In the present day, millets are exceptionally superior and serve as a solution to the widespread issues of malnutrition and obesity affecting a significant portion of the Indian population (Singh KP et al., 2012). Millets are rich in essential fatty acids, including linoleic, oleic, and palmitic acids, which are present in their free form. They also contain compounds like monogalactosyl, diacylglycerols, digalactosyl diacylglycerols, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylcholine in bound forms. Although other fatty acids like arachidic acid, behenic acid and erucic acid are found in millets, they are in trace amounts. Millet oil can be a valuable source of linoleic acid and tocopherols. Additionally, millets are gluten-free and have an alkaline effect in the body. They contain essential B vitamins such as niacin, folacin, riboflavin, and thiamine, as well as phosphorus. These nutrients play a crucial role in energy synthesis within the body.

Introduction

The term analytics and data analytics are used inter-changeably. When referring to analytics, it means “analysis of data” or “what can be learnt from an analysis of data”. In an industry like fishing industry, the researchers have been slow to adopt the tools used to portray accurate representations of data. For example, a dashboard with historical data from the past ten or fifteen years displayed on a digital map can enable the researchers to decide the places where fishing can be good. This map can help in locating the points fished during specific seasons. This will enable the researchers to filter the data on various parameters like area, year, season etc. or on any other specific parameter which can give valuable information. Similarly, this type of dashboard can affect the decision making process while fishing, like one can find the monetary value associated with each trip during a specific season or compare the values associated with two different trips to gauge the cost-benefits.

Data Analytics helps in taking most informed decisions in the fishing industry if one of the goals is to increase income while ensuring sustainability. It helps in deciding whether to reduce overhead costs or to increase expenditure to avoid overhead costs in future.

Fisheries sector undergoes continuous changes with introduction of newer technologies evolved through research and development institutions. Statistics per se deals with generation of data, data management, data analysis and information generation from data. There are varied disciplines of fisheries viz., Aquaculture, Fisheries Resource Management, Fish Genetics, Fish Biotechnology, Aquatic Health, Nutrition, Environment, Fish Physiology, and Post-harvest Technology, wherein research on practical aspects is undertaken which affect production and sustainability.

Introduction

Indian agriculture, including fisheries, is highly monsoon dependent and effect of climate change is immense on its large tracts of rainfed farms. The effects of climate change could be thwarted through better adaptation techniques using all information available with various agencies concerned with agriculture and using advanced analytical tools. Presently, in the country, there is a gap in the capability in capturing, processing and analyzing huge source of information generated in Indian agriculture. This task can be accomplished using Big Data Platform which works in cluster mode and provides the capability of handling huge volume of data, capturing streaming data or real time data and also can accommodate unstructured data. As per FAO, 70 percent in increase in food production in another 30 years is required to overcome the increasing global food demand. It may not be possible to achieve that target due to variety of problems such as reduction in land for cultivation, climate change, and various other factors, such as increasing the fish production etc. Improvement in crop genetics, application of fertilizer in higher dosages, irrigation facilities, etc. may not be possible in future. We need to create a big data platform involving important parameters on crop production viz., soil, soil temperature, water requirements, and relative humidity, pests and diseases, and micro and macro nutrients in temporal and spatial. Now, since available data is properly utilized for making valid analytics by the farming community due to certain issues. Even the data created is incompatible, data available from various sources is also not compatible among themselves due to which decision making is also a big challenge. Due to the incompatibility of agricultural data from different sources, farmers do not have the accessibility to vast pool of available information for making effective, efficient and timely decisions.

Big Data in Agriculture (including fisheries)

Big data, an emerging data driven system helps in precision agriculture based on data collected. This helps farmers in making efficient decisions on sowing, planting, fertilizing and various other farm operations including

harvesting crops at the appropriate time. Of late, sensors are placed in the fields to collect data on related parameters viz., soil temperature and moisture relative humidity, wind speed, weather, etc. which help in crop growth. Images obtained using satellites are helpful in monitoring the crop growth during crop period. Agro-produce includes not only yields obtained from crops but also include produce from horticulture, livestock, fisheries, and other systems also. Agriculture is dependent on various parameters such as climate, seed, soil cultivation practices, agronomic practices, irrigation requirement, fertilizers pesticides, weeds, harvesting, post harvesting techniques, etc. Data collected on all these parameters would help in estimation of yield and other relevant parameters. Governments, Universities, Research departments, Agro-business and Agri-input companies generate, maintain and use voluminous data related to various farm management practices and other related issues say insurance marketing, supply chain, packaging, distribution, etc. This voluminous and wide variety of data poses several challenges for making effective decisions. Information on various fish related parameters can be collected from the stakeholders and a big data platform can be developed for effective decision making.

Introduction

Resources are used unscientifically commonly. For example applying feed somewhere in the pond results in loss, but by using technology, we can know when to apply where to apply, and how to apply which leads to efficient management of resources. Monitoring should be continuous which is not possible and very difficult for humans, but with technology, it could be monitored and the status could be known even from home which is communicated through mobile, which is sent by sensors installed. The data are also easily maintained. When technology is used, resources are efficiently utilized, since everything has a demand and that can be satisfied. So resources can easily be maintained which reduces wastage. Field management is a very skilled activity and it needs years of experience and onsite exposure which needs skilled labour, in such cases technologies aids with better methodologies. When the resources are applied at the right time, at the right amount, the growth becomes normal which increases the produce quality. After a product is produced, it has to be sent to a series of channels such as transport, market etc. and a technology should backup and monitor everything. The produce after being produced should be sold and many apps can be downloaded to improve the marketing. The whole world is changing within a period of time. So one should stay updated to impress the livelihood and the wide knowledge on technology helps to lead a better life with easy management practices. Thus data driven technology interventions are needed for efficient management of resources, monitoring of things anytime & anywhere, reduction of wastage of resources, reduction of dependence on trained and skilled manpower, enhanced product quality, better integration, better marketability, to stay updated with latest knowledge and access to other knowledge source for better upgrades.

Introduction

Cell surface components such as adhesins, polysaccharides, and proteins play major roles in the adherence of probiotic bacteria to the intestinal epithelium, interactions that might lead to pathogen exclusion and immunomodulation of host cells. Probiotic bacteria have the ability to produce exocellular polymers called Exopolysachcharides (EPSs). These exocellular polymers present in the surface of many lactic acid bacteria, including Lactobacilli.The adhesive properties of lactobacilli are directly linked to their surface properties which are influenced by the structure and composition of their cell wall. The cell envelope of lactobacilli, bacteria, is composed of the bilipidic plasma membrane with embedded proteins encompassed by the cell wall. The bacterial cell wall consists of a thick multilayered sacculus made of peptidoglycan (PG) with teichoic acids (wall teichoic acids (WTA) and/or lipoteichoic acids (LTA)), exopolysaccharides (EPS), proteinaceous filaments called pili, and proteins that are anchored to the cell wall through different mechanisms (Figure 1).

Some species of lactobacilli possess an additional paracrystalline layer of proteins surrounding the PG layer, referred to as the S layer. These macromolecules together may play crucial roles in determining species and strain-specific characteristics of lactobacilli by influencing host-microbe interactions and microbial adaptations to the changing host environment. Several studies implicate that cell surface components, either individually or collectively, involve in host-microbe interactions. Lactobacilli beneficially affect the host in many ways by producing abundant variety of EPSs through the activity of extracellular glycosyl transferases. Approximately 30 species of lactobacilli are described as EPS producers. Among them, the best known are L. casei, L. acidophilus, L.brevis, L. curvatus, L. delbrueckii bulgaricus, L. helveticus, L. rhamnosus, L. plantarum, L. johnsonii, etc.

The salts of the milk include those constituents that are present as ions or in equilibrium with ions. The main salts of milk are phosphates, citrates, chlorides, sulfates, carbonates, and bicarbonates of sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Approximately 20 other elements are found in milk in trace quantities including copper, iron, lead, boron, manganese, zinc, iodine, etc. These ions are more or less associated with themselves and with proteins. Some metals act as catalysts in the oxidation of milk fat leading to oxidative rancidity and certain metals like Ca, P, Mg, Mo, Co, Fe, etc. are components of metalloproteins such as lactoferrin, lactoperoxidase, xanthine oxidase, and parts of phospholipids.

Distribution of Salts Between Casein Micelles and Serum

The phosphorus is present as orthophosphate, but part of it is bound to organic components like serine and threonine residues of casein, molecules of hexoses and glycerol, phospholipids, etc. Phosphorus is also found in the hydroxyapatite structure of the colloidal calcium phosphate in the micellar structure of casein. The sulfur content of milk is about 0.36 g/kg, but most of it is in the amino acid residues methionine and cysteine of the proteins. About 10% is present as inorganic sulfate.

Physical Equilibria Among Salts

Milk contains several elements but all of them are not entirely in a soluble state. Some minerals exist in colloidal and ionic states at the normal pH of milk. The compounds that are in soluble condition play an important role in keeping various milk constituents in stable condition. A balance exists between the components that are in a soluble state and those which are in colloidal state.

Types of Enazymes in milk

1. Endogenous and 2. Exogenous.

Three sources of enzyme in milk:

1. The blood via defective mammary cells.

2. Secretory cell cytoplasm. Some of which are occasionally entrapped with fat globules by the encircling MFGM.

3. The outer layer of MFGM is probably the principal source of endogenous enzymes in milk. The outer layer of MFGM is derived from the apical membrane of the secretory cell which in turn originates from the Golgi membrane and acts as the principal source of enzyme in milk.

General Characteristics of Milk Enzymes

1. Deteriorative character e.g. lipase (commercially most important enzyme in milk), proteinase, acid phosphatase, xanthine oxidase.

2. Preservative enzymes. e.g. superoxide dismutase, sulfhydryl oxidase.

3. As an indicator of the thermal treatment history of milk. Related enzymes are alkaline phosphatase, ϒ glutamyl transpeptidase, and lactoperoxidase.

4. Mastitis infection indicator. Related enzymes are catalase, n-Acetyl-β D-glucosaminidase, and acid phosphatase.

5. Antimicrobial activity.

6. Commercial source of ribonuclease and lactoperoxidase

Common Milk Enzymes and their Role in Dairy Industry

Chemistry of Creaming

After being drawn from animals, normal milk will form a cream layer on standing. Because of the difference in density between fat globules (920 kg m−3 at room temperature) and milk plasma (density 1030 kg m−3), the granules tend to rise. This causes creaming, which we often want to prevent and it enables milk to be separated into cream and skim milk. Creaming is much enhanced when the globules have been aggregated into flocculates, clusters, or granules.

Cream Ripening

This unit operation serves as an intensive preparation of the cream for the churning process. It is divided into two categories.

1. Physical ripening;

2. biochemical ripening The following criteria are influenced by the cream ripening:

• Consistency, firmness, and spreadability of butter.

• Basic water content of butter during the manufacturing process (bound water in butter, which cannot be removed by any mechanical treatment).

• Buttermilk fat content, which has to be minimized.

The melting and solidification behavior of fat depends on the attached fatty acid, which indicate the hardness of the butterfat.

Natural hardness is caused mainly by seasonal feeding of the milk animals. Winter feed with a great deal of dry feed or roughage yields a hard butterfat with a high percentage of saturated and short-chain fatty acids and few double bonds in the fat molecules.

Summer feeding (green grass) results in fat with longer chains and a higher percentage of unsaturated fatty acids with many double bonds. We therefore distinguish between summer fat and winter fat or summer cream and winter cream.