eChapters

ABSTRACT

Wavelet analysis is a technique possessing mathematical properties and it has been used by the scientific research community for its power to analyse rapidly changing transient signals used to represent data or functions - the wavelets used in the analysis are, however, functions that break the data down into different scales or resolutions. Wavelets possess the competence to handle spikes and discontinuities than traditional Fourier analysis and make the noisy data to de-noisy. Though traditional applications of wavelets have focused on image compression and analysis, wave propagation but they are also being used to analyse time series, biological processes, spectroscopic data of chemical compounds, seismic signals for earthquake prediction, atmospheric data for weather prediction, computer graphics, medical image technology, detection of aircraft and submarines, non-parametric regression, density estimation, and long memory wavelet models. Indeed, wavelets permit complex information such as music, speech, images and patterns to be decomposed into elementary forms at different positions and scales and subsequently being reconstructed with high precision. Signal transmission is based on the transmission of a series of numbers, indeed, the series representation of a function is important in all types of signal transmission.Wavelet transform of function is the improved version of Fourier transform. Fourier transform is a powerful tool for analysing the components of a stationary signal. But the Fourier transform fails to analyse the non-stationary signal where as a wavelet transform allows the components of a non-stationary signal to be analysed.

INTRODUCTION

The role for economic theory is no longer simply to explain how the existing system works, but also to explore how the economic system can be changed to become more adaptive and resilient in the face of the challenges of the 21st century, and how it can be more directly designed to support human well-being, in the present and the future. Simultaneous changes are needed, in both the actual economy and also in theoretical approaches of economics. The economic theory that was accepted as standard in the non-communist world during the second half of the twentieth century erects serious impediments to meeting the challenges of the twenty-first century. In order to redirect economics to be more useful, and more truly reflect the world we now face, a good starting point is to go back to the goals that are embedded in economic thinking. Here it is useful to make the distinction between intermediate and final goals. Final goals are ends that are worth achieving in themselves, while intermediate goals are pursued because they are expected to contribute to the final goals. As final goals for any economy are ‘well-being and equity in the present’ and second is ‘productive capital for the future’. Productive capital needed to maintain well-being also necessarily includes natural resources, as well as human health and education, and cohesive social systems. Increasing production and consumption are important intermediate goals for humankind in some times and places. Other obviously critical intermediate goals include climate mitigation, and promoting resilience and adaptation within both human society and ecological systems. Responding to global inequity as well as global climate change requires coordinated public policy to fundamentally redirect existing economic systems. In addition to a much greater emphasis on equity, economic theory that is appropriate to the needs of the twenty-first century will need to be more concerned with the meta-externalities of the economic system. The business sphere is currently creating meta-externalities of culture and politics that place great burdens on the core sphere, and that tie the hands of governments. This does not necessarily imply that the for-profit sphere is “bad” and the others “good”—rather that institutional changes must be made to bring the purposes and functions of all three spheres into better harmony. To address such a complex issues, economic theories and models that developed in the past should embedded with new advent in computational technologies. In venturing a vision of technological possibilities rather than simply projecting linear or exponential changes in performance, it is crucial to think not only of how technical improvements lead to the substitution of a new generation of tools for existing ones, but also of how entirely new uses, and indeed new needs, might emerge.

Abstract

Asteraceae, one of the largest families of flowering plants, is of worldwide distribution and inhabits almost every environment except Antarctica. The family exhibits various life forms and is known to harbour a wide variety of phytochemicals. The study aimed at systematically documenting the precious ethnobotanical knowledge (ethnomedicinal, ethnotoxic and wild edible plants) of Asteraceae in district Udhampur. A total of 42 infomants between the age group 21-90 years were interviewed and 28 plant species of Asteraceae belonging to 26 genera were observed to be of ethnobotanical significance in district Udhampur. All the taxa were growing in wild and majority of them were herbs. The ethnomedicinal formulations were prepared in the form of paste, decoction, powder, etc which were found to be effective against plethora of ailments. The ethnotoxic plants were observed to exert their adverse effects by causing different ailments or diseases. The present study may serve as a base line data for further research and will go a long way in the treatment of major and minor ailments, protecting people from being poisoned by substances that may have cured them and also serving as food source.

Abstract

Crocus sativus L. commonly called as saffron is a Persian plant belonging to the Iridaceae family and is cultivated for more than 4000 years. It grows exclusively in India, the Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean region. Saffron is traditionally used for, as a food supplement and its pharmacological properties such as antihypertensive, anticonvulsant, anxiolytic aphrodisiac, antioxidant, antidepressant etc. It comprises of the dried stigma which comprises of 150 different types of metabolites, of which some are responsible for the color, flavor and aroma of the Saffron. Saffron is a plant with great significance as an adaptogen and seems to be promising as a nutraceutical in barring several diseases. The current chapter explores the Ethnobiology, historical background, chemical constituents, ethnopharmacological properties, uses and toxicity of Saffron.

India is a natural reservoir of the several fruit species. The several less known fruit species, which have the potential for commercial exploitation, are yet to be utilized to their potential. An attention to the less known fruit would play a significant role in increasing the income, providing employment opportunities, uplifting of the poor, small and marginal farmers and the development of value added products. These fruits are well known for their medicinal and nutritive value. There is a great need to develop and popularize not only for their domestic market but also for their export. Some of the less known fruits are described here with respect to their cultivation technology.

The arid zone of India covers about 12% of the country’s geographical area and occupies over 31.7 mha of hot desert and about 7 m ha under cold desert. The arid regions of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana together constitute the Great Indian Desert known as Thar Desert that accounts for 89.6% of hot arid regions of India. In Gujarat, 6.22 m ha area is under arid zone which constitute 19.6% of the arid area of country (Fig 1). In Gujarat, eight districts fall under arid zone, namely, Kachchh (100% of district area), Jamnagar (80%), Surendranagar (29%), Junagadh (20%), Banaskantha (18%), Mehsana (7%), Ahmedabad (6%) and Rajkot 6%).

Distribution

Several countries grow henna on a commercial scale for its dye-bearing leaves, notably India, Egypt, Iran, Niger, Sudan and Pakistan. In India, it was once grown extensively in Punjab and Gujarat. However, gradually the major cultivation has shifted to the arid fringes of Rajasthan, with Pali district having the maximum area under henna. It is taken as an annual Ratoon crop under rainfed conditions. Presently over 39,000 ha of henna plantations in the district with nearly 70 per cent occurring in the Sojat area produce around 20,000 t dry leaves worth Rs. 40 crores. Besides this, leaf cuttings are also collected from existing farms and field boundary plantations in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. In Uttar Pradesh henna is grown for its scented flowers used in the essence industry. Kannauj, Lucknow, and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh are reputed centres for the commercial extraction of mehndi oil from flowers and its use in traditional essence. Since henna is grown as a dryland crop under limited moisture conditions greater use of available moisture by the plants is possible.

Global warming and climate change are becoming major challenges in the front of global community to deal with. Climate change is no more a myth but it is reality. The IPCC, 5^th assessment report clearly stated that “evidence of climate- change impacts is strongest and most comprehensive for natural systems”. Natural and human systems of almost all continents in the world have been affected by climate change in recent decades (IPCC, 2014). Agriculture is essential for sustainability of human life on earth but change in climate is threatening its sustainability. In recent decades all aspects of food security has been potentially affected by climate change, including food access, utilization, and price stability. It has been projected that in absence of adaptation measure, increases in local temperature by 2°C or more above late-20^th-century levels will negatively impact production of the major crops in tropical and temperate regions.

Agriculture is one of the major economic activities responsible for food security and livelihood for millions of people. Success, production and productivity of agricultural crops are highly dependent on climate, soil and water. Thus climate change will have adverse effect on agricultural crops. High atmospheric temperature, unpredicted erratic rainfall, rapid soil degradation and evolution of new insect and pests due to climate change will offer new challenge to sustain agriculture. Many part of the world and India is already experiencing impact of climate change on agricultural crops (like early maturity, geographical shift and occurrence of new pests) and these impacts are predicted to increase rapidly in future. The increasing concern about adverse impact of climate change on food security has led to extensive research and documentation of impact of climate change on field crops like rice, wheat and maize. While the clear and holistic idea about impact of climate change on horticultural crops like vegetables and fruits are not well documented especially in developing countries like India.

Global climate changing has been a focus for a long time in many fields, the increasing CO₂ concentration in atmosphere was considered as one main driving force for global warming. The increases in greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere contributed to raise concerns over climate change enhanced the role of forests and plantations in the global carbon cycle are growing as a great issue. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is one of the main greenhouse gases because a huge volume of CO₂ is added to the atmosphere, when compare to all other greenhouse gases and made itself as a primary agent of global warming. It contributed 72 per cent of the total anthropogenic greenhouse gases, causing between 9-26 per cent of the greenhouse effect (Kiehl and Trenberth, 1997). According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), there has been an unprecedented warming trend during the 20th century. Scientists now have estimated that the average global surface temperature is likely to rise by 1.4 to 5.8°C by the end of the 21^st century (IPCC 2007).

The IPCC estimates that the level of carbon dioxide in today’s atmosphere is 31 per cent higher than it was at the start of the Industrial Revolution about 250 years ago. An atmospheric level of CO₂ has risen from 280 ppm at the pre-industrial to the present level of 375 ppm. Most of the increase has occurred in the second half of the 20^th century. The mitigation of climate change demands, determined commitment of scientists to develop strategies to effectively manage the issues of the changing climate through carbon sequestration. Carbon sequestration is ought to be a promising solution for reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide, an important greenhouse gas.

The arid region of India covers about 12 % of countries geographical area and occupies over 3.17 lakh Km² of hot desert located in the parts of Rajasthan (61%), Gujarat (20%), Punjab and Haryana (9.0%), Andhra Pradesh (7%), Maharashtra (0.4%) and Karnataka (3.0%). In addition to this an area of about 78 thousand Km² of cold desert in Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh presents an entirely different set of agro climatic conditions as compared to hot arid zone. The hot arid region is characterized by low and erratic distribution of rainfall (< 100 to 400 mm), high temperature, low relative humidity, high potential evapo-transpiration, high sunshine and high wind speed during summer. Soils of this region are dry for most part of the year and suffer from water stress. Besides growing annual crops, a great emphasis is being laid on the development of agroforestry systems in this region which also includes cultivation of arid fruit crops in cropping systems. Horticulture based production systems are considered to be the most ideal strategy to provide food, nutrition and income security to the people (Chundawat, 1993). Integration of annual crops with fruit trees yields multiple outputs that ensure production and income generation.

Fruits with their delightful colours, flavours and tastes are nature’s wonderful gift to mankind. Apart from being the most nutritious food in the form of easily digestible simple sugars, vitamins, minerals and many phyto-nutrients (Plant derived micronutrients), they provide unique health benefits due to their antioxidant properties and valuable fibre. Antioxidants help protect the human body from oxidant stress, diseases, and cancers, and also boost the immunity of the body thus developing the capacity to fight against various types of diseases. The insoluble dietary fiber in fruits is known to provide protection from conditions like chronic constipation, hemorrhoids, colon cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, and rectal fissures etc. Due to their unique nutrition-profile the importance of fruits in our diet cannot be over emphasised.

Insects are a major limiting factor in fruit production. The infestation of insects pests on fruit trees in orchards adversely affects the quality and yield of fruits. The size, shape, taste, attractiveness and palatability of fruit deteroriates, due to which the market price is reduced and the growers incur losses. Fruit growers resort to use of chemical pesticides under such conditions. However many reports suggest that although the global production and use of pesticides in agriculture is increasing every year, but the damage due to insects has not decreased rather it has also increased, indicating that the use of pesticides is not the panacea remedy for all insect related problems. Many scientists are of the opinion that over-reliance on the use of synthetic pesticides in crop protection programs around the world has resulted in disturbances to the environment, pest resurgence, pest resistance to pesticides, and lethal and sub-lethal effects on non target organisms especially beneficial flora and fauna, including humans. Farmers spend thousands of rupees on pesticides. The residues of pesticides in food and fruits is yet another cause of concern. Fruits which are considered to be wonderful for health are often laden with unacceptable levels of pesticide residues nulling their beneficial properties. Pesticides have been linked to many diseases especially cancer. All these issues related with use of pesticides has triggered rethinking on the methods of control.The recent examples of the results of indiscriminate pesticides use , consequent crop failures and suicide by farmers now calls for introspection in this matter.

Over 85% of the rural population in India is dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. About 50% of them being poor, most of their earnings are spent on meeting their basic needs, particularly food. With the increasing population over the last five decades, their per capita share of land and water resources has reduced substantially. As a result, rural people are faced with the problem of unemployment.

Inspite of agriculture being a major source of livelihood, the productivity as well as profitability in agriculture have been significantly low in the country. While the productivity can be attributed to illiteracy, lack of awareness, poor dissemination of technology, inadequate investment in agricultural inputs and poor communication and information services, lack of profitability is mainly due to inadequate and inefficient infrastructure required for forward and backward integration, poor post harvest and processing facilities and poor connectivity with market, resulting in exploitation by large number of middlemen. Traditionally, the farmers have been dependent on the Agricultural Extension Agencies of the State Government for information, input supply and marketing services. Over the years, these agencies are not being able to cope up with the growing responsibilities and specific needs of the farmers. To overcome this problem, Farmers’ Cooperatives have been promoted to supply various agricultural inputs and organise the marketing of farm produce. Although, this was an excellent concept, most of these cooperatives could not carry out the work economically and efficiently due to lack of commitment from the elected leaders and unfair trade practices by the competing traders. The farmers, not realising the inability of the extension agencies, are still dependent on the Government and external agencies to help them in managing their agri-business.

Introduction

Aquatic ecosystems are critical components of the global environment and provide a variety of resources for human population, including food, water for drinking and irrigation, recreational opportunities, and habitat for economically important fisheries. Fish is the main source of animal protein for 3 billion people worldwide, providing a valuable protein complement to the food platter worldwide. Fish is also an important source of essential vitamins and fatty acids. Furthermore, it provides an important source of cash income for many poor households and holds a great potential as a source of foreign exchange. However, aquatic ecosystems are increasingly being threatened directly and indirectly by climate change. Global warming with consequent climate variability and extreme weather conditions has a great impact on the aquatic ecosystems resulting in increased temperature variation, ocean acidification and freshwater salinization etc. As per report of IPCC 2018, global warming of 1.5 ºC above pre-industrial levels has been declared (IPCC, 2018) and expected to rise further in future. Thus, variations in temperature, salinity, acidity and dissolved oxygen along with the effects of other anthropogenic activities may exert strong in?uences on aquatic ecosystems and the aquatic animls will be facing these climate-related stressors in near future. Such environmental stressors is projected to alter fundamental ecological processes, geographic distribution of aquatic species, reproductive and immunological performance of species etc.

Meteorology is derived from the Greek word meteoro which means above the earth’s surface; i.e., the atmosphere. The state of the atmosphere experienced at a given time, in any location on the surface of the earth is known as weather. Thus meteorology is the scientific study of the atmosphere or the weather. It is a branch of physics dealing with atmosphere and it is often quoted as the ‘physics of the lower atmosphere’. The main focus of meteorology is to understand the weather processes and forecast the weather. Solar radiation, the air mass and moisture are the three key ingredients that make up weather. The exchange of heat, moisture and momentum between the earth’s surface and the atmosphere determines the characteristic of weather. The observable weather events are known as meteorological phenomena and are defined by a set of variables called weather elements. Atmospheric temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, precipitation, cloudiness, wind and visibility, etc. are examples of such weather elements. The weather elements are not separate entities. They are closely related with each other and are highly variable in nature. Meteorology explains and analyses the changes of these weather elements.

METEOROLOGY

The major subdivisions of meteorology are dynamic meteorology (or atmospheric dynamics) and physical meteorology (or atmospheric physics). The dynamic meteorology is concerned with the analysis and interpretation of the three-dimensional, time-varying, macro scale motions and energy transformations in the atmosphere. The science of dynamic meteorology is meant to develop models based on the hydrodynamic and thermodynamic equations. The physical meteorology is concerned with the processes that alter the physical properties and the chemical composition of air parcels as they move through the atmosphere.

Clouds are visible mass of little drops of water or frozen crystals suspended in the atmosphere above the surface of the earth. The World Meteorological Organisation defined cloud as a visible aggregate of minute particles of water or ice or both, in the free air. This aggregate may include larger particles of water or ice and particles such as those present in fumes, smoke or dust.

Clouds are the most important form of suspended water droplets caused by condensation. The typical size of these water droplets and ice crystals range from less than 1 µm to 50 µm. When surrounded by billions of other droplets or crystals, they become visible as clouds. In the atmosphere sufficient moisture is required to allow condensation to take place. Then, moisture needs a suitable surface upon which it can condense. In free air, condensation begins on hygroscopic nuclei such as aerosols. These are microscopic particles and include dust, smoke, salts and chemical compounds. Nuclei range in size from 0.001 µm radius to over 10 µm. On an average, oceanic air contains one million condensation nuclei per litre and land air holds some 5 or 6 millions. On hygroscopic particles such as sea salts, condensation can begin before the air is saturated. Supersaturation in clouds rarely exceeds one per cent. On average, clouds contain only four per cent of the total water in the atmosphere at any one time. Almost all clouds exist in the troposphere, although the tops of some severe thunderstorms occasionally extend to the stratosphere. Clouds move along with the wind and remain stationary in calm winds. They grow vertically and horizontally, depending on the temperature of the cloud and its ambient temperature. They may dissipate or precipitate. Under favourable atmospheric conditions, they burst and fall as rain. Clouds are essential to the earth-atmosphere system. They complete the following functions.

Precipitation is water in liquid or solid forms, falling on to the earth. In other words, precipitation is the deposition of atmospheric moisture on earth. Formation of clouds does not mean precipitation. Precipitation involves condensation, growth of hygroscopic nuclei, cooling of nuclei at different stages and their fall on to the earth’s surface. There may be several clouds but no precipitation. If the cloud particles are too small and remain suspended in the sky, they may not fall on the earth. Under certain conditions, water particles formed tend to fall but do not reach the surface since they get evaporated on the way. Only when the cloud droplets or ice crystals grow to certain size and can no more remain floating due to buoyancy of air, do they fall as precipitation.

Precipitation is the major source of water to all the living organisms on the earth. All the water sources on the earth depend on precipitation only.

FORMS OF PRECIPITATION

Precipitation form is the state that the moisture is in, i.e., liquid, freezing, or frozen (solid). Different forms of precipitation may occur together, such as mixed rain and snow; but such an occurrence is simply a mixture of forms, not a separate form of precipitation. Because atmospheric conditions vary greatly both geographically and seasonally, several different forms of precipitation are possible. All forms of precipitation are collectively termed hydrometeors. Hydrometeors have been classified into 50 specific types. Out of these precipitation forms, only rain (liquid form) and snow (solid form) make significant contribution to total precipitation. In many parts of the world, the term rainfall is used interchangeably with precipitation.

3.1 Introduction

Diffusion is a broader term, which encompasses unplanned as well as planned and directed spread of an innovation. In this chapter, the emphasis is on dissemination of integrated pest management (IPM) technologies. A wide variety of methods and media are being used for delivering IPM technologies depending upon the type of information and the stage of implementation (Whalon et al., 1982). The mass media methods such as print and electronic media are useful for creating awareness rather than directly assisting the farmer to use IPM technology (Lumber et al., 1985). Mass media methods are less intense methods than face to face method namely farmer field school.

3.2 Methods Used for Dissemination of IPM Technologies

Different methods used for dissemination of IPM technologies include the use of mass media including electronic and print media, field days, extension visits, video movies, plant clinics, IPM clubs, picture songs, IPM websites farmer field school etc.

Plant biodiversity is the single greatest resource that man garnered from nature during the long cultural development phase. More than 2.5 lakh species of mosses, ferns, conifers and flowering plants and more than 50,000 plant species are yet to be documented, primarily in the remote and less studied reaches of tropical forests.

Vegetable crops in which rich diversity occurs in India are Cowpea, Common bean, Cole crops, Okra, Brinjal, Sweet potato, Taros, Yams, Sword bean, Velvet bean and Elephant foot yam. Wide diversity was observed in chives, leeks and other Allium spp in Kumaoun and Garhwal Himalayas; cluster bean in Western arid zone; lab lab bean in Deccan plateau; cucurbits in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and leaf vegetables like Amaranth and Fagopyrum in Western Himalayan region. Tropical vegetables consist of solanaceus fruits (tomato, hot pepper, brinjal), cucurbits (water melon, muskmelon, cucumber, pumpkins and squashes, bottle gourd, chow-chow, ivy gourd, bitter gourd, ash gourd, round gourd, snake gourd, pointed gourd, sponge gourd, ridge gourd), malvaceous vegetables (Okra),legumes (common bean, lima bean, dolichos bean, cowpea, sword bean, winged bean), allium (onion, shallot, garlic, leek) and leaf vegetables (amaranth, spinach beet, Ceylon spinach). The indigenous vegetables both cultivated and wild have important role in household nutrition, economy and food security. There are 25 hot spots of biodiversity of which Western Ghats and Eastern Himalayan region are the most important ones. Indo-Myanmar region is one of the largest hot spots of the world and is the centre of origin of tuber crops like yams, taro, Amorphophallus and Alocasia. Tropical tuber crops form an important group of subsistence crops especially to those living in tropics and sub tropical zones. Tuber crops are the third important food crops after cereals and grain legumes. Major tuber crops are cassava, sweet potato, Asiatic yam, African yam, lesser yam, elephant foot yam, taro, tannia and country potato. Minor tuber crops are arrowroot, winged bean, yam bean, canna, safed musli and Jerusalem artichoke. Sweet potato is one of the world’s highest yielding crops.

Biodiversity is the origin of all species of crops and domesticated and the variety within them. It is also the foundation of ecosystem services essential to sustain agriculture and human well-being. Today’s crop and livestock biodiversity are the result of many thousands years of human intervention. The biodiversity in vegetable crops is composed by the genetic diversity, as species diversity (inter specific diversity) and as diversity of genes within a species (intra specific diversity) referring to the vegetable grown varieties, and by the diversity of agro-ecosystems (agro-biodiversity).

Crop diversity is the variance in genetic and phenotypic characteristics of plants used in agriculture. Over the past 50 years, there has been a major decline in two components of crop diversity; genetic diversity within each crop and the number of species commonly grown.

The Indian centre of origin and diversity of cultivated plants represent an outstandingly rich reservoir of nature’s wealth of plant species which include a large number of economically important species including Vegetable Crops. Common vegetables like okra and brinjal are native to this region. Out of the recorded 110 genera and 640 species of cucurbits, 100 species representing 36 genera occur in India. Twenty of these species are endemic. Adoption of high yielding crop varieties and hybrids along with changing land use patterns have led to rapid replacement of native cultivars in most cases. Conserving and sustainable utilization of locally adapted types and primitive landraces are, hence, now major concerns at the national and global levels.

The National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) at New Delhi is the nodal organization in India with the national mandate to plan, conduct, promote and coordinate all activities concerning plant exploration and collection, germ plasm import and exchange, plant quarantine, germplasm multiplication and distribution, evaluation and characterization, documentation and conservation of both indigenous and introduced genetic variability in cultivated plants and their wild relatives.

The challenging job of collecting, genetic evaluation and utilization of plant genetic resources cannot be satisfactorily accomplished by one organization. The enormous task of safeguarding and promoting greater utilization of these valuable resources can be best achieved through a networking approach. Professional development is the key to success of this endeavour. NBPGR organizes regularly short-term training courses on various aspects of PGR to impart latest knowledge and techniques to scientists and technicians engaged in crop improvement programmes and handling germpalsm collections.

1.1. History of Cultivation

Prehistoric people lived as hunters and gatherers. About ten thousand years since now they unveiled the mystery of germination and engaged themselves in production of plant from seed. Since then it was practiced in the open field fully exposed to sun, rainfall, ambient temperature & humidity, etc. Gradually, with the development of society, they improved the package of practice and became accustomed to produce better crop in accordance with these natural conditions.

Backdrop of modern agriculture technology: Since the late 19^th century, population all over the world increased rapidly, which demanded more food production. This situation prompted crop production as a profitable business. New scientific inventions were incorporated in farming practices to increase the production per unit area (yield). On the other hand, repeated cultivation of same or similar crops in the same land, year after years, gradually reduced the productivity of soil. Hence, need arose for increase of crop yield through further improvement in farming technology.

First-phase development: The incorporation of ‘chemicals’ into the soil as plant nutrients(fertilizers) coupled with the use of ‘high-yielding varieties’ changed the scenario of crop production in the sixties of last century. This, along with ‘mechanization’, increased crop yield many-fold and helped to bring large areas under the plough. Countries, which developed these technologies, made good amount of money/profit from this development. Gradually, the rest of the world adopted or purchased these technologies particularly to meet up the rising demand of food in their respective country.

Subsequent problem: This systemof cultivation solvedthe food scarcity problem initially but use of chemicals, cultivation of similar crop over a large area etc. destroyed the agro- ecological balance. These technological developments, coupled with adoption of labour saving technologies, gradually created problems like gradual loss of soil health, lowering of nutrient-use-efficiency and subsequent yield. This invited severe attack of pests like insect, disease, weed and related social problem like unemployment.

1.1 INTRODUCTION

India is the seventh largest country in the world in total geographical area and has second largest population next to China. Around 55 to 60 per cent of its population depend on agriculture and allied activities. Horticultural crops constitute a significant component of total agricultural production in the country. They require very intensive care in planting, carrying out different cultural operations, manipulating growth, harvesting, packing, transportation, marketing, storage and processing.

1.2 AGRICULTURE

The term agriculture broadly refers to the technology of raising plants and animals. Agriculture is the science, art or practice of cultivating soil, producing crops and raising livestock in varying degree of proportion followed by marketing. In other words, it is the activity of man to produce three basic needs of human being, i.e., food, fuel and fibre (3F) by using terrestrial resources optimally. The term agriculture is derived from two Latin words ager meaning field or land and cultura meaning cultivation or growing.

4.1 Introduction

Heat is energy which flows due to difference in temperature. Whereas energy is stored heat. Therefore, when the heat energy transfer is completed. It is stored in the form of potential or kinetic energy, in general as internal energy. Heat as energy is measured in terms of observed changes in other forms of energy & other physical properties. A heat transfer analysis is required for estimating the size, the efficiency and cost of the equipment necessary to transfer a specified amount of heat in a given time. It is well known fact that the size of a solar collector or a heat exchanger depends not so much on the amount of heat to be transmitted but rather on the rate at which heat is to be transferred under given conditions.

4.2 Modes of Heat Transfer

Heat is transferred from one body to another in three possible ways, conduction, convection, and radiation.

13.1 Introduction

Geothermal energy is the nature-based heat generated from within the earth. Underneath the earth’s relatively thin crust, temperature range from 1000 to 4000°C & in some areas, pressures exceed 138 MPa is available. Geothermal energy is most likely generated from radioactive thorium, potassium and uranium dispersed evenly throughout the earth’s interior which produce heat as part of the decaying process. This process generates enough heating, keep the core of the earth at temperature approaching 400°C. Composed primarily of molten nickel & iron, the core is thought to be surrounded by a layer of molten rock, the mantle at approximately 100°C. Nine major crustal plates float on the mantle & currents in the mantle cause the plates to drift, colliding in some areas and diverting in others. When two continental plates converge a complex series of chemicals in the form of molten magna rises in the earth’s crust and depending upon its magnitude, it may break the crust and reach at the earth surface. Volcano, hot spring, geysers & fumaroles are natural geothermal resources near the surface and perhaps where economic drilling operations can tap their heat and pressure.

17.1 Introduction

It is well known fact that planners as well as end users have to consider any resources as technology from economic point of view. Therefore, it is important to have techno – economic analysis of each energy source option. In the feasibility study of particular energy option, three tier judgment approaches is required, which include technical feasibility, economical viability and social acceptability. Hence in the rural energy planning programme one has to considered techno socio economic analysis of an individual energy option. Since in integrated rural energy planning, locally available energy resources are used, presuming that it is socially recognized. Hence in the IREP project, the need and scope of techno economic analysis in terms of economic analysis of different technical feasible options, before between “economic” and “finical” analysis should be kept in mind. An economic analysis is needed to verify that a particular energy source will provide “net benefit” to society as a whole, before its final integration in the energy context, while a financial analysis integrated in the energy practices. In simple words, a financial analysis is concerned with goods and services, money inflow and outflows and the transfer of payments. An economic analysis also considers the social benefits and costs of goods and services which are not traded in a market.

Abstract

Land development in urbanized watersheds poses a potential of increasing storm runoff rates, and therefore increasing the risk of flooding in the downstream areas of a watershed. To investigate the impact of change in land use practices on the watershed hydrology, an hydrological analysis was conducted on Little Kitten Creek watershed located near Manhattan city of Riley county, Kansas, USA. Prior to development, land use types in the watershed included woodland, pasture, and fallow land. However, rapid development has occurred in the watershed in the last ten years. Post development land use practices include commercial development, residential housing, and conservation (woodland and grasslands). Data collected and analyzed included digital elevation model (DEM) of study site, stream network and soil data using ArcGIS (ESRI, 2006) and Arc-Hydro Software (Maidment, 2000). Watershed characteristics such as slopes, channel length, circularity ratios, and drainage density were also computed. The delineated watershed boundary, stream segments and soil data layers were over laid to produce soil maps. Time of concentration (Tc) was determined for the pre and post development conditions in the watershed using seven different methods. The time of concentration values computed using Kerby, Federal Aviation Agency, Kinematic Wave and NRCS (SCS) methods found more reasonable compared to the remaining three methods used.

These computed time of concentration values were observed to be shorter for the post-development condition when compared to the pre-development condition of the watershed. The reduced time of concentration in the post development condition is attributed to increase in percentage of impervious areas due to increased residential development in the watershed; therefore increased rates of runoff in the watershed are expected.

Keywords: Rezoning, Time of Concentration, DEM, Kinematic Wave, Drainage density, Circularity ratio.

Abstract

Agroforestry is an ancient practice that farmers have adopted throughout the world. There are innumerable examples of traditional land use practices combining production of trees and agriculture crops on the same piece of land. In India, the organized agroforestry research began in 1979 when a Seminar on Agroforestry was organized at Imphal by the ICAR, New Delhi. As a follow up to this, ICAR launched an All India Co-ordinated Research Project on Agroforestry (AICRPAF) was started in 1983. The diagnostic survey and appraisal revealed that there are enumerable agroforestry practices prevalent in different agro- ecological zones of India occupying sizeable areas. However, spatial technologies like Geographical Information System (GIS), Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Positioning System (GPS) have yet to be implemented extensively in this field in India. The spatial technologies have shown great potential in natural resource management through out the world, especially in developed countries in the fields like forest cover mapping, agricultural planning, watershed management, land use planning, etc. In India the agroforestry land use occupy large areas but use of these technologies to estimate area has been initiated in year 2007 with DST sponsored project entitled ‘Spatial and Temporal analysis of agroforestry interventions in North-western India using GIS and Remote Sensing’ The area under agroforestry systems has been estimated/ mapped in two districts viz., Yamunanagar (Haryana) and Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh), where intensive commercial agroforestry was predominant. Besides, the methodology developed as an out come of this study may be replicated for agroforestry systems existing in other parts of the country.

Keywords: Agroforestry, Geo-spatial, Mapping, Natural Resources, Remote Sensing.

Abstract

Anantapur is the driest district of Andhra Pradesh and hence, agriculture conditions are very often precarious. Groundnut grows where other crops fail and thus it is the predominant crop of Anantapur district. Groundnut is grown in about 7.5 lakh ha in Anantapur district; however the average yields are low at 500 kg ha^-1. Among various available vegetation indices, normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) is widely used for all reasons, which is a single numerical indicator of presence and condition of green vegetation. NDVI mapping at a regional scale helps to assess the spatial changes in the vigour of green vegetation and thus occurrence of any moisture stress. Climate tools have a great role in understanding the crop performance and estimating the yields. This study was taken up by using freely available MODIS data to understand NDVI in terms of abiotic stresses over Anantapur district and linking with the actual rainfall conditions, groundnut crop acreage and production. Results indicate that low groundnut yields in general could be related to NDVI-based stress measurements and rainfall quantum and distribution in the area however, with a few exceptions. It is hoped that by combining improved practices through IWM with climate-adapted crop varieties, rainfed farmers of Anantapur district can sustain their crop production under present climate variability and become resilient to future climate change.

Keywords: Climate, MODIS, NDVI, Anantapur, Groundnut, Integrated Watershed Management

Abstract

Customized application development can deliver/fulfill the specialized and specific needs of the users as well as it provides user- friendly environment to the users. There have been applications developed in the past but now applications developed and coupled with the advantage of GIS technologies for various data-handling, spatial analyses and visualization under variable inputs and spatial scales is an innovative approach developed during recent years.The present work encompasses Spatial Agricultural Information and Decision Support System having five modules - Agro-socio-economic-information, Bio- Physical Information, Crop’s Information & Management, and Agriculture DSS Module. This system, developed in a GIS framework, allows managers and planners to rapidly assess land attributes and link these attributes with maps and related infrastructure. Hence, it can facilitate efficient use of existing resource information. The primary database of the software has a Database Update feature which can be utilized by the user using the software to integrate own data into the primary database of the software. With this integration, the software adapts to new data entered and will enable this data to be visualized in GIS platform. The software has been designed keeping in view the requirements of the departments like Department of Agriculture, Department of Land Records etc. In comparison with the commercial GIS applications, the commercial applications are not cost effective if the primary requirement is visualization enabling decision making and basic spatial analysis. The most features available on such software remain un-utilized or they cannot be used without having GIS knowledge. This application is suitable in such scenarios, providing a simple customizable platform for GIS visualization. This software application fits in and serves the line departments and in a way promoting the GIS in the mountainous terrain as it requires very basic or no GIS skill set to operate.

Abstract

GIS has several products that can be protected in India as copyright. The paper describes major provisions of copyright Act, 1957 that has been amended five times. GIS products qualify to be registered within various sections of the copyright Act. Patenting of software is permitted in some countries but not in India, a comparative account of these two forms of protection has been discussed with practical examples. General public licensing of open source software, translation, exclusive licensing and data sharing & accessibility policy are other areas covered in the present study and analytical learning.

Key words : copyright, patent, GIS, software, data sharing

1.0 Introduction

The copyright Act 1957 was mainly amended in 1994 and1999 to bring into complete harmony with Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), further major amendment has been done in 2012, that include wide range changes in ownership, term of protection, copyright security, cinematography and broadcasting provisions. In the same year government of India has initiated ‘National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP)’ which came into operation from February 2012. At present the copyright Act and data sharing policy are the two legal and administrative instruments which facilitate the intellectual property protection and appropriate sharing among stakeholders in the country.

Land is merely an area of the earth’s surface comprising all physical, chemical and biological environments that influence the land use (FAO ,1976). Land refers not only to soil but also to climate, landforms, hydrology, geology, natural vegetation including fauna and flora. The land use simply means management of a land for specific uses to meet the human needs in all rural, urban and industrial context, whereas the land use plan refers to a coherent set of decisions about the ways to achieve the desired level preferably on economic background. Thus, the land use planning is the systematic evaluation and assessment of a land and associated attributes for the purpose of identifying the best land use options beneficial to landowners or users without degrading the land resources or environment. It includes not only the landowner or users, but also the policy or decision makers as well as economic experts for financial measures from planning stage or logistic planning to execution.

Land cover

Relates to the type of feature present on the surface of the earth e.g., Fields, trees, concrete high ways.

Land use

Relates to the human activity associated with a specific piece of land. The same land would have a land cover consisting of roofs, pavements, grass and trees. The land use in an area is really an intervention by the people over the existing natural eco-environment for satisfying their needs.

Land cover is distinct from land use despite the two terms often being used interchangeably. Land use is a description of how people utilize the land and socio-economic activity - urban and agricultural land uses are two of the most commonly recognised high-level classes of use. At any one point or place, there may be multiple and alternate land uses, the specification of which may have a political dimension.

The ability to fast-track development and delivery of improved maize cultivars with capacity to provide climate-resilience (high and stable yields in stress-prone environments), coupled with improved nutritional quality, will be critical for sustainable intensification and diversification of maize-based cropping systems, and for providing enhanced income opportunities to the smallholders. This warrants coordinated multi-institutional efforts and implementation of innovative strategies to further increase genetic gains through breeding, and to translate these gains in the farmers’ fields. This article will focus only on the novel tools/ technologies/strategies that are being employed by CIMMYT for increasing genetic gains, especially for grain yield under stress-prone environments in the tropical/sub-tropical regions of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Asia.

Novel tools/techniques/strategies for increasing genetic gains in the tropics

“Genetic gain” (also called as selection response) refers to the difference in the mean value of the selection criterion between original generation and next generation (formed from only the selected individuals), when they were compared in the same environment. The selection criterion is the trait(s) on which selection is based. While conventional breeding has been successful in improving maize yields over the decades, and especially in the last one decade in India through single-cross hybrids, the significantly rising demand for maize in the tropical regions of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia warrants sharp increases in genetic gains. Thus, the major challenge for the present generation of product development teams is to double the genetic gains for grain yield under stressed environments, i.e., from the present <1% to at least 1.5% within the next 5-6 years.

Shrinking land resources, vulnerable market of cash crops along with climatic aberrations have adversely affected the Indian agriculture and as a result, small farmers are increasingly alienating from this profession. To sustain their livelihood, farmers are increasingly adopting the alternative sources and dairy farming is one of the best-suited businesses, which can rightly fit at this stage. It is fast emerging as a potential business in rural India, particularly in the peri-urban belt. Among the major inputs required to set up a dairy unit, round the years availability of good quality fodder is the foremost requirement. Green forages are rich and cheapest source of carbohydrates, protein, vitamins and minerals for dairy animals. The importance of forages in our country is well recognized since feeding forages alone accounts for over 70% of the cost of milk production. Hence by providing sufficient quantities of green fodder instead of costly concentrates and feeds to the milch animals, the economics of dairy unit can easily be maintained. Milch animals need around 40 kg of green fodder daily for better milk production and for maintaining good health of the animal. There is a large number of fodder crops grown in our country, the majority being dominated by pearl millet, sorghum, maize and oats in the non-leguminous and berseem and lucerne in the leguminous category. Pearl millet and sorghum are extensively grown as cereals in the southern and dryer regions of the country and the stover remained is used as animal fodder. However, the nutritional quality of the stover is very poor due to higher content of indigestible lignin and low levels of cellulose, whereas, the cultivated green fodders are mostly confined to the North-Western plain zones of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh. The availability of round the years quality green fodder, therefore, seems to be a tough task. At present, the country faces a net deficit of 61.1% green fodder, 21.9% dry crop residues and 64% feeds (IGFRI Vision, 2030).

1) Origin and distribution

Pearl millet (Pennisetum americanum (L) Leeke, 2n-14) originated in west Africa from where it was introduced into India. Large variability is still found in Africa. Pearl millet is a dual purpose crop; its grain is used for human consumption and its fodder as cattle feed. It is cultivated mainly in Africa and Asia, primarily as a grain crop in an area of 26 million ha with a production of 13 million tonnes. As a poor man’s bread, it sustains a large population of Africa and Asia. It also contributes to the economy of countries like the U.S.A. where it is grown as a forage crop.

In India, Pennisetum americanum (bajra) is cultivated on 11 to 12 million ha land with a production of about 6 million tonnes. It is grown on marginal lands and in areas of scanty rainfall. Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana account for about 90 per cent of the total area under this crop.

Introduction

Tree improvement through the application of genetic principles is directed towards modifying the heredity of tree populations so that they are able to meet the needs of the forester and the wood based industry. The breeder of annual crop plants resorts to hybridisation, selection, testing of the improved strains, multiplication of improved seeds and finally their release for commercial planting in that logical sequence. But the tree breeder, whose career may be shorter than the life cycle of the tree species taken up for improvement, tends to carry out the above operations in a modified form and often some of the operations are carried out concurrently.

Many of our tree species are wild unselected populations. They are, therefore, expected to exhibit considerable natural variability for many characters and also to respond well to selection for further improvement. Further, altitudinal and latitudinal variation in many characters between populations are expected for those tree species which have a wide geographical distribution. So, the selection of desirable seed sources or provenances is an essential step that is basic to all tree improvement programmes. The right provenance is identified through well laid out provenance trials at a number of locations in the area where the improved selection is to be grown. Further improvement is then planned and executed for exploiting the naturally available intrapopulation variation. The variation normally measured is the phenotypic variation which is the result of interaction of the genotype of the individual with the environment. However, what is essential for selection to be effective is genetic variation for the character under consideration. Genetic variation is assessed by appropriate progeny trials. Since many of the economically valuable characters of tree species are polygenically controlled and exbibit continuous variation, measurements have to be in metric units. The use of biometrical techniques for assessing and analysing this variation, therefore, becomes an essential requirement.

The satellite data is available in raster format. Raster data consists of two – dimensional array of pixels or grids which stores the values representing features. All the pixels are of same size and shape with their particular coordinate location. A raster data format is shown below.

The sensors present over remote sensing satellites are designed to collect energy or radiance from the varied surface features having wide range of radiance i.e. from features like water bodies having very low radiance to features like sand or snow having very high radiance. But, most of the time, the study area may not have all these features; therefore, radiance values may remain confined to a narrow range. This reduces the contrast of the image, thereby decreases its visual quality. In this context, image contrast enhancement techniques are used for effective visualization and display of remote sensing image on computer screens or hard copy so that maximum amount of information can be derived through its visual interpretation.

Contrast enhancement of a digital image is a technique to modify the original grey levels of input image to the entire available range of the grey levels. This increases the contrast between various features in the image which improves the visual quality of original image. Contrast enhancement can be done by both linear and non-linear methods. Some of the commonly used contrast enhancement techniques with their implementation in R software are discussed in this chapter.

We need following packages for performing this exercise in R. raster package is required for importing of raster image and for performing contrast enhancement. RStoolbox package is also required for contrast enhancement as well as for visualization of raster data with ggplot2 package. rasterVis package is mainly used in this exercise for plotting histogram of the raster data.

Annual flowers are a group of herbaceous plants which grow from seeds, produce flowers, set seeds and complete their life-cycle within one year or one season. They provide a beautiful display of colours in the garden. Whether it is a small home garden or a big public garden, it is incomplete without beds of annual flowers. They enhance the decorative value of a garden within a short span of time. At their blooming time, one feels elated when a rain of beauty drizzles in the garden.

Classification of Annuals

Based on season, the annual flowers are divided into 3 groups—winter season, summer season and rainy season.

Winter season annuals

This group includes a large number of seasonal flowers. The important ones are acroclinium, agrostemma, amaranthus, anchusa, annual carnation, annual chrysanthemum, antirrhinum, arctotis, bells-of-Ireland, brachycome, calceolaria, calendula, campanula, candytuft, celosia, China aster, cineraria, clarkia, cornflower, daisy, delphinium, dianthus, dimorphotheca, echium, eschscholzia, gazania, godetia, helichrysum, helipterum, hollyhock, gypsophila, limonium, linaria, linum, lupin, marigold, matricaria, mesembryanthemum, mignonette, mimulus, myosotis, nasturtium, nemesia, nicotiana, nemophila, nigella, pansy, petunia, phlox, pimpinella, poppy, rudbeckia, salvia, saponaria, scabiosa, schizanthus, senecio, stock, sweet alyssum, sweet pea, sweet sultan, sweet william, venidium, verbena, viola and wall flower.

The term “low-maintenance” refers to a plant that does not require frequent maintenance such as regular watering, pruning, or spraying to remain healthy and to maintain an acceptable aesthetic quality. A low-maintenance plant has low fertilizer requirements and few pest and disease problems. In addition, low-maintenance plants suitable for India must also be adapted to or at least tolerate our poor, alkaline, sand or limestone-based soils. Both native and non-native species are included herein. Also, a variety of plants that are not commonly available in Indian nurseries or garden centres were intentionally included with the hope that increased demand will generate increased supply. Putting the right plant in the right place is of foremost importance in creating a healthy and successful low-maintenance landscape. However, this principle is dependent upon one’s ability to accurately select the right plant species for a given location. Common names are often misleading and sometimes more than one plant species may be referred to by the same or similar common name.

There are four major tracts where salt affected soils are commonly met within India. These are:

1. The Semi-arid Indo-Gangetic alluvial tracts (mainly in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and a part of Bihar)
2. The arid tracts of Rajasthan and Gujarat.
3. The arid and semi arid tracts of southern states, particularly of the irrigated rigor (Vertisols) soils.
4. The coastal alluvium

Earlier it was estimated that about 7 million hectares of land have been affected by salinity/sodicity conditions in India. The area under these soils increased and reached to the level 10 million hectares at present.

Leaf analysis and its importance

Improved fertilizer management for crops is important in view of today’s need to reduce production costs, conserve natural resources, and minimize possible negative environmental impacts. These goals can be achieved through optimum management of the fertilizer applied. Understanding the crop nutrient requirements and using soil testing to predict fertilizer needs are keys to fertilizer management efficiency.

Plant tissue testing is another tool for use in achieving a high degree of precision in fertilizer management. Timely tissue testing can help diagnose suspected nutrient problems or can simply assist in learning more about fertilizer management efficiency. Leaf analysis (also called stem leaf analysis, tissue analysis or foliar analysis) is the most precise method of monitoring plant nutrient levels. While soil analysis reveals the levels of essential soil nutrients, leaf analysis shows the grower exactly what the plant has successfully absorbed. Leaf analysis is especially helpful in detecting nutrient deficiencies before they affect plant health and yield.

Phosphorus is one of the key nutrients required for higher and sustained productivity of potato and its influence on tuber yield is very well established. Phosphatic fertilizers are expensive and in developing countries like India, they are either imported or manufactured using imported raw material. Due to increase in cost in the recent past, there has been a decreasing trend in the amounts of P fertilizer applied in India (Sundara and Natarajan, 1997 and Sundara, 1988). At the same time, soils contain substantial reserves of total P, most of it remains relatively inert, and only less than 10% of soil P enters the plant–animal cycle (Kucey et al., 1989). Upon addition to the soils, soluble phosphates react with the constituents of the soil and form compounds that are less soluble. This conversion depends upon the soil type. In acid soils, the reaction products are aluminium and iron phosphates and in the predominantly calcareous soils, the reaction products are calcium phosphates. As a result most of the P applied (often as much as 90%) is rendered unavailable for crop uptake but is retained in insoluble form. This is the reason that the potato-based cropping systems in different potato growing pockets generally show positive P balance resulting into its build up (Singh et al., 1994). Thus, soils commonly have large reserves of ‘fixed’ P that could support long-term crop requirements if it could be mobilized through appropriate soil management including use of P-solubilizing microbes. The ability of phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) to convert insoluble forms of phosphorus to an accessible form is an important trait in sustainable farming for increasing plant yields (Singh and Kapoor, 1994). The beneficial effects of PSB on crop productivity have been widely described. These soil phosphate solubilizing bacteria stay near the roots and make the phosphorus available to plants from soil.

Potato plays a vital role in food security for ever increasing world population (Thiele et al., 2010; Scott and Sourez, 2011; Scott and Sourez, 2012). It is highly capital and labour intensive crop (Kushwah and Singh, 2011). Presently, India is the second largest potato producer in the world. India is producing about 45-48 million tonnes of potato annually from about 2 million hectare of area. However, India would require 125 million metric tonnes of potato from 3.6 million hectare area in 2050 (Vision, 2050). The stagnating growth rates of cereals’ productivity, large scale diversion of food grains to feed & bio-fuel and expected steep rise in per capita consumption of pulses, edible oil, fruits, vegetables, milk, sugar and non-vegetarian food in the regime of steadily rising population is bound to put pressure on existing cultivable land. Since, cultivable land is expected to remain more or less constant in the next 40 years, the role of crops like potato having higher production potential per unit land and time will become imperative. In this context potato crop has very high probability of making crucial contribution to the future national food security agenda. The perceived changes in Indian socio-economics in the medium and long term are expected to enhance per capita food consumption of fresh potatoes.

Fertilizer and nutrient recommendations for different crops are mostly region specific and very general in nature which results into a blanket application of fertilizer leading to its poor efficacy and wastage of costly resources as well as of environmental pollution. In addition, this has caused severe imbalance of nutrients in soil. The spatial variability of available nutrients properly mapped along with other relevant parameters will help to develop site specific nutrient management practices with increased productivity and profitability apart from checking nutrient imbalance and environmental pollution.

Cutaneous muscle

The cutaneous muscle of the thoracic region is a part of the cutaneous muscle of the trunk. It arises from the interbrachial fascia on the medial surface of the arm and elbow and the lateral aspect of the arm and shoulder. It extends as a broad sheet between the shoulder and arm cranially and the stifle and thigh caudally and then upward to the middle of the dorsum and the tuber coxae.

Fascia of thorax

The fascia of the thoracic region is the caudal continuation of cervical fascia. It is in two layers, the superficial and deep. The superficial fascia is continuous with that of the skin and the cutaneous muscle. The deep fascia forms a well developed sheath for aponeurosis with the longissimus muscle. It is attached medially to the supraspinous ligament and the summits of the spinous processes of the thoracic vertebrae while laterally it is attached to the lateral surface of the ribs. From here it continues ventrolaterally and passes medial to the scapula under the rhomboideus thoracis muscle.

The muscles of fore limb (Fig. 5-3 A and B) are distributed in different regions of fore limb as muscles of shoulder girdle, shoulder, arm and those of forearm and manus. By means of the muscles of shoulder girdle the forelimb is attached with the trunk of the body by synsarcosis and bears the weight of the body. The rest of the groups of muscles act on different joints of the fore limb as extensors or flexors of these joints. The group of muscles acting on these joints originates on the bone of the proximal segment and insert on the bone of distal segment of the concerned joint.

Muscles of shoulder girdle

The muscles of shoulder girdle have been described with the muscles of thorax.

Muscles of shoulder

The muscles of shoulder arise on the scapula, act on shoulder joint and end on the humerus. These muscles are in two groups as the lateral group of muscles and the medial group of muscles.

Our general environment is loaded with tiny invisible living things that influence us consistently. Microbiology is a specialized area of science that deals with living things typicallytoo little to be seen without magnification. Suchmicroscopic life forms are collectively referred to as microorganisms. Microbial kingdom incorporates the study of bacteria, rickettsiae, viruses, fungi, algae and protozo a. Virology the study of viruses, mycology study of fungi and protozoology deals with protozoa.Credit for prologue to microbial world goes to ‘Antony van Leeuwenhoek’ and to vistas of microbial activities to ‘Louis Pasteur’ and ‘Robert Koch’. This period is reffered as the “Golden Era” of microbiology on account of the significant discoveries viz: microbial fermentations, discovery of various disease-causing agents, microbes’ cultivations, differences in metabolic activities, development of attenuated strains and their use as immunoprophylactic agents. The techniques used to study bacteria and different microorganisms embody direct microscopic examination, cultivation, biochemical tests, animal inoculation, serological reactivity and recent molecular biological techniques.Definitive evidence for the cause of a given infection is established by Koch that are still used to this day to definitively prove that a microorganism causes a particular disease. Koch’s four postulates are:

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is branch of pharmacology that deals with study of chemical substance intended to kills or inhibits the growth of invading microorganism or foreign cell without harm to host cells. Paul Ehrlich coined the term chemotherapy and is known as father of chemotherapy. Gerhard Johannes Paul Domagk discovered sulphonamide (sulfonamidochrysoidine). First commercially available sulphonamide marketed in the form of Prontosil dye, for which he received the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. SelmanAbraham Waksman discover streptomycin and several other antibiotics from soil actinomycetes and actinomycetes is called treasurer house of antibiotics.

α-lactam antibiotics- includes penicillins, cephalosporins, carbapenems, monobectum and beta-lactamase inhibitors. It inhibits bacterial cell wall synthesis due to inhibition of transpeptidation reaction thus inhibits peptidoglycan synthesis. Penicillins contain 6-animopenicillanic acid (((lactam ring + thiazolidine ring) eg. natural penicillins, beta-lactamase-resistant agents, aminopenicillins, carboxypenicillins, and ureidopenicillins. Discovery of penicillin was done by Alexender fleming from penicillium mold in 1928 from Penicillium notatum. Now a day’s Penicillium chrysogenum mold is a major source of penicillin production. Benzathine penicillin G is a repository salt of penicillin. Probenicid competitively inhibit renal tubular secretion of penicillin and increase the half- life of penicillin. Procaine penicillin G should not administer by i.v. route due to adversely affect the cardiac conducting system. Beta-lactamses inhibitors are calvulenic acid (Streptomyces clavuligerus), salbactum, tazobactam. They are called suicidal /progressive inhibitors. Main adverse effect associate with penicillin is immediate type of hypersensitivity reaction due to Antigen+ IgE antibody reaction.

Abstract

World Economic forum (WEF) which evaluated 149 countries on four parameters including economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment, said that it would take 108 years to close the overall gender gap. That means the economic opportunity gap-based on participation, pay and advancement in the workforce-remains the area that is going to take the longest time to close. Globally, women are paid less than men. Women in most countries earn on average only 60 to 75 per cent of men’s wages. Contributing factors include the fact that women are more likely to be wage workers and unpaid family workers; that women are more likely to engage in low-productivity activities and to work in the informal sector, with less mobility to the formal sector than men. India’s inequality crisis hurts girls and women the most. An Oxfam report on inequality published in January 2019 revealed that in the workplace, women still receive 34% less wages than their male counterparts for the same work. In J&K, incidences of domestic violence, dowry, etc are rampant. State Women Commission J&K receives 1600-1700 domestic violence cases every year, majority cases being from the Kashmir Valley. Men’s silence, insensitivity and indifferences with regards to gender equality practices need to be the focus theme of the time. The fight for gender equality cannot be fought by women alone. Men have a key role to play in demanding and supporting this societal shift by being a part of the movement.

Keywords: Women empowerment, global perspectives, Indian perspectives, way forward.

Abstract

Gender Budgeting was first introduced in 1985 and is being implemented globally by more than 50 countries to ensure gender equality goals. India took initial steps towards analysing the gender gap through “Towards Equality” a Report of the Committee on the Status of Women by the Government of India in 1974. Gender based resource allocation in the country was seen from 1990s onwards in the Eighth Five Year Plan (1992-97) when for the first time gender perspective and the need to ensure definite flow of funds from general developmental sectors to women was emphasised upon. Women constitute 49% of human population in India so it is extremely important that the untapped gender potential is recognized, reorganised and utilized efficiently & effectively to attain a leading position in S&T sector. India has expanded her R&D base immensely since the turn of the 21^st century. Consequently there has been 10 times enhancement in enrolment of women in S&T disciplines in institutions of higher education since 1989-90. Department of Science and Technology has taken many steps in recent past to strengthen the ecosystem to empower women in S&T domain, particularly by enabling over 4000 of them who had a break in career, primarily due to familial responsibilities, to make a dignified comeback. Several Role Models, who have shown their mettle and made a mark in the chosen field, are emerging and engaging & encouraging the young, Gen Next girls.

Abstract

Women entrepreneurship means the process in which women initiate a business, gather all resources, undertake risks, face challenges, provides employment to others and manage the business independently. Where women population hovers around 50% of the total human population in the world so entrepreneurship by them plays a key role in the development of economy of both developed and developing nations. The problems faced by women entrepreneurs are heavy work load, irregular payment, lack of work guarantee and no maternity benefits, health problems, marketing, financial liberty and being away from home. A different culture is required to promote, motivate and develop sustainable infrastructure for fostering women entrepreneurship. Often, an entrepreneur has to go through a complex set of procedures and formalities to start a business, which not only create irritations and delays but frustrate her efforts until she is exhausted. An urgent need, therefore, is to simplify procedures and formalities. Part of the problem is one of attitudes, which are built on regulatory roles rather than developmental roles. All training and financial agencies need to be gender sensitive. The time has come for an effort to inculcate a spirit of enterprise, self-dependence, creativity, and high goals among women in developing nations. Hence, entrepreneurship must be made part and parcel of the education curriculum.