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Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus Moench), otherwise known as Lady’s finger or Bhindi is an annual malvaceous plant and the sixth important vegetable crop cultivated throughout the country mostly in kharif and summer seasons. Though it is reported to be originated from tropical and sub-tropical Africa, but it has gained much importance in India as the secondary centre of origin. India ranked first in okra production in the World and major okra producing Indian states are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Assam (Anonymous, 2011).

Tomato, Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. is an important vegetable cultivated throughout the world; both outdoors and under protected structures for fresh market consumption and processing. In India this nutritive rich vegetable is grown over an area of 0.60 m ha with an estimated production of 11.9 mt. Productivity of tomato in India is lower (18.6 t/ha) than the world productivity (27 t/ha) (Anonymous 2009). Tomato is grown in a wide range of climatic conditions across states of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas (Linn.) originated in northwestern South America around 8000 - 6000 BC. The plant is a dicotyledonous, herbaceous, trailing vine which is the only economically important member of the family Convolvulaceae. The plant is generally characterised by starchy, succulent and tuberous storage roots; alternating palmately lobed leaves and medium sized sympetalous flowers which grow individually and vary in colour from white to varying degrees of purple (Austin et al., 1991).

Curry leaf, Murraya koenigii (Linn.) is one of the most important plants exclusively known for its culinary and medicinal value. Leaves of the plant are widely used for flavouring food in Indian cookery. Leaves are also used in many Indian Ayurvedic and Unani prescriptions (Joseph and Peter, 1985). The whole plant including leaves, stems, flower, fruits and roots are used as tonic, stimulant, anti-flatulent, anti-diabetic, anti-oxidant (Khan et al., 1997) and anti-carcinogenic (Khanum et al., 2000).

Leafy vegetables are the herbs that are grown for their edible greens (leaves). Leafy vegetables are also called pot-herbs, greens, vegetable greens, and leafy greens are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by tender petioles and shoots. They come from a very wide variety of plants. As per Singh and Arora (1978), about 220 species belonging to the families, Amaranthaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Araceae, Asteraceae, Convolvulaceae, Malvaceae, Nymphalaceae, Papilionaceae etc. occur in India.

Endowed with varied agro-climatic situations, topography and soil type, India has been a leading vegetable producing country in the world occupying the second
position in vegetable production after China with an annual production of 87.53 million tonnes from 5.86 million hectares having a share of 14.4 per cent to the world production. With commercial cultivation of as many as 61 annual and 4 perennial vegetables, India is the most diverse vegetable growing country in the world (Prakash et al., 2006).

Insecticides are one of the key control measures to combat the insect pests for sustainable agricultural production in the world. Synthetic insecticides have been only strategy to control the resurgent and resistant insect population in of high value crops not only in India but also in the world. The advent of synthetic insecticides in the mid-20th century made the control of insect and other arthropod pests easy and much more effective, and such chemicals remain essential in modern agriculture despite their environmental issues.

The biocontrol use had almost completely disappeared due to the growth and success of the synthetic pesticide industry in the mid-1940s. The publication of Rachael Carson's 'Silent Spring' (Carson 1962) which condemned the use of agricultural pesticides and emphasized their harmful environmental effects on wildlife. Due to public outrage over this controversial book, there was a need for pesticide alternatives, which presents an opportunity for wider use of biological control (Barratt et al. 2010; Gay 2012).

Biopesticides are pesticides that are produced naturally by plants, animals, microbes, and other minerals. These represent less of a harm to humans and the environment than chemical insecticides. Nanotechnology is a rapidly developing scientific topic that has numerous uses in numerous industries, including agriculture. The transport of plant hormones, seed germination, water management, transfer of target genes, nano barcoding, nano sensors, and controlled release of agrichemicals are now being investigated as applications for nanotechnology in agriculture (Worrall et al. 2018).

Insecticide based plant protection in India as well as in the world resulted in wide variety of environmental and health issues. Insecticides although gave satisfactory control of target pests initially, have posed serious issues such as resistance, resurgence and residue and also contamination of water bodies, food chain leading serious ill effects in humans, mammals, soil beneficial microbiota etc. After thorough examination of scientific evidences and facts on ill effects of synthetic organic insecticides, much emphasis was given for biological control including parasitoids, predators, entomopathogens, biopesticides, microbial control etc. in order to overcome above ill effects.

A tremendous change in the Indian biopesticide industry and market has reflected on increased global trade in agricultural commodities, a healthy revolution in the consumers and stack-holders with adequate understanding on negative effective of chemical pesticides in plant protection. Currently biopesticides comprise approximately 3-5% of the Indian pesticide market, with at least 15 microbial species and 970 microbial formulations registered through the Central Insecticides Board and Registration Committee (CIBRC).

The single piece of legislation under the Indian Government that regulates the import, manufacturing, sale, transportation, distribution, and use of all varieties of insecticides, including biopesticides, is the Insecticide Act (1968). Various parameters like shelf life, cross-contamination, moisture content, and packaging are significant factors that must be addressed before a biopesticide is registered. According to Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) recommendations, CIB simplified the protocols and listed the infrastructure needs for manufacturing of biopesticides. Information required to generate toxicity calls a strenuous effort.

Mentzer et al. (2001) defined SCM as ‘the systematic, strategic coordination of the traditional business functions within a particular organization and across businesses within the supply chain, for the purposes of improving the long-term performance of the individual companies and the supply chain as a whole’. According to Walters and Lancaster (2000), supply chain management is the management of the interface relationships among key stakeholders and business functions that occur in the maximization of value creation which is driven by customer needs satisfaction and facilitated by efficient logistics management.

An agriculture supply chain system comprises organizations/cooperatives that are responsible for the production and distribution of vegetable/Fruits/Cereals/ Pulses or animal-based products. In general, we distinguish two main types:

‘Agriculture food supply chains for fresh agricultural products’ (such as fresh vegetables, flowers, fruit). In general, these chains may comprise growers, auctions, wholesalers, importers and exporters, retailers and speciality shops and their input and service suppliers. Basically, all of these stages leave the intrinsic characteristics of the product grown or produced untouched. The main processes are the handling, conditioned storing, packing, transportation and especially trading of these goods.

Agricultural policies in the past have witnessed a series of iterative changes following the economic reforms during the 1990s that marked a Division of Agricultural Economics. Though many of the reform processes were not initiated to directly affect the agriculture sector, it was affected indirectly (Chand, 2004). The mounting stock of food grains has partly been due to the weak purchasing power of the poor in the country. Nevertheless, the problem associated with buffer stock management and degradation of natural resources in some regions has triggered a debate to redefine the agricultural policies. As a remedial measure, it has been suggested that India should diversify its agriculture and get a foothold in the world market (Radhakrishna and Reddy, 2004).

Supply Chain is defined as the movement of materials as they flow from their source to the end customer. SCM is a continuously evolving management philosophy that seeks to unify the collective productive competencies and resources of the business functions found both within the enterprise and outside in the firm’s allied business partners located along intersecting supply channels into a highly competitive, customer-enriching supply system focused on developing innovative solutions and synchronizing the flow of marketplace products, services, and information to create unique, individualized sources of customer value.

As the population of the world rises, there is an increase in the demand for food production. Agricultural packaging helps farmers and makers to deliver food in the handiest approach with no loss. It eliminates unnecessary wastage of food during post-harvest treatment procedures, production process, storage, and transportation. It ensures short and long-term stability between the farmers and the consumers. Pesticides are completely toxic and reactive and thus need correct packaging. In agricultural packaging of pesticides, pouches with excellent quality standards are used that improve sealing and handling issues and avoid any malfunctioning. Ventilation is very important in agricultural packaging that permits the warmth and to cool quickly. Loss of water of the products should be minimized to let them stay fresh for a longer time.

The full form of ‘ISO’ is the International Organization for Standardization. ISO -QMS was founded in the year 1987. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland, operating in 162 plus countries.

• The ISO is an international standard-setting body that consists of the representatives from various national standards organizations.
• The ISO works on formulating the standards and guidelines for a variety of businesses and other purposes and publishes technical reports.
• The word ‘ISO’ is derived from the Latin term ‘isos’ which means ‘Equal for everyone’. It simply means that all the elements of the international std are equally applicable to all types of business.

GK Enterprise –Profile in brief

• Established in 2000 to provide Management Consultancy to all types of industries
• Centrally Located in Mumbai
• Consists of Group of Engineers having Industry Experience of more than 20 years
• Completed more than 500 plus ISO Certifications all over India & abroad.
• Certifications done for following areas –manufacturing, service, Education, Medical and projects business
• Established with a purpose of improving work efficiency of all types of business in India & abroad.

1. ____________ aims at elimination of unhealthy and unscrupulous practices, reducing the marketing charges and providing facilities to producer and sellers in the market

a) Regional market

b) Controlled market

c) Regulated market

d) Revised market

2. The market charges are paid by the _____ of agricultural commodities in a regulated market.

a) Buyers

b) Traders

c) Farmers

d) Sellers

3. __________ is a voluntary business organization established by its members to market the farm products jointly to reap the direct benefit out of it.

a) Regulated market