eChapters

INTRODUCTION

Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something, which can include facts, information, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. It can be implicit (as with practical skill or expertise) or explicit (as with the theoretical understanding of a subject); it can be more or less formal or systematic.While many would agree that one of the most universal and significant tools for the transfer of knowledge is writing (of many kinds), argument over the usefulness of the written word exists nonetheless, with some scholars skeptical of its impact on societies. People are often internalizing new information which they perceive to be knowledge but in reality fill their minds with false knowledge.

1. Introduction

Plant is probably the greatest gift of nature. Plants provide us with food, cloth, house, papers and many others. Some of the plants have medicinal values and are known as ‘medicinal plants’. Our ancestors used these plants not only for protection from diseases but also for the treatment of several ailments. China has the highest number of the medicinal plants used (about 11,500 species) followed by India (about 7500 species). People of other countries also use medicinal plants in varying amount (Rafieian-Kopaei, 2013). Tradition is still going on. It is reported that even today 80% of the world population relies on medicinal plants in their medication (Hamilton, 2004). Few plants secrete essential oils full of aroma and are called ‘aromatic plants’. These plants are being utilized in industry for the production of essence and many other products. Medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs), therefore, are in continuous use from past to present. In future also there will be tremendous scope of utilization of MAPs in drug discovery, aromatherapy, as cosmeceuticals, nutraceuticals as well as in animal husbandry. Present review will focus utilization of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs) in past and present and its possible prospect in future.

Introduction

Food is the most important requirement of every section of the society. But, mere availability of food sometimes is not enough and it does not mean that everybody is having access to a fair share of it or that every one has an adequate diet (Oshaug et al., 1994). Therefore, affordable food prices and adequate purchasing power with the people are equally important.

The need of food security was felt due to the gaps in food production and availability of sufficient food from domestic resources. Large proportion of the underfed population starves not because of general food shortage but due to the insufficient access to food supplies or insufficient income to purchase food.FAO (1999) estimated that there were 20.4 million undernourished people in India only).

Importance of maintaining food security over the world has been abundantly recognized since long. However, during 1974, FAO was called by the World Food Conference to establish a Committee on World Food Security so as to keep the world food situation under constant review and to suggest the strategies for rectifying the problems in problematic areas. Later, an International Undertaking on World Food Security was set up wherein member nations committed themselves to maintain food stocks for ensuring uninterrupted supply of foodgrains and to cope up with the problems of shortage in case of crop failure due to the natural calamities etc. Since then, the Committee on World Food Security monitors the implementation of the undertaking.

Fruit crops can be classified into many groups or categories based on certain criteria, which may vary according to climatic and soil requirements, growth habits and of late with consumer rating. Horticultural and botanical classifications are two important types of classification followed in fruit plants. Classification often helps to identify the names and to group the plants. It also gives an account about relatedness among them which further suggest the breeding possibility and grafting compatibility. Different types of classifications followed are discussed here:

CLASSIFICATION BASED ON CLIMATIC REQUIREMENT

Fruit plants are classified based on their climatic adaptability and it is also known as ecological classification. In horticultural point of view, this classification has got much significance. Fruit growers can select crops suited to a particular region by following the demarcations given here. Fruit plants are categorized into the following groups in this classification.

Temperate fruits

Fruit crops need exact climatic requirements for their growth and development, flowering and fruiting. These plants are grown only in places where winter is distinctly cold, they are deciduous and become dormant during this season. Plants should be exposed to specific chilling temperature for certain period for flower induction. These plants are suitable to higher elevations and they can withstand frost. eg. Apple, plum, peach, pear, almond, walnut.

Soil health

Soil health is defined as the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living system, by recognizing that it contains biological elements that are keys to ecosystem function within land use-boundaries. These functions are able to sustain biological activity of soil, maintain the quality of air and water as well as promote plant, animal and human health.

The characteristics of a healthy soil depends on the physical, chemical and biological properties of soils which directly or indirectly influence crop production.

Soil quality and soil health are terms that are discussed in agricultural community. Both these terms encompass a complex, dynamic concept, different to define and hard to measure. The term soil quality and soil health are often used interchangeably in the scientific literature, with scientists in general preferring soil quality and producers preferring soil health. Soil health may be considered as the state of soil at a particular time equivalent to the dynamic properties in short term. In contrast, soil quality may be considered for a particular purpose over a longer time scale, equivalent to static soil quality. In a broader way soil quality may refer to both permanent and static soil properties. (Fig. 11.1).

A static soil property relates to natural characteristic of soil (texture) which are derived from pedogenic processes. These properties cannot be easily amended. The dynamic properties are readily related to management practices. The dynamic component is of most important for the growers because it allows the soil to come to its full potential.

Among subtropical fruit crops mango, guava, bael and aonla are among the most important ones. The productivity of these crops is affected by many factors, among which diseases have their own economic significance. The crops use to suffer from a large number of diseases, however, economically important diseases having significance in agro-advisory are mentioned below.
Mango Wilt and Decline
The mango wilt disease caused by Ceratocystis fimbriata is one of the most devastating diseases (Shukla et al., 2015, 2018b, 2020; Shukla, 2020). Association of Berkeleomyces basicola and Lasidiplodia theobromae in wilt, decline and branch drying has also been observed. Symptoms: Ceratocystis infection on the trees causes dark staining of the affected wood, exudation of gum, leaf drying and ultimately death of the tree (Al Adawi et al., 2003; Shukla et al., 2018b). Later symptoms include vascular discolouration beneath the gummosis (Masood et al., 2008; Shukla et al., 2018b). The symptoms may appear in the form of sudden wilt, decline or branch drying and accordingly the whole tree or branch may die within a period of a fortnight to six months of appearance of first symptom.

Introduction
India with a population of 1.30 billion people is highly focusing on “Development”i.e. good food, better health & living conditions for everyone. With the increase in the incomes, people can now afford better nutrition in the form of poultry egg and meat, now poultry industry has transformed from a mere backyard activity into a major commercial activity in just four decades. India is now the world’s 3rd largest egg producer and the 5thlargest producer of broilers. The Indian poultry market witnessed an increasing trend over the past five years, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.6% (DAHD, 2023). Poultry sector in India is valued at about Rs. 1,50,000 crore (2022-23) broadly divided into two sub-sectors – one with a highly organized commercial sector with about 80% of the total market share (say, Rs. 1,20,000 crore) and the other being unorganized with about 20% of the total market share of Rs. 30,000 Crore. (DAHD, 2023). Poultry production in India has become a profitable and most popular income generating sector for the educated unemployed youth. Most of the poultry farmers are interested in broiler production due to its quick returns, less space requirement and higher weight gains. The productive potential of poultry in India has not been fully exploited due to deficit feed resources and unutilization of available improved technologies for getting high productivity from the poultry at economical rate. Hence, it is essential to further enhance the feeding value of available feed resources so as to improve the efficiency of feed utilization and minimize the cost of feed per kilogram live weight gain. The use of antibioticas growth promoters in poultry has been banned due to concern about their residues in tissue and induction of bacterial resistance. Due to these concerns, recently many feed additives has been investigated for alternatives tofeed antibiotics. The international feed industry is facing the challenge of the awareness among the consumers of meat on the risk of bringing about antibiotic resistance in pathogenic microbiota through antibiotics used in animal and poultry feeds. It has directed them towards the non-antibiotic feed additives. Among them, the feed additives of plant origin, called as Phyto-additives or Phytogenic Feed Additives (PFA) or Phytobiotics are considered to be a better alternative as non-antibiotic growth promoters, even though there are well established non antibiotic growth promoters such as organic acids and probiotics. The Phytogenic feed additives also vary widely in their botanical origin, processing and composition. They have been used in solid, dried and ground forms or as extracts or essential oils.It is reported that aromatic plants may increase feed intake and may improve secretion of endogenous digestive enzymes. It has been shown thatthe dietary incorporation of herbs may provide beneficial effect on poultry performance and health due to the antimicrobial activity of their phytochemical components. Phytobiotics have gained increasing interest as natural growth promoting feed additives in broiler production in recent years. These have wide range of medicinal properties with no residual side effects and are best alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters (Chaudhary et al., 2018, 2019, Rahman et al., 2014). Beneficial effects of these substances in poultry nutrition are due to their high content of pharmacologically active compounds stimulating appetite and feed intake, improving endogenous digestive secretion and activating immune responses (Nouzarian et al., 2011 and Toghyani et al., 2010).

Abstract

There are several empirical models to describe deep bed drying dividing the domain into many thin layers. Empirical equations are seen as a resource that only serves to describe the thin layer drying kinetics of an agricultural product. Normally an empirical model is used to determine drying rate. The validity of following thin-layer drying models are accounted by coefficient of correlation (R2), standard error of estimated (SEE), root mean square error (RMSE). The properties of dried foods vary substantially depending upon the type of product, moisture content, drying type and ultimately drying conditions. To take care all above variables, a promising approach is to use Artificial Neural Network (ANN). In process control, the main objectives are food safety, high quality and yield at minimal costs. To obtain high quality products, on-line control techniques are required. Most food processes are highly nonlinear, with time varying dynamics, which complicates food automation. However, the recent developments in artificial intelligence based advanced control tools such as ANN to food processing have opened up novel possibilities for processing industries.

Food, furs, research, hobbies, pets – these are the major uses of rabbits around the world. It should be noted that rabbit production for meat and wool has become increasingly important in the last few years.

Angora wool rabbits are a commercial rabbit which is raised for its fine wool and meat as well, but primarily raised for wool production. Cooler climate is most conducive to raising this breed of rabbit. Angora rabbit does not differ from other breeds of rabbit except for its unusual length of valuable fur(wool). This modifies its raising compared to other rabbits.
 
The term ‘Angora’ qualifies those mammals which are covered with fur or wool composed of very soft hair of more than normal length – double or more than double the normal length.

Introduction

India is predominantly an agricultural economy and about half of the workforce is engaged in agriculture sector. Around 48 per cent of households in the country are agricultural household and they derive the monthly income from crop cultivation. India is leading in production of many agricultural crops but finding a market for marketed surplus and getting fair prices have always been a major challenge. Long time ago, traditional market system was existed in India. Marketing implied greater magnitude as yields and production started rising after farmers embraced with advanced technologies such as high-yielding varieties, fertilizers, chemical inputs, block chain development, farmers business network, market linkages, diversification towards high value crops, integrated farming system approach, precision farming including digital agriculture, drones, GIS technology, remote sensing, soil health management, crop and livestock insurance, mobile apps, web portal, machine learning and many mores. These catered the need of efficient regulated marketing system to support the farmers and keep away from them getting manipulated in the market.

India has gained self-sufficiency in the agriculture production. There is need to translate this production into better remuneration for the farming community by focusing into agricultural marketing system. The agricultural marketing system is characterized by various short comings like heavy sale of commodities at primary level immediately after the harvesting period, absence of on-farm grading of produce, poor packaging, insufficient marketing infrastructure, long marketing channels, existence of various malpractices in the marketing of agri-produce, nontransparent price discovery mechanism, lack of market information system, low marketable surplus especially of small and marginal farmers, etc.

Rising population and increasing demand for food are prominent factors driving the digital farming market. Moreover, the growing demand to efficiently deal with pests, weeds, and other diseases is encouraging farmers to digitize their farm. In developing regions, cheaper internet data and strong penetration of smart devices (especially smartphones) are driving the digital farming market. Active participation of governments in digitizing farms through investment is also driving the digital farm market.

A farming system is composed of several farm activities, such as cropping systems, horticulture, livestock, fisheries, forestry, and poultry, as well as the tools the farmer has at his disposal to raise these things profitably. However, a lot of definitions generally express the same concept, which is that it is a technique to achieve profitable and sustainable agricultural production in order to meet the varied needs of the farming community while sparing the natural resource base and environmental quality.

Abstract
Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) has emerged as a vital component of contemporary food systems, addressing food security, environmental sustainability, and socio-economic development in densely populated areas. This chapter explores the multifaceted dimensions of UPA, including its benefits, challenges, and future directions. It examines the roles of urban and peri-urban farming in enhancing food security, promoting environmental sustainability, and supporting local economies. Key strategies for successful implementation, including community involvement, policy support, and technological innovations, are discussed. The chapter provides a comprehensive analysis of UPA practices across various global contexts and offers recommendations for scaling up and integrating UPA into broader
urban planning and development frameworks.
Keywords: Urban agriculture, peri-urban agriculture, food security, environmental sustainability, urban planning, community involvement, policy support, technological innovations, local economies.

Precipitation is a vital component of the Earth’s water cycle, playing a crucial role in shaping our climate, weather, and ecosystems. It occurs when water vapor in the atmosphere condenses and falls to the ground as rain, snow, sleet, or hail. Precipitation is a key driver of weather patterns, influencing everything from local weather events to global climate trends.
In this chapter, we will explore the various forms of precipitation, including rain, snow, sleet, and hail, and examine the factors that influence their formation and distribution 
We will also discuss the importance of precipitation in sustaining life on Earth, from supporting plant growth and agriculture to shaping landscapes and ecosystems. Key topics to be discussed are:
• Forms of precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, hail)
• Precipitation processes (formation, distribution, intensity)
• Factors influencing precipitation (temperature, humidity, wind patterns)
• Importance of precipitation (ecosystems, agriculture, water resources)
• Precipitation measurement and prediction (methods, challenges, applications)

Internal Factors

The increased yield and other desirable characters are related to the genetic make up of the plant. They are :

• High yields under given environmental conditions.
• Early maturity (in some cases late maturity).
• Resistance to lodging.
• Drought, flood and salinity tolerance.
• Tolerance to insects and diseases.
• Chemical composition of grains (high percentage of oil, increase in protein quantity or quality, etc.)
• Quality of grains (fineness, coarseness, etc.)
• Quality of straw (sweetness, juiciness, etc.)

The urinary tract is the body’s drainage system. It includes kidneys, ureters, urinary bladder and urethra. Ultrasound is a most preferred imaging tool for the diagnosis of diseases of urinary tract not only in humans but also in dogs and cats. Little adipose tissue in urinary system of dogs makes the contrast between different planes and anatomical structures poor.

1. Introduction

There are around six hundred major and minor crop species but only two percent are cultivated commercially meeting the food (calorie) requirements. The most commonly cultivated food plants are even smaller counting to merely 20 crops (Wilkes, 1984). The huge number of underutilized crops may serve as potential fruit crops to meet the nutritional requirements of poor farming households in lesser common farming and subsistence agriculture. The adoption of underutilized crops on a commercial scale may not be possible without crop improvement, standardized agronomic and fertilizer management technologies, pre- and post-harvesting techniques and marketing (Bag Mal et al., 1997).

Introduction

Regenerative agriculture is both a philosophy and a strategy for land management. It asks us to consider how all aspects of agriculture are connected through a web, which is a network of entities that grow, enhance exchange, and distribute, consumer products and services. Traditionally, supply chains have been organized linearly. It is about farming and ranching in a way that nourishes people as well as the earth, with specific practices differing from grower to grower and from region to region. This style of farming and ranching is also known as “permaculture.” Although there is no definitive rule book, the holistic principles that underpin the dynamic system of regenerative agriculture are designed to address issues of inequity, reestablish the health of soil and ecosystems, and ensure that our land, waters, and climate are in better condition for future generations. It is a novel concept of uplifting the natural world rather than imposing an invasive control, regenerative agriculture intriguing environmental approach to agricultural production that enables the natural systems to renew themselves. Regenerative agriculture refers to farming practices that, in comparison to industrial agriculture, cause significantly less damage to the surrounding environment and the soil. When we give more to nature than what we receive from it, we bring nature closer to us and bring ourselves closer to nature at the same time. Farming that is in harmony with both the surrounding environment and the community fosters a feeling of integrity and togetherness that helps to strengthen the connection between the two. The concept of harmonious farming can be summed up in a few words: It involves engaging in agricultural practices and cropping systems that increase soil fertility return nutrients to the soil, increase soil water retention, remove carbon dioxide (CO2 ) from the atmosphere, and, most importantly, adapt to the ecosystems in which they are grown.

Various insect and mite pests infest fruit and plantation crops in different stages of crop growth directly or indirectly causing significant losses, hence need their management. The major pests of different fruit and plantation crops, their identification characters, life history, nature of damage and symptoms alongwith its management practices are described crop wise:

Temperate fruits

Pome fruits and stone and nut fruits are mainly cultivated in the temperate regions, which usually requires chilling requirements. Among stone and nut fruits cherry, apricot, peach and plum are the main crops whereas among the nut fruits, walnut, almond are major crops which are a source of handsome income to the orchardists of those areas. The insect and mite pests of pome, stone and nut fruits are described hereunder:

Sexual propagation through seeds is a fundamental method for producing horticultural crops, rootstocks, and planting material. This chapter explains seed structure, quality, viability, dormancy, germination, and factors affecting successful seedling establishment. Different types of seed dormancy and methods for overcoming dormancy are discussed, including scarification, stratification, chemical treatments, temperature management, and appropriate moisture conditions. Seed testing and quality considerations are important for obtaining uniform and healthy plants. The chapter also emphasizes the influence of temperature, oxygen, water, light, and substrate conditions on germination. Understanding seed biology enables students and growers to produce vigorous seedlings and establish reliable nursery and crop-production systems.

Carnation is one of the important cut flower crops grown throughout the world and occupies prime position because of the attractive colour, shape and good vase life. Due to the excellent keeping quality, wide range of forms, ability to withstand long distant transportation and remarkable ability to rehydrate after continuous shipping, carnation is preferred by growers to roses and chrysanthemums in several flower exporting countries.

Although cut carnations are sold in western countries all the year round, they are in particular demand for the Valentines Day, Easter, Mothers Day and Christmas. While standard carnations are in great demand, the miniature types are fast gaining popularity for their potential role in floral arrangement and also as cut flower at comparatively low price. White and pink standard carnations are in the greatest demand followed by red, yellow and bicolour. The liking for a colour depends upon the time or season. The re standard types are preferred to other colours, especially during the Christmas. In contrast in miniatures, the terminal flower bud is pinched to encourage clusters of short-stemmed small flowers. These types are mainly used for flower arrangement. (Bhatt, 1989)