eChapters

Abstract

The objective of the study is to build a framework of Geo-spatial Information System for effective decision making by empowering all the stake holders with spatial and non-spatial data. The Interface of this information system is developed as a deployable windows application using Map Objects in Visual Basic programming language with MS Access database. The practical utility of the proposed information system was explained with a case study in Aquaculture. This geo-spatial information system provides required information through maps based on spatial and attribute quarries. These dynamic maps help in taking effective decisions.

1.0 Introduction

Computer based information systems proved to be very efficient and effective tools for managing data and information to aid in decision making . FAO (2000) proposed agricultural knowledge and information system for rural development (AKIS/RD) to link rural people and institutions to promote mutual learning and generate , share and utilize agricultural technology , knowledge and information. This serves as vehicle for sharing ideas and principles with various stake holders addressing the problems and seeking solutions to rural development. Although the rural development planning is top-down prescriptive approach , in reality the decisions are made by the stake holders based on their perspectives, knowledge and priorities. Problems particularly related to environmental impacts are location specific and contextual. Geo-spatial technologies may serve as better vehicle to store and share all kinds of location specific data and information. The state of mapping and management of geospatial data changed during the recent years with the diffusion of modern geospatial information technologies such as GIS(Geographic information system), GPS(Global positioning system) and image analytical system for remote sensing(RS) data. Adinarayana et al., (2008) proposed a geographical information and communication technology (Geo-ICT) based information system called Grama Vikas( rural development) to assist the user in analyzing the rural information for rural development, planning . During the recent years there is a paradigm shift in GIS applications for rural development particularly in developing countries, by way of integrating top-down approach with bottom-up approach by the stake holders who stand to be affected by the decisions based on these technologies. Emerging concepts include “ community - integrated GIS”, “GIS in participatory research” and ‘participatory GIS”. (Abbot et al., 1998)

Abstract

Any naturally occurring phenomena varies both in space and time. This variability is a result of various natural process and hence deterministic. Geostatistics is a tool to help us to characterize spatial variability and uncertainty resulting from imperfect characterization of the variability. Geostatistics involves the theory of regionalized variables, which dates back to the early fifties and includes concepts of random function and stationarity. Geostatistical mapping can be defined as analytical production of maps by using field observations, explanatory information, and a computer program that calculates values at locations of interest. There area number of spatial prediction models depending on the amount of statisticsinvolved in the analysis. Kriging is a generic name adopted by the geostatisticians for a family of generalized least- squares regression algorithms and various kriging algorithms viz., punctual kriging, block kriging, co-kriging and universal kriging are explained in this paper. Applications of geostatistics can be found in many varied disciplines ranging from the geology to soil science, hydrology, meteorology, environmental sciences, agriculture and even structural engineering and some of its applications are summarized in this paper.

Keywords :Geostatistics, spatial variability, kriging, model

Alimentary canal : The endoderm is formed by delamination in mammals and birds. This endoderm surrounded by splanchnic mesoderm forms the gut. The endoderm underlying the embryonic disc and serving as a flat roof to the early yolk sac becomes gut endoderm. At 20^th day a rapidly expanding embryonic disc begins to fold into a cylindrical embryo. The gut endoderm also participates as a component layer. Folding first into the head end and then into the hind end of elongating embryo this endoderm necessarily takes the form of the two internal blind tubes. The open end of the each tube where it becomes continuous with the yolk sac is called an intestinal portal while the tubes are named the foregut and hindgut. The caudal end of the hindgut is cloaca. An intermediate region opening ventrally into the yolk sac through the narrower yolk stalk is midgut.

This practical assignment is conceptualized and operationalized to understand various tools and techniques in conducting a PRA at the village level and help students in understanding their application in village development planning.

PURPOSE

To get students acquainted with the PRA tools and techniques and their application in village development programme

This assignment is associated with the identification and recognition of different characteristics and features related to entrepreneurship development within the individual.

PURPOSE

 To make students acquainted with the characteristics favorable for entrepreneurial activity of people.

 To help the students develop their skill in identifying the entrepreneurial traits one can have within him/her.

Maize is presently the crop with growing importance in the state. Earlier it was primarily grown for human consumption only. In view of rapidly increasing demand of poultry feeds and fodder in Assam presently it has more use in some small industries. It is the raw material for most of the feed industries. Presently the crop has state acreage of 27953 hectare and production of 93179 tonnes with a productivity of 3333 kg/ha (2014-15).

While most other states in India are gradually moving away from their traditional agriculture based economy toward industry or service oriented economy, Assam is still predominantely dependent on the agricultural sector. While the sociopolitical problems afflicting the state since the last few decades are partly to blame for a lack of conducive environment for economic development of the state, particularly in industry or service oriented areas, there are various economic reasons (e.g. fragmented land) responsible for the lagging agricultural sector in the state. Economy of Assam is fundamentally based on agriculture. Over 70% of the state’s population relies on agriculture as farmers, agricultural laborers, or both for their livelihood.

Assam produces both food and cash crops. The principal food crops produced in the state are rice (paddy), maize (corn), pulses, potato, wheat, etc., while the principal cash crops are tea, jute, oilseeds, sugarcane, cotton, and tobacco. Although rice is the most important and staple crop of Assam, its productivity over the years has not increased while other crops have seen a slight rise in both productivity and acreage.

Introduction

The book has been framed as a text book cum vegetable production manual for both under graduate and post graduate students of Agriculture/ Horticulture as well as commercial vegetable production professionals. This book has been oriented on different management practices of vegetable culture in open field condition viz., Classification of vegetable crops, Management of seedlings in the nursery, Water managent, Plant nutrient management, Pollination management, Integrated pest management, Biological management of diseases, Weed management and Production technology of different vegetable crops.

Classification of vegetable crops

Vegetables are defined as herbaceous plant origin material with generally low calorific value providing micronutrients, vitamins, antioxidants, fibre and induce alkaline reaction inside human body. Vegetable crops are not only botanically different but also their cultural and climatic adaptation shows wide variability. It is, therefore, necessary to classify the vegetable crops for their easy recognition. Vegetable crops can conveniently be classified “Botanically” for the purpose of vegetable breeding and according to “Method of culture” from the point of crop husbandry.

Botanical classification

The crops used for vegetable purpose in the world belong to 1200 species under 78 families and of them, more than 860 species under 59 families belong to dicotyledoneae and about 340 species under 19 families belong to monocotyledoneae. In the tropical and subtropical parts of the world, about 90 species of vegetable crops are cultivated, but hardly 20 of them are commercially important.

In the present botanical classification, over 140 different vegetable crops under 6 monocotyledoneae and 20 dicotyledoneae families have been included.

Limitations of Bacteria

• Normally genetically engineered bacteria are very useful for the large scale production of valuable eukaryotic proteins.
• Bacteria grow rapidly, They grow on relatively simple media, they are easy to handle, they are easily transformed, they can grow on wide range of substrates, they multiply, fast, they contain simple and well characterized genome, they can be easily modified but even though, they have their own problems…

1. Bacteria do not have intrudes and so they do not have any system or machinery to remove introns.
2. Many eukaryotic proteins undergo different types of modifications after they are produced. These modifications are known as “post translation al modifications”.
3. Each bacterial cell usually contains many copies of the plasmid but there is no mechanism to ensure the equal distribution of plasmids in daughter cells.

A close relationship between the mode of reproduction of a cultivated plant and the methods to be employed for its improvement is now well accepted. Crop plants are broadly placed in two groups according to the mode of their reproduction: sexually reproduced and asexually propagated or reproduced plants. Asexual reproduction does not involve the union of gametes and/or reduction in chromosome numbers.

Plants may reproduce asexually in a variety of ways. In 1980, Mayo has identified the following methods of asexual reproduction on the basis of the classification made earlier by Stebbins in 1941 and Brown in 1972.

2.1. Open source satellite data

The satellite images have been invaluable information sources for Natural Resource Management. They provide synoptic view of the Earth periodically helping in inventory, surveying, and monitoring in agriculture, hydrology, geology, mineralogy, land cover, land use and environment. Free global satellite image data of spatial resolutions of 1m to 1 km and spectral resolution of single band to hyperspectral are available from an increasing number of sources (Table 2.1).

Coordinate Reference System (CRS) is a framework of coordinate based local, regional or global reference system used to represent the locations of geographic features. Coordinate Reference Systems (CRS) provide a standardized way to define the real-world geographic locations which further enable us to use common locations of geographic datasets for integration. The datasets from different sources and CRS are transformed to a common CRS in order to perform various integrated analytical operations like overlaying of data layers. Coordinate Reference Systems are mainly of two types:

1. Geographic Coordinate System: This is global or spherical coordinate system in which locations of features on earth are defined in terms of latitude and longitude values. Latitude and longitude are angles based on a point at the centre of the earth. In this system, locations are defined by degrees, therefore, distances cannot be measured accurately. The most common geographic coordinate system is the World Geodetic System 84 (WGS84).
2. Projected Coordinate System: In this system, locations of features are defined using cartesian x, y coordinates on a flat, two – dimensional surface. This system is based on sphere or ellipsoid projected on flat surface. Projected Coordinate System are generally referred as projec- tion. It is required for preparing maps on paper or computer screen. Un- like Geographic Coordinate System, projected coordinate system has ac- curate measurements of distance, angles and areas across the two dimen- sions. However, there is alwaystrade-offs between area, direction, shape, and distance in this system due to distortions created while representing ellipsoid or spheroid on a flat map. So, the projection type is selected based on its application. Most common projections are Universal Trans- verse Mercator (UTM), Lambert Conformal Conic and Albers Equal Area.

Many times, users have to work with raster datasets of different spatial and radiometric resolutions. So, there is requirement of bringing their resolutions to the same resolution in order to facilitate their processing. Resampling is the process of deriving pixel values from the existing image to the new raster image of different pixel size. Resampling is most common pre-processing step in remote sensing. It is done both at spatial and radiometric scale. At spatial scale, resampling is done either to increase the spatial resolution i.e. decrease pixel size known as Upsampling or to decrease the spatial resolution i.e. increase pixel size known as Downsampling. Radiometric resampling is performed to increase or decrease the radiometric resolution of the image. In R, resampling of raster image is performed by raster package. The details of the resampling methods and their respective R – code with examples are discussed in this chapter.

First of all, we need to import the raster image on which we wish to perform resampling operations by using following R – code. In R, resampling is feasible on one band only. So, we will import single band raster image.

Particle-size distribution is one of the stable soil characteristics, being little modified by agricultural management practices. The particle-size distribution expresses the proportion of various size particles in a soil, especially sand, silt and clay that determine soil texture (Hillel, 2004). Soil texture is closely related to soil physical properties such as water retention and release characteristics, surface area, swelling and shrinking, soil strength and tillage properties. There are two common methods being employed for particle-size (<2.0 mm) analysis namely international pipette method and the hydrometer method. Both the methods are based on Stokes’ law which establishes a relationship between particle size and the rate of sedimentation. Thus, particles are assessed by their settling velocities from suspension in a water solution that can be used to quantify particle size. Size range of soil particles (sand, silt and clay) according to two most adopted systems i.e. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and International Union of Soil Science (IUSS) formerly known as International Society of Soil Science (ISSS) are given below:

Introduction

Many of the globe’s major food crops viz., wheat, rice and vegetables have reached “yield stagnation” or “yields plateau”. This can be attributed to the land degradation and soil diminishing capacity to supply nutrients at the required rate due to over mining of essential nutrients. Further, imbalance use of fertilizers and lesser use of organic manures over the years have badly affected the soil health. To bring back life to the soil and relieve it from nutrient stress; fertilizers and manures/bio-fertilizers have to be applied in a scientific manner. At the same time, their indiscriminate use can result either in their under utilization and toxicity or leaching to the lower horizons, leading to underground water and create pollution problems. The soil is also the main source of sixteen mineral elements identifies in view of their importance for plant growth. These are N, P, K, S, Ca, Mg, Na, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Mo and Cl (Tisdale et al., 1985). Nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus have been designated as major nutrient elements in order of their removal by the plant; sulphur, calcium and magnesium as secondary nutrients while zinc, copper, iron, manganese and molybdenum are called micro nutrients as these are taken by plant in traces. 
Nutrients need of vegetables depends upon the yield response to applied nutrients from fertilizers, agro-climatic conditions, variety and nutrient availability from the soil pool. The nutrient status of the soil further depends upon the quantity of total and available nutrients present in the soil pool. The soil tests helps in selecting the proper manuring schedule for various crops in a sequence by knowing about the nutrient build up or depletion in the soil profile. The adequacy of soil testing methods to correctly predict the fertilizer needs varies with the soil type, climate/soil moisture and crop species. The rainfall also influences the efficiency of soil testing methods, especially nitrogen and potassium when it becomes imperative to have tissue analysis for modify the fertilizer recommendations. Plant tests also help to identify the nutrient deficiency in standing crop and in the event of deficiency of a particular nutrient helps in taking corrective measures (Sud 
et al., 2008).

The digestive system consists of organs concerned with prehension and digestion of food, absorption of digested food and expulsion of unabsorbed food. The digestive system extends from lips to the anus and consists of the primary and accessory organs of digestion. The primary organs include the mouth, pharynx and the alimentary canal (gastrointestinal tube) in that order of sequence. The accessory organs include the tongue, teeth, salivary glands, liver and pancreas. The alimentary canal extends from pharynx to anus and consists of the oesophagus, the stomach, the small intestine and the large intestine. The wall of the alimentary canal consists of, from within outward, the mucous membrane, the muscular layer and the serous layer forming the visceral peritoneum.

Mouth

The mouth is bounded dorsally (roof) by hard palate and behind that the soft palate, ventrally by the body of the mandible along with the mylohyoideus muscles and laterally by the cheeks. The entrance of the mouth cavity is bounded by the lips and it is called as rima oris, while its caudal opening into the pharynx is called as aditus pharyngis. The cavity of the mouth (cavum oris) is subdivided into two parts by the teeth and alveolar processes (the alveoli) of the mandible. The inner part i.e. the space within the teeth and alveoli is termed as mouth cavity proper, while the space between the cheeks and lips and the teeth and alveoli is called the vestibule of the mouth. The mucous membrane of the mouth cavity is continuous with the margin of the lips and the common integument and caudally it continues with the mucous membrane of the pharynx.

The nerves of the head connect the central nervous system i.e. brain with the structures like skin, muscles, glands, blood vessels, organs of special senses etc. so as to monitor or control their functioning. These nerves are the cranial nerves and their branches. There are twelve pairs of cranial nerves.

Olfactory nerve (Cranial nerve I)

The olfactory nerve is the first cranial nerve and is known as the nerve of sense of smell. It consists of fibres which are the axons of olfactory cells of olfactory part of nasal mucous membrane. These fibres are nonmedulated and they form number of small bundles which are enclosed into connective tissue sheaths derived from the meningeal layers of the brain. These nerve fibres bundles pass caudally upward through the cribriform plate of the ethmoid bone and enter the cranium to join the olfactory bulbs of the brain. Besides the olfactory nerve bundles there are two more nerves that extend from the nasal mucous membrane, traverse through the cribriform plate and join the parts of the brain. These include the vomeronasal nerve that is formed by the nerve fibres arising on the vomeronasal organ and terminating on the accessory olfactory bulb of the brain. The other one is the terminal nerve that after reaching the brain joins the olfactory trigone.

Mole

A mole is defined as the amount of chemical substance containing exactly 6.022 140 76 × 10₂₃ numbers of constitutive particles such as atoms, ions and molecules. This number is a fundamental constant named Avogadro’s number in honor of Italian scientist Amedeo Avogadro. This constant is properly reported with an explicit unit of “per mole,” and rounded version being 6.022 × 10₂₃/mol.

This definition has been adopted since November, 2018 revising the old definition based on the number of atoms in a sample of pure ₁₂C weighing exactly 12 g. Thus, as per the definition, 1 mole of any element contains the same number of atoms as 1 mole of any other element. However, the mass of 1 mole of a particular element is different from that of another element.

Molar mass

Molar mass of an element (or compound) is the mass in grams of 1 mole of that substance, a property expressed in units of grams per mole (g/mol).

Woman is an incarnation of ‘Shakti’the Goddess of Power. If she is bestowed with education, world’s strength will double. Let the campaign of ‘Kanya Kelavni’ be spread in every home; let the lamp of educating daughters be lit up in every heart across the regions and religions of the world.

Abstract

Globalization defines a new process of economic integration which is fuelled by neoliberal ideals claiming that an unregulated market economy maximizes economic efficiency and growth. Concept of equability and women empowerment provides durable strength and sustainable development to the programs aimed at promotion of commerce and trade through globalization. The post 2015 Development Agenda have not done much to address the large inequalities and discrimination against women. Global initiatives designed to benefit the daily lives of women and girls not being implemented effectively. This is especially for decision making and financial systems. The right to women needs to be ensured in order: to participate in the elaboration and implementation of development planning at all levels, to have access to adequate health care facilities, including information, counselling and services in family planning, to benefit directly from social security programmes, to obtain all types of training and education, formal and informal. All forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere must be ended. Out of the seventeen sustainable development goals (SDGs), not even the single one will be achieved without including women and girls as equal partners. All countries hold the same responsibility to ensure the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development within their own borders, and to support other countries in achieving the SDGs which includes reaffirming and contributing to the fulfilment of gender equality. Women and girls have to be equal partners in sustainable development.

Abstract

Women make up almost half of the agricultural labour force in developing countries (43 per cent according to UN Women data). Empowerment of women is central to achieving the objective of inclusive, equitable and sustainable development. Between the period 2007-08 and 2009-10, the share of person-days in casual employment in MANREGS to the total person-days in all economic activities has also increased. The increase was marginal for male workers but significant for female workers. This again confirms that female workers have been the largest beneficiaries of MANREGS projects. The share of female participation in these public works is more than the share of their male counterparts. The survey shows that women comprise only 13.76% of the total entrepreneurs, i.e., 8.05 million out of the 58.5 million entrepreneurs. Among the states, the largest share in number of establishments under women entrepreneurship is of Tamil Nadu (13.51%) followed by Kerala (11.35%), Andhra Pradesh (10.56%), West Bengal (10.33%) and Maharashtra (8.25%). Average employment per establishment for women owned establishments is 1.67. The main challenges that women face in business are educational and work background, balancing their time share between work and family, problems of raising start-up capital, difficulty in borrowing fund, thought-cut completions endangered existence of small companies, problems of availing raw- materials access to export market without intermediaries, as well as an overall psychological barrier on the part of banks, suppliers, and clients alike. Govt of India and different bodies such as NGOs, voluntary organizations, self-help groups, institutions and individual enterprises from rural and urban areas are active to help the women entrepreneurs in their ventures.

Abstract

India is one among the major fruit producing countries of the world and offers opportunities of women empowerment through quality fruit production, planting material generation and production of value added products. There is a great opportunity to increase and improve the production of tropical, subtropical, and temperate fruits. Underutilized fruits also have a huge potential waiting to be exploited. This will only be possible with a concerted effort by researchers and growers, especially women to improve quality and increase production based on consumer demand and export potential. Women play significant role in fruit production activities. Unfortunately their access to knowledge, technology, finance, information, and training is minimal which hampers productivity of fruit crops. The mode of female participation in agricultural production varies with the land owning status of farm households. Their roles range from managers to landless labourers. In all farm production, women’s average contribution is estimated at 55 percent to 66 percent of the total labour with percentages much higher in certain regions. About 48 percent of India’s self-employed farmers are women. Thus, rural India is witnessing a process of transition which could be described as feminization of agriculture particularly fruit crop cultivation and their post harvest management. Women play an active role in various production and postproduction activities of horticultural crops. The number of women engaged in horticulture has increased continuously in the past two-three decades due to various factors such as migration of men to urban areas in search of non-farm income, increase in the demand of labour force in construction and other sectors. The data on the women involved in horticulture sector are scanty however the involvement of women in various operations of cultivation and post harvest handling and storage is very high because of entrepreneurial nature of horticulture. There is need to adopt collective and SHG approach to take women contributions to socio-economic significance. Thus horticulture, especially the pre-harvest and post harvest management of fruit crops have considerable employment avenues for women and make horticulture an effective subject of women empowerment.

Abstract

Cattle are reared for milk and dry periods are considered loss to the exchequer of livestock farmers. To avoid it, farmers mostly abandon the cattle to become stray animals. Latest research supports that cow dung and urine are endowed with versatile medicinal, biofertilizer and bio-pesticide properties of socioeconomic importance. This has given the concept of dry cattle farming where focus is utilities of cow dung and urine and their value added products. Cow urine is useful for numerous human ailments like, cancer, osteoarthritis, allergies, kidney failures, skin diseases, healing of wounds etc. Cow dung is main source for vermicompost, FYM and biogas. Many products containing cow dung and urine i.e. soap (23% cow dung content and 7% urine), toothpaste (10% cow dung content and 10% urine, 2% Ghee), floor cleaners (Gaunyle: 11% cow urine), hair oil, incense shaving cream, face wash, talcum powders and dark circle removers are available in the market. The term cowpathy has been coined for diverse uses of cow dung and urine and is now focal area of research and innovative products development. Further, the dry cattle farming offers solution to problems of stray animals and helps in empowering the women farming community to exploit dry farming for more profit, product development and economic strengthening.

Abstract

Mushroom cultivation is a women friendly entreprise. High benefit cost ratio, easy and cheap availability of agro-wastes and congenial weather conditions make adoption of mushroom cultivation a lucrative source of rural women empowerment. The rural and tribal farm women can adopt agriculture based agribusiness on individual or group level and raise their income and employment opportunities which make them economically and socially empowered. Mushroom production, Bee-keeping, Dairy, Goatery, Seed production, cultivation of fruits, flower and vegetables can increase the income of rural and tribal farmers up to 70-80%. Mushroom production can be adopted even by landless rural women. Further value-added mushroom products provide good potential for entrepreneurs in view of the growing demand. The focus of Indian mushroom industry is predominantly on trade of the fresh produce rather than the real value-addition. Almost entire domestic trade is in the fresh form while most of the export is in the preserved form (canned or steeped). Current era is characterized by greater awareness about quality and, above all, with the demand for the readymade or ready-to-make food products. Technologies for production of some other products like mushroom based biscuits, nuggets, noodles, papad, candies, pickle and readymade mushroom curry have been developed and trainings need to be imparted to the stakeholders. Attractive packaging of the value-added products is yet another area called the secondary value-addition which can add to profit of the entrepreneurs.

Abstract

Indiscriminate and intuitive applications of the synthetic pesticides have adversely affected the ecological balance, resulting in pest resurgence, development of resistance in the pest species and environmental pollution. Biocontrol agents are now available to contain effectively diverse diseases and pests of various major field, fruit and vegetable crops with the result their demand in market has enhanced several folds but low production and scarce availability is a major constraint in their large scale adoption by farmers. While as now protocols for mass production of a number of biocontrol agents have been standardised and simplified, these can now be adopted by the unemployed educated youths to start entrepreneurship for self employment. In order to empower and improve the women farmers’ productivity, they need to have proper farm training and capacity building programs to compete various challenges in their rural livelihood and mass production of bio-control agents is an emerging enterprise with commercial potential. The Indian bio-pesticide market stands at over US$127 million (7-8% of the global market) and is expected to triple by FY20. The research efforts at the ICAR institutes and SAUs have been targeted to relieve women of the drudgery by providing technologies, time and labour saving tools with good market linkage. Women self help group with proper training can start their own bio-pesticides units for which finance with subsidy is available.

Abstract

Rural women play a vital role in farming system operations and contribute substantially in the physical aspect of farming, livestock management, postharvest and allied activities. Around 43% of the agricultural labour force of developing countries is composed of women dependency. India has achieved self sufficiency in agricultural production, but a considerable amount of production gets spoiled in every year due to inadequate post-harvest management, processing, infrastructure and skill. To uplift the livelihood and economic conditions of the rural women there is an urgent need to impart trainings for skill development regarding the value addition of horticultural crops. This offers tremendous opportunities for women occupation but also inculcate entrepreneurial characteristics in them. Trainings and skill development are useful for rural women as they can add more value to the seasonal fruits and vegetables and generate varieties of products namely Pickle, Murabbaa, Chutney, Jam, Sharbat etc. These efforts enhance their family income by around 30-40 thousands per annum as they fetch more prices of raw produce after processing. Moreover during peak production times glut only promote produce and profit loss. Instead of direct marketing of their produce they can do value addition of their produce and then sell them in market, it not only increases the value of their products but the prices also enhance by many folds. After giving training to rural women, they are motivated to go for self marketing of their produce at domestic and village level. Similar way these trainings can transform the life style and income level of farming families comprehensively.

Abstract

India is an agriculture based country and livestock production is an integral component of farming system and it is generally considered a key asset for rural livelihoods. It offers advantages over other agricultural sectors and it plays a crucial role in the rural economies of developing countries like India. Livestock provide high quality food, cash income and employment. Livestock production is largely in the hands of women. Most of the animal farming activities such as fodder collection, feeding, watering, and health care, management, milking and household-level processing, value addition and marketing are performed by women. Besides, considerable involvement and contribution of women, gender inequalities also exist in Indian villages. Therefore, there is a need to correct gender bias in livestock sector. Efforts are needed to increase the capacity of women to negotiate with confidence and meet their strategic needs.

Insect infestation occurs in stored grains and grain products to variable extent depending upon the storage conditions in developing countries. The losses of nutritional compounds are proportional to the extent of insect infestation, nature of insect feeding and distribution of nutritional chemicals in different seed components.

1. Sources of Insect Infestation

There are many sources that leads to infestation in storage, viz., left over seed from bins or stores or spilled seeds under the stacks, cleanings, sweepings of storage structure, processing plants, old infested stores, old gunny bags, insect infested transport vehicles, storing insect infested seeds with fresh stock or vice-versa, entry of insects from neighbouring stores and carry over of field infestation

In light of the high population of nematodes, N.A. Cobb (1915) who is considered to be the father of American Nematology, provided a dramatic description of the abundance of nematodes. He stated, “if all the matter in the universe except the nematodes were swept away, our world still would be dimly recognisable. We would find its mountain tops, valleys, rivers, lakes and oceans represented by a film of nematodes.” The Papyrus Ebers suggested a knowledge of the human intestinal parasite, Ascaris lumbricoides and the tissue parasite, Dracunculus medinensis. In early Egyptian writings also these two human parasites have been described. In 1956, Borellus recorded his observations “Vinegar eels” the microbivorous or free living nematode occurring in most vinegar at that time. The statement “sowed cockle, reaped no corn” in Shakespeare’s “Love’s Labour’s Lost”, act 4, scene 3, as suggested by Thorne (1961) possibly the first record of plant parasitic nematodes in 1549. The nematode that Thorne suspected to be in that reference actually was described by Needham in 1743. Subsequently, discovery of microscope and developments in various disciplines of science led to the discovery of plant parasitic nematodes and the disease caused by them. Some of the important milestones on the history of plant nematology are listed below in chronological order.

Potato

Potato is one of the most important vegetable crop grown in India. It thrives best in cool climate. Therefore it is a summer crop in the hills and a winter crop in plains.

Twenty seven species of nematodes have been reported on potato among them the cyst nematodes (Globodera rostochiensis and G. pallida) and the root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne incognita, M. javanica and M. hapla) are important in India.

Cyst nematodes (G.rostochiensis and G. pallida)

In India, the cyst nematode menace on potato was first reported by Dr. Jones during 1961 from Nilgiri Hills.

Geographical distribution

The potato cyst nematode is distributed in Central, South and North America, Europe, Iceland, Western USSR and South Africa.

In India it is distributed in Nilgiri and Kodai Hills and in New Delhi.

Objectives

• Better understand the monohybrid cross.
• Calculation of monohybrid phenotypic, genotypic and testcross ratios.

Principle

Monohybrid cross deals with the study of inheritance of one pair of contrasting characters. The alleles of contrasting character selected in the monohybrid cross will show exact dominance and recessive relationship. It is also defined as a cross is made between two true-breeding parents differing for a single trait, producing an F₁ generation. These plants are intercrossed to produce an F₂ generation. Monohybrid crosses study led to the Mendel’s law of segregation. Monohybrid cross was first produced in pea by Mendel to explain the “law of segregation”. When parents with distinct phenotypes are crossed, in F₁ generation, only one type of plants appears phenotypically. However, segregation can be observed in F₂ progeny and the population can be divided into two phenotypes classes. After counting the individuals. It is observed that 75% of them express the dominant phenotype and 25% of them express recessive phenotype.

Objectives

• Better understand the various types of gene interaction.

Introduction

Gene interaction is the phenomenon of two or more genes that affect each other’s expression in different ways in the development of a single character of an organism. It is the modification of normal phenotypic expression of gene due to interaction between alleles or non-alleles. In such situation, two or more than two genes may interact to give rise to a particular phenotype

Plant genetic resources (PGR) are the genetic material of plants which are of value for present and future generations of humankind. Often used as a synonym to plant germplasm, it can be defined as a seed, a plant or plant part including cell cultures, genes and DNA sequences that are held in a repository or collected from wild as the case may be and that are useful in crop breeding, research or conservation because of genetic attributes. The term is used to describe a collection of genetic resources for an organism or genetic material which forms the physical basis of inherited qualities. In brief, germplasm is the sum total of the hereditary materials in a species. Germplasm is the foundation and lifeblood of plant breeding without which plant breeding activities cannot be conducted. Germplasm is the genetic material that can be used to perpetuate a species or a population. The base germplasm can be improved for better performance of the crop. In the initial stage of a breeding programme, breeder evaluates the available germplasm lines and makes a selection from them for further test and final release to the farmers. Later on, the germplasm serves as a source of the parental lines which are used to initiate another phase of the breeding programme. Besides, using the base germplasm, breeders generate new variability using a variety of breeding methods such as crossing parental lines and developing new lines, induced mutations and more recently gene transfer. This new variability is again subjected to appropriate selection methods leading to identification and further evaluation of new and promising genotypes for release as cultivars. Generally, germplasm includes following types:

Phenotype is a result of gene products brought to expression in a given environment. Genes specify the structure of proteins. All known enzymes are proteins. Enzymes perform catalytic function, causing the splitting or union of various molecules. All of the chemical reactions which occur in the cell constitute the subject of intermediary metabolism. These reactions occur as stepwise conversions of one substance into another, each group being mediated by a specific enzyme. All of the steps which transform a precursor substance to its end product constitute a biosynthetic pathway. Several genes are usually required to specify the enzymes involved in even the simplest pathways. Before gene-enzyme relationship could be postulated, soon after rediscovery of Mendelian principles of inheritance, it was discovered that genes were not merely separate elements producing distinct individual effects, but they could interact with each other to produce completely novel phenotypes. The simplest example of gene interaction could be the fact that allele A could be characterized by phenotype A, and the allele B by the phenotype B and an organism having both alleles A and B at the same time might show phenotype C. The occurrence of such interactions means that the phenotype we observe is not present in the genes themselves but arises from a complicated developmental process resulting from a biosynthetic pathway as illustrated below (Stansfield, 1969)

Linkage

When two or more genes are located on the same chromosome, they are said to be linked. Genes on different chromosomes are distributed to the gametes following the law of independent assortment. However, genes located on the same chromosome, tend to stay together during gamete formation. For example, results of test-crossing dihybrid individuals will produce different results depending upon whether the genes are linked or are located on the same chromosome. This is illustrated as follows:

Abstract

Spot blotch of wheat is devastating disease as one of the yield limiting factor especially in north eastern plains zone and also in north western plains zone of India. Chemical fungicides play an important role in controlling the spot blotch in India due to non availability of spot blotch resistant commercial varieties. To identify the suitable chemicals method and time of application, various fungicides thiram 37.5% WP, carboxin 37.5% WP +, propiconazole 25% EC, tebuconazole 25% EC and mancozeb 75% WP) were evaluated either as seed treatment or foliar sprays or in combination under artificial epiphytotic in vivo conditions for two crop seasons. Seed treatment (ST) by thiram + carboxin @ 2.5 g/kg of seed along with Foliar spray (FS) of propiconazole @ 0.1% at boot leaf stage on Flag-1 leaf followed by second spray at 20 days interval (two sprays) resulted in best management of spot blotch in severe conditions. It was found that the fungicide treatment not only reduced the spot blotch disease but also increases the grain yield.

Abstract

Mushroom production is emerging as an added dimension in agriculture diversity; its cultivation lies on the utilization of agricultural wastes rich in proteinaceous materials. Five different substrates such as wheat straw, maize cob, paddy straw, banana pseudo stem, and lentil straw were used with suitable supplements to evaluate the average period of spawn run, pin head initiation, time taken for harvesting of flushes, fruit yield during both crop season 2014 and 2015. In 2014, highest fruit yield (380.3 g/ 500g) were recorded when wheat straw supplemented with rice bran (2% of the substrate weight), corn flour @ 25 g/kg prepared straw and gypsum @ 20 g/kg straw among various used substrates. This treatment also resulted better in respect of time taken for spawn run (9.3 days), pin head initiation (11.7 days), time taken for harvesting of flushes (I^st flush- 20.5, II^nd flush-26.7, III^rd flush- 32.9). The second best treatment was paddy straw when supplemented with rice bran (2% of the substrate weight), corn flour @ 25 g/kg prepared straw, and gypsum @ 20 g/kg. The lowest fruit yield (193.6 g/500g), time taken for spawn run (15.9 days), pin head initiation (22.4 days), time taken for harvesting of flushes (I^st flush- 27.9, II^nd flush-37.1, III^rd flush- 44.7) were recorded with banana pseudostem (chopped) when supplemented with rice bran (2 % of the substrate weight), corn flour @ 25 g/kg prepared straw and CaCO₃ gypsum @ 20 g/kg straw. The same experiment was repeated during the year crop season 2015. Surprisingly wheat straw supplemented with rice bran (2% of the substrate weight), corn flour @ 25 g/kg prepared straw and gypsum @ 20 g/kg prepared straw was found again superior over other treatments with more or less similar performance. Similarly more or less same performances were resulted in rest of the treatment too. The incidence of mould infection in mushroom was also noticed in accordance with the kinds of substrates used during both crop season 2014 and 2015. Lowest incidence of mould i.e. green mould (5.13 %), black mould (3.10 %) and blue mould (2.42%) was observed on wheat straw when supplemented with rice bran (2% of the substrate weight), corn flour @ 25 g/kg prepared straw and gypsum @ 20 g/kg straw, green mold (3.13 %), black mold (3.10 %) and blue mold (2.42 %). Similarly more or less same pattern of mould incidence was reported in the crop season 2015.

RAPD stands for Random Amplification of Polymorphic DNA. It is a type of PCR reaction, but the segments of DNA that are amplified are random. The scientist performing RAPD creates several arbitrary, short primers (8-12 nucleotides), then proceeds with the PCR using a large template of genomic DNA, hoping that fragments will amplify. By resolving the resulting patterns, a semi-unique profile can be gleaned from a RAPD reaction.

No knowledge of the DNA sequence for the targeted gene is required, as the primers will bind somewhere in the sequence, but it is not certain exactly where. This makes the method popular for comparing the DNA of biological systems that have not had the attention of the scientific community, or in a system in which relatively few DNA sequences are compared (it is not suitable for forming a DNA databank). Because it relies on a large, intact DNA template sequence, it has some limitations in the use of degraded DNA samples. Its resolving power is much lower than targeted, species specific DNA comparison methods, such as short tandem repeats. In recent years, RAPD is used to characterize, and trace, the phylogeny of diverse plant and animal species.

In 1985, Sir Alec Jeffreys developed restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), which quickly became the standard technique for DNA testing throughout the 1980s. RFLP provided the world with the first form of genetic testing based on DNA, the body’s genetic material.

Definition : RFLP analysis is a difference in homologus DNA sequences that can be detected by the presence of fragments of different lengths after digestion of the samples in question with specific restriction endonucleases (RE).

A restriction fragment length polymorphism , or RFLP, (commonly pronounced “rif lip”), is a variation in the DNA sequence of a genome that can be detected by breaking the DNA into pieces with restriction enzymes and analyzing the size of the resulting fragments by gel electrophoresis. It is the sequence that makes DNA from different sources different, and RFLP analysis is a technique that can identify some differences in sequence (when they occur in a restriction site). Though DNA sequencing techniques can characterize DNA very thoroughly, RFLP analysis was developed first and was cheap enough to see wide application. Analysis of RFLP variation was an important tool in genome mapping, localization of genetic disease genes, determination of risk for a disease, genetic fingerprinting, and paternity testing.

Genetic Mapping

Perhaps one of the most powerful applications of markers is genetic mapping. This technology allows researchers identify markers located within or very close to genes of interest. With this it is possible to trace these genes through generations of crosses.

If the trait in question is complex and multigenic, mapping will also be of tremendous help to dissect the various genes or loci that contribute to the overall characteristic. Determining the amount of impact each locus delivers is a process called Quantitative Trait Loci or QTL mapping.

1. House Plant

The screwpines or kewda plants are characteristics of many tropical regions with long ringed trunks, bracing roots and crowns of Dracaena-like foliage. The young plants are amongst the most popular foliage plants for home decoration as the plants do not flower at early stages (Wickham, 1950). They are also grown as pot and tub specimens for green house, residence, veranda and lawn decoration where their stiff clustered foliage gives them a formal decorative character. They may be kept as indoor ornamental foliage plants in the warm and semi light places of a house. (Wickham, 1982a).

2. Fence

The plant is useful for binding the soil, so checks soil erosion and not browsed by the cattle due to its spiny leaves; hence sometimes used as fence around the crop field in the coastal districts of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Gujrat. The plants are often used for hedges as in the Casuarina plantations at Puri of Odisha (Haines, 1961a) (Fig. 17).

I. General information

1. Japanese flower arrangement is called as Ikebana
2. Meaning for Ikebana is flowers kept alive
3. Western style of flower arrangement involves symmetrical arrangement of flowering plants in a vase
4. Ikebana style possess asymmetric flower arrangement
5. Tatebana is a type of flower arrangement in which flowers are placed in standing arrangement and are of tall nature
6. Basic lines of Japanese flower arrangement are heaven, man and earth
7. ‘Shin’ in Japanese flower arrangement represents Heaven
8. ‘Soe’ in Japanese flower arrangement represents Man

Climatic conditions prevalent in rainfed areas

Weather, which is part of climate, plays an important role in crop planning in dry farming area. Out of the several elements of weather, rainfall has key position in success of dry farming. In dryland areas, South West Monsoon brings the bulk of rainfall. The South West Monsoon is followed by North East Monsoon which supplements to South West Monsoon are the main source of rainfall. There are four types of rainfall characterized by the nature in different parts of India. Generally, the rainfall is scanty, erratic and ill distributed.

1. Rainfall

The monsoon period is not one of continuous rains in any part of the country. Meghalaya that is uncommon in the behavior of monsoon in the country. There are at least four variations in rainfall.

1.The commencement of rains may be quite early or considerable delayed according to the dates of monsoon for central Maharashtra zone is 10th June but is started as early as 28th May 1925 and its onset was delayed upto 26th June 1954 according with the date of onset of monsoon in Rajasthan is between June 21 to 30 but is started as late as up to end of July 1987 to 1992.

2.There may be prolonged breaks in rainfall. These breaks in monsoon rains can be different duration. The breaks of 5-7 days may not be all serious concern but breaks of longer duration of 2-3 weeks created the situation of plant water stress leading to reduction in agricultural production. Another important point is the physiological properties of soil and available water holding capacity in the relation to the breaks and drought, some of the soils e.g. deep black soils have capacity to store more than 300 mm of water per meter depth where as the desert soil can ensure only 100 mm. The impact of drought is felt more quickly in the soil having less water holding capacity but in sols with high storage capacity 15 days dry break may not affect the crop where as the soils of less storage capacity show wilting symptoms in and dry break such breaks cannot be predicted for a given season in advance. The drought caused due to this break is therefore of different magnitude and severity.

In dryland areas, moisture conservation accounts prime most important concept for maximizing productivity of dryland crops. Varied topographic and agro- climatic conditions ranging from arid to semi-arid climates with high evaporation because of varied temperature regimes permit the cultivation of drought resistance crops. Reducing the cost of cultivation without compromising the socio-economic status of farmers is prime importance. Conservation of moisture by reducing the weed menace is great task performed by the dryland farmers. Under such situations, effective utilization of dryland tools and implements used are of a primitive nature throughout the dryland farmers for higher factor productivity. Traditional farm tools and implements for self-sustenance have been adapted through experience over generations to meet emerging socio- economic and farming challenges.

Relatively small yields consequently larger areas must be farmed for a given return and the successful exploration of dryfarming requires the adoption of methods. The methods which enable farmers to do the maximum effective work with the smallest expenditure of energy. The type of soils and topographic conditions largely influence the type, size and shape of particular tillage tools/ implements among the dryland farmers. The following is a list of local tools/ implements found in the various dryland regions.

Introduction

In order to keep pace with the development there is rise in energy use but it has adverse effects on climate due to greenhouse gas emissions from burning of fast depleting fossil fuels. In this context, we need to harness and use more and more renewable forms of energy, especially solar energy that is plentiful on most part of India. Also, at several locations harnessing wind power and utilizing biomass could be effective alternatives. Solar based devices may also work in an integrated manner with small wind turbines as hybrid devices. At present, about 20% of the country’s installed electricity generation capacity is contributed by renewable sources e.g. wind, solar, bioenergy, hydro etc., which is about 71.325 Giga Watt (GW) as on 30^th June, 2018. In agricultural sector, energy is directly used for pumping irrigation water, operating different mechanized farm implements/tools and processing of foods. Share of agricultural sector in total energy consumption is about 7-8% and further increase in energy use from its present value of 1.6 kW ha^-1 to 2.5 kW ha^-1 is expected to meet the production target of next 20 years.

Introduction

In Indian Thar desert regions, excessive heat is the major problem that causes human and animal thermal discomfort. Space cooling is, therefore, the most desirable factor for the inhabitants. Various examples of dwellings responsive to climatic constraints are found in vernacular architecture throughout the world. Compact cellular layout with minimum external surface exposure to the sun, whitewashed surfaces to reduce absorptivity, blind external facades, courtyards, vegetation to provide humidity and shade, and heavy buildings constructed from high thermal capacity materials are common passive features in most of the arid regions. Wind towers for cooling ventilation are well known in Iranian and Middle East architecture, which along with cooling of the air by earth and water evaporation keep the building comfortable in hot periods. Building underground to take advantage of the large thermal storage capacity of the earth is also used in Tunisia and central Turkey.

Introduction

Solar refrigeration technology engages a system where solar power is used for cooling purposes. It offers a wide variety of cooling techniques powered by solar collector-based thermally driven cycles and photovoltaic (PV)-based electrical cooling systems. Cooling can be achieved through four basic methods: solar PV cooling, solar thermal cooling, solar thermo-electrical cooling and solar thermo-mechanical cooling. The first is a PV-based solar energy system, where solar energy is converted into electrical energy and used for refrigeration much like conventional methods. The second method utilizes a solar thermal refrigeration system, where a solar collector directly heats the refrigerant through collector tubes instead of using solar electric power. The third one produce cool by thermoelectric processes. The fourth method converts the thermal energy to mechanical energy, which is utilized to produce the refrigeration effect.

The performance of solar refrigeration systems is determined based on energy indicators of these systems. The COP (coefficient of performance) can be calculated as follows:

Introduction

Considering the accountable post-harvest losses which is approximately 30-35 percent, food processing becomes an extremely important sector for preventing the losses and feeding the growing population. The Indian food industry is poised for huge growth, as currently valued at US$ 1.3 billion with compound annual growth rate of 20 per cent per year, increasing its contribution to world food trade every year. In India, the food sector has emerged as a high-growth and high-profit sector due to its immense potential for value addition, particularly within the food processing industry. Increasing population of the country and high cost of fuels have also created a demand for new alternate sources of energies for post-harvest processing of foods. Solar food processing technologies may become a viable option that provides good quality foods at low or no additional fuel costs. The energy policy of the developing countries now focuses on the clean renewable energy to create a further reduction of the petroleum import and to alter the utilization of petroleum energy toward the utilization of solar energy. It is an interesting fact that most of the developing countries fall in the climatic zone where the insolation is considerably higher than the world average of 3.82 kWh m-2 (Majumdar 2015). The daily horizontal insolation of India is approximately 5.80 kWh m-2 (Visavale 2009, Visavale et al. 2011). Solar dyers are an alternative to traditional drying technique and a contribution towards the solution of the problems of the open sun drying from perspective of renewable and clean energy. The International Energy Agency (IEA) declared in its 2011 solar energy perspectives executive summary (SEP 2011): “Solar energy offers a clean, climate-friendly, very abundant and inexhaustible energy resource to mankind, relatively wellspread over the globe. Its availability is greater in warm and sunny countries that will experience most of the world’s population and economic growth over the next decades.