eChapters

Computer vision provides an important foundation for automated plant analysis, monitoring and precision agriculture. This chapter explores computer vision approaches for plant phenotyping, disease detection, growth monitoring and yield prediction. Traditional image-processing methods are considered alongside machine learning and modern deep learning techniques, including convolutional neural networks and vision transformers. Image segmentation, object detection and classification are used to extract meaningful information from plant images and video data. The chapter also examines multispectral and hyperspectral imaging, IoT integration and real-time monitoring. Environmental variability, dataset quality, computational complexity and model generalization are discussed, together with transfer learning, data augmentation, edge computing and future directions

In sub-tropical agro-climatic conditions of India, a variety of insect-pest, weeds and diseases hamper the economic growth of field crops. For effective control of these pests, a number of pesticides including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and nematicides are to be applied. Estimation technique for single pesticideonly can not be followed for detection of residues of all categories of pesticides. Hence, this constantly expanding use of pesticides on food crops accentuates the need for rapid, precise and sensitive method for determination of pesticide residues of all the major groups of pesticides. In such situation, multi-residue analytical technique can be efficiently followed for detection and estimation of multiresidues of intra and inter class xenobiotics.

The purpose of multiresidue analysesistodeterminetheresidues ofas manypesticides as possible withina short period of time even if the recoveries of somecompounds are low. In multiresidue methods the recoveries up to 70% are accepted.The recoveriesless than70%have tobe mentionedspecifically. Multiresidue analysis is relativelymore sensitiveand requires extreme vigilance on the part of the analyst during processingof samples. Additionally, instrument, GLC,need to beequipped withcapillary columnsforhigh resolutionand sophisticated detectorslikeECD, NPDand MSD for detectingmulti-residues of the pesticides. Multiresidue analytical methods/techniques havebeen developed for determination of general pesticide residues for some environmental componentsand differentfood commodities.Criteria formulti-pesticides screening as per California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) are:

Introduction

Plant genetic resources management essentially consists of two phases; its conservation and utilization. Germplasm conservation includes acquisition, in which germplasm is safeguarded in situ (by establishing reserves) or ex situ (by assembling collections through exchange or exploration). It also involves maintenance, protecting germplasm in situ in reserves or storing it ex situ under controlled conditions, propagating it while preserving its original genetic profile with maximum fidelity, monitoring its viability and health in storage or in situ and maintaining associated passport information and other data. Germplasm conservation also involves characterization, assessing highly heritable morphological and molecular traits for taxonomic, genetic, quality assurance and other management purposes. The second phase of germplasm management, encouraging utilization, includes evaluation, assessing agronomically or horticulturally important traits with relatively low heritability and high components of environmental variance e.g. yield adaptation and host-plant resistance to certain abiotic/biotic stress. It also includes genetic enhancement, making particular genes more accessible and usable to breeders by adopting exotic germplasm to local environments without losing its essential exotic genetic profile and/or introgressing high value traits from exotic germplasm into adapted varieties. Genetic enhancement can be subdivided into introgression i.e. backcrossing a few genes controlling desired characters into adapted stocks and incorporation i.e. the large scale development of locally adapted populations good enough to enter the adapted genetic bases of the crops concerned.

Precision agriculture uses spatially and temporally variable information to improve crop management, resource efficiency and agricultural productivity. This chapter examines the integration of artificial intelligence throughout the precision agriculture workflow. It introduces variable-rate technologies, georeferenced data collection and decision-support systems, followed by machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, reinforcement learning, fuzzy logic and expert systems. Applications include crop yield prediction, plant disease monitoring, soil property estimation, irrigation planning and autonomous agricultural operations. Remote sensing, satellite imagery, IoT sensor networks and edge computing are considered for real-time decision-making. The chapter also discusses agricultural robots and autonomous machinery, practical field applications, data limitations, hardware costs, connectivity and model interpretability.

Remote sensing provides large-scale information about crops and agricultural environments through satellite, aerial and other sensing technologies. This chapter examines the integration of remote sensing and artificial intelligence for crop monitoring and yield prediction. It introduces the fundamentals of agricultural remote sensing, important sensors and data types, vegetation indices and crop health assessment. Data acquisition and preprocessing are followed by applications of AI models for monitoring crop conditions and predicting yields. Remote sensing datasets can be combined with machine learning and other AI techniques to identify patterns associated with crop performance. The chapter also discusses case studies, limitations, emerging technologies and future research opportunities in intelligent crop monitoring and yield forecasting

The operation and maintenance of dehusking, dehulling, degerming, and drying equipment are crucial in ensuring the efficiency and longevity of these machines in grain and seed processing industries. These machines play a vital role in removing husks, hulls, and germs from grains, as well as reducing moisture content to enhance storage stability. Proper handling and regular maintenance not only improve performance but also reduce downtime and operational costs. Dehuskers are used to remove the outer husk from grains like paddy and millet. Their efficiency depends on factors such as roller pressure, feed rate, and machine alignment. Routine maintenance involves checking for wear and tear on rollers, adjusting pressure settings, and ensuring that all moving parts are well-lubricated. Similarly, dehullers remove the outer shell of seeds and grains, requiring careful calibration to avoid excessive grain breakage. Blade sharpness, motor performance, and sieve integrity should be regularly inspected to ensure optimal functioning. Degermers are employed to separate the germ from the endosperm in grains like maize. This process enhances the shelf life of processed products and improves their quality. Regular maintenance of degermers involves inspecting the abrasion plates, checking the feed rate, and ensuring that airflow mechanisms are clear of obstructions. Any malfunction can lead to uneven separation, affecting the final product quality. Dryers are essential in reducing the moisture content of grains to prevent microbial growth and spoilage. They require proper temperature control, uniform airflow, and regular cleaning of heat exchangers and drying chambers. Overheating or under-drying can compromise the grain quality and lead to storage losses. Timely inspections of sensors, air ducts, and burner efficiency help maintain effective drying operations. A well-planned operation and maintenance routine ensures these machines function optimally, increasing productivity and product quality while reducing energy consumption and repair costs.

Early identification of crop diseases enables timely management interventions and can reduce losses in agricultural production. This chapter investigates the use of artificial intelligence and sensor data for detecting crop diseases at an early stage. It introduces the fundamentals of crop disease detection and reviews AI techniques applicable to agricultural monitoring. Sensor technologies provide continuous information about crop and environmental conditions, while AI models analyze these data to identify disease-related patterns. The chapter presents an AI- and sensor-based framework, including implementation and experimental procedures, followed by performance analysis. Challenges and limitations are examined, together with future research directions aimed at improving accuracy, reliability and real-time disease monitoring.

The soil acidity and alkalinity are major driving forces in regard to the mobility of plant nutrients from soil to plants. The extreme acidity or alkalinity cause damage to the crops and thus yield is affected. Correction of soil acidity or alkalinity depend upon the pH of the soil and its previous management options. Application of fertilizer in soil may be one of the factors affecting soil conditions. Exchangeable and soluble iron and aluminium ions and their hydroxy ion species may contribute hydrolysis to release H+ ions to the soil solution. The soluble salts of carbonate and bicarbonates also develop salinity in soils.

7.0 Soil reactions

Soil reaction is an indication of the acidity or alkalinity of soil and is measured in pH . The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14 with pH 7 as the neutral point. When the amount of active hydrogen ions in the soil solution increases the soil pH decreases and thus becoming more acidic in reaction. One of the outstanding physiological characteristics of the soil solution is its reaction. Soil reaction can influence the physico-chemical properties of soil which can regulate the growth and activity of plant and soil organisms associated with it.

This chapter is based on literature reviews on urban regeneration with the intention to record and appreciate the perception of urban regeneration as reflected by the experiences of regeneration attempts in Europe and the United States. Since India owes much of her urbanization characteristics of the contemporary era to the colonial days, a special focus is on the experiences of U.K. The chapter also deals with early civilization and understanding of Urbanism, Impact of industrial Revolution and discusses Cities of South Asia. This attempt acts as a window to view cities as centres of power and performance, the assets of a city are discussed and the declining factors observed, a view necessitated out of the exercise is to look at cities on their own merits, demerits and policies, the programme for renewing would stem out of these inherent qualities which make these cities stand apart. The third and concluding part discusses some of the successful efforts of regeneration in the West and specifies on the strategies drawn for regeneration as a product of declining factors, the capacity to withstand change and available resources.

1.1 Introduction

Like animals, plants are living beings and so require water and air for their survival. In addition, they need water for preparation of food by the process of photosynthesis. Majority of this water requirement of the crops is met from different forms of precipitation. However, when the water requirement is not fully met from precipitation, then growth of the crops is affected. This results in reduction of yield of the crops. The reduction in yield depends on the amount of scarcity of water requirement of the crops. It also depends on the stage of crop growth and also depends on the types of the crops. Generally all the crops are sensitive to water stress during reproductive stage. Water requirement of crops depend on many factors. It depends on the type of crops, irrigation schedules practiced, soil texture, position of groundwater table below effective root zone of the crop and management practice followed in crop cultivation. The pulses, oilseeds, vegetables etc. which are also otherwise termed as dry land crops need less water compared to rice which is a water loving crops and perennial crops like sugarcane, banana etc.

Water requirement of crops is partly met by the upward flux of groundwater. The capillary rise of shallow water table in the form of upward flux helps in meeting the water requirement of crops to some extent. The upward flux depends on the type of the soil, effective root zone depth of the crop, depth of water table below effective root zone depth of the crop and potential gradient of soil moisture suction. If the soil is heavy like clay, effective root zone depth of the crop is more (deep rooted crop) and position of ground water table is near to ground level (shallow water table), then the upward flux is more.

Introduction

Spices have played a very important role in shaping the history of human culture and civilization. Spices condiments and aromatic plants were the first articles traded by ancient people. These prompted the foreigners to the land of spices. Among spices, seed spices is a group well distributed over different agro-climatic regions in India covering major part in semi-arid to arid region largely in Rajasthan and Gujarat. The other states where one or more of seed spices grown are Haryana, Punjab, M.P., Bihar, U.P., West Bengal, Orissa, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The seed spices are grown in different parts of the world covering mainly Mediterranean region, South Europe and Asia. These crops were introduced to India from Mediterranean and Central Asian region, perhaps a long time ago. Today India enjoys the position of largest producer and exporter in the world for these crops. The country is bestowed with immensely rich land races diversity in seed spices crops. Much of the country’s agro-biodiversity is in the custody of farming community who followed age old farming systems. However the land races are being lost due to expansion of agriculture production in the frontier areas or replacement with the improved cultivars. Hence, scientific management of these valuable resources on different dimensions of activities in India viz. survey and collection, characterization, evaluation, documentation and conservation has assumed prime importance today. Out of the total 20 seed spices grown in India the ten are prominent. These important seed spices are divided into major and minor group of seed spices. The crops covered as major seed spices are coriander, cumin, fennel and fenugreek, whereas, ajowan, dill, nigella, celery and anise constitute minor group. The semi-arid to arid region is considerably rich in plant biodiversity of seed spices and it is required to conserve the natural wealth of these crops. The increasing loss of plant diversity owing to numerous natural and manmade causes calls for immediate efforts for its collection and safeguard.

Introduction

Accumulation of excess soluble salts in the root zone of soils resulting in partial or complete loss of soil productivity is a worldwide phenomenon. The problems of soil salinity are widespread in the arid and semi-arid areas but salt-affected soils also occur extensively in the sub-humid and humid climates particularly in the coastal regions where the ingress of sea water through estuaries and rivers and through ground water movement causes large scale soil and water salinisation. Soil salinity is also a serious problem in areas where ground waters of high salt content are the only source of water available for irrigation. By far the most serious problems of salinity are being faced in the irrigated, arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Our ability to manage salt-affected soils and waters both in the irrigated and in the unirrigated regions will constitute a major effort in meeting potential food requirements. The magnitude of the problem can be appreciated from the following.

The Indian ancient texts have some mention of the forest and the activities that were performed in the forests. Forests were revered by the people and a large number of religious ceremonies centred on trees and plants. Ancient Hindu culture is said to have evolved in the forest. The epics Ramayana and Mahabharata give an attractive description of forests. The Agni Purana, written about 4000 years ago, stated that man should protect trees to have material gains and religious blessings. Around 2500 years ago, Gautama Buddha preached to his followers to plant trees. There is enough evidence to show that dense forests once covered India. But the growing population and man’s dependence on the forest for infrastructural developments caused the depletion of forests.

HISTORY OF INDIAN FORESTS

The earliest indication of forestry administration in India is found in 300 BC. It was during the reign of Chandragupta Maurya. He realized the importance of the forests and appointed a Superintendent of Forests who looked after forests and wildlife. Later Ashoka continued the process. He launched programmes to plant trees on a large scale. Much importance was also given for planting trees along roadsides and temple premises. These rules continued even during the Gupta period.

Abstract

The southern part of the Indian Peninsula has long been regarded as a stable area free from Pleistocene tectonics as it represents the Precambrian shield region. But the frequent earth tremors even up to a magnitude of 6.5 (Richter scale) which occurred in Tamil Nadu have started encouraging the geologists to think that it could possibly be a seismic prone zone. In addition, images acquired by the polar orbiting satellites offered valuable information on the fracture systems and fluvial anomalies suggesting possible Pleistocene tectonism in South India. Hence, a study has been undertaken to evaluate the signatures of Pleistocene tectonism in South India using IRS-lA, LISS-1 FCC imagery (Indian Remote Sensing Satellite lA, Linear Imaging Self Scanning 1, False Colour Composite) involving band 2, 3 and 4 under blue, green and red bands respectively.

The study has brought out a series of E-W trending cymatogenic arches and N-S trending extension, NE-SW trending sinistral, NW-SE trending dextral and E-W trending release fractures with characteristic signatures supporting Pleistocene tectonism in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

On the basis of such morphotectonic features, a Pleistocene tectonic model has been presented with a N-S trending greatest principal stress and an E-W oriented least principal stress related to the movement of the Indian plate towards the Tibetan plate. Based on the model developed for Tamil Nadu and Kerala, a series of E-W trending cymatogenic arches and deeps have been proposed for Cochin- Rameswaram in the south to the Himalayas in the north. Further studies for seismotectonics, geothermal resources and hydrocarbon search have also been suggested along such arches and deeps.

Water is an essential component of all living things. Although once believed as a resource with a never-ending supply, it has now been understood that water is becoming increasingly scarce and therefore a proper management is necessary to keep a sustainable food production (Kannan & Anandhi, 2020). A continuous and safe supply of water is indispensable for the food industry where it has numerous applications along the agriculture and food production processes.

At present, food and nutrition security are the prime aspects which need to be addressed in an efficient way. It has been projected that by 2050 the global population will reach 9.2 billion which in turn enhances annual demand for agricultural products by 1.1 per cent from 2005 to 2050 (McKenzie and Williams 2015).

4.1 Defining erosivity and erodibility

Rainfall erosion is the interaction of two items - the rain and the soil. The amount of erosion which occurs in any given circumstances will be influenced by both, and our study of the processes of soil erosion is simplified by considering the two aspects separately.

We know from observation that one storm can cause more erosion than another on the same land, and we also know that the same storm will cause more erosion on one field than on another. The effect of the rain is called erosivity and the effect of the soil is called erodibility. The way they differ is best explained by examples.

Let us imagine an experiment station which has over its whole area exactly the same soil type and slope. Assume also that the whole of the station is covered by a completely uniform crop. If the amount of erosion taking place during each storm were measured, the amount would be influenced only by the nature of the rain. Comparing the effect of one storm with that of another storm would provide a relative measure of the power of each storm to cause erosion, and that is what is meant by erosivity. This will enable us to say that on this imaginary experiment station, storm A caused a soil loss of X kilograms per hectare and storm B caused a soil loss of Y kilograms per hectare. If Y is half of X, then the erosivity of storm B is half of the erosivity of storm A.

Introduction

The increase in agricultural production, particularly food grain is one of the major problems of national planners to achieve the target in the food production. Our farmers have been utilized more and more the modern methods of agriculture including the use of chemicals for protection of crop and stored products against the pests. A successful farmer knows that what pests to expect on his crops and stored products, when and under what conditions their attack will be possible. But due to insufficient knowledge of chemicals and their application, our farmers use them without care and injudicious manner, therefore, these chemicals not only give poor kill of insects but also cause the hazards to man and domestic animals. Success in pest control operations depends on many factors such as correct identification of pest, proper timing of insecticidal application, right choice of chemicals and their formulations, doses and method of application.

Fumigants are still widely used for the control of insects and other pest organisms. Because of their unique characteristics and the great adaptability of fumigation technique, fumigants can often provide effective and economical control where other forms of pest control are not feasible. The development of light weight plastic sheets to enclose spaces or materials requiring fumigation has extended its use and made control procedures easier and much more adaptable. Among the fumigants, aluminum phosphide, ethylene dibromide (EDB), Ethylene dibromide- carbon tetrachloride (EDCT) etc. are most common in tropical and sub-tropical while methyl bromide is prevalent in temperate regions. Modern technology and research have also brought to notice certain problems with fumigants that are previously unknown. Among these, adverse effects on seed quality are most important. Thus, fumigants used in seed stores should not affect the viability of the seeds, should not be persistent, non-corrosive and highly diffusible.

The produced food grains have to be stored either for short or long duration for utilization in the coming times for food, feed and seed. In storage, these undergo 9.33 per cent losses due to various agencies such as rodents, insects and mites, microorganism and moisture in India, whereas, in other developing countries, the losses are as high as 30 to 50 per cent. Therefore, with an urge to produce more, there is still urgent need to protect the produce in the storage to meet the challenge. As a result of improved storage technology, the losses in Government Warehouses could be reduced to minimum but at farmers’ level, where 60-70 per cent of the produce is retained, the losses are still too high.

The management of insects in stored products is in transition from a dependence on regular applications of chemical insecticides to the use of integrated pest management (IPM). IPM involves understanding interactions between stored product environment and insects associated with stored products, and replacing all or most of the chemical applications with cost effective non chemical alternatives. The increased emphasis in adopting IPM strategies for stored product insects is primarily due to consumers’ demand for food free from pesticide residues. The transition from a heavy reliance on chemicals to little or no chemical input and increased use of non chemical approaches requires a thorough understanding of stored product insects, their identification, monitoring, biology, ecology and response to chemical and non chemical management options. The current scenario of stored grain protection in India depends totally and judicious use of IPM strategies. For safe storage of food grains, both the preventive and curative measures are required:

11.1 The farmer’s point of view

In the last chapter possible conservation practices were reviewed in groups according to their purpose in terms of influencing runoff or soil loss. Now, looking at ways of limiting soil degradation by improved land husbandry, the primary consideration is to look at the alternatives from the farmer’s point of view. In fact we need to be very wary of manual-type recommendations. A better approach is to offer a menu of alternatives, and the role of the professional is to help the farmer choose what is appropriate for his or her circumstances. A recent review of technologies acceptable to resource-poor farmers points out that combining practices into a farming system must take account not only of the physical factors such as soil and climate, but equally the available resource inputs, especially cash and labour, and the farmer’s objectives (STOCKING 1993).

The objectives of a commercial farmer are usually to maximize yield and income, but the subsistence farmer is likely to be more interested in improving food security by reducing the risk of failure, or improving the return on inputs of seed, fertilizer and labour, or improving the quality of life by reducing drudgery, particularly relevant in the case of women farmers.

We need a new approach to the farmer when recommending changes to farming practice. Instead of recommending practices because they will reduce erosion, we should show how they can lead to increased production. For example, practices which lead to better soil structure, more organic matter, or more moisture-holding capacity should be put forward because they improve yield, not because they reduce the soil erodibility. Increasing infiltration from better ground cover or the use of contour farming or ridging can result in better crops as well as reducing soil loss. Improved crop management could include more use of fertilizer and manures or crop rotations. These practices will make more sense to the farmer if they are recommended as leading to better production, which he can instinctively appreciate as desirable, rather than because they will reduce soil erosion which is likely to be a less important objective.