eChapters

Life is fundamentally a complex interplay of chemical interactions and reactions. Chemistry examines the composition and properties of matter, the interactions between chemical components, and the mechanisms by which complex structures are formed. Biological chemistry, or Biochemistry, delves into these principles within the context of living systems, highlighting the intricate relationships between molecular structure and function. Understanding fundamental chemistry and its application to anatomy and physiology is crucial because the human body is composed entirely of chemical substances. Basic chemistry encompasses the study of matter, its various states, and energy in all its forms. In order to understand the basic chemistry of living let us start from the scratch of learning and remembering everything that we have learnt so far. Matter and Its Properties Anything with mass and occupying space is referred to as matter. Solid, liquid, and gas are its three main states. Mass, distinct from weight, represents the quantity of matter in an object and remains constant regardless of location. In contrast, weight depends on gravitational force. 

Biochemistry: An Overview of Biomolecules Biochemistry is a branch of science that delves into the chemical composition and interactions of cells and organisms. It focuses on the molecular structures found within biological systems, their chemical characteristics, functions, and the reactions they undergo. By studying these molecules, biochemists gain insights into the fundamental processes that sustain life. Properties of Biomolecules General Characteristics Biomolecules are fundamentally organic compounds, sharing similar properties with typical organic molecules. They obey the same physical and chemical principles, undergo similar reactions, and adhere to universal physical laws. However, their complexity and biological specificity distinguish them from simpler organic compounds. Composition and Structural Features The backbone of biomolecules is predominantly composed of carbon, which forms four covalent bonds, often exhibiting a tetrahedral geometry. Carbon skeletons can exist in diverse forms like linear,

6.1. Line × tester analysis

A successful approach of crop breeding programme depends on the proper choice of best parents for hybridization and the ideal selection adopted in the early generation. But, the selection of parents for hybridization programme is relatively tough in the case of complex traits like yield and their components as they governed by large number of quantitative genes which are influenced by environments and seasons. Thus, breeders often meet with difficulty to fix in advance the desirable parents which will give superior progenies. In such a situation, knowledge on the nature of gene action on such complex quantitative traits of economic importance is necessary to plan and adopt appropriate selection techniques (Simmonds, 1979) and breeding methodology.

Combining ability analysis gives useful information regarding the selection of parents in terms of the performance of the hybrids. This analysis elucidates the nature and magnitude of various types of gene action involved in the expression of quantitative traits (Dhillon, 1975). Thus, the knowledge of combining ability serves as an useful tool for the selection of plants for hybridization and further exploitation. Combining ability consists of general and specific combining ability.

Sprague and Tatum (1942) defined general combining ability (gca) as the “average performance of a line in hybrid combinations” and specific combining ability (sca) “as those cases in which certain combinations do relatively better of worse than would be expected on the basis of the average performance of the lines involved. The general combining ability provides an indication of the importance of genes of largely additive in nature, while specific combining ability indicates the importance of non-additive gene effects.

Several biometrical techniques are available to estimate the general combining ability of parents and specific combining ability of hybrids. Among them, line × tester analysis is extensively used both in self and cross pollinated crops. The advantage of line × tester analysis is that a large number of inbred lines can be evaluated than diallel analysis. Besides, it provides additional information on the performance of the specific hybrids on gene action in contrast to top cross or polycross. The line × tester analysis is an efficient biometrical approach for assessing the combining ability of parents and hybrids (Kempthorne, 1957).

The Mineral Kingdom presents a dazzling floral-display in the form of natural crystals. This is what makes mineralogy a very fascinating subject both for an amateur as well as an expert. Unless one visits the celebrated Lechuguilla cave in New Mexcio, USA it will be difficult to visualize the breathtaking beauty that crystals present. This, over 160 km cave is lined with gigantic as well as delicate gypsum crystals- as thin as human hair to several centimetres across and 6 m long . Crystals come in all shapes, sizes and colours. Their beauty and regular shape has not only attracted the scientists but made them objects of magical and mythical powers in many cultures of the world.

The study of crystals - including their growth, structure, classification by form and their physical properties forms the subject of crystallography. As of today one can’t think of this subject without x-ray crystallography, however, this being not in your syllabus only an introduction will be presented in the last chapter, while the entire section will be devoted to fundamental aspects of crystal morphology.

The section comprises four chapters. Chapter I describes and introduces the theme, presents a brief historical background of the development of the subject and gives some fundamental definitions. Chapter II presents the morphological elements including symmetry elements( plane, axes and centre of symmetry), parameters, indices, notation of crystal faces and other related aspects which are the basis for dividing crystals of all shapes and sorts into six or seven systems and several sub-types. This chapter will help you understand as to why mineral galena belongs to cubic system, while gypsum is monoclinic, or as to why an octahedron is represented by a symbol (111) but a cube with (100). Chapter III describes the seven systems and their sub-types and ends with an account of twinning- a curious feature quite often encountered among crystals. The section ends with a preliminary idea about stereographic projection and x-ray crystallography.

Origin of Fowl

Domestication of poultry seems to have been undertaken in south-east Asia. The chickens were brought to India by 1000 BC, and later on they spread north, westwards and reached Greece by 525 BC. By the beginning of Christian era, the birds were already popular in West Asia and East Europe, and then gradually reached South Africa, Australia, Japan, USSR and USA.

Red Jungle fowls are the ancestors of the present-day poultry breeds. There are four known species of wild fowl and they belong to the same genus “Gallus” meaning a cock. The four species are as follows:

The Red Jungle fowl is supposed to be the main contributor for the development of modern-day poultry and is widely distributed throughout Burma, China, India, Philippines, Sumatra and Thailand. The plumage (colour of the feather) of females resembles that of Brown Leghorn, the males have orange red feathers in hackle, wing bow and saddle regions, while the breast is black. Eggs are buff (off-white) in colour. The legs are slate (dark bluish grey) coloured. The comb is all red.

House Plants refer a group of ornamental plants, both foliage and fowering, used for decoration of house interiors besides verandahs, corridors, porch, stairs, window sills etc. These are of various categories namely trees (juvenile), shrubs, herbs, bulbous, rhizomatus and other shade loving plants. House plants are generally grown in pots and displayed for making interiors delightful and cosy. In addition, such arrangements enhance the architectural beauty of the buildings. These are easily shifted from one place to another as per display plan. Moreover, option of changing the whole lot with a new set provides opportunity to create a new look of the site.

Foliage type house plants with their exquisite leaves, colour, variegation and uniqueness add grandeur to the interiors. On the otherhand, flowering ones having a spectrum of flower colour, are added attraction for beautifying relatively lighted areas of house. House plants are also grown as bedded plants in the gardens where ground space is available.

Successful growing of house plants depends on right selection of species considering climatic conditions, proper placement and maintenance. The main purpose is to make interiors decorative and lively. In addition to the aesthetic effect, house plants make the interiors more humid and cool. Besides, they absorb pollutants and supply oxygen. In cities, space for outdoor gardening attached to the house has almost vanished due to non-availability of land and high cost. As a result, popularity of growing house plants has increased manifold. Display of house plants is also a regular practice in other places like offices, institutes, banks, hospitals, factories, hotels etc. as these create an ambient working atmosphere besides beautification.

1.    Introduction    3
2.    History and Scope of Microbiology    4
    2.1.    Controversy over the origin of microorganisms, 5
    2.2.    Germ theory of fermentation, 6
    2.3.    Germ theory of disease, 6
    2.4.    Development of laboratory techniques and pure cultures, 7
    2.5.    Discovery of immunization, 7
    2.6.    Discovery of protection against infection, 8
    2.7.    Discovery of chemotherapeutic agents, 8
    2.8.    Microorganisms as geochemical agents, 9

1. Introduction
 
The bryophytes are found everywhere in the world except in the sea. They grow on wet soil or rock, the trunk of trees, in lake, river and even in Antarctic island. The bryophytes are placed taxonomically between algae (Fig. 1) and pteridophytes (Fig. 2); there are about 24,000 species in the world. They are further divided into three phyla, Bryophyta (mosses 14,000 species, Fig. 3), Marchantiophyta (liverworts 6,000 species, Fig.4a,b) and Anthocerotophyta (hornworts 300 species, Fig. 5). They are considered to be the oldest terrestrial plants, although no strong scientific evidence for this has appeared in the literature. This hypothesis was mainly based on the resemblance of the present-day liverworts to the first land plant fossils, the spores of which date back to almost 500 million years. Among the bryophytes almost all liverworts possess beautiful cellular oil bodies (Fig. 6) which are peculiar, membrane-bound cell organelles which consist of ethereal terpenoids and aromatic oils suspended in carbohydrates- or protein-rich matrix, while the other two phyla do not. These oil bodies are very important biological markers for the taxonomy in the Marchantiophyta (Asakawa, 1982, 1995; Asakawa et al., 1979b, 2008c, 2012b, 2013a,b; Asakawa and Ludwiczuk, 2008a,b; Ludwiczuk and Asakawa, 2010).

Design and Construction of a greenhouse involves five distinctly different aspects viz. (a) Basic form or type, (b) structure/designs, (c) covering materials and its fixing, (d) foundation and constructional detail, and (e) crop-support, irrigation and drainage planning.

All the above aspects are interlinked. To have a clear idea, these individual aspects are discussed separately.

4.1. Basic Forms of Greenhouse

Before considering anything about construction, one should finalize the form of construction. There are different forms of greenhouses for different climatic and crop situations. These types of structures are planned according to the requirement of farmer/promoter and obviously according to the purpose. Now we will describe, in brief, some of the important form or type of greenhouses.

4.1.1. Greenhouse covered with transparent and impervious material

These structures are covered with water/rain impermeable transparent materials which allow necessary solar radiation for optimal growth of plants. Simultaneously it protects crops from temperature-fluctuation, rain, wind, and creates a favourable situation in respect of CO₂ and humidity. This covering is also used to prevent the re-radiation of heat energy and conserve the heat generated in daytime to raise night temperature inside.

7.1. Introduction

Cultivation of crop is one of the most important aspects on which the success of a greenhouse depends. Principally it is similar to that of open field cultivation; but it is a completely different proposition in comparison. In greenhouse it needs (1) high precision technology, (2) special management, and (3) high qualityinputs. A special crop husbandry is extremely necessary, integrating all these three aspects, for successful greenhouse cultivation.

Why special crop husbandry? – Ancestors of each and every crop of modern time once grew out of its own in wild, without any human intervention. Gradually it has been domesticated or brought under cultivation by progressive alteration of its natural growing and reproduction process. Even the genetic nature also altered gradually. Till recent past these development of domestication process has been restricted principally on reproduction, planting, nutrient supply, water supply, and plant protection aspects. Interestingly most of these aspects are still very much supplementary in nature, as a good percent of it is still dependent on nature and its growing system.Actually, we cannot confer any significant change, physically or genetically, in their adaptation against the natural elements like rain, sunlight, temperature, humidity, gas supply, etc. However, we try our level best with a compromising note on local climate.

Hence there is ample scope to go for complete alteration of their growing habit/ practices in relation to each and every aspect of the climatic elements. It is a very difficult job, because, for a small change in any individual aspect of plant growth, all the other aspects are affected. Thus, one has to make a proper and holistic balance of alteration of all the growth aspects for each and every individual domesticated plant, we call as crop.

1. Education 1.1. Some Landmarks of Agricultural Education Including Vegetable Science Year Landmarks 1952 Indian Council of Agricultural Education (ICAE) set up (worked up to 1964 under ICAR). 1958 First ‘Deemed University‘ status bestowed on Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI). 1959 Chief of Agricultural Education and ex-officio Secretary to ICAE appointed. 1960 Emergence of SAUs, starting with Pantnagar, based on the recommendations of Joint Indo-American Teams. 1965 Standing Committee on Agricultural Education replaced the Education Panel. 1965 ICAR reorganization with four Divisions including Agricultural Education 1966 ICAR developed Model Act for Agricultural Universities in India.

Introduction
At the beginning of the 21^st century, with a population of 6.1 billion in 2000 and expected to be headed for 9.1 billion by 2050 (UN News Centre, 2005), the challenge of yet again increase food production by many folds only in 50 years has become a daunting task in itself. The situation is further worsen because now, we need to increase food production in sustainable way by 2050 on approximately the same area of arable land using less resources, particularly, fossil fuel, water and nitrogen, at a time when we must also mitigate some of the enormous challenges associated with climate change. Furthermore, there is the critical and urgent humanitarian need to alleviate poverty, hunger and malnutrition which is afflicting more than 1 billion people

This chapter analytically represents the results of the empirical research study with the appropriate discussion on the basis of analysis.

6.1. Results of data collected from moringa growers of Tamil Nadu

6.1.1. Visualisation of descriptive statistics

This Table-6.1 presents 18 independent variables (x1-x18 ) and 5 dependent variables (y1-y5 ) in terms of their descriptive statistics viz. Minimum, Maximum, Range, Mean, Standard Deviation (S.D.), Variance and Co-efficient of Variation (C.V.).

of moringa growers, the maximum years of experience is 44 years and the minimum years of experience is 3 years. The Range of this variable x1 was found to be 41. The mean value of experience was found to be 16.033 years, with the Standard Deviation of 8.324 and Variance of 69.289 for the total distribution taken for the study.

India has emerged as the largest producer of milk in the World. This has boosted the confidence of producers, planners, dairy entrepreneurs and scientist alike. India has poised to play a major role in global dairy market in coming decade. The rapid growth of science and technology has positive impact on our life style and with strong trend of urbanization several demographic changes are likely to occur. There going to be ever increasing demand on the role of milk and milk products for human health. Accordingly, the demand for higher standards of milk products in terms of hygiene and safety of dairy products is to be followed. The competitiveness for the export of milk products among different dairy industry has increased in recent times due to GATT agreement. The biggest challenge before Indian dairy industry is the quality and safety of milk products indented for human consumption. Legal standards are made to have control over quality of food offered for sale and to safe guard the consumer form health hazards. It is therefore, imperative to determine different parameters that define product quality and safety. The purpose is to ensure production and distribution of products within well defined and accepted standards. This chapter deals with various parameters of product testing in order to maintain requisite prescribed standards.

Soil is a living system and soil fertility is the key to agricultural productivity. Any input that destroys this living system and undermines soil health basically undermines the agricultural productivity. The maintenance of the fertility of soil is the primary step in any permanent system of agriculture.

Fertile land and sufficient water are vital for sustaining agriculture and livelihoods. Fertility of a soil is defined by its ability to provide all essential nutrients in adequate quantities and in the proper balance for the growth of plants – independent of direct application of nutrients – when other growth factors like light, temperature and water are favorable. This ability does not depend on the nutrient content of the soil only, but on its efficiency in transforming nutrients within the farm’s nutrient circle.

In transformation of nutrients soil organisms play a key role. They break down biomass from crop residues, green manures and mulch and contribute to build up of soil organic matter, including humus, the soil’s most important nutrient reservoir. They also play an essential role in transferring nutrients from the soil organic matter to the mineral stage, which is available to plants. Soil organisms also protect plants from disease and make the soil crumbly.

A fertile soil is easy to work, absorbs rainwater well, and is robust against siltation and erosion. It filters rain water and supplies us with clean drinking water. It neutralizes (buffers) acids, which pass through contaminated air to the soil surface, and decomposes pollutants such as pesticides rapidly. And last but not least a fertile soil is an efficient storage for nutrients and CO₂. In this way a fertile soil prevents the eutrophication of rivers, lakes and oceans and contributes to the reduction of global warming.

In the context of biological agriculture soil fertility is thus primarily the result of biological processes, not of chemical nutrients. A fertile soil is in active exchange with the plants, restructures itself and is capable of regeneration. The biological properties can be observed in the soil’s conversion activity, in the presence and the visible traces of the organisms in it. The communities of microorganisms are robust and active at the right moment. In the self-regulating ecological equilibrium animals, plants and microorganisms all work for each other.

It is the responsibility of farmers to understand soil ecology to the point that they can create or restore the conditions for a robust balance in the soil. If a soil does not regularly bring good yields, farmers should investigate the reasons for it.

1. Introduction

Fruits and vegetables have been an integral part of man’s diet from immemorial times. Fruits are the portions of plants that bear seeds, while vegetables are the edible components of a plant, including the leaves, stalks, roots, tubers, bulbs, flowers and seeds. These can be eaten raw or cooked. Fruits and vegetables can be preserved for short-term intervals under refrigeration, with or without receiving a minimal treatment like slicing, chopping, shredding or peeling. Fresh produce may also be irradiated or packaged in controlled or modified atmosphere in films for short-term storage. Long-term preservation includes canning, juicing, drying and addition of preservatives. Food contamination with hazardous biological agents remains a worldwide challenge in food safety and nutrition (Kenny 2002; Schlundt 2002; Tauxe et al 1997). Microorganisms form part of the epiphytic flora of fruits and vegetables and many will be present at the time of consumption. Production practices, growth conditions and the location of the edible part during growth (soil, soil surface, aerial part) will in combination with intrinsic, extrinsic, harvesting and processing factors affect their microbial status at the time of consumption. Man-made sources may be directly from farm laborers and from the equipment used for harvesting or storage. The types of microorganisms on fruits and vegetables would also vary with the orchards, vineyards or growing fields. The resident microflora normally subsists on the slight traces of carbohydrates, proteins and inorganic salts that dissolve in the water exuding from or condensing on the epidermis of the host. The numbers of bacteria present will vary depending on seasonal and climatic variation and may range from 104 to 108 per gram. The inner tissues of fruits and vegetables are usually regarded as sterile (Lund 1992). However bacteria can be present in low numbers in the insides of the fruits and vegetables as a result of the uptake of water through certain irrigation or washing procedures.

2.1 Introduction

Consider two linear equations in two variables i.e., x and y, such that equations are

1.     What is IPM
    
2.    What is a Pest
    
3.    Importance of Crops in IPM
    
4.    Impact of Environment in IPM
    
5.    Crop Stage Specific IPM
    
6.    Management Practices
    
7.    Tropical Tuber Crops
    
8.    Ornamental Plants
    
9.    Medicinal Plants
    
10.    Aromatic Plants
    
11.    Plantation Crops
    
12.    Masticatory
    
13.     Spices
    
14.    Fruit Crops
    
15.    Vegetables
        
References

8.1    History of Sprinkler Irrigation
    
8.2    Advantage and Limitations of Sprinkler Irrigation
    
8.3    Scope of Sprinkler Irrigation in India
    
8.4    Type of Sprinkler System and Components
    
8.5    Design of Sprinkler Irrigation System
        
Questions and Problems
        
References