eChapters

Microbial diversity is the key to human survival and economic well being. It provides a huge reservoir of resources which can be utilized for our benefit. Yeasts have been isolated from many sources for industrial purposes. The impact of yeasts on food and beverage production extends many fold beyond the popular notions of bread, beer and wine fermentations by Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Diverse dynamic mixed populations of prokaryotic and lower eukaryotic microorganisms govern the fermentation and maturation processes and, finally, impact the quality of wine. Both of these parameters apparently contribute to regional differences in the quality of produced wines and characterization of regional wines should involve the study of microbial populations and their members active in the given region.

5.1. Anatomy of the Genitals

5.1.1. Male reproductive system

Testes in the male are oval-shaped present within the scrotum which remain in communication with the abdominal cavity, where they were at birth. The rabbit is actually able to withdraw its testes when frightened or fighting with other males (Fig. 5.1). The testicles descend at about two months. The short, back-slanting penis points forward when erect.

9.1. Handling

Rabbits must be handled very carefully. Although they are generally docile they are apt to struggle when picked up, with potentially harmful consequences. All rabbits are prone to vertebral fractures, and this risk is greatest in hutch rabbits or in those on an unbalanced diet that may have concurrent osteoporosis. It is extremely important to support the back and hindquarters whenever a rabbit is handled.
 
A rabbit should never be picked up by the ears. It can be lifted gently by the scruff of the neck with one hand whilst the other hand supports its bottom (Fig. 9.1), or alternatively lifted with one hand under the chest, and one supporting its hindquarters (Fig. 9.2). The rabbit should be carried against the body to minimize struggling. It is advisable to place the rabbit’s carrying box on the floor so that if it does jump as it is picked up it does not hurt itself. Similarly it is usually easier to return the rabbit to the box on the floor at the end of the examination.

Livestock is an important source of income for the rural poor and marginal farmers which enables earn income and food security using common resources.It is a best option to utilize such waste resources in proper way to earn income. About 65-69% of Indian population consisting of small and marginal farmers and land less laborers reared animal as supplementary occupation by feeding their animals agriculture by products. Indian agriculture is very difficult to sustain without dairy animals. Per capita availability of milk comes out to 281gm per day, which is below than the average of 300gm recommended by Nutrition Council of ICMR. Thus, there is a further need to increase the milk production of the country in view of minimizing difference between per capita availability and requirement. Milk production in India has increased from a modest 22 million tons during 1970-1971 to about 122 million tons in 2011—2012 (Deptt. of Animal Husbandry and Dairying).

Dairy buffalo production has been a tradition in Asian region and some other parts of the world where fresh  buffalo milk, dahi (cultured sour milk), ghee (butter oil) and yoghurt are very popular. In Italy, the dairy buffalo industry is flourishing; thanks to the popularity of buffalo mozzarella cheese. Because of the market for Mozzarella, buffalo farming is a profitable enterprise and is carried out in an organized manner with modern equipment.

Introduction

In India 70 to 75 per cent of the indigenous cattle and buffaloes are designated as non-descript that is they do not come under any well defined breed. Among the animals of defined breed also, less than 5-10 per cent of the population can be considered as elite and used for the production of breeding stock. Average productivity of cross-bred and desi cows is 2141 kg/lactation & 634 kg /lactation, respectively, which is still very low. The average productivity of buffaloes is 1355 kg/lactation only.

Introduction

Agricultural biodiversity must be an integrated part of climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts. Climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation should complement each other (FAO, 2007, 2008). Climate affects vectors, pathogens, hosts and host-pathogen interactions from the level of cellular defence to that of the habitat. Hoberg et al. (2008) provide an overview of predicted responses of complex host-pathogen systems to climate change. Climate change may affect the spatial distribution of disease outbreaks, and their timing and intensity (Epstein 2001). Outbreaks of African horse sickness, peste des petits ruminants, Rift Valley fever, bluetongue virus, facial eczema and anthrax are triggered by specific weather conditions and changes in seasonal rainfall profiles.

3.1 What is environment ?

The word environment is derived from a French word “environne” means to encircle or surround. Environment is defined as the circumstances or conditions that surround an organism or group of organisms. It is also defined as the complex of social or cultural conditions that affect an individual or community. Since humans inhabit the natural world and they build social, cultural and technological world, all constitute important parts of our environment.

7.1 What is Pollution?
 
Pollution is a contamination of the environment by man-made substances or energy that has adverse effects on living or non-living matter. In simple terms, pollution can be seen as the wrong substance in the wrong place in the wrong quantities at the wrong time. This implies that harm is caused to the environment if the same substance is present at levels too low.

Types of pollution
Pollution can be categorized according to the medium in which it occurs such as

Soil is a major source of nutrients needed by plants for growth. The three main nutrients are nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). Together they make up the trio known as NPK. Other important nutrients are calcium, magnesium and sulfur. Plants also need small quantities of iron, manganese, zinc, copper, nickel, chlorine, boron and molybdenum, known as trace elements because only traces are needed by the plant. The primary nutrients are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, because they are required in larger quantities than other nutrients. These three elements form the basis of the N-P-K label on commercial fertilizer bags. As a result, the management of these nutrients is very important. However, the primary nutrients are no more important than the other essential elements since all essential elements are required for plant growth. Remember that the ‘Law of the Minimum’ tells us that if deficient, any essential nutrient can become the controlling force in crop yield.

Preamble

Crop nutrient management in the climate change scenario is carried out with the basic understanding of nutrient concentrations in soils, plants and their transformations but these strategies might not apply under changed climate conditions where there is an overall change in the environment. It is understood that nutrient acquisition by plants from the soil is closely associated with overall biomass and strongly influenced by root foraging area. It is speculated that change in soil factors due to climate change could restrict root growth and nutrient stress would also occur. Plant size may also change but nutrient concentration may not change; therefore, nutrient removal will scale with growth. The interaction of mineral behavior in the soil with global climate change variables is poorly understood.

Since the 1960s, the world population has doubled from three to seven billion, and this trend will persist in the coming decades. Because of this rapid expansion, a massive increase in crop production is required to meet the food and energy demands of future generations. Potassium is the third important plant nutrient after nitrogen and phosphorous. It is seventh most abundant element in the lithosphere. Being chemically active metal, it is never found in its pure elemental state in nature. Potassium (K) plays a particularly crucial role in a number of physiological processes vital to growth, yield, quality, and stress resistance of all crops. The K content of Indian soils varies from less than 0.5–3.0%. The average total potassium content of those soils is 1.52% (Mengel and Kirkby 1987).

Low bioavailability of phosphorus (P) in soils is one of the major limiting factors influencing crop production throughout the world. Plants, however, are known to possess potential adaptive mechanisms at morphological, physiological, biochemical, and molecular levels to overcome P deficiency (Vance et al., 2003). Such adaptive mechanisms mainly include an increase in total root length and root hair growth (Bates and Lynch, 2000), enhanced organic acid (Singh and Pandey, 2003), acid phosphatase (Pandey, 2006) and ribonuclease (RNase) secretion into the rhizosphere (Hocking, 2001), increase in expression of proteins such as phosphatase, inorganic phosphate (Pi) transporter, RNase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPcase) in plant tissues.

Introduction

Organic matter in soil is the key to soil health. SOM improves many physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the soil, including water holding capacity, cation exchange capacity, pH, buffering capacity, and chelating of micronutrients. Furthermore, well decomposed SOM improves soil structure by increasing aggregation, enhances biological activities in the soil, slowly releases nutrients, and suppresses some diseases. A loss of SOM can lead to soil erosion, loss of fertility, compaction, and general land degradation.

True/False
 
Q.1.    The set of observations or measurements collected on specific characteristics from each item (individual) constitutes data.
Q.2.    Each characteristic that is measured or observed, varies from item to item and is called “Variable”.
Q.3.    “Blood type”, “stage of disease” and “weight” observed on a group of cancer patients, are three distinct variables.
Q.4.    A variable that can be expressed in numbers such as age, height, blood pressure, is said to be “Quantitative variable”.

True/False

Q.1.    The set of all possible outcomes of a variable along with the frequency (the number of occurrence) of each outcome or a group of outcome is called “Frequency Distribution”.
Q.2.    The frequency of an occurrence of each outcome of a trail divided by total frequency is known as “Relative frequency” of the outcome.
Q.3.    The distribution of total probability “1” into probabilities of occurrence of each outcome of a trial, is known as probability distribution of the outcome.

True/False

Q.1.    Collectivity (totality) of all sampling units is known as the “Population” and population size is denoted by “N”.
Q.2.    A list of all sampling units with their identification is known as “Sampling frame”. For example a list of all newly-born children in maternity home during a period of three months with specification of their sex, weight, name of their parents, their permanent address, etc. is known as sampling frame.
Q.3.    A function of all sampling units in the population is known as population parameter or population constant.

True/False

Q.1.    The process of knowing all the relevant information from the known sample to the unknown “Population parameter” is known as “Statistical inference.”
Q.2.    The method of estimating the unknown parameter of the population on the basis of known sample values is known “Estimation method.”
Q.3.    The “Point estimation and Interval estimation” are the two methods of estimating the unknown parameters of the population.

True/False

Q.1.    In clinical practice and in public health, the objective is to find better ways to ‘prevent,  diagnose and treat disease’.
Q.2.    Among all research designs, experimental study designs are the most reliable and  ideal designs to evaluate the ‘effectiveness or value’ of interventions (like drugs,  medication etc.) for human disease and disabilities.

True/False

Q.1.    In many clinical research studies, the regression analysis is used to develop models for prediction of an outcome from one or more explanatory variables.
Q.2.    Now a days, the linear, logistic and Cox (proportional hazards) regression models are used frequently in medical research.

SYNOPSIS

Food is an essential element without which human being cannot survive. We need it for our maintenance and growth everyday and through the longevity of our life. As we understand food, it is a bunch of essential elements which is essentially needed for the engine of human body to run non-stop. The understanding of food is much required by masses who consume it every day. The present paper attempts to describe the knowledge on food, feeling on food by consumers, prevailing food, hunger and malnutrition, healthy food and studies required on consumable foods.

SYNOPSIS

There is an increasing awareness about quality of food among consumers all over the world. Organically produced food is considered to be nutritionally superior, but the available information is not conclusive.

SYNOPSIS

Inspite of the fact that governments in various food summits and conferences have made commitments on food and nutrition security, presently more than a billion people are suffering from hunger and malnutrition worldwide. The food and nutrition policies need to be revisited and updated to address both man-made food scarcities and natural disasters of present and future to mitigate hunger and malnutrition.

The present publication has highlighted the issues on different aspects of food sector expressed by very distinguished authors. The issues have been discussed and illustrated how we conceive food as an item, what and how much food is known to consumers, what are common food sources, the relationship between food and health, food and nutrition security programmes in different regions of the world and how do we perceive food and nutrition policy challenges?

Food security is one of the most important issues during this century under the projected climate change scenario. The world is facing severe food crisis due to weather vagaries as a part of global warming and climate change. One sixth of world’s population is under starvation. It is estimated that 300 million people in the world do not get food three times a day. About 18,000 children die every day due to malnutrition. Many Asian-African countries are under severe food crisis. It is also estimated that out of the World’s most hungry people, 29 per cent is in India. 47 per cent of children below three years of age are suffering from malnutrition problem. 75 per cent of world’s population is dependant on agricultural activities for their livelihood. Therefore, there is an urgent need to produce more and more foodgrains at the global as well as national levels to meet the food requirement of growing population under the projected climate change scenario. There has been a major decline in world rice production since late 2007 due to various reasons including global warming and climate change in top rice producing countries. Deficit monsoon over India during 2009 resulted to poor foodgrains production including rice as the area under rice cultivation was less. There were also devastating floods in southern States of India viz., Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Andhra Pradesh, one of the major rice producing states of India, was affected first by drought and then by floods. Thus rice production decline in India was a real set back in 2009. Similar was the case in 2010 due to excess rain during monsoon and floods during NE monsoon across the rice growing regions. At the same time, Philippines got hit by two major typhoons in September-October, 2009 causing damage to rice crop on ground. Approximately one million tonnes of rice in storage also got damaged. These events resulted to low world rice production over the country in 2009. The immediate impacts of global warming and climate change on rice production systems and food security will be felt in the form of adverse effects of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, heat and cold waves, hailstorms and cyclones on rice production. Less immediate but significant impacts are anticipated due to changes in mean temperatures, increasing weather extremes and sea level rising.

Indian floriculture industry is shifting from traditional flowers to cut flowers for export purpose. The liberalized economy has given an impetus to Indian entrepreneurs for establishing export oriented units (EOUs) under controlled climatic conditions.

The wide variation in the agro climatic conditions in India permit us to grow various types of tropical and subtropical plants and flowers. Though such plants grow successfully without cover, they fail to meet the export requirements of being seldom blemish free. High quality ornamental plants meant for export should be scientifically grown only in plastic, glass or fiberglass greenhouses, or at least under partial cover. Though initial investment is high in protected cultivation, the products in them will obtain far more attractive prices.

Seed is a vital input for successful flower production and it is considered as the starting material for most bedding plants and many of the cut flowers produced. The production of bedding plants and cut flowers is both capital and labour intensive. In order to optimize production efficiency and maximize profit, it is important for growers to use high quality seeds. Production of seeds of annual flowers has immense scope as an area of diversification in floribusiness. The flower seed industry is international, operating in many countries of the world. Large quantities of flower seeds are required both by developed and developing countries for adding to the beauty of private and large gardens and also for cut flower production. Worldwide, nurseries engaged in production of seeds of seasonal flowers have a booming business. The great diversity of flower seed crops is a fascinating facet of the world seed industry and they are of high value and low volume in contrast to the high volume and low value seeds of cereal seed crops.

Orchids belong to family Orchidaceae, which is the most highly evolved among monocotyledons with over 800 genera and 35,000 species and over 74,400 natural and manmade registered hybrids. Orchid is the first horticultural plant cloned by tissue culture methods on a commercial scale (Goh, 1990). Rapid multiplication using tissue culture techniques is an important strategy for preserving the valuable orchid wealth in India. Vegetative propagation through division of rhizomes and separation of offshoots and keikis is very slow. Both these problems can now be successfully alleviated through micropropagation. The technique has revolutionized the orchid industry and now it is possible to multiply unlimited number of desirable clones. Rotor (1949) was the first to have employed tissue culture techniques to multiply Phalaenopsis, and since then micropropagation potential of a variety of monopodial taxa has been successfully tested.

Dry flowers are naturals, dried and preserved with an everlasting value the can be cherished for longer period. According to APEDA investigations, dried flowers accounted for 15% in the total floriculture export during 1988-89 and increased to 64% in 1994-95. Export value of dried plants and planting materials increased from Rs. 109.21 million in 1993-94 to Rs. 364.55 million in 1995-96.
 
India exports dry flowers to U.K., Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, U.S.A., Japan and Singapore. Dry flower production is labour intensive, provides self-employment and job opportunities for a large number of workers and aids in development of subsidiary industries. The industry has many advantages.

Gladiolus is a flower of breathtaking beauty with a wide range of colours, size and form. Its magnificent inflorescence has won for it, a place of pride in gardens and value as a cut flower. Except true blue and green practically all colours are available in gladiolus. Flowers are long lasting and stand transport well. They are widely used in flower arrangements, bouquets and indoor decorations. It is estimated that gladiolus is grown throughout India over on area of 1270 ha (Arora et al. 2002).

The field of talent management continues to mature from agri-business to extension service, but it is also being impeded both by the scale of debates taking place. The field continues to agree that talent management “adds value” to the organisation such as extension system. To understand the development scenarios of strategic talent management, we need a “theory of value” to understand the elements of talent management which are the most valuable for business-led extension service (BLESS) effectiveness. “Theory of Value” is a generic term which encompasses all the theories within economics that although explain the exchange value (or) price of goods and services. Alternatively, “Value of Theory” encompasses a range of approaches in extension system to understand how, why, and to what degree humans should value things, whether the thing is person, idea, object, (or) anything else for effective functioning of strategic business-led extension service to sustain its clients system.

Farmers require a diverse range of information to support their farm enterprises. Information is needed not only on best practices and technologies for crop production, but also for post -harvest aspects. Agricultural Extension is an essential pillar for research and development in agriculture. Despite a wide range of reform initiatives in agricultural extension in India in the past decades, the coverage of, access to, and quality of information   provided to marginalized and poor farmers is uneven. Approaches to agricultural extension in India and worldwide continue to evolve.

Throughout the history of Indian agriculture, the contribution of farmers to agricultural technology development and dissemination has been very significant. Farmers’ practices are useful not only for scientific technology development, but also for sustainable agricultural development. Rural economy will sustain only when it effectively utilise the available local resources. But recent agricultural development witnessed that those modern agricultural practices slowly replacing the farmers’ practices. In this juncture the basic challenge for sustainable agriculture is to make better use of these internal resources. This can be done by minimizing the external inputs used, by regenerating internal resources more effectively or by combinations of both (Rolling and Pretty, 1997).

In any work environment the managers, facilitators are equipped with some specific type of skills to perform their activity effectively. In this study, multi stakeholders were involved in the process of Precision Farming from land preparation to marketing. Every stakeholder has a specific task to be performed so as to lead the client in the direction desired. In order to achieve this, the skill components viz., Management and Facilitating skills possessed by them and their own perception on those skills were assessed.

Farmer Field School (FFS) is a capacity building method based on adult education principles for group of farmers. FFS is best described as a ‘school without walls’, where farmers learn through observation and experimentation in their own fields. FFS methodology is potential extension approach to enhance farmer’s knowledge which is a basis for adoption of improved practices (Manoj and Vijayaragavan, 2014). In Andhra Pradesh Department of Agriculture initiated FFS programme in the name of Polambadi during 2006.

e-SAP is one of the important emerging and efficient dissemination tool for agricultural pest management. e-SAP refers to electronic solution for  agricultural pest management. e-SAP is a ground – breaking application built on the backdrop of agricultural pest management. Its foundation lies on a unique platform that facilitates the storage access and transfer information between all stakeholders in agriculture. It enables rapid and delivery of farm data in various forms including multimedia to researchers, policymakers and other users in real time.

Introduction

It is well-known that soil testing is agronomically sound, beneficial and environmentally responsive tool for monitoring the nutrient as well as pollutant status of soils, and also for making precise fertilizer recommendations for various crops and cropping sequences. Soil testing with associated plant and water analysis is the only tool known which helps to control soil fertility. Nutrient supplying power of soils, crop responses to added nutrients and fertilizer and amendment needs can safely be assessed through sound soil testing programme. Monitoring of soil fertility, against depletion and accumulation of certain elements in toxic proportions over time, is also possible through appropriate soil tests. This also helps to economize on cost of fertilizers and also in increasing fertilizer use efficiency.

Water and nutrients are the most important, and readily manageable, variables for producing a profitable crop. Efficient management of water and essential plant nutrients is imperative for achieving sustainable agriculture and maintaining necessary increase in food production to feed the burgeoning population while minimizing economic losses and environmental impacts. Technology here can play a catalytic role in striking a common ground between these environmental and economic goals. Recent advances in sensor technologies indicate that efficient nutrient management in crop fields can be attained through the application of Precision Agriculture (PA)-based geo-spatial technologies such as global positioning system, geographical information system, remote sensing,

Introduction

Increasing consciousness about conservation of environment as well as health hazards associated with agrochemicals and consumers’ preference to safe and hazard free food are the major factors that lead to the growing interest in environmental friendly forms of farming in the world. Organic agriculture is one such broad spectrum of production methods that are supportive to the environment. The basic requirement in organic farming is to increase input use efficiency at each stage of farm operation.

Introduction

Soil is a complex system consisting of physical, chemical and biological components. These components dynamically interact making it functional to sustain life. All life forms rely on soil microbial processes for their survival. Microbial diversity in the soil is greater than the diversity of any other group of organisms existing in the earth. Microbes as inhabitant of soil are responsible for diverse metabolic functions that affect soil and plant health (Table 1).

Introduction

Nano science is the study of the properties of structures of the size smaller than several hundreds of nano meter (nm). Nanotechnology consists in techniques for designing and manufacturing these structures as well as applications arising from these. The development of nanoscience and nanotechnology is in line with the trend towards miniaturisation. As nanoscience and nanotechnology developed, they make the barriers between traditional scientific and technological disciplines more permeable.

Introduction

India is the largest producer, importer and consumer of pulses in the world, accounting for 25 percent of the global production, 15 per cent trade and 27 per cent consumption, being an inseparable ingredient in the diet of the vast majority of population. Since time immemorial, pulses have been cultivated on marginal and sub-marginal lands, which are characterized by poor soil fertility and moisture stress, and consequently their yield potentials have not been realized. Further, more than 90 per cent areas under pulses are rainfed.

A tool is a handheld item that aids in accomplishing a task. It is an instrument or machine that aids in achieving a task. Tools are something you use to do a job. ICT tools that can be used for betterment of Agriculture Research, Education and Extension are discussed here.

    1.    Computer: Computer is an advanced electronic device that takes raw data as input from the users and processes these data under the control of set of instructions (called progamme) and gives the result (output) and saves output for the further use. It can process both numerical and non-numerical (arithmetic and logical) calculations.

ICTs are emerging as very important tools for agricultural extension and it is now essential for every extension worker to have working knowledge of ICT tools and devices like computers, internet, mobile phone, kisan call center, information kiosks, e-mails, expert systems, touch screen systems, mobile telephony and World Wide Web. Keeping in mind wide scope of ICT application in agriculture, the entire study entitled “Status and prospects of ICT application in agriculture through extension functionaries” was undertaken with following specific objectives.

Abstract

Recycling of organic wastes by chemical amendments and bio-inoculants are the recent developments in the technology for composting to manage voluminous wastes with economic advantages as well as environmental and social perspectives. Various composting technologies such as vermicomposting, P-enriched vermicompost, phospho-sulpho-nitro compost, phosphocompost and microbial enriched compost have been developed utilizing agro-industrial wastes, municipal solid wastes, distillery effluents and press mud, amended with certain mining waste materials such as rock phosphate and pyrites for increasing the nutrient supplying potential of the compost. It was observed that matured enriched compost (after 110 days of composting) contains 3.2 to 4.2% P and 1.5 to 2.3% N. In vermicomposting, earth worms helps in accelerating the decomposition processes and bringing down the composting period from six to eight months to around 2-3 months. Thus, enriched compost helps to produce higher yields of crops and also improve soil physical, chemical and biological conditions, thereby, enhancing productivity and sustainability of agriculture.

Abstract

A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the genotypic variability with respect to agronomic and physiological traits of Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea L. Verdc.) landraces collected from three contrasting environments during 2010-11 in a randomized complete block design with nine replications under transparent shade house at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus in Semenyih, Selangor.

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur to assess the effect of weed management practices on production, resource use efficiency and monetary benefit in cumin. The experimental field was predominantly infested with weed species such as Chenopodium murale, C. album, Asphodelus tenuifolius and Heliotropium oralifolium.

Abstract

Kachchh with 45,652 sq. km. geographical area is the biggest district of Gujarat. The monsoon is very erratic and the frequent occurrence of drought or scarcity of rainfall is very common feature in this region. The soils as well as water are saline at most of the places and the irrigation is mainly through underground water. The agriculture under these conditions is becoming increasingly vulnerable. Hence a study was conducted to assess the economic viability of crops having access to assured irrigation facility in Kachchh district of arid Gujarat in 2009. A total of 60 farmers were randomly selected for detailed data collection from five selected villages in three talukas namely Bhuj, Anjar and Mundra. The study revealed that cultivation of cereal crops like pearl millet and wheat was mainly to meet out family needs while cultivation of crops like cotton, castor, groundnut, mustard and coriander was solely for market purpose and intention is to maximize the returns per unit of investment.

9.1  Write True/False

Q.1    In the subject matter of order statistic, the useful beta distribution is written as :

Introduction

The Web-enabled infrastructures, practices and strategies are creating confusions disruptions for virtually every institution and enterprise. The responses to these disruptions are progressively leading to new practices, business models, and strategies in a variety of domains posing challenges to the profession of librarianship. The acquisition, assimilation, and sharing of knowledge is one such sphere that is really experiencing a revolution.