eChapters

Introduction

Agriculture ranks as the second-largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 20% of the total, following the energy sector. Converting the agricultural waste from trash to treasure is very challenging issue for the researchers/scientists. The practice of indiscriminate dumping and burning crop residue poses serious human and environmental health risks and threatens food and energy security (Singh and Chauhan, 2022). Addressing crop residue burning requires strong technological interventions and policy support due to factors like labour scarcity, lack of appropriate technology and most important the short window of 15-20 days between harvesting and the next crop sowing. On-field burning not only degrades the environment but also leads to the loss of valuable nutrient content in crop residue. Agri-waste burning constitutes approximately 25% of total agri-biomass production globally, underscoring the urgent need to find economically viable alternatives to mitigate this issue and curb outdoor degradation. The scientific community is increasingly focusing on valorizing lignocellulosic-based agricultural waste for biofuel generation and industrial enzyme production. Given the pressing concerns regarding energy use and environmental degradation, there is a growing imperative to transition from non-renewable to renewable energy sources. Renewable energy has the potential to satisfy a significant portion of global energy demand by 2050. Leveraging lignocellulosic waste from agricultural systems is crucial for renewable energy generation and environmental sustainability. Agri-waste, composed mainly of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, boasts high energy conversion efficiency compared to fossil fuel-based technologies. Effective agri-waste management techniques can address energy security and greenhouse gas emissions issues (Varjani et al., 2022). The sheer volume of agricultural residue globally, equivalent to around 50 billion tons of oil, highlights the substantial potential of agricultural biomass for energy production. Similarly, composting agri-waste offers an eco-friendly alternative to energy-intensive inorganic fertilizers, promoting sustainable agricultural crop production. Retaining or incorporating agri-waste into soil can enhance soil fertility and crop productivity (Yadav et al., 2019). Moreover, due to its diverse biochemical composition, agri-waste holds promise for various industrial applications.

Introduction

Nowadays, horticultural fields are expanding due to the increasing demand for various utilizations. Increased production is leading to an increase in exports. The global horticulture market value of about 20.77 billion USD was estimated in 2021 and targeted to attain 40.24 billion USD by 2026 (Global Market Estimates, 2021). From the production of horticultural foods, various factors are involved in the hazardous environmental appearance. Uncontrolled use of pesticides and residual effects of various chemicals initiate the primary threats to nature by creating a negative impact on soil, water, humans, animals, and wildlife species too (Sanchez-Bayo, 2011). Alone agricultural practices are not responsible for the production of horticultural wastes some other aspects are also included such as horticultural food processing industries as well as urban and peri-urban wastes. Food processing is an important sector of agriculture. Being highly perishable horticultural food processing became more necessary to increase the self-life as well as the value addition of these crops. But at the same time, these food processing industries where several processes such as production, processing, and preparation of food take place again result in the generation of huge quantities of waste material causing health hazards due to environmental pollution. The huge waste of food is due to a lack of control and ignorance of higher officials in this agro-economic sector. Another important source where waste management is equally important is Urban and peri-urban areas. Being a sink for horticultural produce (raw or processed) creates huge waste at the same time. The urban population is increasing between 3% and 3.5% per annum and the yearly increase in waste generation is around 5% annually (Agarwal et al., 2005).

Introduction

There is growing worldwide interest in reducing methane emissions from domestic ruminants. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and its release into the atmosphere is directly linked with animal agriculture, particularly ruminant production. Methane emitted from ruminant livestock is regarded as a loss of feed energy and also a contributor to global warming. Methane is synthesized in the rumen as one of the hydrogen sink products that are unavoidable for efficient succession of anaerobic microbial fermentation. Various attempts have been made to reduce methane emission, mainly through rumen microbial manipulation, by the use of agents including chemicals, antibiotics and natural products such as oils, fatty acids and plant extracts. A newer approach is the development of vaccines against methanogenic bacteria. While ionophore antibiotics have been widely used due to their efficacy and affordable prices, the use of alternative natural materials is becoming more attractive due to health concerns regarding antibiotics. An important feature of a natural material that constitutes a possible alternative methane inhibitor is that the material does not reduce feed intake or digestibility but does enhance propionate that is the major hydrogen sink alternative to methane. Since methane contains energy, its emission during rumen fermentation is considered to be a loss of feed energy that is equivalent to 2-12% of the gross energy of animal feed (Johnson and Johnson, 1995). Some implications of these approaches, as well as an introduction to antibiotic-alternative natural materials and novel approaches, are provided.

Bougainvillea can grow in almost all kinds of edaphic conditions except in the water lodged regions. They grow well in the degraded soils (black cotton soils, red soils, crevices of rocks, to some extent in sandy soils, water stress conditions, high and low pH soils). Open sunny location is most suitable for best performance. Full sunshine helps for producing brilliant colours in masses. But young plants must be protected from heat. Kuzmina-Medova (1986) estimated that Bougainvillea require more than 2000 lux light for satisfactory growth. Different floricultural crops are propagated/multiplied by different means like sexual propagation (by seeds), asexual propagation (cuttings, layering, grafting, budding) and micropropagation. Bougainvillea is mostly propagated by vegetative propagation i.e. hard wood cuttings but it can also be propagated by different conventional propagation methods (Watson and Criley 1973, Iredell 1994, Srinivas 1995, Sindhu and Dagar 2015, Rajan et al., 1998, Tavares et al., 1998, Criley 1997, Pertuit 1999, Gilman 1999, Hackett et al., 1972, Schoellhorn and Alvarez 2002, Hamilton and Midcap 2003).

Heliconias are tropical plants of princely dimensions grown for their attractive foliage and brilliant flower spikes. They are some of the most unusual flora of the tropics. Strikingly elegant flower heads rise from banana like clumps of oval leaves, which are sometimes rather slender and, with a few varieties, extremely large. They are found naturally in the tropical forests world wide and in moderate climates. A popular landscape plant and cut flower in tropical and subtropical areas of the world, heliconias are native to Central and South America, the Caribbean Islands and some of the islands of the South Pacific. Their easy cultivation and spectacular presence have made them favourite garden subjects throughout the world. Heliconias have several common names including lobster’s claw’s, ‘parrot’s flower’, ‘parrot plantain’ and false plantain. Depending on variety, heliconias will range in height from 60 to 700 cm, often with extensive rhizomatous growth. The flower or inflorescence of heliconia is nearly always terminal and may last from several days to several months. They are particularly desirable as cut flowers because of their long lasting characteristics. 

Plant parasitic nematodes cause serious damage to rice crop. Thirty two species belonging to 13 genera were observed in association with the crop. Among them few are considered to be important. They are the rice white - tip nematode (Aphelenchoides besseyi), rice stem nematode (Ditylenchus angustus), rice root nematode (Hirschmanniella oryzae), root-knot nematode
(Meloidogyne graminicola) and the cyst nematode (Heterodera oryzicola).

The North Eastern region of India is a gift of nature having rich cultural heritage and biodiversity reigning under diversified agro-climatic conditions. The region, which is only 7.76 percent of the geographic area of the country, accounts for 25.11 percent of its forest cover (Forest Survey of India, 2008). For its richness in biodiversity, the region has been identified as one of the 18 biodiversity hot spots of the world. The region is inhabited by many important tribes, which are about 27 percent of the population of the region. An important feature of the land use in the region is prevalence of shifting cultivation, locally called jhum, in almost all the states. Shifting cultivation or slash and burn agriculture is the main form of agriculture. It involves clearing of vegetation and then slashing and burning the plant parts including debris. Shifting cultivation, beside an agricultural practice, is also an integral part of their ethno-cultural life style. With the rising population, the cycle of shifting cultivation has reduced to less than 5 years, resulting in degradation of forest in these areas. After 2-3 years of cropping, the land loses its fertility and farmers shift to another piece of forested land for cultivation.
The Himalaya and adjacent hill ranges in the North East present a complex array of physical and geo-political environment, well known for geo-hydrological, biological, aesthetic and cultural values. Although the main Himalaya and the hills of North East have a number of similarities in their physiography and ecology, they differ inherently in terms of origin and evolution. The former ranges, geologically young and tectonically active, were formed as a result of massive collision between Eurasia and the north ward drifting Indian plate, nearly 40 million years ago. As the Indian plate is still moving northward, the Himalayan ranges continue to be pushed upwards at the rate of about 5cm/ year.
Agriculture and animal husbandry have been an age old traditional land use practices practices in the Indian Himalayan Region. Traditional millets, cereals, pulses along with horticulture crops are grown in many areas. In Himachal Pradesh, with good network of roads, horticultural crops have been a major source of revenue. It is established that at least seven units of forest are needed to sustain one unit of agriculture in the mountains.

Databases

A database is a collection of information that is organized so that it can easily be accessed, managed, and updated. Databases can be classified according to types of content: bibliographic, full-text, numeric and images and by their application area, for example: accounting, music compositions, movies, banking, manufacturing, or insurance. The term database may be narrowed to specify particular aspects of organized collection of data and may refer to the logical database, to the physical database as data content in computer data storage or to many other database sub-definitions.

Abstract

Fruit leather is a concentrated source of nutrient, energy and minerals processed from fruits in the form of sheet or leather. It is eaten as a desert or snack since ancient time. Fruit leathers have a greater benefit than fresh fruits if equilibrium ingredients are established and seasonal surplus of fruits are utilized and contributed to minimize post-harvest losses. The process of making fruit leathers involve making fruit puree and adding additives and preservatives for the purpose of enhancing taste and shelf-life. Drying, the key unit operation in making fruit leathers, is the most energy intensive and time consuming step in the process, modern drying techniques can be implemented to overcome the limitations. By novel means of processing technologies or enrichment could lead fruit leather to introduce high quality food product in the market. Continuous research and development can lead to a new era of production and development of fruit processing and overcome the obstacles during processing. In addition study on chemical and biochemical hazards involved in overall process will guide to ensure product safety. Market research tools e.g. quality function deployment method and other market analysis methods could be applied to understand the product trend, demand, consumer expectations and the scopes of improvement.

Breeder management includes pure line management, parent stock management, and grandparent stock management depending on the context. Except for small variations in management among these stocks basics are common within layer breeder stocks and broiler breeder stocks. The main objective of the breeder management is to produce more fertile eggs per pullet and increasing the hatchability by hygienic handling of these fertile eggs.

Location of the breeder farm

Location of the breeder farm should be away from commercial poultry farms in order to prevent the spread of diseases between the flocks. However, they must be in close vicinity of the city/town to have a good transport facility and other amenities such as water, electricity and availability of labour.

7.1 Economics and Valuation of ghgs emissions

Since the late 20^th century, it has been largely accepted that cause of high concentration of GHGs in atmosphere is induced by human activities. Greenhouse gas emissions and related climate change has opened up debate on overall economic losses and ways to reduce these loses. Moreover, apart from curbing monetary losses; the global political leaders as well as reputed economists are looking towards making money by saving the emissions. Recently, the researchers have started to emphasize on the actual value added to the ecosystem by curbing emissions, discrete of the economic benefits. This section will discuss the economics and ecosystem services related to the management of GHG emissions.

Origin

The initiative to curb the emissions started in 1992 with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The Convention took place from 3 to 14 June, 1992. The UNFCCC is an international environmental treaty designed to “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system”. The UNFCCC had non-binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions for individual countries and the framework was only meant for formulating precise international treaties (called “Protocols” or “Agreements”). It contained no execution mechanisms, however, it considered some negotiations and suggestions to formulate the action plans and regulation guidelines under UNFCCC to fulfill the objective of reduction of GHG emissions to the desired level.

Natural resources conservation and their management hold key to sustainable agriculture and livestock production. It is all the more crucial for countries with predominant agrarian economies where development of sustainable agriculture is essential for overall growth, redressal of poverty and security. Conservation of both soil and rain water as very crucial and basic resources have been practiced since ancient times in India. However, there has been renewed emphasis on conservation and efficient utilization of these resources in the recent past. The fact that 70% of the arable area of India is rainfed with precarious supply of water and that rainfed agriculture supports 44% of India’s human population and contributes 90 per cent of coarse cereals and pulses, 80 per cent of oilseeds and 65 per cent of cotton and growing realization that further gains in productivity of crops and livestock will emanate from rainfed regions, leave no room for complacency in this regard.

Year after year, the fate of a vast majority of Indian farmers hangs in balance, as success with rainfed agriculture continues to be a gamble. It is evident that crop yields in semi-arid areas depended more on rainfall distribution than on total rainfall and lack of serious efforts to create the water supply for crops through scientific management of rainwater is a factor favoring this avoidable uncertainty. In rainfed agriculture no other input can perhaps enhance the yield without effectively tackling of the rainfall aberration related sub-optimal moisture availability. Therefore a prerequisite for substantial improvement in the agriculture production in the semi-arid region is to manage runoff water and to use it either at the time of moisture stress even during the monsoon or in next season. It has been reported that only one supplementary irrigation at proper stage can double of rabi crops. But supplemental water is a developed resource and is more expensive than the natural resources. Hence, it is all the more necessary to use this water judiciously and efficiently. Standardization of techniques by which as much of precipitation as possible can be conserved for crop use, either directly in the soil profile through infiltration or through runoff collection and recycling is an area of priority in research.

1. Introduction

For millennia, civilizations worldwide have relied on medicinal plants for healthcare, with their usage documented as far back as ancient Sumeria. Today, traditional medicinal plants remain vital in many regions, especially in developing countries. Ethnobotanical studies have identified numerous bioactive plants, sparking extensive research into their biological activities and chemical compositions. Interest in medicinal plants has surged due to the drawbacks and costs of prescription drugs, leading to increased exploration of plant-based alternatives. Plants offer diverse chemical compositions with varied biological activities, making them suitable for treating complex diseases and posing little risk of antibiotic resistance development. Aquaculture, the fastest-growing sector in animal food production, faces challenges such as overcrowding and poor water quality, leading to disease outbreaks. While veterinary drugs are commonly used, their intensive use poses environmental and health risks, including antibiotic resistance and accumulation in animal tissues. Vaccines are effective but expensive and often limited in scope. Given the drawbacks of synthetic drugs, there's a growing need for alternative disease management strategies in aquaculture. Medicinal plants offer a promising solution, with reported bioactivities such as stress reduction, immune stimulation, and antiparasitic effects. By enhancing fish immunity and f itness, medicinal plants provide a cheaper and more sustainable alternative to chemotherapy in aquaculture (Cabello et al., 2006; Romero-Ormazabal et al., 2012).

The way technology is evolving, and the way it is changing our ways of living, why should we not be optimistic about technology. But then optimism comes tagged with pessimism. We aim for unfathomable optimum optimism. Technology is like water. It finds its open spaces. If it fills the available spaces more than it should, there is flood.

Future engineers and technologists are expected to appreciate, more than before, the human dimensions of technology. They are expected to have a grasp of the global issues. There is a need to understand the nuances of working in a culturally diverse space. According to some experts, good engineering designs should not be deprived of the benefits of a broad spectrum of life experiences, as adequate familiarisation with societal demands is essential for practical technological literacy.

Future engineers need to be better equipped to deal with people of diverse backgrounds, such as from social sciences, management, and communication. Some of the grand challenges that are enlisted, from an engineer’s point of view, are environment protection, hunger, energy and controlling the spread of the diseases. We need developers of responsible technologies and products.

We need managers to manage things, and at the same time we need adequate number of things to manage. There is a need to build faith in the public that engineers and technologists are sensitive to their concerns. One of the biggest responsibilities of the engineers and technologists is to keep themselves updated about professional developments and practices.

Countries, not only want exceptional scientists and engineers, but also people who are temperamentally innovators, and think they fit into their country’s core values. Many would say, prepare young minds and nurture future innovators.

Abstract

The art of remote sensing has opened up many vistas in the study of river migration as satellite photographs, both in their normal and digitally enhanced modes, vividly show the rivers and their migratory signatures. The rivers migrate for various reasons amongst which tectonic movement is one of the main causes. In the present study an attempt has been made to exhibit the palaeochannel network of the rivers of Western India and integrate them with lineament fabric, so as to understand the Quaternary tectonics of the region. The study has shown that Western India shows considerable signs of Quaternary tectonics.

Teamwork and collaboration is better than individual effort is a proven fact that human beings have realized since the Stone Age. Similarly, it was also recognized and applied in farming. The concept of farmer’s organization had emerged by realizing the power of unity. With the growing concern of present condition of decreasing size of land holdings the need for unity and collectivization has been prominently realized in agriculture. Agriculture sector is facing a rapidly overflowing basket of challenges. Population has increased 3.71 times from 350 million in 1947 to 1.3 billion in 2017; hence, demand for food has increased while total cultivable land has shrunk. The grain area per person has been shrinking steadily for several decades from 0.22 hectares in 1950 to 0.10 hectares in 2010 and it is projected to be as less as 0.06 hectares per person in 2050 (Larsen, 2003). So, the big and alarming question on food and income security has been raised.

The hematoxylin and eosin stain are most widely used histological stain. Its popularity lies in its simple staining procedure and ability to demonstrate most tissue structures. Hematoxylin, also called natural black is a compound extracted from heartwood of the logwood tree (Haematoxylum campechianum) with a chemical formula of C16H14O6. This naturally derived dye has been used as a histologic stain, ink and as a dye in the textile and leather industry.
Hematoxylin, a natural dye was first used in about 1863. Hematoxylin itself is not a stain; it is its oxidation product, hematein. This process known as “ripening” takes several days or weeks unless it is hastened by the addition of an oxidizing agent. So the active coloring agent hematein can be produced from hematoxylin in two ways:
A. Natural oxidation by exposure to light and air.
B. Chemical oxidation: Sodium iodate is the most common oxidizing agent for this purpose, although there are others, such as potassium permanganate, iodine, bleach and mercuric oxide. It is now strongly recommended that mercuric oxide not be used for this oxidation as it eventually makes its way into the environment as a poison.
As the hematoxylin dye has little affinity for the tissue when used alone, it is usually used in conjunction with a mordant, therefore can be arbitrarily classified based on which mordant is used:
1. Alum hematoxylin
2. Iron hematoxylin
3. Tungsten hematoxylin

Pomegranate is emerging as one of the important fruit crops owing to its hardiness and ability to withstand adverse soil and climatic conditions. India contributes 40-45 percent of total 10 lakh tons production in the world. Currently the export of pomegranate is around 10,000 tons, which is just 5 percent of the total export. With the increase in population, the domestic demand of fruits has also increased substantially. As on date, out of total area of 1, 25,000 ha. under pomegranate, major area under the crop is found in Maharashtra. The state has 85,000 ha. (68 % area) under the crop, of which only 51,000 ha is under production, followed by Karnataka 12,727 ha. Gujarat 3,787 ha, up to 2003 –2004 (Anon, 2005). Earlier orchards were raised mainly with variety Ganesh, which was the leading variety. However, the variety is fast being replaced with the new cultivars like Bhagawa and Arakta, which have attractive skin and aril colour and are suitable for export.

The pomegranate is an ancient and favorite table fruit of tropical countries. It is commercially grown for its sweet-acidic fruits, which provide a cool refreshing juice, and is valued for its medicinal properties. The fruit rind, juice, leaf and roots are used in the preparation of various ayurvedic medicines. Its popularity is also due to ornamental nature of the plant especially due to bearing bright red flowers throughout the year. The fruit juice is refreshing and contains both glucose and fructose. The juice and seed contain large quantities of tannin and agolic acid, which is essential in curing several diseases. The fruit can be successfully grown even under purely rain fed conditions. In the recent years pomegranate cultivation has become an economically viable proposition.

Fungi are a diverse group of multicellular eukaryotic organisms with wide variation in vegetative and reproductive morphologies and diverse life cycles. They are more abundant, on a mass basis, in soils than any other group of microorganisms; their biomass ranges from 500 to 5000 wet kg ha^-1 (Metting, 1993). Fungi inhabit almost any niche containing organic substrates, so that they are active participants in ecosystems as -

• degraders of organic matter
• agents of disease as well as beneficial symbionts - lichen (algae and fungi), mycorrhizal association

This chapter describes about the review of relevant researches related to the present study. This also helps in developing conceptual framework and selecting proper methodology for the study. Although studies have been conducted on different aspects of conservation agriculture in past, but a few reviews were available on social ecology and perceptional change of the farmers in managing critical inputs to agriculture like water, nutrient and soil organic carbon, and ecosystem as a whole. So, reviews having a little indirect bearings are also included in this section. In accordance with the subject of the proposed study, the review of literature has been presented under the following sub-heads: