eChapters

Introduction

The animal husbandry and agriculture are the major resource of income for the farmers and directly affects the economic conditions of farmers. Livestock sector plays a vital role for livelihood food security in India. Buffalo plays an important role in dairy industry and contribute 49 per cent of total milk production in India (BAHS, 2017). Murrah is one of the best buffalo breeds in the world and also widely used for up-gradation of non-descript buffaloes in India. Murrah buffalo have poor thermoregulation mechanism compared to other domestic ruminants in tropical countries and are more prone to heat stress due to very less sweat glands, jet black colour and thin hairs on body surface (Das et al., 1999; Khongdee et al., 2013) which reduce the ability of cutaneous evaporation and largely responsible for its low productivity and consequently reducing the reproductive efficiency (Gudev et al., 2007). India continues to be the largest milk producer in the world since 1997. Milk production has increased from 165.4 million tonnes (2016-17) to 176.4 million tonnes (2017-18) (DAHD, GOI). The demand for milk is increasing at a very fast pace due to exponential population growth and the gap in the production and supply is increasing. Out of 300 million bovines, only 88 million are in milk leaving large unproductive animals including 84 million males (19th Livestock census, 2012). If the gap of production and supply is to be bridged, the large number of constraints that affect reproductive efficiency and productivity of dairy animals must be addressed effectively. One important factor that can contribute to the productivity of animals is qualitative production and quantitative adequacy of semen doses for A.I.

Introduction

Climate change has been, and continues to be one of the important causes of low productivity from animal agriculture in tropical countries like India through crop failures, fodder scarcity and increased incidence of endemic animal diseases. It impacts animal agriculture and cause immediate danger for human societies as livelihoods and food production are being adversely affected. Farm ruminant animals contribute to food supply by converting low-value materials, inedible or unpalatable for human, into milk, meat, and eggs and directly contribute to nutritional security. Besides contributing over one-fourth to the agricultural GDP, it provides employment to 18 million people in principal or subsidiary status in India. Nearly two-thirds of farm households are associated with farm animal rearing and 80% of them are small landholders (≤2 ha). As a result of various socio-economic and market driven factors, during the last one decade, large scale transformation took place in both extensive and intensive animal agriculture with regards to type and breed of the animal. A lot of high yielding, low disease resistant and more vulnerable crossbreed animal population have been increased in present animal production systems inorder to meet the market demands. Climate changes could impact severely the economic viability and production of these intensive animal production systems through increased incidence of drought/?oods/cyclones/hailstorms etc. Drought and high ambient temperatures in particular, affects production of milk, meat and egg, reproduction, health of animals and condition of pastures. Changes in pasture and crop biomass availability and quality affect animal production through changes in daily or seasonal feed supplies. Heavy rains and associated ?oods would washout the fodder resources and animals. Recent incidences of severe hail storms are causing brutal injuries to the grazing animals. To mitigate the adverse affects of extreme weather events and cope with changing climate, much precised resilient technologies suitable to local conditions and resources are needed. Hence, one should be critical in recommending smart animal-agriculture technologies in view of much diversified and heterogeneous group of farmers and the resources accessible to them. This will help in sustainable productivity from animal-agriculture and profitability to the farmers even in the era of climate change.

Introduction

Animals have delicate balance of heat production and heat loss, which is maintained by thermoregulatory mechanisms in response to environmental temperature and humidity combinations. When the heat loss is overrun by heat gain, heat stress occurs. During heat stress, increase in the core body temperature due to failure of homeostatic mechanism reduces productivity of the animals below their original genetic potential in growth, milk production, milk constituents and reproduction (Ravagnolo and Misztal, 2002). Impending climate change scenario is a unanimously accepted reality. Increase in the anthropogenic greenhouse gases (CO₂, CH₄and NO₂) cause radiation leading to excess warming of the earth’s environmental system. According to IPCC, the predicted temperature rises for the end of 21^st century may be in the range of 1.8^oC to 4^oC (IPCC, 2007). The climate change has complex impact on the livestock production. Temperature or heat stress will be one of the major environmental factor to in?uence the health and productivity of livestock population. The least tropically adapted livestock may be severely affected by heat stress. The manage mental and ameliorative practices can deal with the heat stress in short term, however the long term focus of developing genetic heat stress tolerance in livestock population will be a significant and impactful strategy.

Introduction

In the past few decades, persistent change in climatic variables coupled with global warming lead to the genesis of climatic stress. Currently climatic stress is considered as the most serious ultimatum to livestock’s growth, development, production and reproduction in tropics and subtropics including India. Livestock’s in tropical countries are most commonly affected by the menace of climatic stress. It has been shown that, climatic stress upsets animal’s body homeostasis resulting in grievous decline in livestock’s production and productivity across the world. In general, livestock adapt to the climatic insults via behavioural, physiological, biochemical, metabolic, endocrine and molecular responses. Despite of these thermal adaptation mechanisms, livestock’s witnesses the perils of climatic stress thereby incur major loss in their production and productivity. Therefore, in this changing climatic scenario, it is imperative to rigorously understand and explore the precise mechanism of thermal adaptation to generate climate resilient species which could upsurge the socio-economic status of the farmers as well as the country.

Introduction

Climate-smart small ruminant production is an approach for transforming and reorienting the small ruminant production under the new realities of climate change. The main objective of climate-smart small ruminant production is to make the production sustainable for national food security, enhancement of resilience, and reduction of greenhouse gasses emission. Climate-smart agriculture is that, which increases the sustainable productivity, enhances resilience, reduce greenhouse gasses (GHG) and boost the achievements of national food security and development goals (FAO, 2013). In India, most of the rural communities earn their livelihood on smallholder livestock production system and they are very much vulnerable to climate change. Therefore, the need of the hour is to address the impact of climate change both in terms of adaptation as well as mitigation perspective (Vemeulen et al., 2013). The increase in population, the higher income, urbanization, and change in dietary preference leading to increased demand for animal products that pressurizing for higher productivity of livestock (Delgado et al., 1999; Thronton et al., 2007).

The mutton production in our country was 399 million Kg in 2012 which will be around 537 million Kg by 2020, and 840 million Kg in 2030 and 1317 million Kg in 2050. However, the requirement for mutton would be 813 million Kg by 2020, 986 million Kg by 2030 and 1408 million Kg in 2050. Similarly, the wool production in the country is 44.7 million Kg in present time (2011-2012), which have to be increased 150, 180 and 200 million Kg in 2020, 2030 and 2050, respectively. But the harsh climatic condition, shrinkage grazing resources, increase in cultivation and industrialization and decline interest of new generation for small ruminant rearing; making a question mark to meet the future demand in the current production trend. The scarcity of resources, impact of climate change and increase demand for mutton has made the traditional coping mechanism less effective (Sidahmed, 2008). Therefore, we need climate-smart sheep and goat production option that can achieve the triple win scenario of increasing productivity, adapting and building resilience to climate change through a reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission (FAO, 2013; Shikuku et al., 2016).

Introduction

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment reports (IPCC, 2007) suggests that consequently occurring climate extremes are likely to increase the frequency and intensity in the future. In the Indian context, events such as landfall of rare of rarest most intense pre-monsoon Tropical cyclone Fani (2019), back to back landfall of very intense tropical cyclones such as Phalini (2013) and Hudbud (2014), Cyclone Komen (2015), Extreme rainfall events of Kerala (2018 and 2019), Heavy rainfall events of over Northeastern states of India (2019), Cloud burst events of Uttarakhand (2013), Rainfall over Himachal Pradesh (2019), Mumbai Rain fall (2015) and extreme heat wave conditions of 1998, 2015 and many similar type of extreme events are not usual. However, at present there is no unanimity among scientists to exclusively and directly link such extreme weather events to climate change, however based on number of studies and observation data sets it is agreed that the impact of climate change is evident (beyond the natural variability) in many part of the globe including India. In 2019 monsoon season at least 1351 deaths happened to ?oods, heavy rainfall and landslides compared to 1550 for year 2018. In this manuscript, recent research findings related to extreme weather events in the context India are discussed in the following section-2, need for high resolution and long term data sets are emphasized in section-3, followed by recommendations as part of future preparedness, that will not only enable us to address these issues in a robust scientific manner but also provide us strong resilient society to face these extreme weather events in an optimized and effective manner to minimize the loss of lives, properties and socio-economic conditions of citizens.

Introduction

Climate change has been realised during 1840s when indisputable evidence of former ice ages was obtained. The climate has altered sufficiently in many parts of the world even within the last few decades which will affect the possibilities for agriculture and settlement. Reliable weather records have been kept only during the last hundred years or so, but proxy indicators of past conditions from tree rings, pollen in bog and lake sediments, ice core records of physical and chemical parameters, and ocean foraminifera in sediments provide a wealth of paleoclimatic data. The standard interval adopted by the World Meteorological Organization for climatic statistics is thirty years:1901–30, 1931–60, for example. However, for historical records and proxy indicators of climate, longer, arbitrary time intervals may be necessary to calculate average values. Tree rings and ice cores can give seasonal/annual records, while peat bog and ocean sediments may provide records with only 100- to 1,000-year time resolution. Hence, short-term changes and the true rates of change may, or may not, be identifiable.

The present climatic state is usually described in terms of an average value (arithmetic mean, or the median value in a frequency distribution), a measure of variation about the mean (the standard deviation, or interquartile range), the extreme values, and often the shape of the frequency distribution. A change in climate can occur in several different ways, for example, there may be a shift in the mean level, or a gradual trend in the mean values. The variability may be periodic, quasi-periodic or non-periodic, or alternatively it may show a progressive trend . First, it is important to determine whether such changes are real or whether they are an artefact of changes in instrumentation, observational practices, station location, or the surroundings of the instrumental site, or due to errors in the transcribed data. Even when changes are real, it may be difficult to ascribe them to unique causes because of the complexity of the climate system. Natural variability operates over a wide range of time scales, and superimposed on these natural variations in climate are the effects of human activities.

Climate change may manifest itself as rapid changes in climate in the short term or subtler changes over decades. Generally, climate change is associated with an increasing global temperature. Various climate model projections suggest that by the year 2100, mean global temperature may be 1.1–6.4 °C warmer than in 2010. The difficulty facing livestock is weather extremes, e.g. intense heat waves, ?oods and droughts. In addition to production losses, extreme events also result in livestock death (Gaughan and Cawsell-Smith, 2015). Animals can adapt to hot climates, however the response mechanisms that are helpful for survival may be detrimental to performance. In this article we make an attempt to project the adverse impact of climate change on livestock production. There is a two-way relationship between livestock production and environmental health.

Impact of climate change on livestocks

The potential impacts on livestock include changes in production and quality of feed crop and forage, water availability, animal growth and milk production, diseases, reproduction, and biodiversity. These impacts are primarily due to an increase in temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration, precipitation variation, and a combination of these factors. Temperature affects most of the critical factors for livestock production, such as water availability, animal production, reproduction and health. Forage quantity and quality are affected by a combination of increases in temperature, CO₂ and precipitation variation. Livestock diseases are mainly affected by an increase in temperature and precipitation variation.

Climate change is now a global phenomenon and its impact on livelihood health and wellbeing, and overall quality of life is not deniable. No country is free from the overall impacts of climate change, but poor people of developing countries have been disproportionately affected by the adverse effects. Vulnerability in the context of climate change is a function of sensitivity, exposure and adaptive capacities. Odisha is the 9^th largest state by area and the 11th largest state by population in India. The state has an area of 155,707 km², which is 4.87 per cent of the total area of India, and a coastline of 480 km. In the eastern part of the state lies the coastal plain. It extends from the Subarnarekha river in the north to the Rushikulya river in the south. The State is broadly divided into four geographical regions, i.e. Northern Plateau, Central River Basins, Eastern Hills and Coastal Plains. The climate of the state is characterized by hot summer and cold winter in the interior parts. The state has historically been highly prone to climate change and multiple hazards – mainly cyclones, droughts and ?oods. Natural disasters devastate millions of lives and livelihoods in Odisha each year. More children and women suffer from the effects of natural disasters and this is predicted to worsen as storms ?oods and droughts become more severe and frequent because of climate change.

Introduction

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, climate change refers to the long-term changes (typically decades or longer) in the average state of the climate with statistically significant variations.

The climate change, defined as the long-term imbalance of customary weather conditions such as temperature, radiation, wind and rainfall characteristics of a particular region, is likely to be one of the main challenges for mankind during the present century.

A general definition of climate change is a change in the statistical properties (principally the man and spread) of the climate system when considered over long periods.

Climate Resilience

Climate resilience can be generally defined as the capacity for a socioecological system to: Absorb stresses and maintain function in the face of external stresses imposed upon it by climate change. Adapt, reorganize, and evolve into more desirable configurations that improve the sustainability of the system, leaving it better prepared for future climate change impacts.

Organic certification is the procedure by which the accredited certification Body by way of a Scope Certificate assures that the production or processing system of the operator has been methodically assessed and conforms to the specified requirements as envisaged in the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP).

The NPOP provides for Standards for organic production, systems, criteria and procedure for accreditation of Certification Bodies, the National (India Organic) Logo and the regulations governing its use. The standards and procedures have been formulated in harmony with other International Standards regulating import and export of organic products.

In last few decades awareness about social and environmental issues has been increased. Agriculture is one of basic enterprise that has major role in these two issues . Organic agriculture is one of the agriculture production system that not only supportive to the environment but also sensitive to the social issues like employment, health, migration etc. Definitions given by two international organizations also verify this concept.

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.

Heifers are future cows of the herd. Production and reproduction performance of cows depends on the care and management during calf and heifer stage. Rearing period of heifers can be divided into two stages, viz. from weaning to first service and service to calving.

Care of calf before birth

During the last 2-3 months of gestation the fetus grows rapidly. Calf draws a significant quantity of nutrients from the mothers system. It has to be replenished by additional feeding of the cow. A cow should be fed well-balanced ration for maintenance.

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.

Importance of fruits in human diet is well recognized since time immemorial. They are important part of a healthy diet as natural sources of energy, essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants ever since the beginning of humancivilization. Our country is bestowed with varied climatic conditions, which had made it possible to grow diverse group of fruits from its temperate to tropical, to subtropical and even to arid niches. The cultivation of fruit crops is, presently, one of the most important and profitable proposition. Growing fruit crops translate into realization of more yield/ income from a unit area of land than any of the agronomic crops. However, there is need to considerably increase the yield of fruit crops, particularly under changing environmental conditions as under such conditions diseases are getting more prevalent. Therefore by adoption of proper protection practices, yield of fruit crops can be improved.

Plant diseases caused by fungi, bacteria, viruses and phytoplasmas reduce crop yields (Khoury and Makkouk, 2010).Adoption and support for using participatory approaches help to farmers in disease management of fruit crops, reducing costs and improving production efficiency. Fungal, bacterial and viral diseases pose serious threat in the cultivation of fruit crops in India. To reduce the losses caused by plant disease, a complete knowledge of disease management strategies of fruit crops are essential which are as follows:

According to FAO estimates, about 50% total geographical area in India is under various degraded hazards and about 2.1 million ha of land is getting degraded and deforested annually (Sehgal et al. 1998). Out of that underground water in arid and semi-arid areas is saline or sodic in nature. While spices, medicinal and aromatic plants may be a boon for these areas, which not only withstand under adverse conditions but also could be productive and helps in mitigating these problems. However, other crops are remain less or unproductive in these areas.

Spices are low volume and high value crops and have tremendous export potential, which is witnessed by several invasions faced by this Indian peninsula during ancient time. Medicinal and aromatic plants have an equally market potential with the world demand of herbal products growing at the rate of 7 per cent per annum (Aishwath and Tarafdar, 2007). Seed spices and aromatic plants are the natural source of flavour, perfumes and fragrance widely exploited by essential oil industries in the world. Owing to considerable diversity of edaphoclimatic conditions ranging from temperate to tropical and arid to sub- humid that prevails in India and an array of medicinal and aromatic flora occurs in wild state. Many exotic essential oil bearing plants, including mints, citronella, geranium, patchouli, lavender and chamomile have been naturalized in India. As the country has emerged as one of the main producers of seed spices and some of the essential oils, theses plants are significant foreign exchange earners. Some of the aromatic plants especially grasses can sustain both biotic as well as abiotc stresses, even in the areas unsuitable for conventional crops (Aishwath et al., 2008). Most of the seed spices crops are seasonal crops and comes up well with limited moisture and nutrients. Therefore, under utilized natural resources can be utilized profitably by crop diversification.

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.

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.

Energy and food are the two main requirements for human civilization; however the demands for these two resources are increasing in a fast rate. Development of any region is reflected in its quantum of energy consumption. In this context, the situation in arid region is difficult. People burn firewood, agricultural waste and cow dung cake for cooking food causing damages to the fragile eco-system of arid zone. There is inadequate electrical power supply and hence villagers of remote arid areas are unable to derive general benefits. The kerosene is used for lighting and fast depleting diesel oil is used for running agricultural machinery including pumps. In this context solar energy is considered to be one of the promising sources in India.

About 12% of electricity production capacity in India is met through renewable energy sources. In India, national solar mission was launched in November 2009 with a target of 4000 MW grid and 1000 MW off-grid electricity generation from solar energy by the end of phase II (2013-2017), whereas these targets are 20,000 MW and 2000 MW, respectively by 2022. The target has been revised in 2015 to a total grid connected solar power generation of 1,00,000 MW comprising of 40,000 MW roof top generation and 60,000 MW grid connected solar power plants (Resolution of MNRE, Govt of India, No. 30/80/ 2014-15/NSM dated 1^st July 2015).

Increasing susceptibility of vegetables to various biotic and abiotic stresses and very high cost of hybrid seeds has warranted the attention of the vegetable growers to improve the nursery raising technology of vegetables. Now-a-days protected nursery raising of vegetables has become a full flagged industry in several developed countries like Israel, Japan, Spain, Netherlands, USA etc. In countries like Israel no vegetable grower is growing his own nursery, but they are getting the required kind of seedlings from an established nursery owner on pre- order basis. Similar system of nursery raising is also prevalent in several other advance countries. In those situations where vegetables are being grown under protected conditions it becomes pre-requisite to raise the required vegetable seedlings only under protected environment to get virus free healthy seedlings.

Raising nursery from seeds provide an easy and convenient way to nourish tender and young seedlings in a well managed, small and compact area for better germination of small and costly seed. In general, vegetables crops are divided into three groups according to their relative ease for transplanting. Beet root, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, tomato and lettuce are efficient in water absorption and rapidly form new roots after transplanting. Vegetables crops that are moderately easy for transplanting are brinjal, onion, sweet pepper, chilli and celery which do not absorb water as efficiently as crops that are easy to transplant, but they form new roots relatively quickly. The vegetable crops which are difficult to transplant are: all cucurbits and sweet corn which require special care during nursery raising and transplanting. Seedlings not only reduce the amount of time of the crop but it also increases the uniformity of the crop and harvesting as compared to direct sowing of the crops. Transplanting of seedlings also eliminates the need for thinning and provides very good opportunities for virus free, vigorous and even off-season seedlings if grown under protected conditions in soil-less media. So it becomes necessary to know the protected structures which can be efficiently used for successful raising of vegetable seedlings, suitable types of containers and growing media, method of seeding in containers in soil-less media, growing conditions and water and fertilizer requirement of seedlings along with hardening and transplanting to the field. Protected nursery raising technology is highly suitable and can be established as a small scale industry in major vegetable growing areas of our country by progressive farmers especially in peri-urban areas. By this way the vegetable growers will get virus-free healthy and off season nursery as per their requirement and it generate extra employment in rural areas.

In the present scenario of rapidly increasing population and decreasing cultivable land, there is urgent need to increase the agricultural productivity. According to Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), 280 million tones food grain would be required to match the country’s demand by 2020. It will be a difficult task to meet this food requirement in near future from the present productivity levels. It is necessary to increase agricultural productivity, because about 60% of Indian agriculture is rainfed. Proper use of even a single drop of rain water is necessary to ensure the success of rainfed agriculture. In hills, agriculture is main source of livelihood of rural people. However, small and scattered land holding, difficult topography, womendependent agriculture, totally rainfed, typical socio-economic factors and migration of youth towards urban/plain areas are major constraints of hill horticulture.

In the high altitude areas, the river flow in deep valley at the toe of slopes rarely serve any purpose as far as domestic water supply and irrigation are concerned and hence, agriculture in these areas is mostly rainfed. However, these areas received high magnitude of rainfall but this rainwater is not possible to convert into soil moisture due to steep terrain of hills which provided minimum opportunity time for infiltration of rainwater. It has been estimated that only less than 15 per cent of the rainwater is able to percolate down through slopes and recharge the soil moisture. The rainfall pattern hill is erratic i.e. most of rain (approximately 70% of annual rain) received only during the two months of monsoon. Furthermore, the climate of high altitudes comprises several climatic anomalies such as wide variability in temperature (-3 ^oC to 35 ^oC), frequent snowfall, hail, sleet and erratic pattern of rainfall. Under such abrupt conditions crops grown in open conditions could not be sustained.

Micro irrigation normally called as drip irrigation was introduced in early seventies. Drip irrigation is one of the advanced methods of irrigation, by which water can be supplied directly into the root zone of the soil to achieve considerable saving of water through high water use efficiency, compared to surface irrigation method where water use efficiency is low due to losses in the water distribution system in the field. In micro irrigation method, water supplied at slow rate that is 1.0-2.0 kg/sq cm to the root zone of an individual plant through lets called emitters or drippers fitted with laterals pipes and filters at pump side. The success of micro irrigation is proven and efforts are being made in promoting the same extensively among the farmers in arid areas.

The hot arid regions of India are spread over about 31.7 million ha area mainly in the States of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, which inhabit on an average 61 persons per square km making up a population of nearly 20 million peoples. The Indian arid zone is characterized by high temperature and low and variable precipitation which limit the scope for high horticultural productivity. However, these conditions greatly favour development of high quality production in number of fruits such as date palm, ber, pomegranate, citrus, aonla, bael, grapes and, guava. The optimized technologies and inputs could increase the existing low productivity. It is now realized that there is a limited scope for quantum jump in fruit and vegetable production in the traditional production areas. The amelioration of the extreme conditions is also considered vital for life support to the inhabitants of this area. The recent awareness regarding the potential of these ecologically fragile lands for production of quality horticultural produce has not only opened up scope for providing economic sustenance for the people of this region, but also for bringing new areas to increase production through horticulture.

There has been an increasing demand for horticultural crops more particularly fruit .With this, the demand for good quality planting materials has gone up and hence the nursery business has developed rapidly in the recent years in our country. Plant propagation aims at the reproduction of selected individuals or group of individuals, in this the basic principal of life impose certain requirements which must be met with in practices for successful propagation. Plants material of various fruit crops have not only to be raised efficiently and scientifically, for which skilled knowledge in raising and management of nurseries is needed, but also these have to be transported quickly from nurseries to place where these plants materials will be grown.

Availability of quality planting material is one of the most importanant requirement for increasing the production and productivity of any fruit crops. It becomes one of the great challenges for horticulturists to get the disease free quality planting materials of fruit crops from an efficient and reliable nursery.

Sustainable development and efficient management of water is an increasingly complex challenge in India. Increasing population, growing urbanization and rapid industrialization combined with the need for raising agricultural production generates competing claims for water. Ground water has an important role in meeting the water requirements of agriculture, industrial and domestic sectors in India. About 85 percent of India’s rural domestic water requirements, 50 percent of its urban water requirements and more than 50 percent of its irrigation requirements are being met from ground water resources. Ground water is annually replenishable resource but its availability is non-uniform in space and time. Technically, the dynamic ground water refers to the quantity of ground water available in the zone of water level fluctuation, which is replenished annually. Hence, the sustainable development of ground water resources warrants precise quantitative assessment based on reasonably valid scientific principles. National Water Policy, 2012 has laid emphasis on periodic assessment of ground water resources on scientific basis. The trends in water availability due to various factors including climate change must also be assessed and accounted for during water resources planning. To meet the increasing demands of water, it advocates direct use of rainfall, desalination and avoidance of inadvertent evapo-transpiration for augmenting utilizable water resources. The National Water Policy, 2012 also states that safe water for drinking and sanitation should be considered as pre-emptive needs followed by high priority allocation for other domestic needs (including needs of animals), achieving food security, supporting sustenance agriculture and minimum eco-system needs. Available water, after meeting the above needs should be allocated in a manner to promote its conservation and efficient use.

Dry areas specially arid and semiarid regions are characterized by harsh climatic condition with limited natural resources like fresh water and vegetation. Soil which is most important component for agricultural production is also problematic in this region due to high salt content. Further, these regions face dual water problems: very low rainfall and poor quality of available water. Most of the available groundwater in these areas has high salt content, which further enhance salt content in soil after irrigation with this water. Salinity of soil is one of the most severe abiotic factors limiting agricultural production in arid and semiarid regions of the world. Term ‘salt-affected soil’ refer to soils in which salts interfere with normal plant growth, and is broadly divided into saline, saline- sodic and sodic soil, depending on amounts of salt, type of salts, amount of sodium present and soil alkalinity. Excessive soluble salts in the saline soil limit the ability of plant roots to absorb soil water even under wet soil conditions, while high sodium content in sodic soil reduce the availability of Ca, Mg, other micronutrients and finally deteriorate physical condition of soil. Poor physical structure of soil results in difficult to till, poor seed germination due to soil crusting and restricted plant root growth. Due to the poor physical structure, sodic soils are also susceptible to wind and water erosion compared to saline soils. All these negative impact of salt accumulation on the soil finally affect growth and yield of the crops. As per estimates of ICAR-Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI), Karnal, crop production loss to country due to sodicity is around 11.18 million tonnes while due to salinity is around 5.66 million tonnes. Furthermore, the area under this category is rising due to secondary salinization caused by faulty management of irrigation water, seepage loss, impeded drainage, rapid rise of water table causing water-logging. Certainly, these soils and saline water threaten the livelihood security of farming community. The area under cultivation is decreasing due to diversion of agricultural land in to other uses to meet needs of rising population and as such, agriculture has to make best use of poor quality land and water resources to meet the food demand. Therefore, management of salt affected soil become necessary for ameliorating negative impact and enhancing agricultural production in these regions. Each type of salt-affected soil has different characteristics and thus required different strategies for management.

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.

Biodiversity is a matter of concern to everyone as most of the economic sectors depends on it e.g. agriculture depends on it for wild genetic resources and biological control, human health depends on nature for many pharmaceuticals, industry requires raw materials which come from the nature, tourism increasingly base its attraction on natural amenities linked to biodiversity, water resources require intact vegetation to protect watershed and prevent siltation, disaster prevention needs natural vegetation to help people to respond to drought and the lists goes on and on (Mc Neely, 2004). Each of these sectors needs to be reminded of its reliance on biodiversity and provided with opportunity to invest in insuring the continued survival of the biological basis of their prosperity. Thus biodiversity has emerged as an integral aspect of human life and hence undoubtedly one of the keystone of sustainable development. Biodiversity in arid lands are under severe threats due to habitat destruction (Manuder and Clubbe, 2002), invasion of species (O’Kennen et al., 1999) dilution of customary conservation practices, climate change (Given, 1994; WCMC, 1992), increasing human population, unsustainable exploitation of natural resources, grazing pressure etc.

Indian hot arid zone which is about 12% of total geographical area of the landmass of 0.32 million km² has maximum covering in western Rajasthan i.e. 61% of the total area whereas the other areas in arid region are available in the states of Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka accounting for 20, 5, 4, 7 and 3% of hot arid area whereas the cold arid area of 8.4 million ha lies in the state of Jammu & Kashmir covering the Leh and Ladakh region.

The hot arid area is characterized by frequent droughts of 47% of frequency in the last century of moderate to severe nature. Due to higher occurrence frequency of droughts in this region of state, the livestock assumes great importance as a drought management measure as agriculture is at the mercy of rainfall pattern which is very uncertain in amount as well as distribution coupled with poor soil condition, higher evapotranspiration and higher wind velocity causing the soil erosion.

For arid region of Rajasthanthe general climatic conditions, topographical features and biotic factors do not encourage agricultural operations in the absence of extractive industry the peasantry has to fall upon animal husbandry as their main occupation. Rearing some of the finest breed of cattle, camel, sheep and goats known for their endurance making much use of the meagre feed resources which are grasses ,herbs, shrubs, tree leaves and cultivated feed and fodder crops. Livestock farming has some in built superiority over crop farming as far as growth; stability and resource conservation are concerned. On an average, the region experiences 3 years of drought in every 10 years. The natural forces constituting the soil-climatic complex, which conspire to reduce the crop productivity and cause instability in agricultural production, have much less impact on livestock farming. This is due to differences in the nutritive value of natural vegetation, which mainly sustains livestock.

Rainfed farming has a distinct place in Indian Agriculture, occupying 67% of the cultivated area, contributing 44% of the food grains and supporting 40% of the human and 65% of the livestock population. It is characterized by resource poor farmers, poor infrastructure and low investment in technology inputs (Singh, 1999). The land use in rainfed areas is quite diverse with a variety of crops, cropping systems, agroforestry and livestock farming. The productivity levels have remained low over the years and the share of rainfed crops in the total food grain production has been declining. The rainfed ecosystem suffers from the problems of (i) frequent droughts due to high variability in the quantum and distribution of rainfall, (ii) poor soil health due to continued degradation and inadequate replenishment of nutrient exhaustion, (iii) low animal productivity due to an acute scarcity of fodder and (iv) low risk bearing capacity of farmers due to poor socio-economic base, credit availability and infrastructure.

Of the total land area of the world, arid zones account for 18.8%. Throughout the arid zones, there is no dearth of problems, but rapidly increasing desertification (some call it land degradation) is a problem of worldwide dimension. Water is a scare commodity in arid zones. Much of rainfall is lost by evapo-transpiration and as a result, ground water recharged only by seepage through soil profile. However, it is a common phenomenon in arid zones of the worlds that ground water is frequently used at the rate that exceeds recharge. The situation in arid tropics of India, which is spread over an area of 31.7 million ha, is no more different.

Agriculture is the human enterprise that is most vulnerable to climate change. Tropical agriculture including agriculture in arid tropics, particularly subsistence agriculture is vulnerable, as farmers do not have adequate resources to adapt to climate change. Land-use options that increase livelihood security and reduce vulnerability to climate and environmental change are necessary. Rural folk in arid western Rajasthan, the principal hot arid region of the country have been practising arable cropping in association with these scattered trees on crop fields since time immemorial. This combined protective-productive system of integration of trees into farming system rooted in the principles of ecology, productivity, economics and sustainability, is generally referred as agroforestry. In fragile ecosystems of hot arid regions of India

India is a huge importer of crude oil and spends about Rs. 1,200 billion of foreign exchange every year to meet 75% of its oil needs (Anand, 2006). This has affected its balance of payment adversely, especially after the unprecedented rise incrude oil prices. Being an agricultural country endowed with varied climates, nutrient-rich soil and ability to grow many different crops, India offers a great promise as a producer of surplus raw material for biodiesel and bioethanol production. India’s biofuel production currently accounts for only 1 percent of global production (Shinoj et al., 2012). Although all oils can be used, edible oils as a source for biodiesel production have to be ruled out because they are required for cooking and food purposes. Therefore, non-edible oils are the premier raw material for biodiesel production in India. Seeds rich in these oils are mostly produced by perennial species. Hence these trees are referred to as tree-borne oilseed species (TBOS) and they produce TBOs (Aurora and Kumar, 2015). TBOs are cultivated/grown in the country under different agro-climatic conditions in a scattered form in forest and non-forest areas as well as in waste land/deserts/hilly areas. The country has enormous potential of oilseeds of tree origin like mahua (Madhuca indica),neem (Azadirachta indica), simarouba (Simarouba glauca), karanja (Pongamia pinnata), ratanjyot (Jatropha curcas), jojoba (Simmondsia chinesis), cheura (Diploknema butyracea), kokum (Garcinia indica),wild apricot (Prunus armeniaca), wild walnut (Aleurites molucana), kusum (Schleichera oleosa), tung (Vernicia fordii), etc. The best characteristic is that it can be grown and established in the wasteland and have varied agro-climatic conditions. (Aurora and Kumar, 2015)

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.

Henna or Mehandi (Lawsonia inermis L.) a perennial shrub belongs to family Lythraceae. It is commonly cultivated as a commercial dye crop possess natural dyeing properties and are used for hair dyeing and for staining of palm, feet and other body parts since times immemorial. The plant finds their importance due to presence of orange red dye in its leaves and essential oil in its flower. Oil extracted from leaves and flower called ‘Otto of henna’ which is utilized as perfume (Jaimini et al., 2005). It can grow well in harsh climate of arid and semiarid regions. In India, over 90 percent of the henna production comes from Sojat region of Pali district of Rajasthan and Sojat is only center for its processing and trading in India. In India it occupies about 40,000 ha area out of which 35,000 ha alone is in Pali district (Sojat and adjoining tehsils).

Geographical distribution

It occurs naturally in North Africa mainly in countries of Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Morocco, Oman, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, Sahara and Yemen. It is naturally occurring in many of these countries along the water courses and semi-arid regions where it can with stand dryness as well as drought. It has been introduced into countries like Australia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central Africa, Chad, Congo, China, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, India, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Spain, Sudan, Togo and Zanzibar (Suresh Kumar et al., 2005).

The arid zone eco-system of Rajasthan is very fragile and is prone to serious imbalance even with the slightest disturbance due to mismanagement of resources. Among the eastern margin of the mean annual rainfall is 500 mm, while in the western most part it is 100 mm. The rainfall is monsoon driven. It comes between June and September (in 9-21 short spells). Large coefficient of variation (40-60%) and erratic distribution during the monsoon are characteristics features of the rainfall, leading often to prolong drought and failure of rainfed crops (More and Samadia, 2007). Temperature as low as 4.4° C, and as high as 50° C has been recorded in Western Rajasthan. Farming system and cropping system approach for sustainable use of farm resources and reduced risks have been successfully demonstrated in perennial horticulture. There is great pressure of livestock on available feed and fodder, as land available for fodder production has been decreasing. The requirement of dry and green fodder by 2025 would be 1170 mt and 650 mt while supply is expected around 411.3 mt and 488 mt deficit will be 64.87 % green fodder and 24.92 % dry fodder (Table 1).

Since time immemorial India has been leader in respect to spice, area, production and consumption. India is known as ‘Land of spices. Out of 109 spices listed by the ISO, India produce as many as 63 owing to its varied agroclimatic regions. Almost all the state and union territory of the country grow one or the other spices. Spices are the sources of livelihood and employment for large number of people in the country. Seed spices are annual herbs, whose dried seeds or fruit are used as spices. Spices are the nature’s gift to mankind and since antiquity, spices have been considered indispensable in the culinary art, as they are used to flavour foods and beverages The important seed spices are coriander, cumin, fennel, fenugreek. ajwain, dill,, celery, anise, nigella and caraway. The other seed spices s are poppy seed, rai, yellow mustard, white mustard, parsley and sesame. In India, Rajasthan and Gujarat has emerged as “Seed spice bowl” and together contributes more than 80 percent of total seed spices.

Burgeoning population exerts pressure on limited precious natural resources for enhancing production of food, fodder and fuel. In order to meet out increasing demand for food, fruit, vegetables, oilseeds, fodder and timber wood for burgeoning population, it is necessary to utilize each unit of natural rsesource very efficiently. The productivity of the precious natural resources is to be enhanced per unit time per unit area by agronomic ally managing stresses soil and land ecosystem to harvest more benefit. The cropping system as well as intercropping system practised by using different trees, fruits, vegetables, crops are the very efficient enterprises for realising higher productivity of natural resources available with in specified ecosystem.

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%).

India has witnessed tremendous increase in the production of horticultural crops especially fruits since independence. Due to specialized scientific interventions and application of latest research tools, the country is now among the top fruit producing countries of the world ranking second next only to China. However, the productivity has still remained low as against area under the fruit cultivation. Several neglecting issues related to the production technology have remained unattended so far. The old and senile orchards are now reverting towards a declining trend of production because of plant age factor, non-compatible varieties and poor canopy management (Baba et al., 2011).

In the recent past declining productivity of old and dense orchards existing in abundance has become a matter of serious concern for the orchardists, traders as well as scientists. In India 30-35 per cent area under fruit crops is occupied by old, dense and diseased orchards. For overcoming the problem of unproductive and uneconomic orchards existing in abundance, large scale uprooting and replacement with new plantations (rehabilitation) will be a long term and expensive strategy. Therefore research efforts were initiated to standardize a technology for restoring the production potential of existing plantations by a technique called Rejuvenation. The term ‘Rejuvenation’ means renewal or making new or young again. As applied to the orchard tree it would mean restoring the productive capacity of the fruit trees. The meaning of ‘Rejuvenation’ according to Chamber’s dictionary is ‘to recover youth character or to grow again’. Obviously, this would apply to those plants which have attained a stage where they are no more profitable from the grower’s point of view.

With the culmination of green revolution, the yield in agriculture is almost static with the use of even great deal of inputs and resources with appearing decadence in nature. The agriculture, if continuous on with same trend, will no longer productive and sustainable. Heterogenity being vested with best survival and sustenance, attempt is underway towards crop diversification deploying remunerative crops and techniques so as to keep pace with rising demand of mankind. Added to this, dwindling land : man ratio (0.13 ha during 1990s), harvesting more return from a unit area of land, disguised unemployment, improper availability of fruits and vegetables (40 g and 120 g respectively as against 120 g and 280 g for fruits and vegetables, respectively), generating employment (143 man-days/ha in cereals, 860 man-days/ha in fruit production and 1000-2500 man-days/ha in cultural intensive fruit crops), are major concerns for high density planting (HDP). It is a holistic production system which helps in promoting and preserving dynamic agro-ecosystem. HDP is also an aid to biodiversity, biological cycles and organic farming. As an alternative to raise production and productivity especially to compete global trade, HDP is worth adoption.

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.

Vegetables are short duration crops and provide more returns per unit area and time besides, they play a major role in balancing human diet, thus, helping in alleviating hunger and malnutrition (Annon., 2009). In the previous few years, India has attained quantum jump in vegetable production and present estimated vegetable production is around 162.9 mt in an area of about 9.4 mha (NHB, 2014), and holds second position at global level. But this level of vegetable production is insufficient to meet the recommended daily intake (~300 g per capita per day) for a huge population of the country. This is mainly due to lower average productivity (17.5 t/ha) of the nation. There are several crop diminishing factors such as soil borne- and foliar- diseases, insect-pests and nematodes as biotic factors, and soil or water salinity, alkalinity, metal toxicity and heat and moisture stress as abiotic factors, which greatly affect vegetable crops yield in almost all growing areas, especially in fragile arid and semi arid regions.

Vegetables are of short duration, have higher productivity and give more return per unit area, besides giving nutritious food to human being and can be fitted in different farming systems. They also play a major role in balancing human diet, thereby helping in alleviating hunger, poverty and malnutrition. Because of the public awareness for the significance of vegetable consumption, the demand of vegetables in the global market has increased immensely. Thus, vegetable farming is becoming profitable venture globally, opening avenues of self employment and revenue generation (Anon., 2009). At global level, India holds second position, next only to China in vegetables production with a share of about 14%. The present annual vegetables production of country is about 175 million tons from an area about 10.3 million ha with a productivity of 17.1 t/ha. India grows largest number of vegetables in the world, as having a spectrum of wide range of agro-climatic situations, ranging from dry temperate to humid tropics between the altitudes from sea level to snow line.

The Indian hot arid region is one of the most important arid ecosystems of the world in terms of biodiversity it possesses. This arid region spreads over 31.7 mha, occupies major part of north western India including Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana, which together contribute 73% of arid region. High temperature, wind velocity, low humidity, low and erratic rainfall and high potential evapotranspiration are important characteristics of this region which narrowed down the choice for vegetables, besides permit their low productivity.

Rajasthan has geographical area of 3.42 lakh sq. km has attained the status of being the largest state of India. The state represents 10.4% land surface area with 5.5% population of India, 66% is dependent on agricultural for their livelihood. The state is divided into 33, districts, which are further subdivided into 338 Tehsils and 295 Panchayat Samitis. The total cultivable area is around 220.00 lakh ha. The average rainfall of the State is 575 mm, out of which about 532 mm precipitation occurs in the rainy season i.e. June to September. The average rainfall of eastern Rajasthan is about 704 mm and that of western Rajasthan is about 310 mm which reflects a vast variation. Rivers in Rajasthan are non-perennial except for Chambal and Mahi rivers. The State is presently divided into 33 administrative districts and has 10 agro-climatic zones. Agriculture in Rajasthan is primarily rain fed covering country’s 13.27 per cent of available land. Groundwater is getting depleted as well as polluted. In general, every third year is a drought year. Despite these, the State has made significant achievements since independence and has attained self-sufficiency in food- grains. Rajasthan is located in the north-western part of the subcontinent. It is bounded on the west and north-west by Pakistan, on the north and north-east by the states of Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh, on the east; in the south- east by the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, and on the south- west by the state of Gujarat. The Tropic of Cancer passes through its southern tip in the Banswara district. In the west, Rajasthan is relatively dry and infertile: this area includes some of the Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert. In the south-western part of the state, land is wetter, hilly, and more fertile.

The hot arid regions of India are spread over 32 million hectares in the states of Rajasthan (61%), Gujarat (20%), Punjab (5%), Haryana (4%), Karnataka (3%) and Andhra Pradesh (7%). The arid regions of western Rajasthan experience an annual rain fall between 100-500 mm with a coefficient of variations varying from 40-70 per cent. Low and erratic rainfall coupled with extreme temperature results in complete or partial crop failure, considerably affects the agricultural economy of the region. High wind velocity causes wind erosion and shifting of sand dunes covers the fertile agricultural land and canals (Rao and Singh,1998). The rise in temperature begins from March onward and attains its peak in May as high as 46°C. The transpiration is low during winters but during summer in months (May & June), it reaches up to 16 mm per day. The annual estimated potential evapotranspiration values ranges from 1600 mm in eastern part and 1800 mm in western part of the region.

In the arid regions of Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and eastern part of arid Gujarat the soils have developed from alluvial and aeolian parent materials. In context to the type of soils light brown sandy soils with dune dominance is 30.6 per cent and associated others 34 per cent area, light brown soils 1.7 per cent, Grey brown soils 13.6 per cent hard pan in 5.9 per cent and seirozems in 1.7 per cent area (Dhir, 1977). Kolarker et al. (1989) reported that in 12 district of Rajasthan sandy soils dominated in 14.3 million ha. These soils are poor in fertility very low organic carbon (0.03-0.1%), light in texture called desert soils (north western) in the order of aridisols. It has undulated topography with the dominance of sand dunes inter-dunal plains. About 80 per cent area falls under rain fed cropping and moth bean, cluster bean, pearl millet, and sesame are the main crops grown during kharif season after the onset of monsoon. Under the vagaries of monsoon and recurrent drought the rain fed cropping becomes a gamble, which creates severe food and fodder scarcity in the region.

The Indian arid zone is characterized by high temperature and low and variable precipitation which limit the scope for high crops productivity. However, these conditions greatly favour the development of high quality in a number of fruits such as date palm, ber, aonla, bael, pomegranate, kinnow, lasoda and in vegetables cucurbits, legumes and solanaceous crops, spices, medicinal and aromatic plants. The existing low productivity could be increased by following improved technologies and inputs. It is now realized that there is a limited scope for quantum jump in fruit and vegetable production in the traditional production areas. The amelioration of the extreme conditions is also considered vital for life support to the inhabitants of this area. The recent awareness regarding the potential of these ecologically fragile lands for production of quality produce has not only opened up scope for providing sustainability for the people of this region, but also for bringing in new areas to increase horticultural production. The area expansion and yield potential of arid horticultural crops has increased many folds because of development of new varieties and advancement in production techniques in arid region.

Abstract

Malaria is a widespread disease in the developing world, known to mankind since primeval times. It exists over hundreds countries of the world. Malaria is caused by the Plasmodium parasite and cause disease in over 30 crores people annually and kills approximately 10 lakhs people worldwide. Plasmodium protozoan species which causes malaria can be differentiated into four species viz. P. malariae, P. falciparum, P. vivax, and P. ovale. Among all these four species P. falciparum parasite has got resistance to all common antimalarial drugs available in the market; therefore it is a devastating strain of Plasmodium causing of serious disease and death. The rising resistance of existing remedy based on quinoline is a key provider to the re-emergence of malaria as a main public health difficulty and its widen to fresh locations and populations. Therefore, In this compilation, an effort is made to compile clinical features of malaria, life cycle of Plasmodium sp., different classes of antimalarial drugs and their mechanism of actions and recent advances in target based discovery and recent development in artemisinin research especially different kinds of artemisinin derivatives and new structural classes of antimalarial agents. We have also reviewed new leads discovered as antimalarial from natural products where we have possible to see new lead in near future.

Abstract

Herbal healthcare forms the most favored system for curing various ailments of the people residing in remote areas of Himalayan region. Gujjar and Bakerwal tribes inhabit the hilly areas of Pir Panjal region of J&K along with their livestock and rely on the surrounding bio-wealth for their healthcare needs. But, proper documentation of traditional knowledge about the medicinal plants has been poorly attempted in this part of J&K. In order to develop a data base of plants being used by Gujjar and Bakerwal tribes of district Poonch, present attempt has been made. The present compilation recorded one hundred forty five plant species belonging to 133 genera and 76 families which are used by the tribal people to cure various ailments like rheumatism, diarrhea, dysentery, skin and gastric problems, wound healing etc. These medicinal plants comprise of 25 trees, 27 shrubs, 82 herbs and 11 climbers. Of the total, 44 species are native to Himalayan region and 101 are non native.

Keywords: Indigenous knowledge, Medicinal plants, Healthcare, Gujjar, Bakerwal

Abstract

Toxic plants are a grave threat to existence and bodily functions of humans and animals resulting in death or sickness through accident, unawareness or bad intention resulting in huge economic loss. They have always been part of our daily life and some of them are so prevalent that we do not even doubt their poisonous nature. The study aimed at systematically documenting the precious traditional knowledge regarding the ethnotoxic plants of district Udhampur. Ethnotoxic data was collected by interviewing 125 infomants between the age group 24-95 years. A total of 89 plant species belonging to 69 genera and 43 families were observed to be toxic to either humans or animals or both. Majority of the taxa were growing in wild. Leaves were observed to be the most toxic plant parts. Frequently encountered toxic plant families include Fabaceae, Solanaceae, Asteraceae, Euphorbiaceae, Apocynaceae and Ranunculaceae. The route /mode of entry of toxic chemicals was mainly observed to be ingestion. A total of 62 ailments/ conditions/diseases were reported to be caused in humans or animals or both by the ingestion, contact or inhalation of toxic plants in the present study. These include nausea, vomiting, headache, diarrhoea, hematochezia, abdominal spasms, anorexia, dysuria, deep yellow or no urine, bloat, etc. The present study may serve as a base line data for further research and will go a long way in safeguarding people from being poisoned by stuff that may have healed them.

Abstract

Genus Artemisia L. (Asteraceae) has a long history of use in herbal medicine, owing to the presence of rich bioactive phytochemical diversity of it constituent species. Himalaya is hub of several species and species under this genus have been traditionally used in different ways for curing ailments by inhabitants of the areas where their populations sprawl. Few species such as A. annua and A. maritima are cultivated for their use in medicine. In addition, the species of the genus have found wide usage in matters connected to digestive system especially for treatment of worms and for preparation of herbal teas. Artemisnin, a potent source of anti-malarial drug extracted from some species, is most valuable bioactive phytochemical of this genus. Other important chemical constituents include santonin and scoparine. Reported studies suggest that the bioactive constituents present in this genus shows several biological activities such as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anticancerous and other allied ones activities. Expansion of range and acclimatization in new habitats is exemplary in this genus. Present work reports the ways of range expansion, economic importance, conservation strategies and future prospects of this genus.

Abstract

Jasrota Wildlife Sanctuary (JWS) in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Union Territory is floristically less explored. Between 2018 and 2019, field surveys and exploration tours were undertaken to obtain information from local people residing around JWS through open interviews, semi-structured questionnaires and group discussion. Total 113 informants were contacted and data collected by means of ‘snowball method’. A total of 138 species of 60 medicinal plant families were documented subjected to preliminary investigation, which includes 47.10% herbs, 28.26% trees, 19.57% shrubs, 4.35% lianas, and 0.72% parasites. Most dominant families were Fabaceae (11 gen. and 12 spp.), Lamiaceae (6 gen. and 8 spp.), Asteraceae (8 gen. and 8 spp.), Moraceae (2 gen. and 6 spp.), Caesalpinaceae (4 gen. and 6 spp.), Rosaceae (5 gen. and 5 spp.), Euphorbiaceae (4 gen. and 5 spp.), Solanaceae (4 gen. and 4 spp.) and Malvaceae (4 gen. and 4 spp.). Some of the common high valued medicinal plants were Ajuga integrifolia, Aloe barbadensis, Asparagus adscendens, Boerhavia diffusa, Cassia fistula, Lantana camara, Murraya koenigii, Ocimum tenuiflorum, Tinospora cordifolia, Zingiber officinale and several other plants. Traditionally lesser used plants were Abrus precatorius, Acacia catechu, Commelinabenghalensis Cyperus rotundus, Silene vulgaris, Robinia pseudoacacia, Urtica dioica and Ziziphus mauritiana. These medicinal plants are used in treatment of obesity, anti-helminthic, liver infection, diabetes, intestinal infections, rheumatism, tumours, stomachache, insomnia, nerve troubles, skin infection, aphrodisiac, memory related disorders, dermatological problems and asthma. Species with high frequency index should be analyzed for pharmacological research and for discovering of new medicines. It has been observed that lots of medicinal plants grows in this protected area and this sanctuary need proper conservation and management planning.