eChapters

5.1 Population Growth

In 2000, the world had 6.1 billion human inhabitants. This figure may rise to more than 9 billion in the next 50 years. For the last 50 years, world population multiplied more rapidly than ever before, and more rapidly than it will ever grow in the future. Anthropologists believe the human species dates back at least 3 million years. For most of our history, these distant ancestors lived a precarious existence as hunters and gatherers. This way of life kept their total numbers small, probably less than 10 million. However, as agriculture was introduced, communities evolved that could support more people.

World population expanded to about 300 million by A.D. 1 and continued to grow at a moderate rate. But after the start of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, living standards rose and widespread famines and epidemics diminished in some regions. Population growth accelerated. The population climbed to about 760 million in 1750 and reached 1 billion around 1800.

In 1800, the vast majority of the world’s population (86 percent) resided in Asia and Europe, with 65 percent in Asia alone. By 1900, Europe’s share of world population had risen to 25 percent, fueled by the population increase that accompanied the Industrial Revolution. Some of this growth spilled over to the Americas, increasing their share of the world total. The 2000 growth rate of 1.4 percent, when applied to the world’s 6.1 billion population, yields an annual increase of about 85 million people. Because of the large and increasing population size, the number of people added to the global population will remain high for several decades, even as growth rates continue to decline.

Between 2000 and 2030, nearly 100 percent of this annual growth will occur in the less developed countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, whose population growth rates are much higher than those in more developed countries.

4.1 Urban Issues

(i) Water Problem

The world’s population is increasingly found in the cities. Now a days, throughout the developing world, urbanization trends are gaining speed and are irreversible. From a technical standpoint, it is easier to provide water and sanitation services to people living closer together in urban settings than in dispersed rural communities. However, the costs of meeting the needs are much higher per capita, and are growing. The health risks posed by the lack of sanitation increase exponentially as densities increase and as people share drinking water and sanitation resources.

The urban environmental sanitation crisis in developing countries is taking a large health, economic, and environmental toll on all city residents. Willingness to pay for basic water and sanitation services is often high in peri- urban neighbourhoods, provided that services are appropriate, effective, and affordable. The use of a strategic sanitation approach should helps to build capacity within implementing agencies and enhances the ability of communities to make sustainable sanitation improvements.

(ii) Energy Problem

Energy is basic to development. Modern energy services are powerful engine of economic and social opportunity: no country has managed to develop much beyond a subsistence economy without ensuring at least minimum access to energy services for a broad section of its population. It is not surprising to find, therefore, that the billion who live in developing countries attach a high priority to energy services. On average, these people spend nearly 12% of their income on energy. At the same time, the provision of energy services especially through the combustion of fossil fuels and biomass can create adverse environmental effects. In rich countries, much attention is directed to the regional and global consequences of fuel combustion, because many of the local effects have been controlled at considerable expense over the past half- century. In developing countries, the local environmental problems associated with energy use remain matters of concern that are as, or even more, urgent than they were in industrialized countries 50 or 100 years ago. Further, it is the poor who suffer most severely from such problems, because it is they who are forced to rely upon the most inefficient and polluting sources of energy services for lack of access to better alternatives.

3.1 Air Pollution

Air pollution is a phenomenon by which particles either a solid or liquid and gases contaminate the environment. Such contamination can result in health effects on the population, which might be either chronic arising especially from long-term exposure or acute due to accidents. Other effects of pollution may be damage to materials, agricultural damage namely reduced crop yields and tree growth, impairment of visibility namely tiny particles scatter light very efficiently, and even climate change global warming.

3.1.1 Classification of Air Pollutants

Air Pollutants are classified as Natural as well as Anthropogenic. Natural pollutants are those that are found in nature or are emitted from natural sources. For example, volcanic activity produces sulfur dioxide, and particulate pollution may derive from forest fires or windblown dust. Anthropogenic pollutants are those that are produced by humans or controlled processes. For example, sulfur dioxide is produced by fossil fuel combustion and particulate matter comes from diesel engines.

Air pollutants are further classified as primary or secondary. Primary pollutants are those that are emitted directly into the atmosphere from an identifiable source. Examples include carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide. Secondary pollutants are those that are produced in the atmosphere by chemical and physical processes from primary pollutants and natural constituents. For example, ozone is produced by hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen (both of which may be produced by car emissions) and sunlight.

2.1 Ecosystem

An ecosystem can be defined as a dynamic entity composed of a biological community and its associated abiotic environment. Often the dynamic interactions that occur within an ecosystem are numerous and complex. Ecosystems are also always undergoing changes or alterations to their biotic and abiotic components. Some of these alterations begin first with a change in the state of one component of the ecosystem which then cascades and sometimes amplifies into other components because of relationships.

The human activities of various kinds have resulted in caused a number of dramatic changes to a variety of ecosystems found on the Earth. Humans use and modify natural ecosystems through agriculture, forestry, recreation, urbanization, and industry. The most obvious impact of humans on ecosystems is the loss of biodiversity. The number of extinctions caused by human domination of ecosystems has been steadily increasing since the start of the Industrial revolution. The frequency of species extinctions is correlated to the size of human population on the Earth which is directly related to resource consumption, land-use change, and environmental degradation. Other human impacts to ecosystems include species invasions to new habitats, changes to the abundance and dominance of species in communities, modification of biogeochemical, and modification of hydrologic cycling, pollution, and climatic change.

1.1 Forest Resources

Forest resources usually provide the raw materials for homes, workplaces, the books and newspapers, and the packaging that contains food and other products of our labor. Forest ecosystems supply our water, maintain our climate, and help purify the air, protect soils, and provide for wilderness experiences. Forests provide habitat for wildlife, and serve as preserves of biological diversity. Forests are sources of food, fuel and medicine for people all over the world. Forests shape the recreational landscape, help stabilize our farms, and enhance our cities.

About 30 per cent of the world’s total land areas are covered by forest with the area of 3.9 billion hectares. Nearly 47 percent of the world’s forests are in the tropics, 33 percent in the boreal zone, 11 percent in the temperate zones, and 9 percent in sub-tropical areas. The 94 million hectares of forest lost over the ten-year period, represented about 2 per cent of the world’s total forest cover, or an area larger than Venezuela. Two thirds of the world’s forests are located in ten countries: the Russian Federation, Brazil, Canada, the United States, China, Australia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Angola and Peru. Most of the deforestation work was performed in natural tropical forests, which lost 14.2 million hectares a year over the last decade. Africa and South America have suffered the most deforestation.

Africa was the region with the highest deforestation in the world, which lost 5.3 million hectares of forest per year in the 1990s. Forests are a major factor in the climate change issue. Forest ecosystems contain more than half of all terrestrial carbon, and account for about 80 per cent of the exchange of carbon between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. Deforestation in the 1980s may have accounted for a quarter of all human-induced carbon emissions, the second greatest emitter after fossil fuels. Forest plantations comprise 5 percent of the world’s forests. Asia has the largest area of plantations, accounting for 62 per cent of the world total. China accounts for 24 percent of that total and India, 18 per cent. Plantations supply about 35 percent of the world’s round wood. The area of forest plantations increased by an average of 3 to 4 million hectares per year during the 1990s. Half of this increase was the result of afforestation on land previously under non-forest land use, whereas the other half resulted from conversion of natural forest. There are reports that 12 percent of the world’s forests, or about 480 million hectares, are in protected areas.

Cucurbits are major crops of countries having a wide variety of vegetables. Cucurbits include bottle gourd, bitter gourd, pumpkins, squashes, ridge gourd, sponge gourd, and cucumbers. Cucurbits are a large, diverse crop group that are susceptible to over 200 diseases (Zitter et al., 1996). A wide range of pathogens affect the productivity of cucurbits. The diseases may be caused by fungi, bacteria, Cucurbits crops are warm-season large group of crops that are cultivated and harvested over different seasons like spring, summer, and winter. These crops as a group are an important part of a diverse and nutritious diet. Melons are eaten as fruits, whereas summer and winter squashes, cucumber, and pumpkin are eaten as vegetables. In addition, cucurbits are used for fiber, utensils, decoration, ceremonial and medicinal purposes.

A wide range of pathogens affect the productivity of cucurbits, which constitute over 200 diseases (Zitter et al., 1996). The diseases may be caused by fungi, bacteria, viruses, or mycoplasma- like organisms. The disease may be soilborne, seedborne (carried by seed), spread by wind, or transmitted by insect vectors. The moisture content of the seed, storage period, prevailing temperature, and degree of invasion influence the development of seedborne fungi (Anjorin and Mohammed 2009). The pathogen may cause seed abortion and rot, necrosis, reduction, or elimination of germination capacity as well as seedling damage at later stages of plant growth, resulting in the develop- ment of the disease as systemic or local infection (Khanzada et al., 2001). The diseases cause heavy loss in terms of yield and quality. The diseases caused by pathogen are controlled by fungicides against fungal diseases, antibiotics for bacterial diseases, or insecticide in case of viruses transmitted by insect vectors. The diseases of cucurbetaceous crops can be managed by adopting different cultural, biological, and chemical methods of disease management. The following management practices are required to be taken into consideration for raising disease-free cucurbitaceous crops:

Introduction

Spine gourd/Teasel gourd (English), (Momordica dioica Roxb.) is popularly known as Kantola or Kakrol in India. It is a perennial, dioecious, cucurbitaceous climbing creeper that belongs to the cucurbitaceae family (Raj et al., 1993). The spine gourd is also called as janglee karela (Harish, 2008). The crop is cultivated for its fruits, which are used as vegetable (Sastri, 1962). Young twigs and leaves of this crop are also used as vegetable (Bandyopadhyay and Mukherjee, 2006). The fruit is rich in ascorbic acid and contain iodine (Rao, 2001). Karnataka and West Bengal are the two main states that cultivate spine gourd commercially. Indira Kankoda I (RMF 37) is a new commercial hybrid variety of spine gourd developed by Indira Gandhi Agricultural University. This hybrid variety is commercially cultivated in the states of Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra and Jharkhand. Spine gourd can also be grown well up to an altitude of 1500 m in Assam and Garo hills of Meghalaya (Ram et al., 2002). This popular vegetable has high demand in market but still remain underutilized and underexploited mainly due to its vegetative mode of propagation and dioecious nature (Bharathi et al., 2010). Adopting improved genotypes and standardized agro- techniques can increased the yield potential of spine gourd (Tiwari and Tigga, 2015).

Introduction

Amaranthus species were grown as the principle grain crop by the Aztecs 5,000 to 7,000 years ago, prior to the disruption ofthe South American civilization by the Spanish Conquistadors. Synonyms such as “mystical grains of the Aztecs,” “super grain of the Aztecs,” and the “golden grain of the Gods” were used to describe the nutritious amaranth grain. Vegetable Amaranthus spp. were and are presently utilized for food from such diverse geographic areas as southwestern United States, China, India, Africa, Nepal, South Pacific Islands, Caribbean, Greece, Italy, and Russia (Stallknecht et. al., 1993). Amaranthus grain is extremely nutritional pseudo-cereal with a higher amount of proteins when compared to true cereals. It is a reasonably well balanced food with functional properties that have been shown to provide medicinal benefits. Amaranth associate underutilized crop and an inexpensive supply of proteins, minerals, vitamin A and C, appears to be a future crop which may substantiate this demand because of its tremendous yield potential and biological process qualities, conjointly recently gained worldwide attention (Topwal, 2019). Amaranth as a unique plant with a long and mysterious history is the obj ect for science and also for business. Its characteristics such as absence of gluten and special composition of oil lead this plant to the position of very important plant for the future. The Advantages of Amaranth for Food Industry: Gluten-free, High-quality protein, Non Food-allergy, Thickening property of amaranth starch. The Advantages of Amaranth oil for Cosmetic Industry: Squalene content has a preserve function for skin and hair against sun and radiation, Available for very sensitive skin, Non- Allergy amaranth oil on skin. Amaranth has a big advantage, because it could be use by two ways-biomass for the bio fuel production and grain for food production (Matusova, 2008). As dyes, the flowers of the ‘Hopi Red Dye’ amaranth were used by the Hopi (a tribe in the western

Onion (Allium cepa) and garlic (Allium sativum) are monocots originating from Asia. These are collectively called as Alliums and formerly classified with the Liliaceae (lilies and relatives). But, now they have been classified in their own family the Alliaceae. The plants ofAlliaceae family are mostly used for seasoning and cooking. Some common crops in the family are bulb onion (Allium cepa), spring or salad onion (A. cepa), bunching onion (A. fistulosum), garlic (A. sativum), leek (A. porrum).

Onions and garlic are prone to several different diseases, especially in wet growing seasons. These often get started on their leaves, and if severe, can reduce bulb growth and yield. Another way onion diseases can cause damage is when they infect bulbs later in the season, which may lead to losses in storage. Some important diseases of onion and garlic are being discussed in this chapter:

Pea (Pisum sativum L.) is considered as the important pulse and popular leguminous vegetable in India. Pea belongs to the genus Pisum, a member of family papilionaceae. Rhizobium bacterium found in root nodules that fixing atmospheric nitrogen and helps in soil fertility. Pea (Pisum sativum L.) originated in the near East and Mediterranean regions. Pea diseases are affect the crop both quantitatively as well as qualitatively. Pea crop diseases caused by the fungal (rust, powdery mildew, downy mildew, aschochyta blight, septoria blight, fusarium root rot, aphanomyces root rot, alternaria blight, wilt, anthracnose, cercospora leaf spot, damping off, seedling rot), bacterial (bacterial blight and brown spot), nematode (root-knot nematode, cyst nematode and lesion nematode) and viral diseases (pea enation mosaic, pea mosaic, pea seed borne mosaic, pea early browning virus, pea streak, pea stunt and cucumber mosaic virus). India is the largest producer, consumer and importer of pulses in the world.

Soyabean (Glycine max L. Merril) belongs to the legume family Fabaceae is one of the world’s most important legume crop and is the second most important cash crop in in India.

Economic Importance

Soyabean contributes to 25% of the global edible oil and about two-thirds of the world’s protein concentrate for livestock feeding (Agarwal, et al., 2013). In many countries such as China, Japan, Korea, Manchuria, Philippines, and Indonesia soyabean is considered to be a source of meat, milk, cheese, bread, and oil and therefore it is called “Cow of the field” or “Gold from soil” (Edwards et al., 2019). Soyabean is a chief source of protein and oil as it contains about 40% protein and 20% oil. Many processed products are made from soyabean such as soy milk, soy flour, soy protein, tofu etc. Due to its amino acids composition, soyabean protein is called a complete protein and is consumed at homes for food purposes. The protein fiber that remains after the oil has been extracted is a good source of animal feed for poultry, pork, cattle, other farm animals and pets. Soyabean is an important foreign exchange earner due to export of soybean defatted oil cake (Agarwal, et al., 2013). Bio diesel is produced from soyabean which is non-toxic, renewable and environmentally friendly and reduces particulate emissions.

Introduction

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata subsp unguiculata) is widely grown in Africa, Asia and Brazil. The crop is grown on about 7 million ha in warm to hot regions of the world (Rachie, 1985). It acts as a major source of protein (20-30%) for Indian vegetarians. Besides, it contains high carbohydrate. Cowpea is generally rich in lysine and limiting in sulphur amino acids and important for human food and animal feed. The crop is also valuable source of dietary fibre as well as vitamins and minerals including folate, thiamin and riboflavin. Besides this, it can fix about 240 kg ha^-1of atmospheric nitrogen and make available about 6070 kg ha^-1nitrogen for succeeding crops grown in rotation with it (Aikins and Afuakwa, 2008).

The crop is prone to several diseases induced by species of pathogens belonging to various pathogenic groups viz., fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes, and parasitic flowering plants, and it constitute one of the most important constraints to the profitable Cowpea production in all agroecological zones. Different diseases like anthracnose, fusarium wilt, bacterial blight, Cowpea mosaic virus (and several other less prominent viruses), cercospora leaf spot, rust and powdery mildew etc are reported to be important disease of the crop. In this chapter detail of these diseases and their integrated management approaches are mentioned.

Introduction

India is the second largest producer of vegetable in the world after China. Every year diseases cause economic losses (8-23%) and also post-harvest losses (20-25 %) in vegetable crops. Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is a nutritionally important and remunerative crop grown throughout the world and is consumed both as a vegetable, shelled green beans as well as dry beans. It is known commonly known as french bean, common bean, kidney bean, field bean, snapbean, dry bean etc on the basis of its variety and edible purpose. The crop is infected by a number of diseases. Common bacterial blight, Anthracnose, White mold, Bean Common Mosaic, Bean yellow mosaic, Web Blight, Halo blight, Dry root rot and wilt, Bean Rust are some of the major diseases.

Bacterial Blight of Bean

Three types of bacterial blight are found to occur in beans viz. Common bacterial blight or Bacterial blight, Halo blight and Bacterial brown spot. These three diseases affect leaves, pods, stems and seeds in similar manner such that it is usually impossible to distinguish the diseases from one another based on the visual symptoms. While common blight is usually more prevalent in warmer weather, the other two occur more in cool weather.

Introduction

Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott, also known as taro, belongs to the family Arecaceae. Taro is believed to have originated in Southern or South-East Asia, and to have been dispersed to Oceania through the Island of New Guinea to many centuries ago but cultivated in Asia for more than 10,000 years. Taro is considered as an important vegetable grown throughout India. Taro is herbaceous perennial plants with a large corm on or just below the ground surface and can be grown in the ground or in large containers. They can be grown in almost any temperate zone as long as the summer is warm.

Taro root contains very significant amount of dietary fibre and carbohydrates, as well as high levels of vitamin A, C, E, B6 and folate, as well as magnesium, iron, zinc, phosphorus, potassium, manganese and copper. Thogh negligible, the plant is also known to provide some protein in our diet. As Taro is a great source of fibre and other nutrients, it offers a variety of potential health benefits, including improved blood sugar management, gut and heart health.

Globally, taro is grown in an area of 1.6 m ha producing 11.66 mt with an average productivity of 7.25 t ha^-1 (FAO, 2009). The plant can be grown in wide range of climatic condition but during growth period taro is prone to attack by at least twenty- three (23) pathogens, of which, only a few causes serious reduction in the potential yield of the crop. Some of the mentionable diseases that commonly occurs and causes yield loss of the plants are as follows:

Introduction

Elephant foot yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Dennst.) Nicolson) is an important edible tropical tuber crop since time immemorial in the tropics and sub-tropics (Behera et al., 2009) and regarded as “King of tuber crops” due to its higher biological efficiency as a food producer ). It belongs to the family Araceae. Tender stem and leaves of this tuber crop are used for vegetable purpose. The corms are rich in nutrition and contain 18.0% starch, 1-5% protein and up to 2% fat. Leaves contain 2-3% protein, 3% carbohydrates and 4-7 % crude fibre. It has great scope for commercial exploitation as a medicinal crop in pharmacological industry and widely recommended as a remedy in all three of the major Indian medicinal systems: Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani. The corm is prescribed for bronchitis, asthma, abdominal pain, emesis, dysentery, enlargement of spleen, piles, elephantiasis, diseases due to vitiated blood, and rheumatic swellings. Pharmacological studies have shown a variety of effects, specifically antiprotease activity, analgesic activity, and cytotoxic activity. It has also been found to be a potential inhibitor of bacteria activity when used with antibiotics. In addition, Amorphophallus corm is a good sources of phyto- aestrogens and are effective alternate or complementary to conventional hormone replacement therapy for symptoms associated with menopause and chronic degenerative diseases in women. It is a crop of South-east Asian origin, and grown widely in Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and South eastern Asian countries. In India, the crop is popular in the state of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. West Bengal is the highest producer of elephant foot yam (293.84 thousand MT in the year 2015-16) followed by Andhra Pradesh (207.52 thousand MT) and Kerala (110.37 thousand MT) (Source: National Horticultural Board). However, the crop is gaining popularity dueto its shade tolerance, easiness in cultivation, high productivity, less incidence of pests and diseases, steady demand and reasonably good price.

Radish (Raphanus sativus) is a cool weather crop and its origin is in Mediterranean, rapid growing annual or biennial plant belongs to family Brassicaceae, grown for its edible taproot. Its edible roots are having different color from as white to red. Radish is generally grown as an annual plant, surviving only one growing season. It is crop of tropical and temperate region. It is growing as herb in West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab and Assam areas are major radish growing states. Radish is good source of vitamin B6, Calcium, copper, magnesium and riboflavin. Also it is rich in ascorbic acid, folic acid and potassium.

Alternaria Blight

Economic Importance

Alternaria leaf spot diseases occur in every part of the world, in both vegetable crops and seed crops and most important disease of Brassica species, often results in severe yield losses. It is considered as a number one disease of radish affecting both fresh vegetable and seed production. The disease is more severe when the plants are left for seed production in the field and causes significant reduction in seed yield. Alternaria black spot of radish; black pod blotch of radish. A. japonica is a seed-borne pathogen of plants in the Brassicaceae. A. japonica is known to affect most parts of infected plants depending upon growth stage. There are reports of it on the hypocotyls and cotyledons of seedlings and on the leaves, petioles, stem, inflorescence, fruits (siliquae) and seeds of adult plants. A. japonica occurs in all parts of radish (Raphanus sativus) seed. Its presence in the embryo can result in seed death, but in milder infections it will affect seedlings after germination, causing seedling blight both before and after emergence.

Introduction

Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L) belonging to family Brassicaceae, is an herbaceous annual or biennial plant which is cultivated for its edible flower heads being are used as vegetable or salads. The broccoli plant has a broad green stalk, or stem, that give produces thick, leathery, oblong gray-blue to green in color leaves. The plant produces large branching green flower heads covered with numerous white or yellow flowers. Broccoli can be annual or biennial depending on the variety. Broccoli is a rich source of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants and has a reputation as super foods (Hatanaka and Ware, 2020).

It is admitted that they are susceptible to a numerous of serious diseases that leads to reduction in yield. Thus, it is the utmost requirement to control such biotic stressors in order to obtain desired quality and decent yields. The most important diseases and its control measures are being portrayed in this chapter for both home gardener and the commercial producers for cruciferous vegetables particularly broccoli (Mani et al., 2020).

Cruciferous vegetables are important Kharif vegetable crops, which are grown both for table and seed purposes. This vegetable group constitutes crops like cauliflower, cabbage, radish, turnip and knol-khol. These crops are grown throughout the country and are attacked by number of diseases which not only reduce the quantity but also quality of the produce. Important diseases of Knol Khol are described below:

Major Fungal Diseases of Knol-Khol

Alternaria leaf spot

Economic Importance

It is of concern in north and central India where appreciable seed losses in terms of size, colour and germinability are reported

Blackrot of Cabbage

Economic Importance

Blackrot is an important bacterial disease of cabbage and other crucifer crops worldwide. The disease was first described in New York on turnips in 1893, and has been a common problem for growers for over 100 years (Smart and Lang, 2013). Blackrot has been given many names such as bacterial blight,black stem, black vein, stem rot or stump rot (Pfeufer and Davis, 2019). These pathogen is particularly damaging to cabbage and cauliflower, but turnip, rutabaga, collard, kohlrabi and Chinese cabbage are also susceptible. Broccoli and radish aregenerally resistant to Blackrot (Flynn,1999).

Introduction

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L., Family: Malvaceae) also known as lady’s finger has been originated in Africa and introduced to India during early 20^th century. As an economical vegetable crop, it can be grown in tropical as well as sub-tropical parts of the world. During 2018-19, the total area under cultivation of okra was 511 thousand ha while the production stood at 6219 thousand MT in India (Horticulture Statistics Division, 2018). Okra can be grown on wide range of soils, but higher yield can be obtained in well-drained fertile soils with adequate organic matter. It is utilized for various purposes in terms of fresh leaves, buds, flowers, pods and stems providing a rich source of protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, calcium, potassium, enzymes, and total minerals in human diet. The mucilage has medicinal applications when used as a plasma replacement (Nilesh, et al., 2012), and the seeds contain 20 to 40% oil content (Sorapong, 2012).

Okra pods (per 100 g edible portion) are composed of water (88.6 g), energy (36 kcal), protein (2.10 g), carbohydrate (8.20 g), fat (0.20 g), fibre (1.70 g), Ca (84.00 mg), P (90.00 mg), Fe (1.20 mg), p-carotene (185.00 μg), riboflavin (0.08 mg), thiamine (0.04 mg), niacin (0.60 mg) and ascorbic acid (47.00 mg) ((Priya, et al., 2014).). Therefore, okra has been called as “a perfect villager’s vegetable” due to its robust nature, high dietary fibre as well as distinct seed protein with a balance of both lysine and tryptophan amino acids. Okra production is subjected to various diseases caused by fungi, virus and nematodes as a major biotic constraint. The mandates of integrated disease management of okra are to impart knowledge about symptoms, causal organism, disease cycle and epidemiology of major diseases. The present review will give a brief highlight about major diseases of okra viz. yellow vein mosaic, wilt, powdery mildew, cercospora leaf spot, damping off, collar rot and root knot nematode.

Chilli is reported to be an inhabitant of South America and widely scattered in all tropical and sub-tropical countries including India. Amongst all the important consumed crops, chilli occupies a dominant position and its economic losses worldwide due to few serious diseases like chilli anthracnose, Phytophthora leaf blight and fruit rot, bacterial leaf spot, bacterial wilt, Cercospora leaf spot, chilli leaf curl virus and so on. Capsicum annuum L., C. frutescens L. are the biological names of chilli. Bird’s eye chilli is grown in Mizoram and some areas of Manipur and Assam. Chilli has got its own regional names. In Hindi, it is popularly known as Lal Mirch, in Gujrat as March, in Marathi as Mirchi and so on. Kanthari White is grown in Kerala and some parts of Tamil Nadu. Kashmir chilli is grown in temperate region such as Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and also in sub-tropical regions of North India. Red chilli held high amount of vitamin C and provitamin A, whereas green chilli too contain a considerable amount of both substances. In addition, peppers are a good quality source of most B vitamins, vitamin B6 in particular. They are very high in Potassium, Magnesium and Iron supplement.

Introduction

Brinjal, Solanum melongena L. a solanaceous and the native vegetable of India is very favourite among the Indians. It is an economically important vegetable among the small scale farmers and low income consumers of India. It ensures some assured source of income to the resource poor farmers throughout the year due to long fruiting and harvesting period. Brinjal fruits are of a low calorie value and have a mineral composition that is beneficial for human health; these fruits are rich source of minerals (potassium, calcium, phosphorus, sodium, chlorine, iron etc.) and vitamins and have some medicinal importance (Choudhary, 1967). In India, brinjal is grown on the wide range of soils and other variable environmental conditions. In production and productivity, India stands second in the world after China which is mainly grown in the states like West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. The world production of brinj al in the year 2016 was estimated to be 51.29 million MT in an area of 1.79 million hectare with productivity of 28.59 MT per ha China, the world leader of brinjal production produced 32.03 million tones of brinjal with a productivity of40.96 Mt per ha in an area of 0.78 million ha. The productivity of brinjal as compared to China is very less (18.90 MT/ha) in India although we are the second largest producer ofthis popular vegetable (FAOSTAT Website (http://faostat3.fao.org/home/E).

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) is one of the most important vegetable crop and is known as protective food due to its wide spread production and special nutritive value. Tomato is referred to be native of tropical America. In the 16^th century, it got spread from America to other parts of the world and became popular in India within the last six decades. It is known as world’s largest vegetable crop after potato and sweet potato. The overall world production of tomato is 1,180,000 tons with a productivity of 65 t/ha. Contribution of USA in tomato production is 13.2 million metric tons to the total world production (FAOSTAT). USA ranks third in position in the total world production of tomato after China and India (FAOSTAT). India produces 22,337MT of tomato from 801ha area.

Fungal Diseases

Fusarium Wilt

Economic Importance

Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum being so widespread, turns out to be a significant problem in many crops. It is one of the most widespread and damaging diseases of tomato wherever tomatoes are grown intensively. The pathogen also causes damage to many other crops likepotato, and pepper of the family Solanaceae. Yield losses of effected crops can goup to 45% in tomato in India.

Introduction

Potato is mostly considered as a vegetable crop in India, whereas it is a staple food crop in Europe, Canada, Australia, U.S.A, South America, Russia, Asia and other countries. In India, it is cultivated extensively in the hilly tracts during December-March or March-June and in the plains during September-January, as it requires cool and moist climate condition. As per FAOSTAT (2015), the potato production in India during 2013 was 45.34 mt from 1.99 mha area with a productivity of 22.76 t/ha. There are several varieties of potato grown in India and many diseases, some of which cause considerable damage to the crop. Potato crop can be affected by diseases caused by fungi, bacteria, virus, viroids and others by non-parasitic.

Late Blight

Economic Importance: Late blight is one of the most devastating diseases of potato throughout the world. It is recorded in area with frequent cool and moist weather. The disease is believed to have been introduced into Europe from South and Central America and spread to other countries which include the East Coast of Canada, Western Europe, Central and Southern China, South Eastern Brazil and the tropical highland. It created history by causing a famine in Ireland known as Irish Famine during 1845-46 resulting in death of many people due to starvation, dysentery and typhus spread among the farmers and subsequent migration of people from Europe especially from Ireland. Late blight has the tremendous potential to cause upto 70% reduction in the yield in a susceptible cultivar. Region wise economic importance of late blight shows that the disease takes highest toll of potato in Sub-Saharan Africa (44% crop losses) followed by Latin America (36%), Caribbean (36%), South-East Asia (35%), South-West Asia (19%)

Coffee is a much sought after beverage and plantation crop grown in about 80 countries across the globe of which over 50 are considered to be major producers. Coffee is also the second largest traded commodity in the world, next to petroleum products and is popularly referred to as “Brown Gold”. Coffee contributes substantially to the national exchequers of the producing countries through export earnings and also generates employment to about 120 million people in production, processing and trading, worldwide. The economic relevance of coffee is underlined by the fact that it generates significant income throughout the supply chain, representing a gross added value of over USD 458 billion annual (Belo Horizonte Declaration, International Coffee Organization, Sept. 2013). The annual revenue of the coffee industry alone is estimated to exceed USD 200 billion. At origin, production of coffee provides livelihood for up to 25 million farmers and their families. (Coffee Development report, ICO, 2019).

Caffeine is a major pharmacologically active compound in coffee and it is a mild central nervous system stimulant. ³. In addition caffeine is added to many popular carbonated drinks and is also a component of a number of pharmacological preparations and over-the-counter medicines. A typical cup of coffee provides approximately 75–100 mg caffeine. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in its ‘Scientific Opinion on the Safety of Caffeine’ concluded that ‘habitual intakes of caffeine up to 400 mg per day do not give rise to safety concerns for non-pregnant adults. They also advised that intakes up to 200 mg per day do not give concern for those who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Tea, the oldest known beverage, is native of China in South East Asia. It was known to the Chinese as early as 2737 BC, but attained the status of a popular drink in England in 1664 A.D. It was planted on a large scale in North India in 1834 while in South India from 1859 to 1897 in different tea growing districts. As on today, 38 countries grow tea and among which India, China, Sri Lanka and Indonesia have major share in area and production. India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter in tea industry.

Rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) is a tropical tree crop of industrial importance which is mainly cultivated for its latex. It is also known as ‘Para Rubber’ tree, a commercial source of natural rubber. Rubber latex is a milky white liquid, a suspension of rubber particles (cis-1,4–polyisoprene) known for its elastic properties produced in specialized cells called laticifers which have to be coagulated to obtain the rubber. Rubber was introduced by the British in India for commercial cultivation and became an established industry. The rubber industry is divided into two sectors: tyre and non-tyre of which automotive tyre sector is the single largest sector of rubber consumption.

Arecanut (Areca catechu L.) or Betel nut is an extensively cultivated tropical palm, belongs to family Arecaceae, fruit (nut) or dry kernel of this tree is popularly known as the betel nut or supari is used for masticatory or Chewing purpose in India and all over world especially in West and South Asia. The major areca nut growing countries are: India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, China, Myanmar, Bhutan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. In India, it is an important commercial crop and also forms part of ritual offerings in Hindu religion. India is the largest producer and largest consumer of Arecanut in the world. The present production of arecanut in India is cultivated in about 4.97 lakh ha with a production of 8.33 lakh tonnes of nuts with the productivity of 1.7MT/ha (Source: Department of Agriculture, Govt. of India, 2018). Arecanut is predominantly cultivated in traditional states like Karnataka, Assam, Kerala, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar group of Islands and it’s cultivation is spread to non-traditional areas in Kamataka and Tamil Nadu. Areca nut is providing livelihood security for millions of people in rural and urban areas.

The seed contains alkaloids such as arecaidine and arecoline, which, when chewed, are intoxicating and slightly addictive. The seed also contains condensed tannins (procyanidins) called arecatannins. Chewing the mixture of arecanut and betel leaf is a tradition, custom or ritual which dates back thousands of years in much of the geographical areas from South Asia eastward to the Pacific.

Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) is popularly called the ‘Gold mine’ of wasteland. It’s presumed that cashew was originally introduced into India by Portuguese travelers within the sixteenth century mainly for checking erosion on the coast. Initially, it absolutely was considered as an acceptable crop for conservation, afforestation and wasteland development but gradually gained the commercial importance.

Area and Distribution

In India cashew is being grown in an area of 10.62 lakh hectares with total production of 8.17 lakh MT of raw nuts and unit area productivity of 753 kg/ha. India is that the largest producer of raw cashew contributing around 20 per cent of total production of the globe. The foremost distribution of cashew in India is within the states of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, and Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andra Pradesh and Orissa along the geographic region and a few extents within the states of state, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and North East states. The assembly and productivity of the cashew is highest within the states of Maharashtra. The best average productivity of the Maharashtra is about 1318 kg/ha followed by West Bengal and Kerala in country. India is that the major exporter of cashew Kernels and earns a large amount of overseas exchange to the tune of `5,871 crores each year. The country exports cashew kernel to quite sixty countries mainly to USA, UAE, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and Japan. A complete of 1.19 lakh MT of cashew kernels was exported to those countries additionally to other byproducts like cashew shell liquids etc. (Anonymous, 2017–18). India is also the second largest exporter of shelled cashew (kernels) in the world and follows Vietnam.

Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) is sacredly considered as Kalpavriksha as it supplements the human beings.The popular name coconut is considered to be derived from Spanish word Coco implying “monkey face” which designates reference to the triple scars embossed on the shell which are identical to two eyes and a nose on the monkey’s face. Coconut belongs to family Arecaceae. Coconut palm has been the platform of a critical and sustainable life support system in the humid tropical parts of India. It is undoubtedly the most utilized plant on planet earth in context of number and wide range of products encompassing from the edible kernel, oil, shell liquid which is used as a refreshing drink, sweet sap and endless derivative of foliage, trunk and fiber utilized for widespread utility in agriculture field.

The production of coconut has continued to expand under the traditional niches of marginal land holders and subsistent farmers in the Southern states of our country. Coconut possesses unique capacity to survive and grow in typically distinct soil conditions while it broadly restricts to the regions possessing medium and high rainfall situations. Coconut plays a pivotal role in the economy of India. India is the leading producer of coconut around the globe possessing 31% share with a production of 20440 million nuts from an area of 1975 thousand hectares. Coconut industry supplements sustenance and livelihood to around 12 million people in India. Coconut is aptly known as Kalpavriksha which sensibly means that each and every part of a coconut is utilizable to support the mankind. The leaves of coconut palms get its utility for thatching of house in traditional ways. Besides this, baskets, sheds and husk are utilized for making coir products. Charcoal and activated carbon are made from shell. Coconut is used daily as a traditional ingredient in local cuisines of various Indian States. The other utility products of coconut include virgin coconut oil, dark chocolate etc. The adoption of these products has generated both income of farmers and employment in coconut sector.

Kiwifruit (often shortened to kiwi outside Australia and New Zealand), or Chinese gooseberry, is the edible berry of several species of woody vines in the genus Actinidia (Lucas, 2003 and Stirk, 2005). The most common cultivar group of kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa ‘Hayward’) is oval, about the size of a large hen’s egg: 5–8 cm (2.0–3.1 in) in length and 4.5–5.5 cm (1.8–2.2 in) in diameter. In 2017, China produced 50% of the world total of kiwifruit.

Kiwi is among the very few recent introductions which have surpassed in popularity due to its tremendous commercial potential in the Sub Himalayan region of India. In fact, no other fruit has attracted so much attention in such a short period in history of commercial fruit production since 1960s. In India, Kiwi was first planted in the Lal Bagh Garden (1960) at Bangalore as an ornamental tree where bud bursting didn’t take place. Later on for cultivation purpose it was planted at IARI, Regional Station, Shimla (H.P.)

M.K. Mahawar⁴

Scientist, ICAR- Central Institute for Research on Cotton Technology, Mumbai Maharashtra

Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) is a man made fruit belong to family Rosaceae. Due to high nutritive value and market potential, this fruit is being grown by small and marginal farmers. This is the only fruit which gives quickest return in shortest time 100 to 120 days only than any other fruit which usually take 3 to 5 year in giving return. Farmers are showing their keen interest to grow this crop in all part of country due to market value. Strawberry has a unique place among all the berry fruits because of its charming red color and high nutritive value

Apricot (Prunus armeniaca), also known as Armenian plum, is a delicious fruit with a pleasant flavor and aroma. It is consumed fresh, dried or canned and highly appreciated by many. The name ‘apricot’ (albicocco, albericocco) is most probably derived from the combination of arbor and precox from the Latin word praecocia (precocious), due to its early maturation (Faust et al., 1998).

Origin and Distribution

Apricot is native to north-eastern China whereas wild apricot, known as zardalu, belongs to India. It is introduced in India by the european settlers and missionaries during the late 19^th century.

It is grown in different countries viz., Turkey, Uzbekistan, Italy, Spain, Japan, Algeria, Iran and Pakistan etc. Among these countries Turkey, Uzbekistan and Italy are leading producers of apricot (FAO, 2017). In India, it is grown commercially in hills of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and also in some hills in North-eastern states. It can also be grown in the dry temperate areas like, Ladakh, Kinnaur, Lahul and Spiti in Himachal Pradesh and some areas of Jammu and Kashmir. In India, it occupies as area of 13115 ha with a production of 17894 MT (NHB.2010).

Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) is a subtropical evergreen fruit tree belongs to family Rosaceae and subfamily Pomoideae (Lindley, 1982). It flowers in early winter and fruits ripen in mid march and may where there is scarcity of fruits. It is native to southeast China and has been cultivated in China for over 2000 years and many species occur there in wild state (Lin et al. 1999). Loquat is introduced in India under the name of Japanese medlar or Java plum. In India, it is commercially cultivated in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and hills of southern states. Among different states Uttar Pradesh occupies the first position under loquat production.

Loquat is delicious fruit known for their mild, subacid and sweet taste. It contains 60 to 70 per cent pulp depending upon the cultivar and 15–20 per cent seed. In addition to 88% water pulp is composed of 55% vitamins and 0.5% minerals, 0.6% proteins, 9.6% carbohydrates and 1.0% fibre. Loquat fruit is also rich in phenolics and carotenoids.

Almond (Prunus dulcis, syn. Prunus amygdalus Batsch.) is an important temperate fruit crop. In India, it is mostly cultivated in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. Almond is a small deciduous tree, growing to 3–10 m tall, with a trunk up to 30 cm diameter. The young shoots are green at first, becoming purplish where exposed to sunlight, then grey in their second year. The leaves are lanceolate, 4–13 cm long and 1.2–4 cm broad, with a serrated margin and a 2.5cm petiole. The flowers are white or pale pink, 3–5 cm diameter with five petals, produced singly or in pairs before the leaves in early spring. The fruit is a drupe 3.5–6 cm long, with a downy outer coat. The outer covering or exocarp, fleshy in other members of Prunus such as the plum and cherry, is reduced to a leathery grey-green coat called the hull, which contains inside a hard shell the edible kernel, commonly called a nut in culinary terms. Generally, one kernel is present, but occasionally two. However, in botanical terms, an almond is not a true nut. In botanical parlance, the reticulated hard stony shell is called an endocarp. It is mature in the autumn, 7–8 months after flowering. The fruit of the wild forms contains the glycoside amygdalin, “which becomes transformed into deadly prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide) after crushing, chewing, or any other injury to the seed”. However, domesticated almonds are not toxic.(FAO, 2013 and Verma, 2014).

Walnut (Juglans regia L.) is commonly known as ‘Akhrot’ in India. Internationally, walnut is known as English walnut or Persian walnut. It is an important nut grown in temperate regions of the world. It is cultivated for nut and wood in the northern hemisphere (Europe, Asia, and North America) and the Southern hemisphere (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and South America). Walnut kernel is rich source of proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals and polyphenols. Inclusion of walnuts in human diet has positive effect on heart, skin and circulatory system. Wood of walnut is used for making quality furniture, interior joinery constructions,music instruments, carving, sport items, gun stocks and fore-end, and producing highly figured veneers, usually from burrs, which are used for cabinet-making and decorative panels

Japanese plum (Prunus salicina) is widely grown in hill and to a limited scale in the plains of north-western India. Although the fruit quality of plums produced in subtropical is poor however, it fetches high process in the market because of it early availability. Its availability in market at a time when the competition from other fruits is less. It is known as Japanese plum due to its cultivation in Japan from where cultivars spread to other places. At present, plum is cultivated in all temperate climate countries of the world. Plums are a familiar part of our diets. These sweet, fleshy fruit are a common sight in super market shelves. Prunus domestica, the European plum, is an important crop that has been cultivated in Europe for over 2,000 years. When the early European settlers landed on the shores of North America, they found various kinds of native plums scattered throughout the countryside, all of which were found to be of inferior quality. Until the 19th century, most plum cultivation in the United States was confined to the European varieties that were brought overseas. Today, new plum hybrids of native and Asian species have been developed for fresh market consumption, but Prunus domestica remains the prime source for processing plums. Depending on the variety, these plums can be good for either canning, drying as prunes, for culinary uses, or, in lesser amounts, eaten fresh.

There are many cherry species, but only a few have been domesticated. The sweet cherry trees are large (30–40 feet tall) and usually pyramid shaped. Branches grow upright. The fruits are large, have a deep stem cavity, vary in colour from light yellow to dark red to purplish black. Flowers arise from clusters of 2 to 5 flowers on short spurs with multiple buds at tips; the distal bud develops into a leafy shoot. The flesh ranges in texture from tender to firm, and is sweet. Most sweet cherries are consumed as fresh fruit. The tart cherry, is sometime called “red cherry” or “sour cherry” and may have arisen from an unreduced pollen grain of Prunus avium crossed with Prunus fruiticosa. Trees are very cold hardy, but are shorter lived than sweet cherry. The fruit is relatively small, and have higher acid and lower sugar content than sweet cherry. Tart cherries are used for processing, jam, and pie filling. The Duke cherry is a hybrid of Prunus avium and Prunus cerasus and all gradations between the two species exist, but most varieties more closely resemble sweet cherry. Sweet cherries are the variety most often found in markets. They have a thick, rich, and almost plumb-like texture. Sour cherries are not usually eaten raw, but are widely used for making preserves, candy etc. Sour cherries are much smaller than sweet cherries and all varieties are self-fertile. Cherries are cultivated all over the world and the top 3 producers of cherry are Turkey, USA and Iran. The cultivated forms are of the species sweet cherry (Prunus avium) to which most cherry cultivars belong, and the another sour cherry (P. cerasus), which is used mainly for making preserve etc. Both species originate in Europe and western Asia; they do not cross pollinate. Some other species, although having edible fruit, are not grown extensively for consumption, except in northern regions where the two main species will not grow.

Peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch) belongs to the Prunoideae subfamily of the Rosaceae with other species collectively referred to as “stone fruits. Unusual in its subgenus, the peach is largely self fertile. There are at least 77 wild species of Prunus and most of them are found in Central Asia. Peaches include different types of varieties downy skin with freestone or clingstone (peach), smooth skin with freestone or clingstone (nectarine) (Bretaudeau and Faure, 1991). It is considered as favourite table fruit and highly valued for its taste, flavour and attractive colour. The fruits are rich source of sugars, vitamins and minerals and malic acid (1.2%). Peach fruit shapes vary from round to flat, beaked, skin colors vary from white to red or yellow, the flesh color white or yellow melting or non-melting types and it can be clingstone or freestone. Regions with warm to hot summers are produces highest quality peaches. It has a range of uses as fresh fruit for table purpose as well as processed product especially in sauces, slice production and canning. Peaches are highly ruminative and nutritionally rich crops for mild temperate to subtropical regions. Peaches are excellent sources of fiber, vitamins and antioxidants. The carbohydrates, organic acids, minerals and dietary fiber are among the major constituents of peaches, which contribute to the nutritional quality of both fresh fruits and the juices (Manzoor et al., 2012).

Pear (Pyrus communis) is one of the most important fruit crops of temperate regions of the world. It is the second temperate fruit tree crop in terms of importance, area, production after apple in India. Pear belongs to the Rosaceae family which have been cultivated in Europe and in Asia for more than 3000 years. Their fruit are tasty with pleasant flavor and commonly eaten fresh or is canned. It is used to produce perry, an alcoholic beverage. Pears are grown under temperate and subtropical climatic conditions of India because of its wider climatic and soil adaptability. It is primarily grown in hills at 1700–2400 m above mean sea-level in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Low-chilling pears have adapted very well in the subtropical regions of our country. Improved pear cultivars were introduced in 19^th century and cultivation started due the success of Barlett and Gola in hills and patharnakh in Punjab of our country. European/common/soft pear (Pyrus communis) and Oriental/Japanese pear (P. pyrifolia) are commercially pear species grown in India.

Origin and Distribution

The common pear is originated from Europe and Asia where it has been cultivated since ancient times. The pear was introduced into the New World by European settlers. Early Spanish missionaries carried the fruit to Mexico and California. In most pear-growing countries of the world outside Asia, by far the most widely grown pear variety is Williams’ Bon Chrétien, known in the United States as Bartlett (Verma at el., 2010). A highly popular variety in England and the Netherlands is Conference. Common Italian varieties include Curato, Coscia, and Passe Crassane, the latter also being popular in France. In Asian countries the pear crop comprises primarily local varieties of native species, such as the Asian, or Chinese, pear (P. pyrifolia). Some species, especially the Callery pear and its cultivars, are invasive species and easily escape cultivation in areas outside their natural range. The poet Homer wrote that pears were “Gifts from the Gods”. Today, pears are a favourite fruit of Americans, second only to the apple.

Apple is a king of temperate fruit, symbol of health and premier fruit of the world. It is a deciduous temperate fruit tree and most widely grown in the world from time immemorial. In India, a large number of apple varieties were introduced in 1887 by Mr. Alexander Coutts, and his orchard is called Hillock Head in Mashobra near to Shimla. It was also introduced in Nilgoris and Bangalore, but it was destroyed by wooly aphid in 1887. At present a small cultivation is done in Nilgiris. Among the fruits, apple is having longest storage life. Apples are mostly consumed as fresh but a small part of the production is processed into juices, jellies, canned slices, wine and other products.

Origin and Distribution

An apple is originated in the Middle East/Central Asia more than 4000 years ago where its wild ancestor, Malus sieversii, is still found today. It is spreading across Europe to France; the fruit arrived in England during the time of Norman Conquest in 1066. The pioneer apple orchard in the North American continent was planted in Boston by Reverend William Blaxton in 1625. The Only North America native apples are called crab apples or common apples.

Captain R C Scot of the British army had introduced apples like Newton Pippin, King of Pippin and the Cox Orange Pippin to the Kullu valley in 1870. These apples were not popular because of their sour taste. The sweet apples were still being imported from Japan to meet the demand of Indian market. It was during a visit to America in 1915 that Samuel Stokes bought a few saplings and planted them at his Barobagh orchard in Thanedar and in the year 1926 the first apple trees bear fruit and the apples was sold and imports from Japan is stopped. The first few saplings from its, Golden Delicious of Kinnaur and Sweet Delicious of Shimla were became popular and Himachal Pradesh grew to become one of the largest producers of the fruit today. Therefore, the Himachal Pradesh is known as apple bowl of India.

Family No. 1

Name and address:

Smt. Jamuna Khajuriputia

Age - 45 years, Caste - ST

Village – Rajbadei

Block – Similiguda, Koraput

Family size: A total of five members, husband Gopinath (50 years), the son Ramesh and Podu, daughter-in-law Dana and herself. Male : Female ratio is 3:2

Educational status: All members have education except daughter-in-law, Dana. The status score is 4.16 in 10 point scale.

The problems of SHG are many and diversified. The problems vary from place to place and SHG to SHG. Then problems cluster is in relation to economic productivity, overall welfare and livelihood. As we observe since five decades after independence, resistance of people in the state of social, economic, political disempowerment is considered to measure hindrance to overall development. The SHG being a part of society is not an exception to be cited with problem. During investigation the constraints experienced by SHGs members are categorized under five areas namely personal, social, economical, technological and marketing problem. These problem directly and indirectly affects the performance of SHGs. The evidences of past studies and experience in the present context reveal a wide variation in the dimension of the problem.

SWOT analysis is the systematic identification of the internal strength and weakness of an organization or enterprise and environmental opportunities and threats. The analysis is based on the assumption that effective strategy maximizes strength and opportunities and simultaneously minimizes its weakness and threats. Entrepreneurial activities require a SWOT before initiation to provide first hand information about feasibility of the enterprise. All SHGs in rural sector are formed for income generation. A variety of enterprises coming up through SHG in rural sector may or may not be successful. SWOT provides basic direction for entrepreneurship at any level for benefit of the practitioners. The SWOT of SHG in tribal area where study was conducted has been analyzed.

The study is confined to tribal zone of Orissa, especially of Koraput district where tribes account for 49.69% of the district population. The sample SHG were selected from Sadar, Similiguda and Koraput blocks without any prejudice to their performance. At the outset, it is admitted that SHG has created a sensation among the tribes to look forward the development process. The present study ‘SHG in Techno-Economic Empowerment of Tribal Women’ has been conceived to find out inter-play of technological and economic variables that reflect in social status.

Membership status

SHG starts with the philosophy of micro-approach. Small sized group dynamics, available technology and economic opportunity linked with market structure are the perceived objectives to bring change in livelihood system. The study considered the age of SHG, present membership status, rate of discontinuance as the basic factors of SHG in tribal zone.

Motives of joining SHG

Sensitization for joining SHG does not alone help to achieve immediate result. Motives when combined with inspiration, an individual is tempted to act so also the case with sample SHG who expressed motives for joining SHG as follows.

Concept and Meaning of Empowerment Meaning and definition

Women empowerment has been widely recognized as an important goal in global development process. The term “empowerment” was coined in the second half of the seventeenth century (Oxford English Dictionary). It gained momentum in USA in 1960s when the activists of Black Panat Movement used the term ‘empowerment’ in the context of political mobilization. In 1980s the term was adopted by NGOs worldwide to signify an alternative development agenda for poverty alleviation based on principles of participation and self help. During this period, the participation and self help came to forefront. There after it has entered many fields of theory and practice. Since 1980s, the world has witnessed the concept, used to describe this phenomenon (empowerment).

The voiceless and powerless are the common elements that need the concept of empowerment in terms of socio-economic, technological, cultural and political development. In the context of power, empowerment depends on two things. These are: power can change and power can extend. The concept came to exist that power can change and power can extend giving the term ‘empowerment’ as the power is created in relationship, power and power relationship can certainly change. Therefore, empowerment simply is a process of change.

The study entitled “SHG in Techno Economic Empowerment of Tribal Women” was conducted on the following specific objectives.

Empowerment of women in relation to SHG (ii) Profile of SHG

Structure and functions of SHG

SWOT analysis of SHG

Constraints of SHG and suggestion

Case studies

It is an organized set up to provide micro credit to the rural women on the strength of the group savings without insisting on any collateral security for the purpose of encouraging them to enter in to entrepreneurial activities and for making them enterprising women (Gurumoorthy, 2000).

Puhanzhendi and Badatya (2002) find that the SHG programme has a positive social impact.

Rajamohan (2003) stated that SHG is a medium for the development of saving habit among the women.

Jeyasudha (2004) reported that eradication of poverty and the ushering in of speedy socioeconomic progress is the goal with which the developmental programmes are being implemented through a multipronged strategy, reaching out to the most disadvantaged sections of the society. She placed the concept of rural development at the top of agenda in national policies of developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. The developed countries have also recognized this need and have directed their efforts towards meeting the basic needs of the poorest people in developing countries.

Introduction

India with exceeding population of 1027.01 million with 741 million living in rural areas is on the path of development. With 40% of population below poverty line, our country faces the problem of quality life. The lack of access to and control over resources is said to be the cause of poverty. The central aim of enhancing economic productivity of India is to improve the overall welfare of those residing under poverty line. To combat poverty, ‘self help promotion’ is of recent paradigm that has attracted attention of all sections of population. Now it is a matter of concern for all those social consciousness driven people who wants to vanish poverty through this concept known as Self Help Group.

As per the report of ILO, by the year 2050 about 33% of people in the developed countries and 19% in developing countries will be sixty years or older and most of them incidentally will be women. 2001 census reveals that unorganized labour account for more than 40% of the total work force and total employment in both sectors in our country is 397 crores. Out of the unorganized sector workers, 237 crores are employed in agriculture.

Women form half of our population. They have significant roles in overall development. Rural development concept in our country attaches more importance to women development. Through various projects and research, it has been recognized that group approach is only means of reaching disadvantaged people in our society within which women are included. Many countries in Asia have proved effectiveness of group approach in achieving development.

With increasing emphasis on development, quality life, livelihood, etc. group concept has to be worked out in development prospective. The advantages of group concept over individual approach are i) Democratizations ii) Visualization of common problem iii) Interaction to become homogeneous iv) Power to present problem before authorities v) Farming base for grass root level planning vi) Realization of one’s potentiality compared to others vii) Protection from risk or sharing of risk viii) Enabling to form acceptable rule and regulation and ix) feeling of empowerment.