eChapters

Early and accurate detection of plant diseases is essential for protecting crop productivity and reducing agricultural losses. This chapter explores artificial intelligence-based plant disease detection using image processing and deep learning. It introduces major plant diseases and the fundamentals of image processing before examining deep learning approaches for identifying disease symptoms from plant images. AI models can automate disease recognition and support timely interventions in smart agricultural systems. The chapter presents a proposed methodology and discusses results and analysis, practical applications and limitations. It also considers challenges associated with data quality, environmental conditions and model performance, followed by future directions for developing more accurate, scalable and intelligent plant disease diagnostic systems

River-training works guide and regulate the flow of a river to achieve a stable channel alignment, protect banks, improve navigation, prevent erosion, and reduce flood damage. Rivers naturally change their course through sediment deposition, bank cutting, meandering, and variations in discharge. Engineering interventions must therefore account for hydraulic forces, sediment movement, channel morphology, and long-term river behaviour. This chapter defines river training and explains its objectives, benefits, limitations, and key design principles. It discusses guide banks, groynes or spurs, embankments, revetments, pitching, launching aprons, cut-offs, and related protective works. It also considers structural placement, classification, construction materials, maintenance, and environmental consequences.

About Northeast India

A serene land tucked up in the lap of mighty Himalayas, the North East regions in India is bestowed with picturesque locale and inexorable culture. The vast stretch of land located on the foothills of Himalayas, is a glorious heritage of art, culture and festivities. The tropical beauty of India, finds itself an all new meaning when we enter this paradise of tranquility. The serene ambience and salubrious climate of the region attracts people from all over the world. It almost feels like the valley casts a magical spell upon its visitors to replenish their soul making them feel rejuvenated. The widely scattered archeological specimens in the region speak aloud about the mythological significance of this part of the country, the North East region of our country bears testimony to our rich cultural heritage.

Flood routing predicts how a flood hydrograph changes as it passes through a river reach or reservoir. Storage, channel geometry, friction, inflow distribution, and outlet conditions generally reduce, delay, or otherwise modify the flood peak. Routing results help forecast downstream water levels, determine reservoir releases, design spillways and channels, issue warnings, and evaluate flood-control alternatives. This chapter introduces the continuity and storage principles underlying flood routing and distinguishes reservoir routing from channel routing. It discusses hydrologic and hydraulic approaches, including level-pool, Muskingum, and related techniques. Attention is also given to inflow and outflow hydrographs, routing coefficients, travel time, attenuation, data requirements, assumptions, calculations, and practical engineering applications.

Breeding of Indian Major Carps (IMCs) and Minor Carps involves specific practices to induce spawning in these fish species. IMCs, like Catla, Rohu, and Mrigal, are typically bred during the monsoon season through induced breeding methods, which involve injecting hormones or chemicals to trigger spawning. Minor carps, while also bred during the rainy season, may have slightly different hormone injection dosages and breeding practices.
The carps are freshwater fishes which contribute about 85% of aquaculture production in India. It has the first position in global freshwater aquaculture production. Commonly cultivated carp varieties are catla (Catla catla), rohu (Labeo rohita) and mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala) which are of Indian origin and are collectively called as Indian Major Carps (IMC) which depends on different niches of a water body.

Soil mechanics as a distinct branch of soil science is comparatively of recent growth. Its need arose from the fact that the requirements of the engineer are very often quite different from those of the agriculturist. Whereas the former would as a rule require hard, compact, impervious soil, the latter would have no use for it for the growth of his plants which require soft, friable and porous soil. The agriculturist generally has to look up to nature to help him out of his difficulties, the engineer has to depend on his scientific skill to modify the soil to suit his requirements. In this chapter an attempt will be made to explain in a simple language the requirements of the building, road, and irrigation engineer for particular types of soils and how they are met by modifying the soil if the required properties already do not exist.

A drone is a sophisticated piece of technology made of many key components that work together to enable flight and various functions. The primary parts include the frame, which provides the structure and support for all other elements; the motors and propellers, which generate lift and control movement; the flight controller, acting as the brain of the drone, processing input from sensors and guiding the drone’s flight path; and the battery, which powers the system. Moreover, sensors like GPS, accelerometers, and gyroscopes are integral for stability and navigation. Many drones also feature cameras and other payloads for specific tasks, such as aerial photography, surveying, or surveillance. These components, working in harmony, allow the drone to perform a wide range of applications in industries like entertainment, agriculture, and delivery.
KEY COMPONENTS OF A DRONE
Agricultural drones consist of multiple components, including a remote controller, an aerial platform, and a spraying mechanism. They possess sensors, cameras, and more components to enhance crop management and productivity. Understanding the fundamental components is vital to understanding the potential of agricultural drones. This section delineates the essential components that render these drones viable instruments for contemporary agriculture.

Introduction

With growing concern about climate change, environmental sustainability, soil health and food safety, conservation agriculture, organic agriculture and protected cultivation are emerging production systems being popular in India. The changing farm practices in these production systems invite many biotic stresses and demand novel approaches for their sustainable management for profitable farming. The dynamics of biotic stresses vary from system to system; therefore they require system specific approaches for sustainable management. The different agronomic/ plant protection measures practiced in above mentioned emerging systems are listed in Table 1. Protected cultivation is meant for the high value crops are grown, the management of biotic stresses is the foremost important to minimize losses. Organic farming demands more preventive measures for sustainable control of biotic stresses rather than curative measures because of complete restriction on use of harmful chemical pesticides. Conservation agriculture demands more of ecofriendly measures for biotic stress management with minimal use of pesticides. In this chapter, we discussed novel approaches for biotic stress management in emerging production systems.

Abstract

The applications of enzymes are awe inspiring marvels of nature. Scientists can use enzymes to explore all aspects of biology; from molecules to cells to tissues to organs to organism as a whole. For the purpose of food and drinks, enzymes have been exploited by men for thousands of years without really knowing what they are and how do they work? Enzymes have played a pivotal role in many aspects of life since the dawn of life. Today, biocatalysis is being used as a useful alternative to chemical process technology. The fact that enzymes work under much milder conditions oftemperature, pressure and acidity, thus, obviate harsh processing conditions and thereby decrease the possibility of damage to heat labile substrates and save energy. Enzyme technology being eco-friendly can be justifiably termed as‘Green technology’. Due to their high specificity and high catalytic rate, enzymes prevent wastage and reduce time of processing / manufacturing, respectively. The ability of enzymes to act on wide variety of substrates has made them useful tools to exploit cheaper starting material in food industry. Reportedly, over 45% of the enzymes produced are being used in food industry and remaining is shared by detergent (34.4%), textile (11%), leather (2.8%) paper and pulp (1.2%) and other industries (5.6%). Enzymes serve a myriad of functions in food processing, from maximizing juice extraction of pectin-rich fruits to extending shelf-life in baked goods through slowing starch retro-gradation. Indian food processing industry has seen significant growth and changes over the past few years. Though, the market of enzymes is increasing at a fast pace but most of the enzymes of the food sector are coming from overseas. Seeing the unparallel role of enzymes in food processing sector as in multifaceted domains, the researchers should emphasize upon finding novel enzymes and explore their untapped commercial benefits using modern techniques of enzyme engineering, immobilization and biotechnological interventions.

Liberalized economies and evolving businessstrategies push variousindustries to achieve a competitive edge both in the domestic and international markets. Food industry especially, works on the bedrock of quality of products and services in order to attract and retain customers. In this new world of economic order, customers can select from wide range of products and services that are available in the market.

Food safety is a discipline ensuring safe consumption of food without any injuries to human health. It is multifaceted and influenced by various factors including, food processing, handling and practices, consumer demand and their knowledge, globalization of world food trade, changes in food consumption pattern (Chen et al., 2020).

13.1 INTRODUCTION

Weed is defined as an unwanted plant growing at a place where it is not desired. Weeds are unwanted and undeserved plants that interfere with the utilization of the land and water resources and thus adversely affect crop production and human welfare. Thus, a plant out of its place or a plant growing where it is not desired at that time is a weed. Weed has no species, but name was suggested as a useless and harmful plant that persistently grows where it is quite unwanted. According to Jethro Tull, the father of Weed Science, weed is defined as the unwanted, undesirable plant, growing out of their proper place, which interfere with the utilization of natural resources, prolific, persistent, competitive, harmful and even poisonous in nature and can grow in adverse climatic conditions. Of the total losses caused by pests, weeds have a major share (30%). They reduce the crop yield and decrease the quality of produce and hence reduce the market value of the turnout. Weeds are a major problem to horticultural production as they take advantage of their initial slow growth rate. Weeds reduce crop yield, lower their quality, act as alternate host of many pests/diseases and also have allelopathic effects on crops. Weeds also interfere with vital farm operations like weeding, fertilizer application, herbicide application and harvesting. Both annual and perennial weeds are common in their actions reducing the productivity of fruit trees. Weeds also provide shelter to various pathogens by becoming an alternate or collateral host of invaded crops by a number of fungal, bacterial and viral diseases.

The worst weeds found in the world are Cyperus rotundus, Cynodon dactylon, Echinochloa crusgalli, Echinochloa colona, Eleusine indica, Sorghum halepense, Imperata cylinderica, Eichhornia crassipes, Portulaca oleracia, Chenopodium album, Digitaria sanguinalis, Convolvulus arvensis, Avena fatua, Amaranthus hybridus, Amaranthus spinosus, Cyperus esculentus, Paspalum cojugatum, Rottboelia exaltata (Rana and Rana, 2016). All of these weeds are found in India. It has been reported that about 36-42% losses may occur due to inadequate management of weeds in apple (El- Metwally and Hafez, 2007). Therefore, management of weeds in all agro-ecosystems is crucial to sustain our crop productivity and to ensure the food security to the rapidly increasing population.

Reproduction is essential for the survival of the species but not for the survival of the individual. The female reproductive system is entrusted with the responsibility to produce female gametes ie ova and hormones that regulate and integrate the functional activity of the female reproduction.

Rice is one of the major staple food of the world’s population. About 114 countries grow rice and more than 50 have an annual production of 100,000 tonnes or more. Asian farmers produce about 90 per cent of the total, with two countries, China and India, growing more than half of the total crop. For most rice producing countries where annual production exceeds one million tonne, rice is the staple food. In Bangaldesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmer, Thailand and Vietnam, rice provides 50–80 per cent of the total calories consumed.

1. Introduction to Nepal and its Agriculture

1.1. Geography

Nepal is a country of enormous geographical diversity, and is situated in the southern slopes of the central Himalayas, which spreads over an area of 1,47,181 square kilometers. Sandwiched between India on three sides- east, west, and south – and China to the North, Nepal is a land-locked country (CBS,2003).
 
Geographically, the country is broadly divided into five roughly parallel east-west regions (ecological belts), which from north to south are known as High Mountains, Mountains, Hills, Siwaliks  and Tarai. With altitudes ranging from less than 100 m in the Tarai to 8,848 m in the High Mountains, there exist different climates and different types of farming systems within Nepal. As a result of these diversities, a wide variety of crops, vegetables and fruits are produced.
 
For administrative and developmental purposes, Nepal is divided  into 75 districts. Each district is further divided into Village Development Committees (VDCs) in rural areas and municipalities in urban areas. At present, there are 3,913 VDCs and 58 municipalities in Nepal.

INTRODUCTION
A produce packing plant is a specialized facility designed to sort, package, and sometimes store fresh produce. These facilities are essential in the agricultural supply chain, helping to maintain the quality, safety, and freshness of fruits and vegetables as they are prepared for distribution to retailers or consumers. Packing plants are commonly used in commercial agricultural operations, especially for fruits and vegetables grown in large quantities.
Uses and Managing a fruit and vegetable packing plant involves overseeing all activities related to the handling, grading, packaging, and storage of fresh produce, ensuring that it meets quality standards and is ready for distribution. Effective operations and management are essential to maintaining product quality, optimizing efficiency, and ensuring profitability for producers and suppliers. The operation includes several stages that require coordination, from the receipt of the harvested products until they are sent to markets or retailers. Management, on the other hand, refers to the processes, strategies and decisions that ensure the smooth operation of the packing plant.
Packing plants serve as a collection center for fruits and vegetables prior to their distribution and marketing. These can be simple packing sheds with limited equipment and minimal operations or a large, well-equipped complex with equipment for specialized operations. The types of operations performed vary depending on the different products and market demands. Products destined for export or supermarkets often undergo more elaborate operations than those in local markets. Some of these operations include the following:
OPERATION
The specific operations carried out in a packinghouse depend on the type of crop being processed and the target market. Some or all of the following steps may be involved:

Metabolomic research depends on analytical technologies capable of detecting and characterizing large numbers of chemically diverse metabolites. This chapter introduces the principal analytical platforms used for metabolite analysis, with emphasis on mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry, capillary electrophoresis–mass spectrometry, and NMR are examined in relation to metabolite separation, identification, and quantification. The chapter also considers sample preparation, analytical workflows, advantages and limitations of different platforms, and complementary approaches for achieving broader metabolome coverage. These techniques provide the analytical foundation for metabolic profiling, biomarker discovery, pathway analysis, and systems-level biological investigations.

Abstract

Nitrogen is the most limiting nutrient controlling production of all agricultural systems. Application of N fertilizer has increased food production tremendously all over the world. However, it also contributes towards global warming and ozone layer depletion through emission of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas (GHG). Therefore, there is a need to assess the possibilities of N management for climate change abatement and food security enhancement, while minimizing environmental and human health impacts. In this chapter, role of gaseous-N emission on N use and various mitigation options for Indian agriculture have been discussed. For the base year 2007, the direct and indirect N₂O emissions from Indian agricultural soils was estimated to be 136.29 Gg (35.3 Tg CO₂ equivalent) and 30.61 Gg (5.8 Tg CO₂ equivalent), respectively.

Classification is system of placing an individual or a member in various groups or to categories them according to particular plan or sequence which is in conformity with the nomenclature. From time-to-time for purposes of convenience plants or fruits have been classified in various ways that makes possible to refer them to a large number of kinds under a group name without enumerating or specifying individually. The basis of these groupings varies according to the features of fruits or growth of the fruit plants that have been under classification at the time.

Knowledge of classification of horticultural plants is very useful to the horticulturists because it serves: (1) to identity and name them, (2) to afford at least some idea of the closeness of their relationship i.e. line of descent to other kinds, (3) to suggest with what other kind they possibly may or may not be interbred or crossed, (4) to suggest the kinds with which they possibly may or may not be inter-grafted, and (5) often to suggest certain soil and the cultural requirements, climatic adaptations etc. However, the classification of fruit trees or fruits and vegetables on the basis of consumer’s rating also gained attention in recent years. The consumers’ rating is mainly based on the size, shape, nutritive value and marketability of them. Each of these classifications is quite different from the other classification or groupings.

Basically, the fruit trees, as suggested by many authors, have been classified on the basis of their botany comprising of taxonomic ancestry, morphologic features, physiological functions, adaptability etc. or on the basis of agricultural and horticultural requirements. But the consumers’ rating has not been properly covered in the earlier classification. Generally based on botanical relationship the plants are classified as under.

4.1 Layer Industry
4.1.1 Global scenario
Poultry is raised by approximately 80 percent of rural households in developing countries. Food and Agriculture Organization’s statistics department show that total egg production has grown from 61.7 million tonnes in 2008 to 76.7 million tonnes in 2018. China continues to lead the way, producing 466 billion eggs in 2018, which represents 34 percent of the global market. China has been the world’s largest producer of eggs for the last 30 years. China, European Union (EU), United states of America (USA) and India produce almost 60 percent of the world’s eggs, while the next 6 largest producers take a further 16 percent of the market. This means that the top 10 egg producers account for more than three fourth of the world’s egg production. Asia is the largest eggproducing region, with more than 60 percent of global output.