eChapters

Concept of Evaluation: Meaning and concept in different contexts
The term “evaluation” originates from the Latin word “Valupure,” which signifies the value attributed to a particular entity, concept, or action. Evaluation is a systematic process that involves the periodic comparison of actual outcomes and impacts against those initially planned or anticipated. It is designed to assess the overall worth of an endeavor, thereby facilitating learning and improvements for future initiatives. This process encompasses the structured and objective assessment of an ongoing or completed project, program, or policy, including its design, execution, and results. The primary objective of
evaluation is to determine the relevance, achievement of objectives, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability of a given intervention. Through this approach, evaluation seeks to provide credible and useful information that supports informed decision-making for stakeholders, including beneficiaries and donors. By integrating lessons learned from past experiences, evaluation enhances the strategic planning and implementation of future projects, ensuring continuous improvement and better resource utilization. Evaluation is an essential tool in both public and private sectors, allowing organizations to measure their performance against predefined benchmarks. It serves as a crucial mechanism for accountability, ensuring that resources are utilized effectively to achieve intended goals. Moreover, evaluation fosters transparency by offering objective insights into the successes and shortcomings of initiatives, thereby reinforcing stakeholder trust and engagement. There are several types of evaluation, each serving a distinct purpose.

MAC : It stands for modified atmospheric coating.

Macaroni : Pasta made from semolina and shaped in the form of slender tubes.

Macaroni wheat : It is tetraploid wheat and is preferred for making macaroni, vermicelli etc.

Macaroon : A small cookie composed chiefly of egg whites, sugar, and ground almonds or coconut.

Mace : An aromatic spice consisting of the dried external fibrous covering of a nutmeg.

In Karnataka, pulses are being cultivated in an area of about 20 lakh ha (about 17% of cultivated area) and the important pulse crops of the state are pigeonpea, chickpea, greengram and blackgram (Table 1).  In addition, horsegram and field bean (Dalichos lab) need a special mention, as they occupy a unique position among pulse crops especially in Southern Karnataka. However, major pulses like pigeonpea chickpea, greengram and blackgram are confined to few districts in Northern Karnataka, although some area is distributed throughout the state. Compared to the average productivity of nation (560 kg/ ha), the Karnataka state productivity is low (505 kg/ha). In spite of the best efforts, the progress made in improving the overall production as well as productivity of these pulse crops is not significant as compared to the cereals.

8.1. Introduction

Food packaging’s essential functions is to protect the food from hazardous compounds, and contaminant. In order to improve the shelf life of food commodity, smart packaging like active and intelligent packaging has been developed which can monitor freshness, display information of quality, and improve food safety. More precisely, smart packaging was defined by Smart Packaging Journal as “the use of features of high added value that enhance the functionality of a product, notably mechanical, electronic and chemical features that improve safety and efficiency”. The major concerns with traditional packaging are not only shelf life of packaged food, but also the inability of packaging material to convey the important information about quality changes to both customer and manufacturer. 

Introduction

`The living and nonliving components of ecosystems, as well as the conditions and processes that occur within them, create services thus connecting ecosystems and human cultures. The preservation of Earth’s biological diversity and the protection of the benefits, or “ecosystem services,” those functioning ecosystems bring to humanity are two primary goals of environmental conservation. Agroforestry is increasingly viewed as providing ecological services, environmental advantages, and economic gains as part of a multifunctional working landscape. The multifunctional importance of agroecosystems was emphasized in both the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MES 2005) and the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (2008).

Key Facts

• Global fish production peaked at about 171 million tonnes (MT) in 2016, with aquaculture representing 47 perc ent of the total and 53 per cent of non-food uses (Global capture fisheries production was 90.9 MT in 2016)

• World fish production is projected to increase by 15% in the next 10 years, reaching around 200 MT per year

• The total first sale value of fisheries and aquaculture production in 2016 was estimated at USD 362 billion, of which USD 232 billion was from aquaculture production

• Fish (including shellfish) provides essential nutrition for 3 billion people and at least 50% of animal protein and minerals to 400 million people from the poorest countries

• 10-12% people, i.e. over 870 million people, depend on fisheries and aquaculture

• Aquaculture is the world’s fastest growing food production system, growing at 7% annually

• Women account for 19% of all people directly engaged in the fisheries and aquaculture sector, and over 50% when including the post-harvest sector

Climate Change: A global externality

Climate Change (CC) is a result of the externality associated with greenhouse gas emissions. It entails costs that are not paid for by those who create the emissions.

Distinguished Features from Other Externalities

• Climate change is global in its causes and consequences;

• The impacts of climate change are long-term and persistent;

• Uncertainties and risks in the economic impact are pervasive;

• There is a serious risk of major, irreversible change with non- marginal economic effects

Definition of Climate Change

Climate change refers to a statistically significant variation in either the mean state of the climate or in its variability, persisting for an extended period (typically decades or longer).

13.1. Introduction

The Delphi technique is a systematic, interactive forecasting method that involves gathering expert opinions to make informed decisions, predict future trends, or address complex problems. The core idea behind this technique is to use the knowledge and insights of experts in a structured manner to produce well-informed and reliable outcomes. By combining expert judgment with iterative feedback, the Delphi method allows for deeper analysis, greater accuracy, and a better understanding of complex issues that cannot be easily solved through traditional data analysis or quantitative methods (Ismail and Taliep, 2023).

Originally designed for defence-related forecasting, the Delphi technique has since evolved into a versatile tool used across a wide range of fields, such as business, healthcare, education, public policy, environmental science, and social research. Its versatility stems from its ability to gather expert opinions in a manner that allows for rigorous analysis of complex issues, without the constraints of traditional group meetings or face-to-face discussions.

Animal protein has a great importance in human health by providing essential amino acids. It is supplied by the milk, meat, fish, eggs etc. Specifically meat has a prime position in the human’s diet particularly for those who are non- vegetarians. As per Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recommendations a normal human being requires 60 gram protein in a day with the net protein utilization (NPU) of 65. In ideal cases 30 to 50 percent of daily protein intake should be from animal sources to get optimal range of amino acids. In present scenario human beings all over the globe are getting 29 gram of protein while developing countries have 15 g per day availability and developed nations are getting 60 grams protein per day per head. However, in India availability of protein is only 10 grams/day/head.

India has shown to the world that with 2.4 % of the land and 4 % of the water resources available at the global level, it can provide the food security to its millions. A record production of almost 265 million tonnes in 2013-14 is a testimony to the strides taken in the field of agriculture. However, the agriculture sector faces many new challenges in the future and climate change (global warming) is perhaps the most formidable one.

The new emerging demands of the relatively more-affluent Indian population, particularly its middle class, coupled with a net cultivated area unlikely to exceed 143 Mha in 2050 as well as an estimated rainfed agriculture to cover around 45 % of the net sown area, are further compounded with the harsh reality that highly productive agricultural land is being continuously lost out to the industry and urban sectors. How will the country meet the target of 400 Mt of food grain production is the mute question, in a situation where natural resource base is continuously degrading and climate change with its attendant impact is adversely affecting the agricultural production system (Singh, 2014).

Introduction
The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is blessed with various water resources dispersed over an area of 0.40 lakh hectares due to its distinct terrain and three distinct climatic conditions. There is enormous potential for coldwater, warm-water, reservoir, and sport fishing due to the existence of coldwater streams, rivers, lakes, high-altitude lakes, springs, and sars, among other features (DoF-J&K, 2022). Three-quarters of the cold-water fisheries Exclusively Distributed by NIPA GENX Electronic Resources and Solution Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi are derived from J&K. Still, the UT makes for no more than 1% of the nation's aquaculture output. According to DoF (2020), J&K had 0.21 lakh tonnes of inland fish output in 2019–20. In Kashmir, just 15% of the 70% of people employed in agriculture are fishermen (Qureshi, 2013). Limited infrastructure and connectivity in the highlands are substantial obstacles to the sector's expansion. However, the fishing industry still plays a significant role in the existence of the inhabitants of Kashmir, providing subsistence fishing as a means of nutrition and operating as an affordable and dependable supply of protein in the landlocked area (CMFRI, 2015). Approximately 70% of the entire output comes through the lakes of Dal and Wular, which account for the bulk of the harvest (Qureshi, 2013).
The characteristics of cold-water assets, including creeks and upland streams, contain exceptional transparency, high dissolved oxygen (DO), bedrockboulder- sand substrata, and high flow rates. These natural settings consist of gushing waters, cascades, torrents, and deep pools. The slopes of the Himalayas are home to 272 fish species (Sarma et al., 2018). Elevated heights result in reduced human influence and nutrient-poor water bodies due to catchment features. The glacier lakes are ultra-oligotrophic at relatively high elevations (Gopal, 2012). Fish in these waters develop slowly and only to tiny sizes because of the limited biological production. Large-scale commercial fisheries are therefore not supported by these cold-water resources. Likewise in other areas, human footprints have had a noticeable effect on Kashmir's flora, wildlife, and water sources. Challenges include things like contamination, eutrophication, and the inundation of alien species. Massive sedimentation has been made worse by tourism and growing urbanisation, which has reduced fisheries. Particularly impacted are native fish species, notably those in the Schizothorax genera (Qureshi et al., 2013). The future value of resourcefulness is diminished by this deterioration, which affects regional populations' ability to make a living and provide adequate nutrition. At this stage, the lakes in Kashmir are frequently contaminated, weed-filled, vulnerable to harmful algal blooms, bordered by marshlands (Tahseen et al., 2018). The concern must be addressed, with special attention to the larger context of Kashmir. Under several topics, this section examines the primary human interactions and how they affect the cold-water fishing industry and management.

Large Language Models (LLMs) have emerged as one of the most significant developments in artificial intelligence, transforming the way machines understand, process and generate human language. Their evolution reflects a progression from rule-based systems and statistical language models to neural networks, word embeddings, recurrent architectures and, ultimately, Transformer-based models. This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of this evolution and explains the technological breakthroughs that enabled modern LLMs. It discusses early language modelling approaches, the transition from N-gram models to distributed representations, and the contribution of deep learning and attention mechanisms. The development of influential models such as BERT, GPT, T5, XLNet, PaLM and LLaMA is considered to illustrate increasing capabilities in language understanding and generation. The chapter also examines core LLM capabilities, including question answering, dialogue, summarization, translation and multimodal processing. Finally, it highlights challenges involving hallucination, computational requirements, privacy, bias and responsible deployment, while outlining opportunities for future intelligent and trustworthy AI systems.

Introduction

After the Second World War, isotopes have become available in sufficient quantities for use in different fields of scientific research. There has been tremendous increase in the number and scope of applications of these new tools and agricultural research is no exception. During the last quarter of a century, the use of isotopes and radiations has become one of the important tools in the solution of practical problems in the area of soil-plant nutritional studies throughout the world. In India, these studies were initiated as early as 1955 with the establishment of the Radiotracer Laboratory at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. The use of these nuclear tools got further fillip in our country with the establishment of the Nuclear Research Laboratory at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi in 1968 as a UNDP Project on Nuclear Research in Agriculture, operated by the Joint FAO/IAEA division of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Also, the agriculture division of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai and the special radioisotope laboratories established by several agricultural universities had made significant contributions to the use of isotopes and radiations in agricultural research.

INTRODUCTION

The European plum (Prunus domestica L.) is the most important plum species grown in different countries in the world. The Japanese plum (Prunus salicina Lindl.) is the next important species grown in many Asian countries. It is more vigorous, productive, precocious in bearing and more resistant to diseases than the European plum. The Japanese plum a temperate fruit is unique amongst the stone fruits. It is a strong small growing tree, performing well as major crop of hills and considered as important minor fruit crop in north India. Its low chilling varieties comes into the market when the other crops are scarce and find little competition in the market. The fruit growers are now preferred to grow Japanese plum on account of giving higher yield and excellent return per unit area. It is successfully grown in temperate zone and subtropical climate of northern Indian states. Moreover, it is preferred as filler tree in permanent orchards of mango, litchi and pear. It start bearing after 2-3 years of planting and giving good economic return to the growers during pre-bearing period of permanent fruit crops.

The art of confectionery manufacture date back to over 3000 years as per Egyptian records. Traditionally honey, boiled and concentrated sugar cane juices have been used in confectioneries. In modern times, alternative sweeteners from sources like corn and starches constitute an integral part of confectionery manufacture.

Owing to the huge variation in finished products as well as raw materials in food sector, Quality control has an extremely important role to play. Quality control aims at controlling variation to within a tolerable level by taking corrective actions. Statistical and non-statistical techniques are employed to measure, analyze and control variation in food products. Statistical process control, acceptance sampling and visual inspection are widely used in food and allied sectors.

Maintenance of quality and manufacture of a standard confectionery should involve a very close control of raw materials, instrumentation, and statistical analysis of finished product. Statistical evaluation with respect to finished product includes weight control, sensory evaluation and packaging tests. The quality standards are set by the quality control departments. Chemists may undertake preliminary analysis through visual inspection. Visual inspection is usually combined with sampling. This gives an idea of variation, cleanliness, infestation etc. in the sample.

Food, at the fundamental level, is viewed as a source of nutrition to meet daily requirements at a minimum in order to survive but with an ever greater focus on the desire to thrive. Nutritional security denotes the consumption and physiological use of adequate quantities of safe and nutritious food by every member of the family and encompasses the process of equitable distribution among members of household and communities. This would entail the need to ensure a varied food intake, comprising all the essential macro- and micronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins), plant pigments (lycopene, β- carotene, anthocianin, lutein, capsanthin, zeaxanthin, etc.) and other functional phytochemicals (secondary metabolites, like flavonoids, isothiocyanates, glucosinolates, etc.) through a diversified diet. The growing awareness in recent years of the health promoting food has directed increased attention to vegetables as vital components of daily diets.

Main Nutrient Components of Vegetables

Nutrient components of our food can be grouped into five main divisions, namely, (i) Carbohydrate, (ii) Protein, (iii) Fat, (iv) Vitamins and (v) Minerals. Balanced diet is the food containing all these nutrient components in balanced form to run the physiological process in good tune. So, only eating to one’s heart’s content may not be the criterion of a balanced diet. Our dietary constitution which is mostly cereal based is really alarming. Cereals, which supply chiefly carbohydrate, constitute only a part of the diet. Moreover, the present average carbohydrate supply through cereals is also not adequate. Chief deficiencies in our diet are calories, protein, vitamin A and riboflavin. According to the studies of Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi and National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, meager intake of vegetables, the low cost protective foods, is largely responsible for malnutrition among the majority of our population. The dieticians advocate intake of 125g leafy vegetables, 75g other vegetables and 100g root and tuber vegetables (total 300g) everyday to make our diet balanced. In households below the poverty line, per capita vegetable consumption is very low, apprehended to be even lower than 40g per day.

1. Introduction
Nutritional genomics, also known as nutrigenomics, is an emerging field that seeks to understand how individual genetic variations influence responses to specific nutrients and how diet, in turn, affects gene expression and overall health. By studying the complex interactions between nutrients and the human genome, nutritional genomics aims to develop personalized nutrition strategies that optimize health, prevent disease, and improve dietary outcomes for individuals based on their unique genetic makeup.
In the past, nutrition science largely followed a “one-size-fits-all” approach, with general dietary recommendations applied to broad populations. However, advances in genomics have shown that people respond differently to the same foods based on their genetic profile. Factors such as nutrient metabolism, absorption rates, and predispositions to certain diseases can vary significantly among individuals. These discoveries have led to a paradigm shift toward personalized nutrition, where diet plans are tailored to an individual’s genetic predispositions, improving the effectiveness of dietary interventions and reducing disease risks.
Nutritional genomics spans several sub-disciplines, including nutrigenetics (the study of how genetic variations affect the body’s response to nutrients) and nutrigenomics (how nutrients influence gene expression). These two aspects work together to help researchers understand the dual relationship between diet and genetics, contributing to the development of personalized diets that account for metabolic and physiological differences.

Maharashtra state is located in the north centre of Peninsular India. The topography of the state is the outcome of its geological structure. The state area, barring the extreme eastern Vidarbha region, parts of Kolhapur and Sindhudurg, is practically co-terminous with the Deccan Trap. The state enjoys a tropical monsoon climate; the hot scorching summer from March onwards yields to the rainy monsoon in early June. The rich green cover of the monsoon season persists during the mild winter that follows through an unpleasant October transition, but turns into a dusty, barren brown as the summer sets in again. The seasonal rains from the western sea-clouds are very heavy and the rainfall is over 400 cm on the Sahyadrian crests. The Konkan on the windward side is also endowed with heavy rainfall, declining northwards. East of the Sahyadri, the rainfall diminishes to a meagre 70 cm in the western plateau districts, with Solapur-Ahmednagar lying in the heart of the dry zone. The rains increase slightly, later in the season, eastwards in the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions.

1. Introduction

Now a days, foods are not intended to only satisfy hunger and to provide necessary nutrients but also to prevent nutrition-related diseases and improve physical and mental well-being of the consumers (Menrad, 2003). In this regard, functional foods play an important role. The concept of functional foods which has evolved as the role of food in the maintenance of health and well-being and in the prevention of disease, has received increased scientific and commercial interest is recent past. Growth of functional foods markets include increased consumer health awareness, increased popularity of healthy foods, search for food-based drug substitutes, self-medication approach promoted by busy lifestyles and rapidly developing health conscious markets. Functional foods can be defined as foods “that can beneficially affect one or more target functions in the body, beyond adequate nutritional effect, in a way relevant to an improved state of health and wellbeing and/or reduction of risk of disease” (Stanton et al., 2005).

What is seed?

“A seed is an embryo, a living organism securely fixed in the supporting or the food storage tissue.”

A true seed is defined as “Structurally a true seed is a fertilized matured ovule, consisting of an embryonic plant, a store of food and a protective seed coat, a store of food consists of cotyledons and endosperm”. In broad sense, “seed is a material which is used for planting or regeneration purpose”. Scientifically, “seed is a fertilized matured ovule together covered with seed coat is called seed” or “it is a propagating material i.e., part of agriculture, sericulture, silviculture and horticultural plants used for sowing or planting purpose”.

The business of Seed Technology is to protect this biological entity and look after its ‘welfare’, while the focus of Food Technology is on the second component – the supporting tissue.

1. Introduction

The scientific naming of plants is called botanical nomenclature. Although, nomenclature is included in taxonomy, but it distinctly differs from taxonomy. Plant taxonomy is concerned with grouping and classifying plants, however, the botanical nomenclature provides names for the results of this process. Names are a means of reference to all living and non-living things. The common names of pants and animals vary from place to place and language to language. But, scientific names of plants and animals are universal. For uniformity and consistency, the scientific names are given to plants according to certain internationally accepted rules provided in International Code of Nomenclature. It was Linnaeus who for the first time proposed some rules for generic names of plants in his Fundamenta Botanica, 1736 and Critica Botanica, 1737. However, the first proper set of rules of plant nomenclature was drafted by A. P. de Candolle and passed by the International Botanical Congress at Paris in 1867. The present Botanical nomenclature is governed by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN), which replaces the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN) in 2012.

Botanical nomenclature has a long history, going back to the period when Latin was the scientific language throughout Europe, and perhaps further back to Theophrastus. The starting point for modern botanical nomenclature is Linnaeus’ Species Plantarum (1753). In the nineteenth century it became increasingly clear that there was a need for rules to govern scientific nomenclature and initiatives were taken to produce a body of laws. These rules were published in successively more sophisticated editions after every six years. The most recent is the Melbourne Code, adopted in 2012.

All formal botanical names are governed by the ICN, and within the limits set by that code there is another set of rules, the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP). The latter Code applies to plant cultivars that have been deliberately altered or selected by humans and require separate recognition