eChapters

Guidance and counselling help individuals understand themselves, address difficulties and make informed educational, vocational and personal decisions. This chapter introduces the meaning, principles, objectives, types and processes of guidance and counselling. It examines the qualities and responsibilities of counsellors, counselling relationships, communication skills and techniques used to assist children, adolescents, adults and families. The questions consider individual and group counselling, educational and career guidance, behavioural concerns, adjustment problems, mental well-being, confidentiality and ethical practice. They also assess learners’ understanding of assessment, referral and intervention. The chapter provides a concise revision resource for applying counselling principles within educational, family and community settings.

Shoot and fruit borer: Leucinodes orbonalis: Pyraustidae

The pest is active throughout year, but more during monsoon period. Heavy losses up to 60% can occur.

The adult is a greyish brown medium sized moth with white and hyaline wings, having triangular brown and red markings on forewing. A crescent shaped mark facing outside at the apical margin is typical for the species. About 150-250 creamy white eggs are laid singly on leaves, tender shoots, flowers and developing fruits. Egg period is 3-5 days and the hatched larva completes its life in 15 days with 5 instars.

Basic principles of breeding hybrid maize
1. Inbreeding
•    Produce a plant which breeds true
•    Produce uniform plants
•    Increase the homozygosity at all or specific loci in the plant genome
•    We know what inbreeding does and I do not propose to spend people’s money to learn how to reduce corn yield-Hopkins

Wilt

Fusarium oxysporun lini

Economic Importance

• The wilt is very serious disease and occurs in almost all the countries where linseed is grown.
• Continuous cropping in the infected field makes the soil sick.
• Yield losses upto 80 percent has been reported due to this disease. However, in severe cases crop is destroyed completely.

Soil air, its composition, gaseous exchange

Soil air is a continuation of the atmospheric air. It is in constant motion from the soil pores into the atmosphere and from the atmosphere into the pore space. The circulation of air in the soil and renewal of component gases like oxygen and carbon dioxide is known as soil aeration. Soil aeration is essential for the respiration and survival of soil organisms and plant roots.

Composition of soil air

Soil air contains gases like nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, water vapour and others. The composition of soil air is different from atmospheric air. Soil air contains more carbon dioxide and less oxygen than atmospheric air. It also contains more water vapour than atmospheric air. The nitrogen content of soil air is almost equal to atmospheric air. (Table below)

The word ‘chlamydia’ comes from the Greek word ‘chlamys’ means ‘cloak draped around the shoulder’. It describes how the intracytoplasmic inclusions produced by the bacterium appear under the microscope(‘draped’ around the host cell nucleus). Chlamydia was first discovered by a Czech zoologist and parasitologist, Stanislaus von Prowazek in 1907 in Berlin. Originally because of its structure it was thought to be a virus. In 1963 it was recognized as a bacterium rather than a virus.

Properties of genus

1. Morphology: Chlamydia are Gram-negative, non-motile, pleomorphic and obligate intracellular bacteria. The Gram-negative cell wall consists of cytoplasmic and outer membrane. However, they lack peptidoglycan layer. Moreover, they also encode major outer membrane protein (MOMP), the key antigenic determinant used for serological differentiation of chlamydiae.

They are poorly stained by Gram’s stain. Chlamydiae are readily stained by Castaneda (blue in appearance), Giemnez and Macchiavello (red in appearance) methods. However, Giemsa staining is preferable to stain the inclusions (chlamydial micro colony) in the cell culture. Inclusion bodies of the Chlamydiae are basophilic in nature. The staining of the inclusion bodies may differ depending on the species. In C. trachomatis, the inclusion bodies contain glycogen matrix and can be easily stained with iodine solution.

The major functions of the musculoskeletal system to provide support to organs and help in physical activities including locomotion, prehension, and
mastication. The clinical manifestations of the diseases of muscles, bones and joints are much in common, and are generally characterized by lameness,
failure of support, in coordination of movement and deformity.

Abstract

This chapter examines how agricultural credit is a vital input for all agricultural development programmes. Private moneylenders used to be the main source of agricultural credit. However, this source was insufficient, costly and oppressive. To overcome this, a multi-agency approach involving cooperatives, commercial banks and regional rural banks has been adopted to provide cheaper, timely and adequate credit to farmers.

Plant propagation refers to the process of increasing number of plants of a cultivar. Plant propagation is of two types viz. sexual and asexual. Sexual propagation is done by seeds, whereas asexual plant propagation is done by vegetative means such as stem/root cuttings, slips, corm, bulbs, rhizomes, grafting, budding, layering, etc. Good quality seed or planting material of established crop varieties should be procured from authentic source to get desired result. The seed should be uniform in size, free from disease infestation, possess good vigour and having good viability. The quality of the seed is decided based on germination percentage. Seeds can be directly sown to raise a crop or seedlings are raised in nursery beds, which are transplanted later to main plot.

Seedlings can be raised in nursery beds, poly bags or pro-trays. The nursery beds are usually kept one meter wide, convenient length and of 15 cm height. The soil of the bed is prepared by addition of well decomposed bulky organic manure, sand and garden soil in equal proportion. The beds have to be disinfected by exposing the soil to sun (solarisation) and addition of neem or karanj oil cake. After sowing the seeds in the bed, those are covered with straw, leaves or compost to protect the seeds from birds and to conserve moisture in the soil. It also helps to maintain the temperature for quick germination. The seeds are sown in lines on the bed.

Food Animals are the main protein source for human nutrition in the world.Sub-therapeutic doses of antibiotics are commonly used in food animal production, through their addition in feed and wateras antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs). Animal production is considered one of the main sources of antimicrobial resistances (AMR), thus the research for alternative strategies to the use of antibiotics in animal diet is essential to f ight the emergence of AMR. Currently, AMR causes the death of 700,000 people per year and it is forecasted that this will increase exponentially to 10 million by 2050, becoming the main cause of death worldwide.The reduction of antimicrobial resistance is a major challenge for the scientific community. In a few decades, infections by resistant bacteria are forecasted to be the main cause of death in the world. The withdrawal of antibiotics as growth promoters and their preventive use in animal production is essential to avoid these resistances, but this may impair productivity and health due to the increase in gut inflammation. The best alternative to Antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) is a general improvement of conditions for food animals. In order to start a reformation of the Food Animal Industry as a whole, it’s essential to research to find out effective, resistance rare, low toxic and affordable alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters. Culinary herbs derived bioactives may be the promising products to address this challenge because it is traditionally proven to restore the gastrointestinal health due to beneficial effects on microbiota composition, mucosal barrier integrity, and immune system to control inflammation.

1. Introduction
Molecular techniques are laboratory methods used to study and manipulate DNA, RNA, and proteins. These techniques are crucial for analyzing and understanding the molecular basis of biological processes and have applications in various fields like medicine, agriculture, and forensics.
2. Molecular Marker Analysis
Molecular markers can be expressed as a DNA sequence or gene expression product that represents differences in genomic level in relation to a gene or a property. Molecular markers are markers that can be used to monitor differences at the DNA level and for a gene that is being investigated. DNA markers are also DNA regions in which polymorphism in individuals within a species can be determined.
Molecular markers are nontissue-specific DNA regions that are reliable, repeatable, standardizable, capable of identifying multiple regions in the genome, capable of identifying more than one region in the genome, independent of environmental conditions, dominant and codominant.
Molecular markers are classified as dominant and codominant markers. Heterozygous individuals cannot be distinguished from homozygous dominant individuals, since dominant markers are not suitable for identification of heterozygous individuals when related to dominance between alleles is dominated by dominant markers. Thus, three different individuals (AA, AA and AA) can be distinguished for any marker at any point.
The use of molecular marker systems based on this meta-analysis has become more prevalent in genetic studies conducted by the discovery of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The rapid development of technology and the accompanying needs, the facilities of the laboratories where the applications will occur, the biological properties of the species and the abundance of markers in the genome have contributed to the development of DNA markers [5]. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), randomly amplified polymorphic DNA markers (RAPD), amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), sequence labeled sequences (STS), microsatellites (SSR), cleaved polymorphic sequence (CAPS), single strand such as complementary polymorphism (SSCP), amplicon length polymorphism (ALP), interspecific sequence repeat polymorphism (ISSR),

Fungal diseases are a significant threat to crop health and productivity worldwide, causing substantial economic losses and compromising food security. The development and spread of fungal diseases are influenced by a complex array of factors, including crop susceptibility, pathogen virulence, and environmental conditions. Among these environmental factors, weather plays a critical role in determining the severity and impact of fungal diseases on crops. Weather conditions, such as temperature, humidity, precipitation, and wind, can significantly affect the life cycle of fungal pathogens, including spore production, dispersal, and infection. For example, high temperatures and dry conditions can inhibit the growth and development of some fungal pathogens, while cool and wet conditions can favor their development and spread. Similarly, wind and precipitation can facilitate the dispersal of fungal spores, leading to the rapid spread of disease (Fig. 7.1). Understanding the impact of weather on fungal diseases is essential for developing effective disease management strategies. By recognizing the weather conditions that favor or inhibit the development of fungal diseases, farmers and crop managers can take proactive measures to prevent or mitigate disease outbreaks. This may involve adjusting planting dates, irrigation schedules, and fungicide applications to minimize the risk of disease. Furthermore, knowledge of the weather effects on fungal diseases can also inform the development of more accurate and reliable disease forecasting systems.

Indian agriculture – the back bone of our economy accounts for about 65 per cent of the country’s employment and 20 per cent the total export earnings. Despite a drastic increase in the food grains production during the last five decades, the profit margins of farmers particularly small and medium farmers has declined due to certain serious problems like declining water table, deterioration in soil health, outbreaks of new pests diseases and weeds, and environmental pollution etc. With the globalization of market, the farmers will have to change themselves from mere producers’ in the domestic markets to producer cum seller in a wider market sense in order to best realize the returns for his investments, risks and efforts. Now the focus should be on high quality produce, low cost of production and high productivity.

Diamond back moth: Plutella xylostella: Plutellidae
 
The adults of this moth are small, greyish brown having pale whitish narrow wings and with inner margins yellow. There are three pale whitish triangular markings on hind margins of each forewing. At rest, when both forewings come together, they form a dorsal median patch of three diamond shaped yellowish white spots that give them their name diamond back moth. Hind wings have a fringe of long hairs.

Germplasm
 
Germplasm of crop may be defined as sum total of hereditary materials, i.e. all alleles of various genes present in a crop species and its wild relatives. The germplasm can be utilized in a breeding programme in following ways:
•    Direct release as a variety
•    It may be subjected to selection for developing a variety
•    It may be used as one of parents in hybridization programmes

The importance of lipids have already been elaborated. They play a major role as source of energy and as components of membranes which have implications in plant growth regulation. The complete metabolism of fat leads to oxidation, the final products being CO₂ and water. The burning of one mole of palmitic acid gives 2340 kcal.  The molecular weight of palmitic acid is 256. This works out to approximately 9 kcal/g of palmitic acid. This energy is twice that derived from either sugars or proteins. Fats and oils are thus better and more efficient forms of storage of energy in living beings.

Lab coat: A loose white coat with deep pockets that is worn in a laboratory or medical office.

Labelling: It means any written, printed or graphic matter that is present on the label, accompanies the food or is displayed near the food, including that for the purpose of promoting its sale or disposal. After packaging, labels are required on the finished products intended for distribution and sale. Labelling can reflect on the quality of the product. It must be clear and informative. Information includes Name of the Manufacturer, Date of Manufacture, Net Weight, Gross Weight, Best before etc. Proper storage is needed for maintenance of the quality. Storage must be done only at recommended temperature, relative humidity, light and air / oxygen and carbon dioxide conditions etc. to maintain the quality of the food product. Label may include tag, brand, and pictorial or descriptive matter, written, printed, embossed, graphic, perforated, stencilled or stamped impressions. It is attached to container, cover, lid, or crown of a food package.

Laboratory: A place equipped for experimental study in a science or for testing and analysis. Broadly, it is a place providing opportunity for experimentation, observation, or practice in a field of study.

Lacquer: It is a colloidal dispersion of a solution of cellulose derivative, resin and plasticizer in solvent and diluents, where in all these constituents dried in air by evaporation of solvents, thus yielding a transparent, hard and water proof film.

ABSTRACT

Vanilla (Vanilla planifolia Andrews) is a high value spice crop having immense potential for cultivation in India as a source for natural vanillin. Though the crop was introduced way back in 1835, its cultivation gained momentum only in the recent past due to various reasons. Lack of sufficient good quality planting materials is one of the constraints for expanding the area under the crop. Conventionally vanilla is propagated by vine cuttings, but this method is inadequate to have large number of planting materials in a short span of time. So, micropropagation was attempted and proved to be highly successful. In the present study, performance of vanilla plants raised from tissue culture plantlets and vegetative cuttings was assessed on large-scale in planters’ field covering a total area of 111 ha in Kerala(68ha), Karnataka(28ha) and Tamilnadu(15ha) with the financial assistance of the Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi under the project entitled “Tissue culture Vanilla : Product Plan“. Disease free elite accessions of vanilla identified by the Indian Cardamom Research Institute (Spices Board), Myladumpara from its germplasm repository were used as mother plant source for tissue culture multiplication and also for raising the nursery for producing vegetative cuttings. The field planting for the demonstration plots was carried out during 1996-1999 on a cluster approach basis having 400 plants in each unit or plot of 0.25 ha. Accordingly a total of 444 evaluation plots were laid out under the project covering the aforesaid three states. Out of the 400 plants in a plot, 80% were nursery hardened grown up tissue culture plants and the balance( 20% )vegetative cuttings of comparable length. Observations on growth and yield attributes such as vine length, number of leaves per vine, internodal length, number of beans per vine, bean size, yield etc. revealed that performance of tissue culture plants is on par with that of conventional plants raised from vegetative cuttings of comparable length. It is also observed that if good management practices are adopted, tissue culture plants perform better at the full bearing stage of the plant. This proves that tissue culture plants of vanilla can be popularized as a cost effective and faster source of planting materials compared to conventional vegetative cuttings. As the demonstration plots were distributed under varied agroclimatic situations, the influence of different weather parameters on yield was also ascertained. Further, the project could convince the farmers about the comparable performance of tissue culture plants and that is quite evident from the ever increasing request for tissue culture vanilla plants received by the Spices Board.

Ozonium Wilt

Ozonium texanum var. parasiticum Thirum / Guizotia abyssinica

Economic Importance

• The disease was reported around Varanasi.
• Heavy losses are incurred as the diseased plants dry.

18.1. What?

The basic objective of sowing is to place the seed in rows at the desired depth, to maintain proper spacing between seed to seed, cover the seeds with soil and provide proper compaction over the seed if required. Precise sowing/planting helps in better crop stand. This helps to achieve optimum yields. Traditional sowing methods include broadcasting manually, opening furrows by a country plough and dropping seeds by hand (i.e.) dibbling. In the present day, improved seed-cum-fertilizer drills are used for sowing and fertilizer application. These are provided with seed and fertilizer boxes, metering mechanism, furrow openers, covering devices, frame, ground drive system and controls for variation of seed and fertilizer rates.

18.2. Types of sowing/planting equipment

Sowing equipment include seeders and transplanters. Various types of sowing equipment, viz., manually operated, animal drawn, power operated and tractor drawn are used throughout India.

18.2.1. Seed drills

Seeders are available for sowing seeds of various crops. Some seeders have been designed with adjustable metering mechanism which makes them versatile for sowing two or three kinds of seeds. For example, a multicrop planter developed by CIAE is used for sowing garlic, maize, moong, peas and groundnut. Similarly, the institute has developed a small seed sowing drill which is used for sowing small seeds such as bajra, rapeseed and mustard.