eChapters

Value chain analysis and its management is a strategic planning tool used in analyzing the value chain of a company or sector or a product. Initially, it was used to assess the process of a company or single unit. Then, it was visualized as a holistic and integrated framework in upgrading the activities of companies as a whole with the coordinating efforts of the various units or sub-systems. It is useful in improving the existing system or through introducing a new component in the system.

Value chain

The word ‘value chain’ was first introduced by Michael porter in his book ‘Comparative Advantage’ during 1985. Value chain is defined as “the full range of activities which are required to bring a product or service from conception, through the different phases of production (involving a combination of physical transformation and the input of various producer services), delivery to final customers, and final disposal after use”.

Value chain comprises of full range of activities required to bring a product or service from the stage of conception, production and distribution to consumers (Kaplinsky and Morris, 2001). The study on value chain is intended to achieve comparative advantage through cost minimization and attaining consumer satisfaction. It is the preliminary step in the mapping of market (FAO, 2006).The value chain can be analyzed using Value Chain Analysis (VCA) through either quantitative or qualitative tools or both.

Tillage is the physical manipulation of the soil with tools and implements which, results in good tilth for better germination and subsequent growth of crops.

Tilth is the physical condition of the soil resulting from tillage. Soil is said to be in good tilth when it is mellow, friable and adequately aerated. Tilth is dynamic. Mechanical forces may change the roughness of the soil surface, the total porosity and bulk density of the tilled layer and the aggregate or clod size. Heavy rainfall and high velocity wind or water destroys the tilth. The action of wetting and drying, freezing and thawing regenerates desirable tilth. The roughness of the soil surface is an index of the amount of water that can be stored in soil depressions and may also be related to the resistance of the soil surface to sealing. Roughness may be related to rate of evaporation, transfer of heat and air between the soil and atmosphere.

Macromolecule: A molecule having molecular weight ranging from few thousand to millions.

Macronutrients: The essential elements which are required by plants in comparatively large amounts are called as major elements or macro nutrients. Examples: C, H, O, N, P, K, Ca, S, Mg. In this C, H, O, N, P, K are called primary elements and Ca, S, Mg are called as secondary elements.

Malate shuttle: A mechanism of transferring reducing equivalent of cytosolic NADH in the form of malate across the inner mitochondrial membrane by a specific ketoglutarate malate transporter for oxidation through electron transport chain in little animal tissue like heart muscle.

Malic enzyme: An enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of malate to pyruvate and carbondioxide.

The family Enterobacteriaceae belongs to the order Enterobacterial. The family comprises 25 genera such as Escherichia, Salmonella, Klebsiella, Yersinia, Proteus, Providencia, Shigella, Enterobacter, Morganella, Edwardsiella, Budvicia, Cedecea, Citrobacter, Ewingella, Hafnia, Kluyvera, Leclercia, Leminorella, Moellerella, Pantoea, Rahnella, Tatumella, Trabulsiella, Serratia and Yokenella, out of which the first 10 genera are consistent pathogenic in humans, animals and birds.

Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli were first isolated by Theodor Escherich in 1885 from the faeces of infants. It was named in honour of the German pediatrician and its major natural habitat (colon). Previously it was also known as Bacillus coli or Bacterium coli (B. coli).

Who discovered bacteria?

a) Leeuwen hock b) Ledge berg

c) Walkman and Zinder d) None

Objective

To study the salient features of important varieties of spices and condiments.

1. Cardamom

Table 3.1: Released/Recommended Cardamom Selections- Estimated Yield and Source of Variability.

2. Black pepper

Table 3.2: Improved varieties of black pepper and their character

The general systemic states are generalized in nature and involve whole body systems. They are common to many diseases and contribute to the pathogenesis
of the disease. Pathogenesis is defined as the changes in functioning at the cellular level and establishment of disease process. Hyperthermia,
hypothermia, fever, toxaemia, septicaemia, bacteraemia, shock, dehydration, acid-base imbalance, hyponatremia, hypokalemia etc. are some examples of
general systemic states.

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

The guava (Psidium guajava L.) also known as ‘the apple of tropics’ belongs to family Myrtaceae (Hayes, 1974) originated from Tropical South America stretching from Mexico to Peru and introduced in India by Portuguese during 17th century (Bose and Mitra, 2001). Guava is an evergreen fruit in nature, well adopted to a wide range of soil and agro-climates and acclaimed as ‘super fruit, due to high nutraceutical properties and in reach of poor people it has great demand.

Important Points to Remember

• Statistics is a branch of mathematics that deals with the data collection, examination, description, and display of numerical data masses.
• Statistics is used in various aspects of life, like in robotics, data science, business, weather forecasting, sports, and much more.
• An ambiguous term. It often denotes the arithmetic mean, but it can also denote the median, the mode, the geometric mean, and weighted means, among other things. Beware if something reports “the average” without making it clear which average.
• The geometric mean of n numbers {x1, x2, x3, …, xn} is the nth root of their product: (x1×x2×x3× … ×xn)^1/n.
• The samples are one of the sub-set of the population, whereas a population is an overall set of things or individuals of a specified group.

Objective: To study the morphological description and field identification characteristics of various temperate tree species.

Observation recording: For correct identification of any temperate tree species, it is necessary to observe the type of bark, type of leaf, leaf arrangement and surface of leaf. For easy understanding of the students some examples are given in table:

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

Abstract

Bioinformatics is an important interdisciplinary field that brings together several areas of science, including molecular biology, biostatistics, and computer science (vis-a-vis information technology). With the rapid increase in the sequencing of DNA/RNA/protein molecules, as well as the growing understanding of the interconnections between different areas of biological science, the importance of bioinformatics is only increasing. This chapter seems to provide a thorough introduction to the definition, concept, and importance of bioinformatics. It also appears to highlight the relevance and potential scope of the subject for students interested in pursuing a career in the field. As bioinformatics continues to evolve and expand, it is likely to become an increasingly important area of research and development in the life sciences.

13.1 Introduction

At a national level, the agricultural sector is one of the major potential users of energy in the Indian context. Further, it is often highly dependent on the supply of electricity and fuel in order to function properly. The term “agriculture” refers to all on-farm activities required for farming, raising animals, and associated activities associated with farmers, growers, and entrepreneurs. Fuels such as petroleum and electricity are primarily used for the operation of pump sets and other operations. In the future, this may result in problems with supply and price. Moreover, India has relatively small reserves of crude oil and will eventually be forced to import more crude oil to make up for the lack of reserves. In order to save energy and money on the farm, farmers must identify opportunities for energy conservation on the farm in order to maximize energy efficiency. 

8.1. Limitations

The most important limitations which have been observed in this research are as follows:

1. Bench marking on the status of reigning uncertainty and chaos on farming’has really been a difficult task.
2. There are problems of overlapping of some variables that could have been avoided.
3. Some new scales could have been better if created.
4. Since the concept is complex, it was very difficult to get qualitative response.
5. Farmers nowadays are reluctant to engage in conversation and produce data.
6. Due to non-random sampling , there is possibility of error or biases.

Essential elements for plant growth

A large number of mineral elements are present in plants, but they do not require all these for growth. Out of the 107 elements in the periodic table, 90 elements are naturally occurring in plants and out of which only 17 elements are essential for plant growth.

Although common sense goes a long way in defining the concept of an essential element, Arnon and Stout in 1939, stated that an essential element should fulfil following criteria:

1. A deficiency in absence of the elements should make it impossible for the plant to complete its lifecycle.
2. Must not be replaceable by another element.
3. Must be directly involved in plant metabolism, that is, it must be required for a specific physiological function.

   To Arnon and Stout’s three requirements for essential elements should be added a fourth:

Introduction Garlic (Allium sativum L.) belongs to the monocotyledonous family Alliaceae or Amaryllidacea; Chromosome No. 2n=2x=16. In India, it is the second most extensively grown bulb crop after onion. According to several botanists (Candolle, 1985; Dscalov and Popov,1941; Kuznetsov, 1948 and Regel, 1975) garlic was cultivated and utilised by Mediterranean population since medieval time. Origin, History and Distribution Central Asia, particularly elevated highland of Pamir and Tian Shan is considered as the primary centre of origin of garlic (Vavilov, 1926), however Caucasus and North Africa is considered as the secondary centre of origin. Allium longicuspis is considered as the wild ancestor of garlic. The history of garlic usage dates back to 3000 B.C when it was used in Egyptians tombs likewise its first usage in modern era occurred during 10th century in England (Shinde and Sontakke, 1986) and its first introduction in North and South America was done by Spanish and Portugese settlers during fifteenth century; introduction and usage of garlic in other European and Asian countries occurred subsequently.

Cutaneous lymphoma has two types viz. Epitheliotropic and non- epitheliotropic. Epitheliotropic lymphoma (mycosis fungoides) is mostly seen in the skin which is characterized by erythema, pruritus, alopecia, scaling, erosion and ulceration. It mostly occurs in plaques or nodules (Figure 80). Non-epitheliotropic lymphomas are observed as nodules. They are usually sheets of nodules seen in the deep dermal and subcutaneous tissue.

About 60 per cent of total arable land (142 million ha) in India is rain-fed, characterized by low productivity, low income, low employment with high incidence of poverty and a bulk of fragile and marginal land. Watershed development program is, therefore, considered as an effective tool for addressing many of these problems and recognized as a potential engine for agricultural growth and development in fragile and marginal rain-fed areas. The Government of India has accorded high priority to the holistic and sustainable development of rain-fed areas through the integrated watershed development program since the 7th Five Year Plan (1985-90) and since then a number of watershed programs have been specifically launched in the rain-fed areas with the sole objective to improve the livelihood of poor rural households in a sustainable manner.

Introduction

With global population expansion, there is an increase in demand for high quality protein, especially from aquatic sources which have been achieved to some extent through enhanced management, nutrition, genetic improvement of production traits, disease diagnostics and therapeutics. The increasing role of aquaculture during the past decade has forced fishery managers to begin to address many problems associated with the intensive management of small populations. Any fishery operation which uses the limited number of broodstock fish for the production of next-generation can lead to a constriction in the gene pool of that population (Kincaid,1983).