eChapters

Abstract

Sunflower seeds of variety PSFH- 67 were obtained from the PAU seed farm. These seeds were cleaned with commonly used seed processing equipment. Samples were divided into 2 parts. One part was kept as such for taking the observations of feed (control) and the remaining part was passed through specific gravity separator for its refinement. The various fractions obtained were recovery (heavier, healthy seeds), middlings (intermediate, under size) and rejections (lightweight seeds, wevil eaten, foreign matter). The respective percentages of each fraction were computed. These graded fractions as well as the feed were packed in 2-kg cloth bags and stored under ambient conditions. Different quality parameters viz. moisture content, physical purity, percent germination, thousand grain weight and vigour index were recorded at 30 days interval from Jan, 2010 to Apr. 2010. The physical purity, moisture content, thousand grain weight, percent germination, root length, shoot length and vigour index were found to be higher in recovery and minimum for rejections while moisture content was highest for rejection compared to all other fractions. The physical purity remained more or less constant throughout the period of storage. The thousand-grain weight showed a rapid decrease during first month thereafter it remained constant. There was continuous decrease in percent germination with the period of storage irrespective of the treatment.

One of the chief aspects of Entomology is the study of insects from the standpoint of their innumerable relations and activities affecting the interests of man. More than any other living organisms, insects have more intimate and complex relationship with man. It is well known that insects affect human interests both for good and bad. However, their injurious activities are of much greater concern to man than the beneficial aspects of their activities. Several insects are beneficial to man in several ways, both directly and indirectly and there are scores of other insects, which do not interfere with the interests of man in any way.

From the time man stepped into the domain of insects, a stifle has started between the insects and man. To meet his various demands for food, clothing, shelter and various other requirements, man cultivates various crops and raises many domesticated livestock. Unfortunately for man, insects also have started depending on these for their living. When the requirements for man and insects happen to be the same, a race is on for their survival and existence. Insects attack plants and livestock and cause extensive damage and economic loss. So, man considers such injurious insects as his enemy and to safeguard his interests tries to destroy them by various means. However, man’s supremacy and intelligence have not proved a match to the rapid propagation of insects and their various adaptations to withstand any hardship and adverse conditions. In the effort to gain an upper hand, it has not been possible for man to destroy the unwanted insects completely and the struggle is going on as a never-ending ordeal.

All control measures are directed to bring down the nematode population low enough to raise the crop successfully and profitably. The choice of control measures to be taken depends upon the nematode species to be tackled and the crops involved.

1. Cultural methods 
The objective of these methods is to adopt suitable land management practices, so as to bring down the nematode population in the field to a low level, which may not cause economic injury to the crop or to keep the field free from parasitic nematodes by adopting suitable preventive measures. Besides causing direct damage to the crops, several nematode species are known to transmit many fungal, bacterial and viral pathogens, which aggravate the extent of damage caused to the crops. Many of these pathogens gain access to the host plants only through mechanical injury caused by the nematodes. By controlling the nematode parasites, the incidence of diseases caused by such phytopathogens can also be avoided to a large extent. Cultural methods, though may not give spectacular results within a short span of time of a single season or year, as in the case of chemical control measures, if followed over a number of years is sure to give encouraging results. Cultural methods include crop rotation, fallowing, ploughing, flooding, trap cropping, use of organic amendments, selection of seeds and seed materials, use of resistant and tolerant varieties etc.

Fish is the most important source of protein for the people of Northeastern India where almost 100% people are fish eaters. So fish culture is very popular in this region. There is a huge demand for fish here and the most popular aquaculture practice is pond culture. The state of Tripura particularly progressed well in fish production and became self sufficient in fish seed production. The state is blessed with 22,895 ha of water bodies where more than 50% (12,895 ha) of area is used for aquaculture purpose. Composite fish culture and integrated aquaculture are very common here. These fish ponds are very productive both in eco-physiological and faunistic point of view. Most of the farmers have a pond area of less than one hectare for fish culture and are unable to go for any supplementary feeding. Average fish productivity is estimated as 1800 kg/ha. Preliminary experiments conducted in the Institute showed that timely application of the fertilizer and/or restricted supplementary feeding improves total production.

Background

In simple term, what agriculture is to land aquaculture is to water and can be defined as the art, science, and business of cultivating plants and animals in water. Considering scope of inland aquaculture in the present discussion would be limited mostly to grow desirable fish/prawn (hence forth termed as fish) in fresh water ponds and to some extent to their seed production in hatcheries. The important activities in aquaculture includes deliberate interventions during the rearing process or life cycle of the stock, management of the culture system and production process so as to increase survival and production of stock. Since, the main goal of aquaculture is to maximize the fish production per unit land/water resources per unit time which primarily depends on the degree of management and intervention. The important forms of intervention and management practices are regular stocking, fertilization, feeding, liming etc. The degree of care taken or effort put in these aspects would determine the level of production.

Availability of quality fish seed is the critical and basic input for successful fish culture operations. Till the sixties, a major part of the seed required for culture was being collected from the riverine sources, which had several disadvantages. Indian major carps viz. Catla, Rohu & Mrigal and Chinese carps viz. Silver carp & Grass carp mature in the pond but do not spawn or lay eggs in standing waters. Usually they breed or spawn naturally in flowing rivers during monsoon months. In artificial breeding, certain inducing agent (hormone) is injected to fish for successful spawning.

In India, the first successful induced breeding of carp was achieved through use of pituitary hormone in 1957. Increased seed production of fish today is a direct result of improved technologies of breeding, hatching and rearing.

Three decades ago, earthen “pit” hatcheries were used for hatching eggs around bunds. Today large commercial hatcheries exist, where all activities such as raising of brood stock, breeding and fry rearing can be undertaken. This has certainly marked the growth of the industry. Commercial Chinese hatchery facilitates not only large-scale production of fish seeds but also improves the survival percentage of seed.

The aquaculture sector showed an overwhelming growth of 468% during the last two decades and is presently playing a key role in the changing Indian economic growth. The contribution from aquaculture is 21.6% by volume and 49.3% by value to the total fisheries exports. Inland fisheries sector had shown consistent growth of over 5% per annum over the period of 1999-2005. High demand of aquaculture products in the world has forced the aquaculturist to change the culture system from extensive to intensive. This has led aquaculturist to lose millions of dollars due to fish mortalities associated with fish disease and related conditions. Out break of disease has been considered as a major stumbling block in intensive aquaculture practices.

Disease is a very complex interaction between three important factors, namely the susceptible fish, the disease causing agents (pathogen) and the environment. These three factors are most important and must be considered in any fish disease outbreak. The environment in which the causative agent of diseases and their host fish interacts, may favour one or the other. Changes in the environment, whether natural or artificial, may shift the balance from one side to the other and will often determine whether the host will survive or succumb. Understanding and managing the stress and their causative factors are thus the key factors for successful aquaculture.

The concern for nature and the focuss for all things which are basic and natural has been spearheading to a green movement of everything natural and nature-based consumer products all over the world. God has given diseases and remidies also in the nature only we have to properly find out. In today’s world of consumer boom, the role of essential oils has increased many folds. Uptil now known applications of essential oils, more and more areas are opening up which will benefit the industry. Use of essential oils in therapeutics is becoming popular in India, China, Japan and European countries. Aromatherapy involves the use of essential oils and aromatics derived from plants to cure diseases. These plants are known as aromatic plants. Aromatic plants possess odorous volatile substances which occur as essential oil, gum exudate, balsam and oleoresin in one or more parts, namely, root, wood, bark, stem, foliage, flower and fruit. The characteristic aroma is due to a variety of complex chemical compounds. The term essential oil is concomitant to fragrance or perfumes because these fragrances are oily in nature and they represent the essence or the active constituents of the plants. They are called volatile or ethereal oils as they evaporate when exposed to air at ordinary temperatures. Essential oils are highly concentrated, low volume, high value products.

Introduction

India is the largest developing economy of the world and about 70 per cent of its population is dependent directly or indirectly on this profession.  To meet the food requirement of the ever-multiplying population of this country, agriculture production has to be maximized by using genetically improved varieties, fertilizers improved implements, seed, and other agronomical technologies. Beside these improvements the agriculture production has remained static for the last decade. For further improvements in agricultural production we have to adopt comprehensive strategies. One of such strategies is the pollination management that is a very vital process of agriculture crop production. Pollination is a process involving reproductive parts of a flower and an external agent in the form of a vector. According to Prof. E.C. Martin, the value of bee pollination of fruits, vegetables and seeds in the United States of America totaled very close to $8 billion in the 1960s; the figure 20 years later is probably close to $20 billion.

    1.    Nutrients : Chemical substances obtained from food and used in the body to provide energy, structural materials, and regulating agents to support growth, maintenance, and repair of the body’s tissues. Nutrients may also reduce the risks of some diseases.
    2.    Carbohydrate, fat, and protein are sometimes called macronutrients because the body requires them in relatively large amounts (many grams daily). In contrast, vitamins and minerals are micronutrients, required only in small amounts (milligrams or micrograms daily).
    3.    The international unit for measuring food energy is the joule, a measure of work energy. To convert kcalories to kilojoules, multiply by 4.2; to convert kilojoules to kcalories, multiply by 0.24.
    4.    Essential nutrients : Nutrients a person must obtain from food because the body cannot make them for itself in sufficient quantity to meet physiological needs; also called indispensable nutrients. About 40 nutrients are currently known to be essential for human beings. Energy-yielding nutrients: the nutrients that break down to yield energy the body can use:

    1.    Absorbance (A) - Defined as –log (1-a) = log (1/t), where ‘a’ is the absorbance and‘t’ the transmittance of a medium through which a light beam passes.

    2.    Absorption coefficient (a) - The relative decrease in the intensity of a collimated beam of electromagnetic radiation, as a result of absorption by a medium, during traversal of an infinitesimal layer of the medium, divided by the length traversed.

    3.    Acceleration due to gravity (g) - The standard value (9.80665 m/s2) of the acceleration experienced by a body in the earth’s gravitational field.

    4.    Acid - Historically, a substance that yields an H+ ion when it dissociates in solution, resulting in a pH< 7. In the Brönsted definition, an acid is a substance that donates a proton in any type of reaction. The most general definition, due to G.N. Lewis, classifies any chemical species capable of accepting an electron pair as an acid.

    5.    Acid dissociation constant (Ka) - The equilibrium constant for the dissociation of an acid HA through the reaction HA + H2O1 A- + H3O+. The quantity pKa = -log Ka is often used to express the acid dissociation constant

    6.    Acyl groups - Groups formed by removing the hydroxy groups from oxoacids that have the general structure RC (=O) (OH) and replacement analogues of such acyl groups.

    7.    Adiabatic process - A thermodynamic process in which no heat enters or leaves the system.

Nutraceuticals and Health Foods

    1.    According to the International Food Information Council (IFIC), functional foods are “foods or dietary components that may provide a health benefit beyond basic nutrition.”

    2.    Nutraceuticals : A product isolated and purified from foods that is generally- sold in medicinal forms are usually associated with food. A nutraceutical is demonstrated to have a physiological benefit or provide protection against chronic disease (Coined originally by Stephen DeFelice in 1989, founder and chairman of the Foundation for Innovation in Medicine, USA).

    3.    The International Life Sciences Institute of North America (ILSI) has defined functional foods as “foods that by virtue of physiologically active food components provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition

    4.    Health Canada defines functional foods as “similar in appearance to a conventional food, consumed as part of the usual diet, with demonstrated physiological benefits, and/or to reduce the risk of chronic disease beyond basic nutritional functions.”

Food Processing Technology

    1.    The transition from solid to fluid and back is known as a phase transition and this is important in many types of food processing (e.g. water to water vapour in evaporation and distillation and dehydration; water to ice in freezing and freeze drying or freeze concentration or crystallisation of fats.
 
    2.    Phase transition takes place isothermally at the phase transition temperature by release or absorption of latent heat, and can be represented by a phase diagram.

    3.    A second type of transition, known as glass transition, takes place without the release or absorption of latent heat and involves the transition of a food to an amorphous glass state at its glass transition temperature.

    4.    The transition is dependent on the temperature of the food, time, and the moisture content of the food.

    5.    The density of a material is equal to its mass divided by its volume and has units of kgm^-3

Food Packaging

    1.    Food packaging : A wrap, pouch, bag, box, cup, tray, can, tube, bottle and jar are some of the many forms of packaging that contain food products. It must contain a food product as well as protect and preserve it for a specific length of time. Each package must, by law, display product information for the consumer.

    2.    Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) is an economical material with low WVTR; however, it has high permeabilities to flavours/volatiles, poor grease resistance and are limp.
 
    3.    High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) is stiffer, more translucent and has better barrier properties but needs higher temperature for sealing.

    4.    A copolymer of polyethylene and poly vinyl alcohol, and EVOH has outstanding gas barrier properties especially when dry.

    5.    High-density polyethylene is stiff, strong, tough, resistant to chemicals and moisture, permeable to gas, easy to process, and easy to form. It is used to make bottles for milk, juice, and water; cereal box liners; margarine tubs; and grocery, trash, and retail bags.

    6.    Low-density polyethylene is flexible, strong, tough, easy to seal, and resistant to moisture. Because low-density polyethylene is relatively transparent, it is predominately used in film applications and in applications where heat sealing is necessary. Bread and frozen food bags, flexible lids, and squeezable food bottles are examples of low-density polyethylene.

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) System

1. Identify hazards
 
 It is important to be able to identify the possible microbiological, chemical and physical hazards that can occur at every stage of the food business – from growth, processing, manufacture, storage and distribution, until the point where it is sold to the customer and eaten.

    ·    Microbiological Hazards : Any bacterium, virus, or protozoan that is capable of causing illness and that grows or may be carried on food. Well-known examples of bacteria are Campylobacter, Listeria and Salmonella. The most likely food-borne viruses are the Norwalk type viruses. Giardia is an example of a protozoan that may be food borne. It is important to have some understanding of the risks associated with different types of microbiological hazards.

    ·    Chemical Hazards : Examples include excessive or toxic amounts of heavy metals, chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, vitamins, minerals, preservatives, disinfectants, detergents and cleaning compounds. Some hazards may be naturally present such as in green potatoes or taro and rhubarb leaves.

    ·    Physical Hazards : Objects that get into food, or are already present in food, may cause illness, injury or distress to the person eating it. Some examples are glass, metal fragments etc. Other contaminants such as hair or insects may be offensive but not necessarily a danger to health. They should nonetheless be considered and controlled

1. Food Labelling

Food labelling is the primary means of communication between the producer and seller of food on one hand, and the purchaser and consumer on the other.

Basic Terminology in Food labelling

‘‘Food” means any substance, whether processed, semi-processed or raw, which is intended for human consumption, and includes drinks, chewing gum and any substance which has been used in the manufacture, preparation or treatment of “food” but does not include cosmetics or tobacco or substances used only as drugs.

‘‘Ingredient” means any substance, including a food additive, used in the manufacture or preparation of a food and present in the final product although possibly in a modified form.

Immunological Causes of Male Infertility

Immune mediated male infertility is an auto-immune disease.Spermatozoa are first produced at puberty and isolated from the systemic circulation by a structural barrier maintained by Sertoli cell tight junctions within the testis and the uninterrupted epithelial cell lining of the excurrent ductal system. Sperm production occurs well after the development of immunological tolerance to self antigens; therefore sperm specific components are viewed as foreign by the immune system. Whether spermatogonia, the primordial cell in spermatozoa differentiation, is also antigenically foreign is not established. What is known , is that immunization with sperm elicits a highly reproducible immune response that can impair fertility.

Antisperm antibodies are found in about 10-15% of infertile men. Immunity only to those antigens present on the surface of viable, motile sperm will impair fertility. Antibodies to internal sperm antigens, due to an immune response to sperm degraded in the genital tract or to cross reacting microbial antibodies present in the sera of many fertile individuals , are of questionable relevance to infertility. A number of spermatozoa antigens have been identified .

In animals with a long gestation period, such as domestic animals, the acquired immune system is fully developed at birth, but cannot function at full adult levels for several weeks. The complete development of the acquired immunity depends on antigenic stimulation. The proper development of B cells and B cell antigen receptor (BCR) diversity requires clonal selection and antigen driven cell multiplication. Thus, the newborn animals are vulnerable to infection for the first few weeks of life. Hence, the temporary assistance in defending themselves at this time is provided by the mother in the form of antibodies and possibly T cells.
 
Development of the Immune System

The thymus is first lymphoid organ to develop, followed closely by the secondary lymphoid organs. B cells appear soon after the development of spleen and  lymph nodes, but antibodies are not usually found until late in foetal life, if at all. The ability of fetus to respond to antigens develops very rapidly after the lymphoid organs appear, but all antigens are not equally capable of stimulating fetal lymphoid tissue. The immune system in a series of steps, each step permitting the foetus to respond to more antigens. These steps are driven by a gradual increase in the use of gene conversion or somatic mutation to antibody diversity. The ability to mount cell mediated immune (CMI) responses develops at the time as antibody production. Data from humans suggest that T cell receptor diversity is limited in the fetus and neonate and that cytokine production may be low. This may simply be due to their lack of to foreign antigens.

A. Answer the following

Q.1.    What is the difference between apoptosis and necrosis?

Ans.    In apoptosis, there is pronounced decrease in cell volume, modification of cytoskeleton, condensation of chromatin and degradation of DNA into fragments. Due to these changes, an apoptotic cell sheds tiny membrane bound apoptotic bodies containing intact organelles. Macrophages phagocytose apoptotic bodies and cells in the advanced stages of apoptosis. But there is no release of proteolytic and the lytic enzyme, cationic proteins and oxidizing molecule in the surrounding tissue and no local inflammatory response. On the other hand, in necrosis cells swell and burst releasing their contents and possibly triggering a damaging inflammatory response.

A. Answer the following.

Q.1.     What are the different phagocytic cells ?
Ans.     The phagocytic cells of mammals belong to two complementary systems (1) The myeloid system consists of cells that are rapidly phagocytic but incapable of sustained effect. (2) Mononuclear phagocytic system act more slowly but capable of repeated phagocytosis.

Q.2.     How 3 types of granulocytes are differentiated ?
Ans.    Three types of granulocytes are distinguished by the staining property of their granules. Cells whose granules take up basic dyes such as haematoxylin (a blue dye) are called basophils, whose granules take up acidic dyes such as eosin (a red dye) are called eosinophils and those that take up neither basic nor acidic dyes are called neutrophils.

A. Answer the following.

Q.1.     What are tumour specific transplantation antigens (TSTAs) or tumour specific antigens (TSAs) ?
Ans.     Some antigens present on the surface of malignant cells are unique to the cancerous cells and are not present on their normal counterparts. They are called tumour specific transplantation antigens (TSTAs) or tumour specific antigens (TSAs).

Q.2.     What are tumour associated antigens (TAAs) ?
Ans.    Some antigens present on the tumour cells that are not different qualitatively from those found on normal cells but are overexpressed and present in increased number on the cancer cells as products of cellular oncogenes. They are called tumour associated antigens (TAAs). Ex the high level of a growth factor receptor due

Introduction

Sheep and goats have a vital economic importance in India, inhabitant in semi-arid region and mostly rose under harsh environmental conditions (high ambient temperature, scarcity of feed and water). The arid and semi-arid regions of India are drought prone due to low and uneven rainfall.  The vegetation of arid and semi-arid tract is more acute during summer when the quality of the pastures becomes vulnerable which in turn decreases the body condition score of animals and reproductive efficiency is being compromised (Maurya et al. 2009a & 2010).  The small ruminants are widely distributed in comparison of other domesticated species. These species of livestock is also a source of employment for marginal and land-less farmers particularly in the arid and semi-arid region of India. Most of the Indian farmers have limited resources and small ruminants production offers an opportunity to alleviate financial conditions and improve living standards.

Introduction

Harshberger first used the term ethnobotany in 1895-96, for the plants used by the local tribes and people, for their basic needs and requirements. They also used plant, plant parts and plant products for animal healthcare and other practices. This indigenous or traditional animal health care practice is called ethnoveterinary medicine. Ethnoveterinary medicine is defined as a holistic comprehension of the indigenous systems of animal health, their interpretation through western medicine and the development of effective and appropriate technologies (McCorkle 1986). McCorkle et al. (1989) define Ethnoveterinary medicine (EVM) as dealing with the folk beliefs, knowledge, skills, methods and practices pertaining to the health care of animals. McCorkle et al. (1996) give a description of ethnoveterinary medicinal research as the holistic interdisciplinary study of the local knowledge and the socio-cultural structures and environment associated with animal health care and husbandry.
 
EVM consists of local people’s knowledge pertaining to animal health and production. According to Mathias (1996 & 2002), it includes:

Introduction

Aflatoxins are a group of highly subsituted coumarine, of which aflatoxin B1 and G1 are  most  highly hepatotoxic (toxic to liver) to animals. The toxins are produced by some strains of Aspergillus flavus and other species of Aspergillus which develop in many food stuffs, particularly groundnuts. cottonseed, and their cake and flour. Protein concentrates meant for babies as well as adult are now a day  made from groundnut flour and the cakes are used as feed for poultry and livestock. It has been found that even fodgrains such as maize, rice and wheat are attacked by the fungus producing the toxins.

Estimation of Magnesium in Feeds, Fodders and Faeces
(Gravimetric method - AOAC, 1965)
Principle

Evaporation of calcium free filtrate is carried out to drive off ammonium chloride and nitric acid is added to decompose ammonium salts, which is then subsequently driven off by evaporation. NH₄Cl + HNO₃ = HCl + NH₄NO₃ (driven off). Sodium citrate in solution yields citric acid which has got a tremendous effect on aluminium and iron in that the citric acid keeps these materials in solution.

At neutrality, first the normal magnesium phosphate is formed, which is then turned to magnesium ammonium phosphate, which on incineration gives rise to magnesium pyrophosphate (Mg₂P₂O₇).

Pomegranate is emerging as one of the important fruit crops for semiarid and arid areas of India with the identification of superior varieties like Ganesh, Mrudila, Arka Ruby, and Bhagwa the area under pomegranate is increasing fast. Therefore the demand for elite planting material is also increasing fast. Pomegranate is propagated vegetatively either by cutting or air layering since ages. However now a day’s orchards raised from tissue culture are also very common. Nursery as a business preposition can also be as profitable as raising a crop. 

Types of Nurseries According to Marketing
    1.    Wholesale nurseries
    2.    Garden centers
    3.    Nurseries for large-scale gardening (municipals etc.)
    4.    Regular nurseries

Manures and Fertilizers

Even though pomegranate grows well in soils of low fertility, production can be increased by application of manures and fertilizers. Initial soil analysis is desirable for proper scheduling of fertilizers. The nutritional recommendation depends on fertility of the soil and also the age of the plant. For young plants (2-3 months old) application of 200 g Neem cake along with 3-4 kg FYM/plant is recommended. After 3 months, each plant may be given 250 g DAP along with 250 g Neem cake and 5 kg FYM. Again after 9 months, application of 500 g DAP, 250 g Potassium sulphate, 1 kg Neem cake and 10 kg of FYM/plant is recommended.

Fruit Maturity Criteria
 
    1.    The fruit takes about 135 to 170 days to mature depending on the variety.

    2.    In summer, mature fruit turns yellow and is dark pink in winter and rainy season.

    3.    The calyx at the bottom of the fruit turns hard and curves inwards.

    4.    The fruit shape gets compact

    5.    The fruit skin becomes hard.

    6.    The color of the aril turns dark red or pink and is full of juice and sweetness.

Export

India is one of the largest producer of the pomegranate. Apart from India, Spain, Iran, Egypt, Peru, Israel, Pakistan, Afganisthan, Turkey and America are the countries where the crop is cultivated. World production of Pomegranate is around 10 Lakh tones out of which India’s share is 40-45 percent .At present Spain is the maximum producer and exporter of pomegranate due to high quality and low transport cost capturing most of the European market. The total demand for pomegranate in the world is around 1.5 Lakh tones, which is increasing day by day. Spain contributes 75,000 to 80,000 tones (75%)of the total demand followed by Iran 25,000 tones and India 10000 tones (5%). Thus to increase the export there is only one way to improve the quality.

Lesser yam, Lesser Asiaticyam (Dioscorea esculenta) is among the most ancient species of the genus and its centre of origin is stated by various authorities as India, Vietnam or Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. It is domesticated as a staple food in Southern China from 2nd and 3rd centuries. Today, it is widely distributed throughout the tropics, but is little used except in South East Asia, where it is grown to such an extent that it ranks third in production and utilization of yams after D. rotundata,D. cayenensis and D. alata. Wild types of D. esculenta also exist in Malaysia, New Guinea and Philippines.  The wild types have more leaves, large roots, longer stolons, more fibrous tuber flesh and more thorny roots and shoots.

Classification
The wild types of D. esculenta (Family: Dioscoreaceae) exist in Malaysia, New guinea and Philippines. Wild types have more vigorous foliage, larger leaves, longer stolons, more fibrous tuber flesh and more thorny roots and shoots.  On the basis of thorniness, the cultivated types are distinguished into two botanical varieties.

In literal sense a species is called underutilized whose potential has not been properly realized. These underutilized crops (referred to also by other terms such as minor, orphan, neglected, underutilized, underexploited, underdeveloped, lost, new, novel, promising, alternative, local, traditional, niche crops) have been included in world-wide plans of action after having successfully raised the interest of decision makers. Wealth of plant genetic diversity currently available holds vast potential. We use only small number of crop plants for our basic requirements. Many thousands of wild plants have great economic and cultural importance and tremendous market potential for vast numbers of people throughout the world. But the majority are still unknown to science. Plant genetic resources have gained global attention in  recent past by agricultural and environmental institutions. Conservation and use of genetic resources attracted  considerable attention. Value of biological diversity in economic terms is very important for human society.

Aonla or Indian Gooseberry (Emhlica officinalis Gaertn. syn. Phyllanthus embfica L.). belonging to family Euphorbiaceae. is an indigenous fruittree to Indian sub continent. It is one of the most important commercial crops suitable for marginal soils and various kinds of waste lands particularly salt affected lands. A lot of genetic variability is available in India with respect to growth and fruit quality characteristics of aonla. Almost all the budded varieties of aonla were selected from naturally occurring superior chance seedlings having in view their earliness, lateness, hardiness to adverse conditions, yield and superior fruit quality.

1-or successful aonla orchards, it is utmost necessary to have basic knowledge of various cultivars suitable for a particular set of environmental and soil conditions.

Genetic resources for food and agriculture are the biological basis of world food and nutrition security and they directly support the livelihood of people. Horticultural genetic resources are a few of biological assets available to resource-poor farmers to ensure sustainable production to improve livelihood options. Genetic diversity gives resource-poor farmers a low cost option to manage the shocks and vulnerability of production systems by its ability to adopt to changing environments. It is the foundation upon which plant breeding depends for the creation of new varieties and is, therefore, of critical public value for global food security. The rapid loss of genetic diversity (genetic erosion) is a worldwide concern and is particularly severe among crop landraces. Farmer’s varieties or landraces may contain co-adapted gene complexes that have evolved over decades and are the most valued genetic resources as they provide options for a range of climatic and edaphic stresses. Therefore, agricultural biodiversity has a critical public value for global food security (FAO, 1978).

Carambola (Averrhoa carambola) is a fruit of warm tropical and sub- tropical areas of the world. The fruit is oblong with three to six longitudinal ribs, resulting in a star shaped cross section when cut. Usually they have five ribs which give rise to common name of ‘five corners’ or ‘star fruit’. The tree is medium-sized, attractive and evergreen growing to about 10m. The fruit has emerged as an interesting addition to the table fruit, not only as fresh fruit, but also for its juice, decorative uses and sherbet qualities.

Promotion of perennial crops is a good alternative for food security since they offer more consistant, year-round production without any break. Agathi and Chekkurmanis are the two nutritive perennial greens that can be easily grown in hot and humid tropical climate.

The Begonia family has a tropical and subtropical distribution in America, Asia and Africa. With approximately 100 species and 10,000 cultivated hybrids, they are very important as ornamental plants.A few reports describe Begonia as edible; the highest number of these species is found in America, some in Asia, and we have only one report of an edible Begonia in Africa.

The Begonia family has a tropical and subtropical distribution in America, Asia and Africa. There are approximately 600 species in America, and the same number in Asia.

Africa, including Madagascar and the Mascarenes, has 158 reported species, one third of which are endemic to Madagascar and associated Isles (Mascarenes, Seychelles and Comoros). Only ones species, B. grandis Dryander, is widely distributed in temperate regions, extending northwards near Beijing (Forrest & Hollingsworth, 2003; Plana, 2003).

Curry leaf (Murraya koenigii Spreng. Syn. Bergera koenigii Koen (N.O Aurantiaceae), Chaleas koenigii Curz ex. Swingle) is a perennial leaf vegetable. It belongs to family Rutaceae. Its genus name ‘Murraya’commemorates John Adam Murray, Professor of Botany at Gottingen and editor of many of Linnaeus’s works. (Fyson, 1977).

Origin and Distribution

The crop originated in the tarai tract of Uttar Pradesh (India), in the foothills of the Himalayas. Wild forms with less pungent leaves are seen along the plains and hills of Himalayas extending from Kumaon to Sikkim, in Bengal, Assam, Deccan plateau and in Western Ghats. At present, it is cultivated in Myanmar, SriLanka, China, Australia and Pacific Islands. The curry leaf grows throughout India including the Andaman Islands up to an altitude of 1500 m amol (Wealth of India, 1962). Dastur (1970) recorded its wild form in Garhwal hills in Uttaranchal, Sikkim, Bengal, Assam, Central India, Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.  Used as a flavourant and as a leaf vegetable by the early inhabitants, Dravidians, curry leaf was introduced to Southern India when the Dravidians moved southward after the arrival of Aryans from Persia. It is a backyard crop in many of the South Indian homesteads.  The spicy leaves of plants are used extensively for seasoning and flavouring dishes.

The formulation of ration for various categories of livestock depends upon the nutrient requirements for a particular animal or group of animals and the feeds and fodders available for the purpose. Livestock feeds can be grouped into two major categories – Roughages and concentrates, on the basis of bulkiness and chemical composition and combination of both is essential for a balanced ration.

Roughages are the bulky feeds having crude fiber more than 18% and TDN less than 60% while, Concentrates are feed or feed mixture having crude fiber less than 18% and TDN more than 60%. They are rich in either energy or protein and accordingly are called as energy concentrates (when CP is less than 18%) or protein concentrates (when CP value exceeds 18%). Various energy concentrates are grains and seeds (maize, barley, sorghum etc.), milling byproducts (brans and chunis), roots (tapioca tubers, turnip, potatoes) and molasses.

Demographic explosion, environment pollution, habitat destruction, enlarging ecological footprint, widespread hunger and unsustainable lifestyles, and potential adverse changes in climate all threaten the future of human food, water, health and livelihood security systems. 2010 appears to mark the beginning of uncertain weather patterns and extreme climate behaviour. Events like temperature rise, drought, flood, coastal storms and rise in sea level are likely to present new challenges to the public, professionals and policy makers. Biodiversity has so far served as the feedstock for sustainable food and health security and can play a similar role in the development of climate-resilient farming and livelihood systems. Biodiversity is also the feedstock for the biotechnology industry. Unfortunately, genetic erosion and species extinction are now occurring at an accelerated pace due to habitat destruction, alien species invasion and spread of agricultural systems characterised by genetic homogeneity. Genetic homogeneity increases genetic vulnerability to biotic and abiotic stresses. To generate widespread interest in biodiversity conservation, the UN General Assembly has declared 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity.

It was in 1968 that the term Green Revolution was coined by Dr. William Gaud of USA to describe advances in agriculture arising from productivity improvement. Even in 1968, I concluded that if farm ecology and economics go wrong, nothing else will go right in agriculture.  I expressed my views in the following words in my lecture at the Indian Science Congress Session held at Varanasi in January 1968:

Exploitive agriculture offers great dangers if carried out with only an immediate profit or production motive. The emerging exploitive farming community in India should become aware of this. Intensive cultivation of land without conservation of soil fertility and soil structure would lead, ultimately, to the springing up of deserts. Irrigation without arrangements for drainage would result in soils getting alkaline or saline. Indiscriminate use of pesticides, fungicides and herbicides could cause adverse changes in biological balance as well as lead to an increase in the incidence of cancer and other diseases, through the toxic residues present in the grains or other edible parts. Unscientific tapping of underground water will lead to the rapid exhaustion of this wonderful capital resource left to us through ages of natural farming.

India is predominantly an agriculture based country and 65% of the Indians depend on agriculture. To meet the ever increasing nutritional demands of Indian population, production and productivity of vegetables have to be increased manifold within the limited available land and other resources. Seed is the basic and critical input in which the expected dividends from all other inputs depend and it plays a crucial role for enhancing the stability of productivity. With the ever increasing demands for a mechanized, energy efficient type of agriculture, each seed is expected to produce a vigorous plant, which would develop. uniformly under a wide range of environmental conditions.

Seed enhancement technologies have historical basis dating back hundreds to thousands of years. Seed coating was being practiced by ancient Chinese farmers who coated seeds of rice with mud balls to anchor the seeds in water saturated soil . The Greeks presoaked the cucumber seeds in milk or water to make them germinate quicker. Keeping the seeds in moist cloth or soaking in water prior to sowing was a common practice among the farmers of India from time immemorial.

Genus : Musa 
Species : paradisiaca L.
Family : Musaceae
Chromosome No. : 2n =22,33,44

The genus Musa has been named after Antonio Musa, who was the official physician to Octovius Augustus the first emperor of Rome, 63-14 BC. Banana (Musa spp.) was perhaps the first among the fruit plants to be cultivated and there is hardly an difference of opinion that banana was one of the first food on which human relied upon. Banana was cultivated in India at very early times which is evident from the fact that Alexander the Great found banana cultivation in Indus river valley. In tropics, banana constitutes an important food crop for man and is a staple food of Buganda (Uganda), Wahaya (Bukoba) and Wachagya (Tanzania).

Genus : Vitis 
Species : vinifera L.
Family : Vitaceae
Chromosome No. : 2n=38, 40

Grapes are considered to be the oldest plants on earth which dates back to 90-95 million years, a time when dinosaurs ruled this planet, hence grape is as old as mankind. Grape is one of the most ancient crops. The Aryans knew grape cultivation as well as to prepare beverages from it. Grape cultivation in India dates back to 11th century BC. Later Muslim invaders from Iran and Afghanistan in the 12th century also introduced grapes to India, further in the 16th century Emperor Akbar the Great introduced and encouraged grape cultivation in various parts of India.

Genus : Actinidia 
Species : deliciosa (Plonch)
Family : Actinidiaceae
Chromosome No. : 2n = 58, 170, 174

The remarkable fruit of the previous century Kiwifruit is known by various names like China’s miracle fruit, the wonder fruit of New Zealand, Kiwi berry, Chinese gooseberry, Yangtao, Grosella and Mihoutao. In a short period of about two decades the crop has attracted huge inclination towards its cultivation and has become an established fruit crop of different world markets, which is unparallel in history of commercial fruit culture. In China the fruit has been growing over centuries in its wild form. The name Mihoutao was used for this crop by the Tang dynasty which indicated peach of the Macaque monkey indicating both the presence of fruit in wild stands and the love of the local monkey for this fruit.

Genus   : Ribes 
Species : nigrum L. americana Mill.
                bracteosum Dougl. niveum 
                Lindl. divaricatum Dougl.
Family : Saxifragaceae / Grossulariaceae
Chromosome No. : 2n = 16

The genus Ribes belongs to the family Saxifragaceae mainly comprises of woody shrubs distinctly marked with spines and prickles and those which have attractive handsome foliage, flowers and fruits.  The genus name Ribes is likely to be derived from ribas, the Arabic name for Rheum Ribes. Some are of the view that it is the latinized form of riebs,  an old name of currants in Germany.

Genus : Prunus 
Species : domestica institia L. 
                saliciana Lindl.
Family : Rosaceae
Chromosome No. : 2n - 48

Of all the stone fruits, plums are the most varied. They belong to the genus Prunus of the subfamily Prunoideae of the family Rosaceae. All plums have a basic chromosome number of x=8. Plums and related species have been placed in the subgenus Prunophora section Euprunus and Prunocerasus. Six species have been placed in the section Euprunus. Their chromosome number range from diploid to hexploid and are native to the land extending from Europe to China. Thirteen species native to the North American continent are all diploid in nature and have been placed in the sections Prunocerasus. Separation of the plums into the two sections does not appear to have any genetical basis since the species appear to be closely related. Prunus domestica, the European plum, is believed to be the most recent crop species to have arisen within the section Prunophora. Prunus insititia.

Genus   : Prunus
Species : avium cerasus, mahaleb L.
Family : Rosaceae
Chromosome No. : 2n = 16, 24, 32

Records indicate that cherries were in cultivation ever since the beginning of civilization. Cherries exhibit vast genetic variability as is evident from the different species which vary in their ploidy level. Sweet cherries (Prunus avium L) are diploid while sour cherries (P. cerasus, L.) are tetraploid, and commercially more important than the other species. Duke cherry has resulted from hybridization between sour and sweet cherry with intermediate tree and fruit characters. Successful cherry cultivation revolves around climatic factors, prime being the extent and spread of rainfall, variation in day and night temperature, occurrence of frosts, high heat day largely determine the type of cherry that will grow successfully in a particular areas. Hence cherry improvement around the world has so far been localized to few selected areas where different cherries have been successfully grown.

1. Introduction

Plants are reliable sources for the treatment of diseases in different parts of the world (Eisenberb et al., 1993; Cowan, 1999; Hostettmann et al., 2000) and they have been unique sources of medicines and constituted the most common use of biodiversity (Hamilton, 2004; Hiremath and Taranath, 2010). Their use contributes significantly to primary healthcare delivery (Holetz et al., 2002) as they are regarded as invaluable sources of pharmaceutical products (Olalde, 2005).

Traditional medicine, with medicinal plants as their most important component, are sold in market places or prescribed by traditional healers in their homes (Von Maydell, 1996). As a result of this strong dependence on plants as medicines, many ethnopharmacological studies have been conducted to determine their safety, efficiency and discovery of new active principles from them. Only, 1,100 plants have so far been thoroughly examined for their medicinal practices in the world (Dobson, 1995).

Herbal medicine have been in use since time immemorial and are still the mainstay mainly in the developing countries because of their better cultural acceptability, better compatibility with the human body and lesser side effects (Kamraj, 2000).

1. Introduction

Nothing in the universe is non medicinal everything has its value in its own way. Infectious diseases are an important health hazard all over the world, both in developing and developed countries. Several synthetic antibiotics are employed in the treatment of infectious and communicable diseases. A number of researchers nowadays are working seriously to find out substitutes for antibiotics as they cause side effects on the functioning of different parts of the body organs and systems. Antibiotics are also known to disturb the natural intestinal micro flora, thus depriving the benefits of these microbes to human body. Medicinal plants exhibit antimicrobial activity since they contain innumerable biologically active chemical constituents. The medicinal plant wealth, the strong and time tested traditional medicare systems like ayurveda and the human resource base are the strengths of India. Over the last forty years intensive efforts have been made to discover clinically useful antibacterial/ antifungal drugs (Sashikumar et al., 2003). Over 50% of all modern clinical drugs are of natural product origin (Ates, 2003). Higher plants as sources of medicinal compounds have continued to play a dominant role in the maintenance of human health since ancient times (Farombi, 2003).

1. Introduction

The therapeutic efficacy of many indigenous plants for various diseases has been described by traditional herbal medicine practitioners (Bharat and Parabia, 2010). Natural products are the source of synthetic and traditional herbal medicine. They are still the primary health care system in some parts of the world (Mahmud et al., 2010). In India, local empirical knowledge about medicinal properties of plants is the basis for their uses as a home remedies. It is generally accepted by many Indians and elsewhere in the world that beneficial medicinal effects can be obtained by ingesting plant products. Plants bear the basis of many traditional medicines throughout the world for thousands of years and continue to provide new remedies to mankind (Patel, 2009). The World Health Organization (WHO) also encourages, recommends and promotes the use of traditional and herbal remedies in the National Health Care Program because these medicines are easily available at low cost, comparatively safe and people have faith in such remedies (Wani, 2007). Herbal medicines are promising choice over modern synthetic drugs. Due to the serious obsession with the modern medicinal system, people have started looking at the ancient healing systems like Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani (Shankar and Ved, 2003).