eChapters

The basic feature of the Pre-British India was a village, which was economically a water-tight compartment fulfilling the three basic functions of economy, i.e., production, distribution and consumption, within the village community without outside world dependence, except the salt and kerosene. Every village was a self-sufficient unit with dependence on agriculture carried out by community people of different castes having the occupational specialization with interdependence, viz. jajmani system and alike.

Developments in the means of communications and the opening of Suez Canal in 1869 introduced fundamental and far-reaching changes in the social system and economic life of Indians by transforming self-sufficient village economy to new modes and means based on competition, market and price mechanism. This change was deliberated by Britishers for meeting the requirement of raw material and the diversification to tea, jute and indigo took place. Cotton also got importance but agriculture did not find place for vegetables. Famines were very common and crop production depended on monsoon rains to the large extent. Britishers developed cotton, jute and mineral trade for their vested interests.

Britishers emphasized the development of railways for better mobility of their troops, commercial crop produce and minerals but the Report of Famine Commission 1901 bitterly criticized the Government for the step-motherly treatment given to irrigation facilities as compared to railways. The irrigation policy of the Government in 19th century was determined purely from concerns for adequate returns on investment and profit was of Rs. 81 lakhs after paying 4% interest on amount invested on irrigation development in 1896-97. Irrigation Commission was established and a sum of Rs. 42 crore was spent on irrigation by 1911. By 1930, about 30 million acres were brought under canal irrigation, which was far larger than the irrigated area in any other country of the world. Even in the USA, the area under canal irrigation was two-third that of India. Vegetables cultivation did not find place in Indian agriculture and also in diet of villagers. Their cultivation remained restricted to the periphery of the urban centres for meeting the demand of upper class elites only.

Agriculture is a generic term used to include various types of farming systems, single to multiple crops under various agro-climatic conditions thereby covering crop husbandry, animal husbandry, vegetable growing, floriculture, horticulture, fishery, poultry, goat rearing, piggery, rabbit rearing, sericulture, forestry, vermi-composting, etc. Indian agriculture is a symbiosis of various production systems, a way of life or a tradition, which for the centuries have shaped the thoughts, the outlook, the culture, and the social and economic force of rural life. It is well known for its multi-functionalities of providing employment, cultural heritage, livelihood, social security, family bondage, nutritional and food security. Although agriculture is the main stay of the Indian economy and supports nearly two-third of the work force, yet this is not a highly rewarding enterprise for a large majority of farmers who hold small and marginal size holding. At the same time, the size of the land holding is on a gradual decline, while contribution of farmwomen is on an increase as men go elsewhere in search of better jobs. This sector holds and will continue to be central to all strategies of socio-economic development of the country. A farmer is a multi-purpose entrepreneur (Rajavanshi, 2007).

An aquifer is a geologic formation, a part of a formation, or a group of formations that will yield water. The quantity of ground water that an aquifer will yield to wells depends partly on its thickness, extent, continuity, and homogeneity, and partly on its physical properties of permeability and porosity.

Groundwater is stored in subsurface void spaces below the water table. The geologic material that stores, transmits, and yields groundwater to wells and springs are called aquifers. The key word here is yields. To be an aquifer, it must store and transmit water at rates fast enough to supply reasonable amounts to wells and springs. Therefore, not all groundwater is stored in an aquifer. Productive aquifers can be comprised of sand and gravel, sandstone, limestone and dolomite, or basalt flows, whereas fractured igneous or metamorphic rocks are only marginal aquifers.

The classifications of aquifer are given below:

ETHICS OF ANIMAL USE IN RESEARCH

• The use of animals in scientific research is a controversial issue. Animals have been used throughout the history for anatomical and physiological research as well as for testing toxic substances.
• Many medical advances, including vaccines for polio and rabies, the development of certain antibiotics, anti cancer agents and transplant medicine have been developed by using animals in research.
• But the question is whether it is right or wrong to use animals for these purposes.
• All scientists working with laboratory animals must have a deep ethical consideration for the animals they are dealing with.
• From the ethical point of view it is important that such considerations are taken care at the individual level, at institutional level and finally at the national level.

What are Ethics ?

Genetic Transfer and Mapping in Bacteria

Bacteria can transfer genetic material during conjugation

Hfr strains contain an f factor integrated into the bacterial chromosome

Conjugation experiments can be used to map genes along the E. coli chromosome

A detailed genetic map of the E. coli chromosome has been obtained from many conjugation studies

Bacteriophages can also transfer genetic material from one bacterial cell to another in the process of transduction

Cotransduction can be used to map genes that are within 2 minutes of each other

Bacteria can also transfer genetic material by transformation

Horizontal gene transfer is the transfer of genes among different species

Genes in Populations

• A population is a group of interbreeding individuals who share a gene pool
• Some genes are monomorphic, and others are polymorphic
• Population genetics is concerned with allele and genotype frequencies

The Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium

The Hardy-Weinberg equation can be used to calculate genotype frequencies based on allele frequencies

Nonrandom mating may occur in natural and human populations

1. AN OVERVIEW OF RWANDA’S SOCIO-ECONOMIC SETTING

Rwanda is a small landlocked country located in East Africa covering a total surface area of 26,338 km². It lies about 120 km south of the Equator and is bordered by Uganda in the North, Tanzania in the east, Burundi in the south and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the West. According to the national official statistics, the total population is approximately 8,200,000 people, with women accounting for 55 per cent of the people. The country’s population density is 505 people per km², making it one of the most densely populated countries in Africa (National Institute of Statistics, 2002). Since the turn of the millennium, the annual growth rate of the population has been 2.9 per cent and it is believed that by the year 2020, the country will have an estimated population of 20 million, thus exerting pressure on the limited land resources. It is also important to note that most people (64 per cent), those living in abject poverty, reside in rural areas of the country (Government of Rwanda, 2008).

6.1 Introduction

This chapter describes the development of data logger of agricultural field parameter monitoring system with LabVIEW. The system comprises of two sections- Fields device and data logger. Field device comprises of Arduino, smoke detector (for sensing hazardous gases), soil moisture sensor, temperature sensor, humidity sensor, water level sensor, battery, display unit, 2.4 GHz RF modem. Data logger comprises of Arduino, display unit, 2.4 GHz RF modem, power supply, PC with LabVIEW. The system is designed to monitor the environment and agriculture field parameters. The field device is designed to collect all physical parameters and communicate it to the receiver end with LabVIEW. For establishing communication between two sections 2.4GHz RF modem is used, which can be replaced with any other modem also.Fig.6.1 shows block diagram of field device and Fig.6.2shows block diagram of data logger.Table.6.1 & Table.6.2 shows the component list required to develop the field device and data logger.

1. Length of Gunter’s chain is……..ft

   a) 15

   b) 25

   c) 66

   d) 30

2. Chain is made up of thick galvanized iron wire of…..... mm in diameter

   a) 2

   b) 4

   c) 3.5

   d) 5

DEFINITION

Bacteria belong to prokaryota which encompasses organisms with a primitive type of nucleus lacking a clearly defined membrane .The bacteria are smaller than fungi and measure about 0.5 to 1.0 x 2.0 to 5.0µ.

Structure of Bacteria

1. A bacterial cell consists of a cellwall and a compound membrane enclosing protoplasm.
2. Inside the protoplasm, nucleus, vacuoles, mesosomes, polysaccharides, lipids, mitochondric granules and spores are found.
3. Externally bacterial cells may show capsules, pili, fimbrae and flagella.
4. The bacterial cell contains a characteristics cell wall.
5. The cell wall of bacteria is composed of a peptidoglycan. It is composed of acetyle-glucosamine and cetyle-muramic acid.
6. The rigid peptidoglycan layer is located between the cytoplasmic membrane and an outer multiple tract layer.
7. The latter layer is composed of lipoprotein . It is common in gram negative bacteria.
8. Many bacteria possess other intracellular membrane systems such as mesosomes and chondrioids.
9. The mesosome structure is formed by an invagination of the cytoplasmic membrane.

Plant diseases are a threat to world agriculture. Significant yield losses due to the attack of pathogen occur in most of the agricultural and horticultural crop species. More than 70% of all major crop diseases are caused by fungi . Plant diseases are usually handled with applications of chemicals. For some diseases, chemical control is very effective; but it is often non-specific in its effects, killing beneficial organisms as well as pathogens. Chemical control may have undesirable effects on health, safety and cause environmental risks. A promising method for protecting plants against diseases is constructing and employing pathogen-resistant cultivars. Although a number of resistant cultivars have been developed through breeding programs, these cultivars become obsolete in a short time due to the rapid evolution of the phytopathogens and the emergence of virulent forms capable to overcome the plant resistance. Breeders are often confronted with the issue of using a limited number of plants in their breeding programs, undesirable traits transferred together with the valuable resistance genes, and, in recent years, also with the depletion of potential gene sources. Control of diseases is a subject of great interest for biotechnologists. The most significant development in the area of varietal development for disease resistance is the use of the techniques of gene isolation and genetic transformation to develop transgenic resistance to fungal, bacterial and viral diseases. Improvements in genetic transformation technology have allowed the genetic modification of almost all important food crops like rice, wheat, maize, mustard, pulses and fruits. Genetic engineering technology has proved to be beneficial in managing viral and bacterial diseases in plants. The advances in gene engineering technologies and the understanding of the molecular nature of plant protection mechanisms have provided means for developing principally new strategies of plant disease control, in addition to the traditional approaches based on employing chemicals or classical breeding schemes. Biotechnology will enhance our understanding of the mechanisms that control plant’s ability to recognize and defend itself against disease caused by fungi. The integration of biotechnology with traditional agricultural practices will be the backbone for sustainable agriculture.

Abstract

Upcoming era of functional foods has led food scientists and food processors to deeply understand the role of phytochemicals in promoting human health. Phytochemicals are the secondary metabolites produced by plants and are commonly found in our daily food. Natural food products seem to be good substitute for pharmaceutical supplements to improve health status of people. Therefore, consumer's interest is growing in the food items naturally containing phytochemicals, each having there own functional and health aspects. Most discussed phytochemicals in the present paper are carotenoids such as lycopene, beta-carotene, lutein and, polyphenols such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, anthocyanins and isoflavones. Major dietary source for carotenoids include orange and yellow fruits and vegetables as well as green leafy vegetables whereas polyphenols are found abundantly in green tea, wine, berries, cocoa, broccoli. Carotenoids can also be used as colorants in foods during processing. The role of polyphenols as an antioxidant is well characterized because of there ability to scavenge free radicals or bind pro-oxidant metal ions by means of their hydroxyl group. Carotenoids also play an important role in protection against photooxidative processes by acting as singlet molecular oxygen as well as peroxyl radical scavengers, thus acting as potent antioxidant. Apart from antioxidative properties multitude of health benefits are associated with carotenoids and polyphenols such as reduced risk of age-related macular degeneration, certain cancers such as prostate, lung and colon, prevention of cardiovascular disease and enhancing immunity towards infection. Hence, continuous developments are being made to combine phytochemicals to avoid improper combinations that may nullify the effect of supplements and cause lower absorbance.

ABSTRACT

Spectral signatures are the specific combination of reflected and absorbed electromagnetic radiation at varying wavelengths which can uniquely identify an object. The “Spectral signature” of an object is a function of 1) incidental EM wavelength and material interaction with that section of the electromagnetic spectrum. The measurements can be made with various instruments, including a task specific spectrometer, although the most common method is separation of the Red, Green, Blue and Near Infrared portion of the EM spectrum as acquired by digital cameras. The spectral signatures serve as diagnostic tools in understanding the composition and structure of the materials. The present paper highlights the usefulness of the spectral signatures in rock and mineral discrimination and mineral exploration and stresses the need for creation of a spectral data base in India for various applications.

1. INTRODUCTION

Objects at the Earth's surface emit and reflect many wavelengths of radiation. In principle, each object has a unique spectral signature, which could be used for identification much like a finger print. Remotely sensed spectral signatures could be utilized for recognizing and mapping for all kinds of features. This can be done to a limited extent with conventional multispectral scanners that operate in a few broad bands of visible and infrared energy. However, broad spectral bands often do not distinguish between similar features. To overcome this limitation, a more sophisticated approach toward spectral signatures has arisen during the past few years. This approach is called image spectroscopy or hyperspectral analysis, which is based on scanning hundreds of closely spaced and very narrow spectral bands. With this technique, it is possible to create continuous spectral response curves, which may be used to identify many objects positively.

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper is to map the diversity of Formicoidea, richness and habitat preferences with respective to the different forest cover, classified based on the NDVI from LANDSAT TM imagery with the help of remote sensing and GIS. The study is carried out in Sirumalai hills region of Dindigul District, Tamil Nadu state, India recorded a total of 26 species with 15 genera belonging to four sub-families by a taxonomical basis. The NDVI based forest classification results that the area has disturbed dry deciduous forest (SA), undisturbed dry deciduous forest (SB), disturbed mixed deciduous forest (SC), undisturbed semi evergreen forest (SD), undisturbed grassland (SE) and undisturbed dry evergreen forest (SF) types of forest covers. The results of diversity studies, statistical analyses and field study reveals that the tropical semi evergreen forest and tropical dry evergreen forest have yielded more number of species, genera than the mixed deciduous forest and dry deciduous forest which are most disturbed by human beings in establishment of estates, management strategies by the government and land use by the local farmers.

17.1 Determination of Soil pH

The soil pH value is the measure of hydrogen or hydroxyl ion activity in the soil solution and it indicates whether the soil is acidic, neutral or alkaline in reaction. The pH is the most important property of soil as it controls the availability of plant nutrients, microbial activity and physical condition of soil. Since crop growth is affected both under very low (strongly acidic) and very high (strongly alkaline) soil pH, reclamation of these soils are necessary. Soil pH in fact indicates the extent of active acidity (activity of hydrogen ion in soil solution) of soil. Depending upon the purpose of measurement and soil condition, soil pH is measured in several soil-water or soil-salt solution ratios. The saturated paste is used for identifying specific soil problems like degree of acidity or alkalinity. For making fertilizer recommendation, 1: 2 soil-water suspension is generally adopted. To mask the variability in salt content of the soil, the pH is measured in soil-CaCl₂ suspension (1:2 soil-0.1 M CaCl₂ solution). The soil pH value is independent of dilution over a wide range of soil-salt solution ratio, thus more reproducible than those obtained with soil-water suspension.

Virus can be defined as a genetic element containing either DNA or RNA that replicates in host cells as intracellular parasites but is characterized by having an extracellular state.

Virus can use the metabolic machinery of the host cell and can modify the genetics of the host cell. Virus has both extracellular and intracellular state.

Extracellular State

Outside the host cell, the virus is a minute particle containing nucleic acid surrounded by protein, which is referred as virions or virus particles. Virions are inert and have no biosynthetic and metabolic functions. Extracellular state or virus particle is the perfect stage of virus to study the morphology and chemistry.

Intracellular State

The active state in which the virus replicate in the host cell. When the virus nucleic acid is introduced to host cell and replication starts, the process is referred as infection. The cell in which infection of virus and replication takes place is referred as host cell.

Rice is the most important cereal crop of India occupying about 44.0 million hectares land. It provides food and employment to millions of people in the country. Despite development of high yielding varieties and technological interventions the yield of rice is still low (3.20 tonnes/ha) in India. The reasons for low yield of rice are:

Lesser area under high yielding varieties

Limited availability of quality seed

Increased acidity/ sodicity in some parts of the country

Declined soil fertility

Unavailability of inputs, like fertilizers and seed, in time

Inefficient nutrient management including imbalanced use of nutrients

Improper crop rotations

Reduced availability of irrigation water

Inefficient management of weeds, diseases and insect-pests

1. Introduction

2. Human Genome Project

3. Development of Bioinformatics

3.1. Indian scenario

4. Plant Genome Model

5. Components of Plant Genome Database

5.1. Stock centre databases

5.2. Genome mapping database

5.3. DNA sequences

6. Agricultural Research Service and National Research Initiative

6.1. Objectives of plant genome programme

6.2. GIBN Trans – pacific digital library experiment plant genome databases

7. Plant Genome Databases

7.1. Vegetable genome databases

7.1.1 Mendel-Plant Gene Nomenclature Database

7.2. Others

7.2.1. Bean Genes – Phaseolus / Vigna sp. Database

7.2.2. Solgenes Database

7.2.3. Soybase

7.3. Other data bases

7.3.1. PGDB (Pathway genome data base)

7.3.2. Demeter’s genome

8. Tools of Bioinformatics

9. New Directions in Genome Database at Stanford

10. Navigating the World Wide Web

11. Virtual Genome Centre (VGC)

11.1. Programmes at the VGC

12. Impact of Gene Chips and Micro Arrays

13. Applications and Impacts

14. Bottlenecks

15. Future Thrust

Farming System Development (FSD) is better perceived as a means of facilitating interactive links between the actors (Table-1) who play significant roles in the process. A system perspective is needed in designing and evaluating suitable technologies as well as in designing policy / support system that improve both productivity and sustainability. Considerable challenges do exist in modifying the conventional top-down orientation characteristics of extension services. This requires the fundamental principle of FSD i.e. interactive mode of operation.

Water : Importance of Water in Physiological Functions of the Body

A large proportion of the body of mammals including domestic animals, is made up of water. This water is an essential attributes for the life of the animals. Animals deprived of food but provided water will survive much longer than the animals provided with food but deprived of water. Water is the basis of the liquid environment of the cells, which Claude Bernard called the milieur interieur, and Cannon the fluid matrix. Its most important biophysical qualities are its solvent properties, its ionization and its heat of vaporization. Water is essential for metabolic processes, as most of these reactions must occur in aquatic environment. Water provides the medium for the transport of nutrients from their sites of absorption to the site of metabolism. Water also provides the medium for the transport of waste products from their sites of production to their sites of final excretion. Together with the main electrolytes, water forms an excellent buffering medium. Moreover, water is an essential substrate or end product of many biological reactions. Water due to its high latent heat of evaporation or fusion is an excellent insulator for the loss of body heat and is essentially required for the loss of heat to maintain body temperature, through the evaporation of water from the skin and the respiratory tract. Water also acts as a vehicle for the transportation of nutrients, hormones, waste products and gases etc.

Body water is derived from several sources which include the water drunk, intake of water through food and metabolic body water. Water is lost from the body through several routes which include loss of water through the feces and urine, evaporation of water from the skin and respiratory tract.

The concentration of water in the body varies from one tissue to another, being least in the dentine of teeth and greatest in the grey matter of the brain. The amount of water in the body also varies considerably with the age of the animal. The younger animals contain considerably more water than the older animals. This effect is mostly due to increase in the fatty tissues in the body, which contains relatively much less water, as the relative composition of tissues of the body other than fat remains relatively constant. The proportion of water in ruminants is higher as compared to nonruminants.

The circulatory system includes the heart, blood and lymph vessels, blood, lymph, cerebrospinal and tissue fluids. Circulation of blood in the body is important for the transport of nutrients to all parts of the body and for the transport of gases and waste products. In fact most of the functions of blood could not have been possible, if there were no circulation of blood.

In order to constantly circulate the blood to all parts of the body and back, the body needs the services of an efficient pump. The pump or heart is based on the ability of muscle to contract or shorten. The blood is carried in a system of elastic tubes of pipes (arteries, capillaries and veins). The circulation of blood in the domestic animals or mammals is referred to as closed circulation because the blood returns to the heart without leaving this system of tubes.

The heartbeat frequency or pulse rate is usually given as the number of heart beats per minute. The heart rate increases several times during exercise or thermal stress. The average pulse rate of various domestic animals is given in Table 1.

Kidney is one of the main excretory organs of the body. By secreting urine the kidney serves as the outstanding guardian of the milieu interieur. The main functions of the kidney in the maintenance of body homeostasis are listed below.

1. Maintenance of proper osmotic concentrations.
2. Maintenance of blood volume.
3. Maintenance of ion concentration.
4. Removal of nitrogenous end products of protein metabolism primarily urea, creatinine and ammonia.
5. Removal of foreign substances and/or their metabolic end products.

Thus, kidney control the concentration of most of the constituents of body fluids. In case of birds, the primary end product of protein metabolism is uric acid instead of urea. So, the major excretory product through urine in case of birds is uric acid.

Briefly, the kidney form urine in the following way. Endowed with a relatively huge blood supply, the renal glomeruli filter about 200 litres per 24 hours of protein free fluid from the blood in human being ( ie 50-60 times the plasma volume). This filtrate, which contains the soluble non protein components of the plasma, is submitted to extensive reabsorption by the renal tubules. The relative control on the reabsorption process by the kidney, is the key mechanism by which the kidney is able to maintain the composition of the milieu interieur.

Kidney also releases several hormones like renin, erythropoietin and prostaglandins, which have the capacity to influence cells and alter their physiological processes.

Lactation is the process of milk secretion by the mammary gland. Milk is one of the most fascinating biological fluid whose role as a nearly complete food in sustaining life processes is well known. Milk provides an essential and highly digestible form of nutrients for the mammalian young during the critical period after birth. Milk also forms the first meal of the mammalian youngs.

Most mammals produce milk according to the requirements for their young one’s. However, man for centuries have selectively bred several animals, so that they produce milk, far in excess of the requirements of their youngs. The excess milk is harvested by man for his own and his children’s nurture. The physiology of the mammary gland or the mechanism of milk secretion forms an important part of the man’s strategy to manipulate it to its own advantage. Milk forms the raw material for the multi million dollar dairy industry all over the world. In India, dairying is the second largest agriculture based industry.

The most important animal domesticated by man for production of milk is undoubtedly the cow. Buffalo as a milk producer is important only in Asia & parts of Africa. In India its importance is as much or even more as compared to the cow in milk production ability. The other important milk producing animals are goat, sheep, camel, yak, and mithun.

The ability to produce milk is dependent on several factors including breed, season, feed etc. Majority of our animals do not conform to any descript type, some 20 per cent of them belong to 26 cattle breeds and 7 buffalo breeds. The major milk producing breed of buffaloes are Murrah and Nili Ravi. The season affects the milk producing ability of domestic animals. In Northern India, cow’s milk production is highest during March and lowest during September. However, the buffalo milk production is highest during October and lowest during June.

I. INTRODUCTORY OUTLINE

The post-Vienna legal phase is remarkably known for revolutionary changes across the global wherein the third generation of human rights became the hallmark for the comity of nations and a liberational instrument to come out of nightmarish experiences of poverty and hunger.1 On the other hand the post-GATTised legal ordering is known for much publicized and debatable conclusion of Trade Related Aspect of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) and creation of World Trade Organisation (WTO).2 This new jurisprudential polemics soon evoked fierce scrutiny from the stand point of human right and poverty among third world countries.3 At home, it is dubbed as ‘bleeding operation with the dubious promise of benign global competition’, ‘de facto nullity of constitutional goal of social welfare’ and ‘contra- constitutional coup.4 Since India has become a member of WTO it indulged into massive rehabilitation and fundamental mutation of IPR regime. Despite the fact that it has a stark distinction of being a grain- surplus and food and livelihood insecure country. An inventory of over forty five million tonnes of wheat and rice in granaries remains ready for consumption. On the other hand over two hundred fifty million people generally go to bed partially hungry every day. There is a near consensus on the need to banish hunger but the realities on the ground remain that even at the risk of raising hopes the goal of food security may not be realized for generations.5 At home under the cover of food security the government is keeping millions of tonnes of food out of reach of the poor people.6 In fact India’s record breaking 200 plus million tonnes harvest is the result of steep fall in purchasing power of poor. The myth of surplus is based on sending hundreds of millions of human being hungry to their beds.7 Taken to its logical end we have abundance of food, surplus of hunger and scarcity of vision under the garb of food security.8

I. INTRODUCTION

In a global, knowledge-based economy, Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) are a key to the international competitiveness of both nations and firms. International competition in the traded goods increasingly contains a high degree of innovation. IPRs have thus; become a trade issue and a major component of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Adequate IP protection at an international scale has become essential for appropriating global revenue streams to support investments in developing state of- the- art technology. Although the concept of intellectual property is very old, there appeared the need to harmonize laws to facilitate international trade and free flow of technology. This became very necessary because it was difficult to obtain sufficient protection in the other countries of the world, in view of the disparity in the laws in each country. As per World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) definition, intellectual property refers to creations of the mind, inventions, literary and artistic works, symbols, names, images and designs used in commerce. Broadly, intellectual property is divided into two categories. The first category covers industrial property, which includes patents, industrial designs and trademarks, all of which have industrial applications. The other refers to copyright laws, which are applied to such things as literary, dramatic and artistic works; rights relating to performing artists, the production phonograms and rights of broadcasters in their radio and television programs.¹ Patented inventions have, in fact, pervaded every aspect of human life, from electric lighting and plastic, to ballpoint pens and microprocessors. During a time when the future of many industries seems uncertain, one industry in particular appears to be positioned for expansion and enduring success. This is the biotechnology industry, which according to some analysts will be a major driving force behind the new economy of the 21st century.2 This seemingly lofty prediction is based in large part on the immense promise offered by biotechnology. The innovations developed with biotechnological techniques promise to prolong and improve our lives and the world we live in by achieving advancements in health care, agriculture, food products and production, industrial processes and environmental preservation. Biotechnology is not a new science and it has existed in some form or the other for centuries. Biotechnology in one form or another has been part of human development since the dawn of agriculture. Human ingenuity has led to increased production and greater diversity and quality of livestock and varieties of crops. Today’s food crops and domestic animals embody the benefits of many generations of selection and breeding. However, the advent of genetics has opened exciting opportunities in this sector, because of its numerous applications, which range from improvement of human health and food production to reduction of environmental damage. These opportunities are also coupled with controversies that not only challenge the laws within which society functions, but also our ethical and religious beliefs.

I. INTRODUCTION

Information technology has heralded a new era of Communication System. It has revolutionized the whole commercial world. The mother earth looks like a global village where people sitting thousands of miles away can talk face to face, like people sitting across the table. Business men and consumers are using computer to create, transmit and store information in the electronic form. Traditional form of paper documents are being discarded for the reason that electronic method is Cheaper, easier to store, retrieve and communicate. Though these advantages are obvious but people were reluctant to transact business in electronic form due to lack of legal frame work, validating these transactions. All the paper transactions involved writing and signature to conclude them. These writings and signatures posed a great hurdle for electronic governance and electronic commerce for validating and enforcing them. The law of Evidence is based on paper made documents which should have been signature. Since electronic commerce eliminates the need for paper based transactions, hence to facilitate e-commerce the need for legal change has become an urgent necessity. International trade, though the medium of e-commerce, is growing by leaps and bounds for the past few years. Many countries have switched over from traditional paper based commerce to e-commerce. The instantaneous means of communications through internet have been a great menace to copy right in different areas David Teather from London has reported that the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry say that the market in year 2000 was worth $36.9 billion, a fall of 1.3 per cent on the previous year. The biggest decline in the sale of C.D. singles was 39% and globally it fell by 14%. The growth in popularity of Napster and to contain the damage. Napster is in the process of removing copyrighted material from its site.¹ But the powers of the computer are so great that the law enforcement agencies are facing a real challenge to contain its onslaught. Internet telephony is a common sight at cyber cafe, despite the fact that it is illegal.2 B.B. Nanda and R.K.Tewari observe that “ internet paedophilia, computer network break-ins, industrial espionage, Child pornography password sniffling, spoofling, telecommunications fraud, software piracy, e- mail bombing and spamming, and the availability of illicit or unlicensed products and services are offences already making themselves felt. Emerging problems include credit card fraud, cyber terrorism, cyber laundering and criminal use of secure internet communications. The huge growth of internet will breed cyber fraud with great ease especially in the area of share-holdings of companies.3 The present weak electronic system of payment without adequate safeguard is posing a serious risk for unauthorised withdrawals from banks and counter money laundering operations. Software piracy is a boom business and video and phonographic industries are sinking day by day globally.4 The UNCITRAL Model law provides for equal legal treatment of users of electronic communication and paper based communication. In pursuance of a declaration made ‘by Member Countries, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is about to form a work programme to handle its work in this area including the formation of multilateral trade deals through the medium of electronic commerce. The paper discusses, briefly, the meaning of cyber space the origin and development of intemet and e commerce its uses and abuses. Certain provisions relating to Information Technology Act, 2000 have been briefly discussed to apprise oneself about its effectiveness in meeting the challenges posed by e commerce in different areas.

A management information system (MIS) is an organized collection of people, procedures, software, databases, and devices used to provide routine information to managers and decision makers. The focus of an MIS is primarily on operational efficiency. Marketing, production, finance, and other functional areas are supported by MIS and linked through a common database. MIS typically provides standard reports generated with data and information from the transaction processing system (Fig. 13.1)

VIVEK M. PATIL & M.D. SURANAGI

A computer is an electronic device that has the ability to store, retrieve, and process data, and can be programmed with instructions that it remembers. Simply put, it is a very obedient servant which does whatever task it is commanded to do, in the manner in which it is trained/ programmed to carry out that task. Some of the terms commonly referred to while using computers are:

• Hardware : The physical parts that make up a computer eg. input devices, the central processing unit (CPU), memory and output devices.
• Software : A set of instructions that tell the computer what to do and how to perform a particular task is called a program, software program, or software. eg. Microsoft Word document management software enables us to type out a letter.
• Peripherals : Hardware devices connected to a computer i.e. any part of the computer outside the CPU and working memory. eg. keyboard, mouse, monitor, printer, scanner, disk and tape drives, microphone, speakers, joystick, plotter, and camera.
• Input : Whatever is typed, submitted or entered into a computer system. eg. typing a list of names.
• Data : The symbols that represent facts, objects and ideas on a computer. eg. representation of a list of names in binary language.
• Processing : Manipulation of data by the CPU of the computer or a microprocessor. eg. sorting of the list of names in alphabetic order.
• Output : The result produced by a computer after manipulating data. eg. printing out the list of names in alphabetic order.
• Memory : An area of the computer that temporarily holds data waiting to be processed or stored. eg. random access memory (RAM) and read only memory (ROM)

VIVEK M. PATIL

Antivirus software : Programs specifically designed to detect and disable viruses and other harmful software that can invade the computer system and damage it.

Applications/Application software : Programs designed to perform a specific function directly for the user or for another application program, using the services of the computer’s operating system and other supporting programs. eg. word processors, spreadsheet programs, database programs; image editing programs etc.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) : The simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems. These processes include learning (the acquisition of information and rules for using the information), reasoning (using the rules to reach approximate or definite conclusions), and self-correction.

Aspect ratio : The ratio of the number of horizontal dots (pixels) to the number of vertical dots on the computer screen.

Backup : A method of copying one of more files/folders from a hard drive on the computer to other external storage devices like a CD/DVD, external hard drive, flash drive etc. so as to have an additional copy of the data in case the original is damaged/lost.

Bandwidth : In computer networks, bandwidth is often used as a synonym for data transfer rate - the amount of data that can be carried from one point to another in a given time period (usually a second). This kind of bandwidth is usually expressed in bits per second (bps).

One of biggest challenges facing animal science is to increase the production in the context of climate change. Animal performance may be limited by adverse climatic focus (Sejian et al., 2010; Sejian et al., 2012). The economic impact of climate changes in relation to livestock production are widely reported, and several losses are predicted if current management systems are not modified to reflect the shift in climate. Climate change poses formidable challenge to the development of livestock sector in India (Sejian et al., 2013; Naqvi et al., 2013). Global warming could increase water, shelter and energy requirement of livestock for meeting projected milk demands. The anticipated rise in temperature between 2.3 and 4.8°C over the entire country together with increased precipitation resulting from climate change is likely to aggravate the heat stress in dairy animals, adversely affecting their productive and reproductive performance, and hence reducing the total area where high yielding dairy cattle can be economically reared. A preliminary estimate indicates that global warming is likely to lead to a loss of 1.6 million tonnes in milk production in India by 2020.

Seasonal variations in climatic conditions impact the availability of feed in the livestock (Sejian et al., 2014; Bagath et al., 2016). Over and above the effect of seasonal variations that cause considerable economic hardship, it is the unforeseen and unexpected periods of inclement and severe weather conditions which exacerbate the gross economic losses in livestock industry (Sejian and Srivastava, 2010; Sejian et al., 2010). In addition to mortalities of livestock associated with severe climatic conditions, reductions in reproductive and productive performances generate sizeable economic setback. Impressive advances in research have been made to assess the impact of climatic stressors on the physiological and dynamic responses of livestock (Shaji et al., 2015; Maurya et al., 2015). At the same time livestock managers and farmers continue to search for management options which can alleviate and reduce the effects of severe weather on livestock performance and productivity. This chapter will address in detail the impact of environmental stresses on livestock production and reproduction. These attempts will help the scientific fraternity to develop appropriate mitigation strategies to improve ruminant livestock production in these agro-ecological zones. This might pave way to improve the livelihood securities of poor and marginal farmers of this tropical environment via an appropriate universal research agenda.

5.1 Introduction

A farm pond that collects and harvests in-situ rainfall as well as runoff from the catchment area can be used for many purposes: the most important of which is the supply of water to crops as supplemental irrigation. It is no doubt a viable source for integrated farming system. In addition, the water of the pond can be used for domestic and to some extent for the industrial uses. It is also a good source for recreational use. Total water demand of the pond including irrigation to different crops in different seasons, domestic and other non agricultural uses are to be assessed. While estimating the crop water requirement and irrigation requirement, various crops to be grown in the service area of the pond, their water requirements, crop duration, extent of coverage and water management practices followed are to be taken into consideration. Multiplying the irrigation requirement with crop coverage area, volumetric irrigation water requirement of crop can be found out. Summation of irrigation requirement of all crops grown in service area of the pond, gives total irrigation demand of the pond.

Farm ponds are normally used for irrigation to crops as well as to meet the live stock water demand. Normally the large live stocks like horse, cattle require 20 thousand litres of water per head per year whereas the small live stocks like sheep, goat, pigs require 2 thousand litres of water per head per year. Adding the irrigation demand to the livestock demand, total water requirement of the pond is calculated. In addition to this, if the pond water is used for industrial, domestic and other sectoral purposes, then water used in all such sectors are to be added to irrigation and livestock demand to estimate the total water demand of the pond.

Irrigation Methods

Surface

Sub-surface

Pressurized irrigation

12.1 Surface Irrigation

Surface irrigation method refers to the manner or plan of water application by gravity flow to the cultivated land wetting either the entire field (uncontrolled flooding) or part of the field (furrows, basins, border strips). Most irrigated areas have characteristic land features and differ from those in other areas. Hence, for efficient application of water it is important to select such method of irrigation, which fits one’s own land.

The adoption of a certain method need not be necessarily based on convention or that followed in the adjoining farm. The factors, which determine the suitable method of irrigation are local conditions (soil type - its permeability & water storage capacity; land topography, climate, water availability & water quality), crop type, type of technology, previous experience with irrigation, required labour inputs etc. Good yield of crops can be obtained from irrigated land only if the water is applied judiciously to meet the needs of the plant, but not to cause waste and damage. Irrigation water is applied to cultivated land by the following surface methods of irrigation:

Microbiology is a branch of science dealing with the study of organisms which are too small to be seen clearly by unaided eye. Roughly the organisms with a diameter of 0.1mm or less, which can not be seen by the human eyes unaided, come under the domain of microorganisms.

Thus, the laboratory work dealing with the microorganisms needs special care to avoid infection and infusion for maintaining good health. In fact all microorganisms should be treated as potential pathogens. Thus, for working with microorganisms aseptic techniques must be followed by students as well as by the laboratory assistants and teachers.

Introduction

The sustainable agriculture begins with ideal soil health with minerals and organic matters. The sustainable farming practices enhance and protect soil health, water quality and water quantity, biodiversity, manage insect pests, disease and weeds. The Indian council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) set up an All India Soil Survey Committee in 1953 which divided the Indian soils into eight major groups. (i) Alluvial soils (ii) Black (or Regur soil) (iii) Red and Yellow soils (iv) Laterite soils (v) Arid and desert soils (vi) Saline and alkaline soils (vii) Peaty and marshy soils and (viii) Forest and mountain soils.

Introduction

On the basis of inputs based ecological principles, the all possible and available resources are allocated to achieve maximum outputs. One of the most promising paradigms of external inputs based agriculture that have emerged for the benefit of small scale resource-poor farmers and that is termed as low external input and sustainable agriculture (LEISA), which can enable such farmers to achieve higher income and attain sustainability by: (i) Optimizing the use of locally available resources, thereby achieving a synergetic effect amongst the various components of the farming system (soil, water, animals, plants, etc.) so that they complement each other in the production of output; and (ii) Minimizing the use of external inputs, except where there is a serious deficiency and where the effect on the system will be to increase recycling of nutrients.

Low External Inputs and Sustainable Agriculture (LEISA): Low external input sustainable agriculture (LEISA) is a way of thinking about farming. It incorporates some ideas found in what people have labelled eco-logical, organic, regenerative, biological, or simply alternative agriculture. Amongst the goals that now drive the interest in low-input sustainable agriculture, two stand out: profitable and productive farming, and protection of resources and environmental quality. Companion objectives include ensuring safe and nutritious food supplies and reducing health risks to farm workers. LEISA involves farmers substituting management, scientific information, and on-farm resources for some of the purchased inputs they currently depend on maintain production sustainability. Sustainability has been defined, for the purpose of including resource-poor as well as resource-rich farmers, as managing agricultural productivity while maintaining or improving the resource base. This means that agriculture must be environmentally solid, economically feasible, socially scrupulous, and flexible (for future needs).

Introduction

Despite fact that more than two-third of the earth’s surface is covered with water, currently, near about 450 million people in 29 countries are facing severe water shortage and at least 20 percent more water would be required to feed additional 3 billion populations by 2025. About 97.5 percent of ocean-sea water is not available due to its salinity and 2.49 percent is locked up in ice and only 0.01 percent is technologically available and economically accessible water either from surface or ground water sources for human uses. So water saving technologies developed so far is very pertinent to propagate amongst the users. Water is an essential natural resource for sustaining the environment and supporting life where the agriculture is the major user of water resource. Water is an indispensable for sustainable agricultural growth and development. Previously, rainfed agriculturewas associated primarily with conservational land treatments to check soil erosion and land degradation.But in the areas of medium to heavy rainfall, there is ample scope of tapping excess rain water through suitable water harvesting structures constructed for this purpose for its subsequent uses as irrigation or to apply lifesaving irrigation to the crops which should also come under the purview of water management for crop production. Although there is a difference in the objectives of water management where there is abundant availability of water from continuous flow connected with perennial sources or lakes and rivers and that of from restricted or limited supply from collection of excess rain through water harvesting structures.The former is associated with to obtain as much as yield of crop per unit area under water application and later is associated with increasing productivityof crop per unit of water application even under rainwater recycling and its effective management for the purpose of irrigation. Hence, both the rainwater and irrigation water are considered to be equally important to context of agricultural development of the country to get higher water use efficiency and proper utilization of water resources (Zaman,et.al., 2017).

Introduction

Agricultural productivity during past three decades resulted in depletion of natural resource base besides creating several environmental and ecological problems. In contrast the demand scenario features a growth rate in food requirements to meet the ever-increasing demand of the growing population. The total food grain demand of India by 2020 is estimated at 294 million tones as against the present 224 million tonnes (2010-11), which has to come from the almost static net cultivated area of about 142 million ha. This improvement in food grain production has to be achieved while dealing with the factors affecting the ecological balance and sustainability of Agricultural resources. Soil and water conservation is an important aspect, which needs very careful dealing with proper attention of the researchers and planners particularly in the context of agriculture of rainfed areas. As the water without soils is useless for crop cultivation, the soils without water nothing but desert. At least 20 % of total land is deserted and very difficult to use with another 20 % is sandy and poor in nutrient content subjected to severe soil erosion and excessive land degradation which causes fragile nature of eco-system and threatens food security of such areas. Soil erosion reduces productivity and cuts crop yield and causes at least 10 metric tons of topsoil loss per hectare per year. Now days, soil and water conservation is gaining paramount importance globally due to its obvious reasons. The main objective of the subject to protect soils against damage due to excessive runoff by natural, mechanical, cultural and agronomic measures to be adopted to bring a state of equilibrium between climate, soil, rainfall, slope and vegetation.

Introduction

Social disinterestedness could be an anticipation that applies issues of amends and candor to policy. Aback the Sixties, the anticipation of amusing disinterestedness have been activated in an advance of institutional contexts, calm with apprenticeship and accessible administration. The anticipation of amusing disinterestedness is about afflicted aback to the works of philosopher and Plato. Definitions of amusing disinterestedness will vary, about all focus aloft the ethics of amends and fairness. Disinterestedness in fashionable societies involves the role of accessible directors, United Nations bureau breadth assemblage accountable for authoritative assertive that amusing casework breadth assemblage delivered equitably. This bureau demography into application actual and accepted inequalities a part of groups; candor relies on this amusing and actual context. Amusing and bread-and-butter bigotry has abiding furnishings on societies and as well the bloom of populations. The acceptance from an ample alter of disciplines breadth assemblage acclamation disinterestedness in avant-garde agency that. Solutions alter from acclamation cyber banking accretion aberration to apprenticeship quality, cyber banking action to bent amends reform and affluence of accession disinterestedness problems that anon and alongside accept an aftereffect on animal bloom and well-being. The aggregation seeks to acknowledgment such queries as, will a bigger pay advance superior of action measures, calm with health, nutrition, and ancestor’s circadian life? As added cities ahead hikes in their pay, this assay can acquaint approaching choices apropos the after-effects on staff, their families, employers, and as well the community. An administration of assets, resources, and liabilities a part of the individuals during a nation or association that’s advised accurate and simply. Whereas some accept that bread-and-butter disinterestedness needs that anybody voters pay an agnate quantity, others accept that the abundance paid care to wait aloft the abundance that every accountable will allow to pay while not disproportionate hardship. Put simply, disinterestedness is possession. Aural the affairs world, disinterestedness refers to stock. Aural the accounting and aggregation disposition world, disinterestedness (or added normally, shareholders’ equity) refers to the abundance of basic contributed by the abode owners or the acumen amid a company’s absolute assets and its absolute liabilities. The fashionable era is casual through an alluringly and annealed aggressive laissez-faire abridgement that’s about there’s no acknowledgment to actualize some individuals at an advantage while not creating others worse off. This cessation refutes the claims of ambitious bread-and-butter planners, United Nations bureau assert that markets breadth assemblage disorganized free-for-alls which centralized chief would be added economical. During a class disconnected association the advantages of amusing appear can’t be aggregate appropriately by the all categories of individuals. It’s simple to appetite agitated with the abstraction that markets appreciate appropriate and to again draw inappropriate abstracts apropos policy. It’s basic to arouse that authority is apropos a way to achieve goals; it doesn’t say something apropos what your goals care to be. Locution that the bazaar aftereffect is economical doesn’t beggarly that that aftereffect is about alluring for all the individuals. In fact, in some affairs analive action could advisedly baldest accessory bulk aftereffect that’s not economical.

10. 1 Land and Water Resource

India has got the world’s 2. 45% area and 16. 87% of population with only the 4% of available fresh water (Table 10. 1). This indicates the necessity of development of water resources and optimal use of it. India at macro level does not have short of water. But the shortage of water is due if not properly managed by conservation and sector wise utilization.

3.1 Communicating to the Customers

Philip Kotler defined IMC as, “the concept under which a company carefully integrates and coordinates its many communications channels to deliver a clear, consistent message”.

The Marketing Communications Mix consist of eight Major modes of communications which includes advertising, Sales Promotion, Events and Experience, Public relations and Publicity, Direct marketing, Interactive Marketing, Word of mouth Marketing and personal selling.

INTRODUCTION

Himalayan region is known for the diversity of its cultural heritage and climate. In Indian part, this mountain range includes states of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. The climatic variability of the region,from sub-tropical to extreme dry temperate, offers great attraction to naturalists, all across the globe. The forest formations here are the natural habitats of a large number of flora and fauna. The flora found in these forests varies with the altitudinal gradient and is quite distinct. In the sub-tropical Himalayas, for example,the predominant vegetation is of deciduous type consisting of trees, shrubs, scrubs, climbers and xerophytes. Man-made Chir pine forests can also be witnessed. At middle elevation, the climate is sub-temperate and supports a mix of broad leaves and pines forests.In the high reaches including Trans Himalayas, climate is typically wet or dry temperate. In the wet temperate climate, evergreen forests are the predominant vegetation, whereas, the dry temperate areas do not support any significant vegetation.This variation in climate and altitude has a great impact on the biodiversity found in the region, and represents about seven percent of the country’s total biodiversity.

Among this diversity, many valuable and rare medicinal and aromatic plants grow wild in the region. The herbs which are traded from this region are of immense value for the preparation of Ayurvedic drugs in the form of monoherbal preparations or as multi-compound herbal formulations. Charak Samhita mentions that the herbs of the Himalayan forests excel in efficacy.

Carbohydrates are widely prevalent in the plant kingdom, comprising the mono, di-, oligo-, and polysaccharides. The common monosaccharides are glucose, fructose, galactose, ribose etc. The disaccharides, i.e., the combination of two monosaccharides include sucrose, lactose and maltose. Starch and cellulose are polysaccharides consisting of many monosaccharide residues. Cellulose is the most abundant organic compound on this planet since it forms part of the cell wall in plants.

Aldehydes (–CHO) and ketones (= CO) are active groups in carbohydrates. Carbohydrates contain many hydroxyl groups as well. The number of hydroxyl groups varies with the number of carbon atoms. Monosaccharides contain the free aldehyde or ketone group. Some disaccharides have the free aldehyde group (maltose) and some do not have the free ones (sucrose). The polysaccharides, starch and cellulose, are polymers of monosaccharides linked through the active groups. The chemical properties of saccharides vary depending upon the number of hydroxyl groups and the presence or absence of –CHO/= CO groups. These variations are the basis in the development of colour reactions to identify the saccharides. Some simple tests used to identify the presence/absence of certain saccharides are listed below:

ABSTRACT

Biotransformation is an essential step in the elimination of drugs and reduction of their toxicity. The use of fungi in biotransformation reactions can provide information about the metabolism of new drugs and facilitate the attainment of necessary amount of metabolites for toxicological and pharmacological evaluation. Biotransformation studies require the right choice of the microorganisms and also of the culture conditions (pH, substrate, oxygen, salts, temperature, etc). The optimization of these procedures is essential to achieve good results. The fundamental aspects of drug biotransformation by fungi are discussed here as well as some applications showing that many fungi are used in biotransformation studies, mainly Cunninghamella species. Several species mimic the mammalian metabolism producing the same metabolites observed in humans.

ABSTRACT

Plant growth promoting (PGP) bacteria play an immense role in promoting crop growth mainly by direct mechanisms such as N_2-fixation, phosphate solubilization and phytohormone production and indirectly may help to suppress pathogens or contribute to enhance absorption of nutrients leading to increase yields. The N₂fixers are grouped based on their niche adaptation as endophytic nodular symbionts (Rhizobium spp.), free living (Azotobacter spp.), associative symbionts (Azospirillum spp.) and endophytic non-nodular symbionts (Azoarcus and Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus). In the recent past, phosphate solubilizing and phytohormone synthesizing bacterial communities also gained momentum.