eChapters

India comes in a tropical region and so it has a tropical monsoonal climate. The climate of India is governed by mountain ranges as well as direction of rain winds like south-west and north-east monsoon and alternate season is the main feature of Indian climate. Climate in South India is generally hotter and extremely humid than that of North India.

Water is essential for life and most of the civilization flourished on bank of rivers like Indus valley, Mesopotamia, May, INCA and also destroyed in lack of water. Scarcities and famines were the common phenomena of the world civilization. Systematic dry cultivation started around 1850 and improved techniques were started in use in USA. 

Rainfed agriculture constitutes 80% of global agriculture and plays a critical role in achieving global food security. However, growing world population, water scarcity, and climate change threaten rainfed farming through increased vulnerability to 1 droughts and other extreme weather events. Out of the total population of 7.3 billion, about 1 billion are food insecure and 60% of these live in South Asia and Sub Saharan Africa.

Symptoms of pale or yellow-green leaves (chlorosis) first occur in the older leaves. At the leaf margins reaching toward the midrib or central vein, reddish tints gradually emerge. The leaves are thin. Growth overall is markedly reduced. Deficiency results in rhizome yield loss.

Black nose is used for the unusually shrinking and darker date end. The most susceptible cultivars for this physiological state are Deglet Nour and Hayani. The black nose result is an over exam of the epidermis, in particular many little cross-sectional exams or ruptures near the end of the style of the foetus. There is a substantial shrinkage and darkening in proportion to the quantity of the controls and moist conditions on Khalaal level are related to them.

The presence of nuts in the kernel is known as stubborn nuts or seedless or imperfect nuts and is frequent in coconut (Cocos nucifera L.). The nozzles impacted are oblong compared with the typical circular form of the nozzles and less than normal husk is generated. The often-breaking shell over the course of the development is the most typical feature of the barren nut. 

Little leaf of cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) is caused due to the deficiency of zinc. The leaves remain small in size giving rosette appearance.

Smaller leaves are produced and finally a rosette is formed. Internodal length reduction and apex-tapering of the stem. Most of the nuts are tiny and deformed, assuming they are produced. Drainage is poor and soil and pan/hard clay pan fertility are low.

An anomaly characterized by numerous leaves, short petioles and small laminae that offer a bushy appearance known as bushiness to some gerbera cultivars. The nodes are not clearly differentiated and no elongation of the internode is seen.

The calyx may be either half or entirely broken. The petals are stripped of their support, which contributes to the petals being bent down. The continuity of the form and arrangement of the flower is thus lost. Splitting, particularly where light and temperature fluctuate is correlated with weather. By maintaining the night temperature at 5 ° F, some reduction in splitting can be achieved. More calyx splits were caused by high plant density per unit area. 

Gladiolus is a fluoride pollution indicator plant, as it expresses the effects of fluorine at very low levels. Symptoms of scorching of the leaves look like drying of the tips of the leaves. A strong application of super phosphate is also associated with fluoride toxicity. By spraying 5 percent lime or Magnesium sulphate, it decreases

Leaves in the centres appear bleached and may have brown edges. Shade should be provided to reduce the light level to 1800-2500-foot candles to control this problem.

The normal blooming stem on the greenhouse rose has fully developed sepals, petals and reproductive organs. The inability to build a bloom at the apical end of the stem is a typical phenomenon which in such shoots is termed blind. There are sepals and petals; however, they are not complete or aborted in the reproductive portions.

Ordinarily, fruit bears a single crown, but fruit bears more than one in some cases. The top of the fruit will therefore be smooth and wide and the fruit will not be ideal for canning. These fruits have an insipid taste and are corky. It is intended to be an inherited character, often found in the Cayenne group to which the Kew variety belongs.

Fruit cracking is a serious problem of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) particularly in arid climate. Cracked fruits are sweet but unfit for long distance transportation. Incidence of cracked fruits varies from 10 to 70 % depending upon the prevailing environmental conditions. Longitudinal or radial splitting of rind surface occurs.

Fruit cracking is an important physiological disorder found in some commercial cultivars of Bael (Aegle marmelos), which occurs just before the ripening stage. It is correlated with abrupt changes, such as temperature and humidity, in weather conditions. Heavy irrigation or precipitation is also one of the causes of this disease after prolonged drought.

Internal necrosis has been observed in Aonla (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) fruits. Francis cultivar, preceded by Banarsi, is highly susceptible. The symptoms begin with browning of the inner majority of the mesocarpic tissue in the 2nd or 3rd week of September at the time of endocarp hardening, which later spreads to the epicarp, resulting in brownish black flesh appearance. Internal fruit necrosis is associated with boron deficiency during the fruit development.

Twitching is a condition occurring predominantly on the surface of the fruit which is exposed to direct sunlight; however, it is not well understood what the source of the disease is. Growth in immature fruits cannot be detected during later stages of fruit maturity. On cv. Golden Solo Party there are a few examples. This is termed the “frog skin” or “fox skin.” It shows on the fruit’s surface as the Dark Brown Flecks. 

Bronzing is a complex nutritional condition in guava (Psidium guajava L.). It manifests in the interveinal tissue of older leaves as bronze or copper colour development, while terminal leaves remain green. This is attributable to the inadequacy of elements P, K and Zn. Bad management and low soil fertility coupled with soil acidity are often due to it.

This is primarily a physiological condition and, after heavy rains or heavy irrigation during hot weather, is mostly due to high atmospheric humidity. Two forms of splitting have been found, namely radial and transverse. There is more frequent radial cracking than transverse cracking. While splitting down to the inner core is very unusual, partial splitting is more prevalent.

It’s because it impacts the active development of the plant at a low temperature. Yellowing of the leaves and severe destruction of the tissue. In cases of flowering plants, the stalk carrying the bunches freely lengthens and drapes down the complete inflorescence.

In grape growing areas in many parts of the world this illness is a very popular disorder. In this disorder, a bold beer is surrounded by shoot berries, and the name of the hen and of the chicken disorder is like a hen, as bold berry and chicken. The fruit has a sour taste. The signs are the death of rising tips, falling leaves and the fragility of new shoots. With the development of interveinal chlorosis between the edges, the leaves may be deformed, and this is particularly evident after fruiting.

In the flesh of the fruit, tiny, 2-10 mm (depending on the cultivar) brown blemishes form. Below the surface, the tissue gets black and corky. At harvest or after cold storage, the skin develops depressed patches on the surface. These tend to develop as water-soaked patches on the skin around the calyx. Overall, these patches became darker and sunken than the skin around and developed entirely after one to two months in storage.

Problems are low fruiting / non fruiting / irregular fruiting in the country’s litchi farming area. The potential of bear litchi has been identified as variety, although some of the bearing terminals in the present year will be more active in the next year (70-95 percent).

This is one of the most serious difficulties in mango farming since it makes mango agriculture less rewarding for farmers. In one year (a year) and very little or no harvest next year, mango trees appear to bear huge crops (off year). This bieniality is therefore also present in normal ranges (Singh, 1990). 

In several cucurbits as well as other crops, BER is a physiological condition found (for example, tomato, brinjal and pepper). It typically occurs as a general rot at the flowering end of rising fruit. Usually, the blossom end rot is the result of inadequate or uneven irrigation, high humidity, or other variables that slow the flow of water through the plant. Slow water movement may also result in temporary calcium deficiencies leading to blossom end rot as calcium is added into the plant with the transpiration stream.

Tip-burn is the marginal collapse and necrosis of rapidly spreading inner lettuce leaves, at or near the leaf margins. Typically, the condition occurs near harvest, when it may lead to complete crop failure. Early signs include discoloration of the veins and/or the growth of dark brown to black spots near or at the margins of the leaves. The necrotic areas coalesce as the disease progresses, creating a lesion up to several centimeters long.

When the soil temperature stays at or below 20 0 C, seeds germinate poorly. During early spring-summer planting, this issue of seed germination occurs when seeds are to be sown at low temperature conditions.

There is secondary elongating growth in the roots that gives a form of fork like structure to the root. This occurs in heavy soil due to soil compactness. An elongated radish root is encouraged by un-decomposed organic manure. It can be fixed by decreasing field moisture, balanced irrigation and also by sowing radish and carrot in sandy loam or light soil with loose and friable soil in nature.

In general, germination of onion seeds is poor, and, in the case of old seed stocks, this problem is severe. Seeds soon lost viability in the ordinary storage state. However, cold storage conditions significantly increase the viability of seeds.

Browning is due to boron deficiency caused. In general, boron deficiency symptoms in the formation of the curd, the plant externally visible. In the early stages, immersion in water and curd in the stem region of the surface occurs. As plant growth, into the hollow, soaked in water covers the cavity inner wall tissue. In the absence of progressive steps, areas of brown or pink color are visible, and hence, it is also called brown or reddish-brown or dark brown rot affected by the bitter taste. D

Blossom end rot is a very common problem on green and ripe tomatoes. It started with light tan, water-soaked lesion, and then increased to black and tough. Although blossom blight itself caused only local damage, secondary biological invasions frequently lesions caused fruit rot complete.

Apart from insects, pests and diseases, physiological disorders are one of the major threats to fruit industry which cause financial losses global. Over-all, the problems rise due to unfavorable environmental conditions and improper cultural practices which affect the normal plant growth and development is called as physiological disorders of plant. Ladaniya (2008) stated that the physiological disorder is that it is a function of physiological processes fruit tissue abnormality or failure due to abiotic stress, such as temperature, relative humidity, water stress, chemicals/ nutritional excess and deficiency.

Physiological plant disorder is caused by non-pathological conditions such as poor light, weather damage, waterlogging or lack of nutrients affect the operation of the system caused. Physiological condition selected from diseases caused by plant pathogens such as viruses or fungi to distinguish. Although the physiological disorder symptoms may occur such as disease, they can often be prevented by changes in environmental conditions. However, once the nutritional deficiencies of plants showing symptoms, is likely to return that season yield will be reduced.

Small size grains namely millets are produced by extraneous grasses and the word millet is derived from ‘‘mille’ a French word synonymous to thousand indicating handful of millet grains in a handful measure contains thousand grains (Taylor and Emmambux, 2008). Small millets and pseudo cereals belong to Gramineae family and were major ancient foods of Asian and African continents while Western countries used them as only bird feed.

To constantly move towards advancement, points towards the addition to the tradition that converts to modernization. Today with the drawing waves risking health and diet of an individual, there is a constant demand of rolling back the traditional grains which lost its significance with the turning over of era. Family Amaranthaceae for a long time with the turn of events existed among the staple diets of people in different regions of Asia as China, Africa, America and some parts of India due to its complementary effects with different cuisines as well as the nutrient fulfillment (Olawuyi et al., 2016).

food, known to have been cultivated before 6000 BC in whole Andean region, Columbia, Peru, Equador, Bolivia before the conquest of Spanish. Incas have called this crop as a mother grain and was considered sacred. But in course of time, Catholics have suppressed the cultivation of crop after discovering it as a sacred drink during various religious ceremonies and hence the crop remained in the places where European could not reach (Vega Galvez, 2010).

Chia seed is an ancestral crop having fascinating history of 5500 years. It was the third most important grain of pre-columbian society. Chia seed is common name given to species of Salvia. Salvia hispanica, Salvia columbariae and Salvia polystachya are most important species among all Salvia seeds. Salvia belongs to family of Lamiaceaeis, first native to Mexico and later introduced to Spain by Hernan Cortes (Ortiz de Montellano, 1978), but in next 200 years 17 chia became virtually unknown to human and required research to establish the nutritional aspects of chia and reintegrate as food in modern diet.

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Möench) is an annual pseudocereal crop belonging to the genus Fagopyrum of the family Polygonaceae. Its grains belong to cereals because of their similar use and chemical composition (Campbell, 1997). Among a number of buckwheat species nine species possed agricultural and nutritional trials common buckwheat (F. esculentum) and tartary buckwheat (F. tartaricum) are frequently cultivated around the world (Krkošková and Mrázová, 2005).

Amaranth crop stands in the group of pseudocereals and it is popular for its significant nutrient content as well as attractive inflorescence. The word Amaranthus came from a Greek word “Anthor” meaning eternal or unwilting. Amaranthus belongs to family of dicotyledonous plants Amaranthaceae and is one of the multipurpose rare plants whose leaves are consumed in the form 15 of vegetable while the grains are consumed as cereals. Amaranthus being an ancient crop has been included in the human diet since the pre-colonized South American civilizations.

In recent years, pseudocereals and alternative cereal substitutes are gaining attention from agriculture, processing and consumer point of views. The 14 justification for such changes can be found in the recent thought of reextending the range of starch rich seeds available in human diet, because from world-wide perspective cereals consumption is largely restricted to the cereals wheat, rice and maize (Venskutonis and Kraujalis, 2013). In upcoming years, the increase in population can lead to an unfavorable pressure on agriculture and nutrition needs.

Millets like finger millet, foxtail millet, pearl millet, sorghum millet and other small millets are the ancient super grains and nutrition reservoirs for better health. In semi-arid regions, these are the important food and fodder crops, and primarily acquiring more importance in the world. 

Since our existence, we practiced to be fit and fine with the food as a single option traditionally to cure ourselves also which we come to know about their selection with long term experiences. It is a type of diet therapy where food works like medicine. Presently, we practice the same through medicinal diet therapy where selected foods and food supplements are suggested to be taken with medicine for longevity promotion and fit (Zou, 2016).

Fonio is an indigenous cereal crop of West Africa. Fonio grain belongs to genus Digitaria Haller that consists of 230 to 325 grass species, both annual and perennial. The fonio species is a part of Poaceae family, sub- family of Panicoideae, and the tribe of Paniceae. Fonio grains have a protective covering (husk) outside the kernel, similar to rice.

Teff (Eragrostis tef) popularly known as Williams love grass or super grain or annual bunch grass originated in Ethiopia, South Africa has recently gained popularity with widespread cultivation and consumption in India, USA, South Africa and Eritrea (Arendt and Zannini, 2013). It generates around 500 million USA dollars as income to local farmers of Ethiopia. It is the second most important cash crop (Minten et al., 2013). 

After long back of continuous steep turn down in cropping and consumption pattern of traditional grains, once again time is rolling back for them as is evident from available integrated meal or composite research formulations distributed all around the market. Today’s food market is segmented majorly with them and also emphasize more of healthy consumptions owe to adopted governmental strategy as a promotional trends such as subsidies, mid day meal programmes, selection of grain of the year by FAO, 2014 and revised labeling policies etc. are the real time examples. Present lifestyle, ongoing food habits, hike in grain prices, adulteration practices, demand in functional foods and many more reasons lead to the time which emphasizes on its own for consumption of traditional grains.

Plants have served as an important food source in the human diet since times immemorial. In recent times, available plant food sources are facing the threat of limitation due to many reasons viz., shrinking of agricultural land, changes in traditional lifestyles, population growth, rapid urbanization, changes in climate and a variety of plant diseases (Strange and Scott, 2005). Technological, development in agriculture and food processing are associated with both benefits and drawbacks impacting the human health globally with people suffering from chronic hunger, malnutrition to over-nutrition and nutritional imbalances.

The millets are a group of highly variable small seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for both human food and fodder. These are important crops in semi-arid and tropical regions of the world (in particular in Afro-Asian countries) due to their resistance to pests and diseases, short growing season and productivity under heat and drought conditions. Finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.) is a small seeded annual cereal which belongs to the grass family, Poaceae. 

The non-glutinous, easily digestible and alkaline forming characteristics make millets superior in nutritional point of view. Among various cultivated millets 6 in India, barn-yard millet, little millet, brown top millet, guinea millet and kodo millet are the most important minor millets (Nazni and Karuna, 2016). The Barnyard millet, Sawa millet or Japanese barnyard produces a crop within six weeks and considered as the fastest growing minor millets among the all minor millet (Veena et al., 2005). Japanese millet or Barnyard has several existing varieties.

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) is one of the oldest cultivated millet with several varieties throughout the world with grains varying in colour from pale yellow, to gray, white and red. Archaeologists say that foxtail millet is so old that no wild plant of the species is known to exist today. Foxtail millet is known with several names in different parts of world and India (Table 1). Foxtail millet is thought to be native to China and is commonly cultivated in several regions of Africa, India, Russia, USA and Europe. It is an annual grass with erect and robust culms.