eChapters

8.1. Vegetables

8.1.1. Tomato (Lycopsarsicon Esculentum)

Temperature: A warm climate crop can tolerate high temperature but cannot withstand frost. Minimum temperature for germination of seed is 8 to 10°C. Night temperature for fruit setting is 12 to 22°C. Critical night temperature for fruit setting is below 12°C. Critical day temperature for fruit setting is above 32°C. If the greenhouse can maintain the temperature as mentioned above then the non-terminal or indeterminate tomato crop can be grown for 10 to 12 month duration.

Variety: Indeterminate (producing flowers and fruits continuously along the stem as it grows) hybrid varieties resistant to nematodes or fusarium or verticilium wilt disease may be selected.

Abstract

Seed priming is the innovative way of ensuring optimum germination and plant stand under moisture deficit situations. It enables the seed to tide over initial stress from biotic and abiotic factors. Higher yield with better quality seed are reported. The seeds of agronomic and horticultural crops are significantly affected by ageing and deterioration. Reversal or rejuvenation of aged seeds is therefore of primary interest. Experiments related to reversal of seed deterioration effects due to ageing relying heavily on accelerated ageing (AA) of seeds and their priming using various priming agents especially osmotic substances. Repair during germination is a hypothetical event supported by some investigators and questioned by others. Repair includes the spontaneous reorganization of plasma membrane phospholipids, which occurs during seed hydration. Alternatively or additionally, metabolic repair might occur. Experimental evidence for repair in imbibed seeds has been elusive. Priming reduced electrolyte leakage as well as lipid peroxidation in seeds implying the activation of membrane repair processes. Priming was also associated with increased levels of antioxidants like ascorbic acid and tocopherols particularly the latter and the activities of enzymes SOD, CAT POX involved in the mitigation of oxidative damage. In comparison with the priming of unaged seeds, the aged seeds experienced a diminution of response in terms of changes in the levels of antioxidants and scavenging enzymes. Thus, seed priming technique under climate extremities seems the best and economical means to sustain higher crop yields. The technique needs to be popularized among the farmers practicing agriculture and horticulture under rainfed situation so as to sustain production under climatic adversaries and enhance livelihood security and more profitability at the farm.

Abstract

Agriculture is at a cross-road in J&K wherein the small holdings, profitability, livelihood security and sustainability issues are the factors adding to the existing agrarian crisis in the state in particular and the country in general. This requires a decisive direction shift at the policy level towards adoption of integrated farming system. There is a need of fundamental change from the unilateral, top-down, prescriptive “knowledge generation and transmission” models of agriculture development adopted in the country so far, which have in fact resulted in an ecological, economic and social crisis in the farming sector of the state during 40 years of adoption and that climate change is one more imperative for drastic change to address the situation. Climate change is already a reality for farming community and that conventional models of agricultural research and extension have failed to address the need of the hour unless some fundamental recasting in the form of diversified farming system is adopted. The immediate need for interventional action precludes traditional models of research and support systems and requires alternative but urgent programmatic interventions, led by farmers’ institutions and their local resources, knowledge and innovations. Existing mainstream models of farming are GHG-inducing and are not conducive to adoption either given their high external-input dependency-models which increases the risk of vulnerable farmers. Integrated farming system a key to sustainable agriculture, on the other hand, holds immense mitigation and adaptation potential, specifically in the context of climate change even as it improves rural livelihoods and addresses the ecological crisis in farming of today under various climatic regions of Jammu in particular and state in general. Jammu region of the J&K state is bestowed with varying climate zones i.e. subtropical, intermediate and temperate zones, which is best suited for diversified farming,as the promotion of single enterprise is neither beneficial from economy point of view nor is sustainable under the given climate change crisis. The integration of Crops, Horticulture, Animal ,Fish cum Poultry, Mushroom, Vermicompost, Apairy, Biogas and Boundary plantation enterprises in Jammu region under integrating farming system is having the potential to improve the farm income to three folds besides will address the sustainability issues in the long run.

Abstract

A Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) is synonymous to farm science center with responsibilities of on- farm technological assessment, front line demonstrations, capacity building, advisory services and mulit-sector support to various private and public initiatives. The KVKs work under the ambit of ICAR, New Delhi with administrative support from local institutions or State Agricultural Universities. There were about 695 KVKs operational in India till October 2018. All KVKs fall under the jurisdiction of one of the 11 Agricultural Technology Application Research Institutes (ATARIs) spread throughout India. 21 KVKs are functioning in Jammu and Kashmir with seven of them in Jammu province namely KVK Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Reasi, Rajouri, Doda and Poonchh. The major thrust areas of hilly district Jammu and Kashmir are as integrated nutrient/pest/weed management in different crops, water management, promoting organic farming, protected cultivation of high value and low volume crops, promotion of aromatic and medicinal plants, increase in the productivity of livestock, drudgery reduction for farm women, promotion of loose flower cultivation, promotion of new single cross hybrids in maize, value addition of agricultural products and promotion of farming system approach. KVK Reasi has been able to motivate farmers of the district to adopt and practice organic farming, floriculture, backyard poultry farming and mushroom production at the commercial level.

Abstract

India with population of 1.30 billion in which 47 per cent is engaged in agriculture earnestly needs efficiently use of biotechnology and genetic engineering for transforming agriculture sector. Biotechnological tools offer great opportunities for increasing agricultural production and can play an important role towards the attainment of production sustainability of crops. Biotechnological tools have the potential to release burgeoning pressure on agriculture and allied sectors; ecology and environment; plant, animal and microbial biodiversity; and allied resources such as land and water with improved and sustainable agricultural productivity which enhances food security. Agricultural biotechnology, including tissue culture, DNA-marker-assisted breeding and genetic engineering (GE) technology have potential to increase stress tolerant, selection efficiency, crop adaptation, crop productivity and food security in more efficiently manner through the development of improved varieties with increased yields, nutritional content and storage characteristics. Genetic engineering tools should continue to build capacity in this technology, giving priority to traits and crops that are of economic importance such as drought tolerance in maize, rice, beans; cold tolerance in rice; increased nutritional value and improved shelf life in fruits and vegetables. Crop varieties and livestock with improved characteristics have been developed using tools such as marker-assisted breeding and genetic engineering. Molecular pharming is one of the applications of genetically modified crops and livestock for the production of pharmaceutical proteins. Reproductive technologies are alternative ways for genetic improvement of livestock. The development of molecular diagnostics and vaccine technology as a tool improved the ability to detect and treat several diseases of livestock. The advancements in biotechnological tools such as protein engineering and metabolic engineering play a significant role in production of a large number of valuable and high quality industrial products.

14.1 INTRODUCTION

India is conferred with a varied agro-climatic condition which are highly favourable for growing a large number of horticultural crops such as fruits, vegetables, root tubers, ornamental, aromatic plants, medicinal herbs, spices and plantation crops like coconut, areca nut, cashew and cocoa (Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, GOI, 2008). India is next only to China in area and production of vegetables and occupies prime position in the production of caulif lower, second in onion and third in cabbage in the world. After achieving food security, it is being increasingly felt that India needs to achieve nutritional security for betterment of its population. In achieving nutritional security fruits and vegetables play an important role (Ganeshmurthy et al.2011). Although we have achieved good production levels of fruits and vegetables, the present production of fruits and vegetables may not be enough to meet out the demand. To feed the ever-increasing population in a sustainable way a tremendous effort will have to be made to increase the production of fruits and vegetables both horizontally and vertically through a rational and balanced use of production inputs, specially the mineral fertilizers. Soil fertility is a key factor for successful crop production, and it is a measure of capacity of soil to supply plant nutrients. The importance of soil fertility and fertilizer management is being increasingly recognized in all countries recently to meet the demand for food and other agricultural raw materials. Intensive use of fertilizer, intensive cropping with high yielding cultivars have increased the food production and reduced the food shortage, but it has also brought in numerous problems of soil fertility, soil and water pollution. On the other hand, fast depletion of nutrients due to over exploitation, a wide-spread deficiency of N, P, K and S coupled with micro-nutrients deficiencies especially Zn and boron has been noticed in many soils. Further deforestation, shifting cultivation, burning of trees, bushes, grasses and cow dung, soil erosion, soil degradation, nutrient losses, excessive fertilizer application, leaching losses etc., have aggravated the depletion of soil fertility status. It is being realized that the future of Indian agriculture is closely related to scientific management of soil fertility along with judicious and efficient use of fertilizers. Soil fertility and nutrient management is one of the important factors that have a direct impact on crop yield and quality. Soil test reports help in determining soil organic matter, pH, electrical conductivity, cation exchange capacity, and levels of important macronutrients (phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium) and micronutrients (boron, zinc, etc.). These reports also help estimating lime or sulphur application rates to increase or reduce soil pH, respectively. Maintaining a soil pH between 6.0 and 7.0 is recommended for most crop rotations that include vegetable crops.

17.1 INTRODUCTION

Bearing habit indicates position of f lower bud with respect to vegetative growth of the plant after cessation of juvenility. Different fruit trees have different bearing habits. The knowledge of bearing habits will be of much importance for regulating the bearing of any plant by means of pruning. Terminal bearers are not normally pruned, whereas in case of lateral bearers pruning certainly increase the bearing, as it encourages the sprouting of lateral buds. Fruit trees may bear the fruits either terminally on a long or short growth, laterally on present or past season growth or adventitiously from any point on the trunk or root. The relative position of a fruit with reference to its potential bud giving rise to f lower or inf lorescence in the shoot is known as bearing habit. Knowledge on the bearing habit is a pre-requirement before performing pruning in any fruit crop (particularly in ber, guava, grape etc.). Proper understanding of bearing habits helps a lot in manipulating time and period of f lowering and fruiting which consequently inf luence harvesting and yield of better-quality fruits.

10.1 Introduction

Winds are the motion of air around the Earth. This movement in air is caused by the uneven heating of the planet’s surface by the sun. The idea of using wind as a form of power is not new. The traditional applications of wind were primarily as sources of kinetic energy for rural, agricultural and a limited number of industrial uses such as pumping water and grinding grain.

Presently wind energy can be used for two major applications, such as wind mills for pumping water for drinking as well as for irrigation purposes and second application is as aero-generator for electricity generation for domestic and industrial uses. In addition to this, presently wind energy battery charger are also available, which can store energy for lights, radio communication, hospital equipment and to power various emergencyrelated equipment.

The wind energy has an enormous resource, but the problems of utilizing the winds are many and varied. Wind energy is very diffuse in nature and local topographical features significantly alter the prevailing winds, thus leading to the extremely site specific nature of wind energy.

Scientists have estimated that as much as 10% of the world’s electricity could be prepared by wind generators by the middle of 21 century. India has estimated wind power potential of 40,000 MW. India now, ranks fourth in the world in wind power generation.

The world’s largest wind farms are in California (USA), where wind turbines can generate power up to about 1120 MW. The first wind mill used as source of electric power was built in Denmark in 1890.

Abstract

In the present study an integrated remote sensing and Geographical Information System (GIS) based methodology is adopted for demarcating the groundwater prospective zones and identification of artificial recharge sites in the Peddavanka watershed, Andhra Pradesh. In this study Shuttle Radar Topograhic Mission (SRTM) digital elevation model (DEM) with spatial resolution of 90 m and Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS-1A), Linear Imaging Self Scanner (LISS- III) satellite data along with other field and collateral data on geology and well inventory have been utilized to generating the Drainage, Slope, Lineaments and Hydro geomorphology of the study area, which are an essential prerequisites for demarcating water resources and identification of recharge sites. Spatial data integration and analyses are carried out in GIS environment.

Keywords : DEM, Drainage, Hydrogeomorphology, Groundwater prospective zones, Remote sensing, GIS

1.0 Introduction

Groundwater is an important natural resource in arid and semi- arid regions, because most of the places surface water resources are scarce and some places it’s totally absent particularly in hard rock areas. Because in hard rock terrains availability of groundwater is of limited extent and its occurrence is essentially confined to fractured and weathered zones (Saraf and choudhury 1998, Sankar 2002). In these areas groundwater recharge depends on rainfall only. For understanding rainfall recharge mechanism and groundwater management in the watersheds level, first we have to understand the morphometric parameters in the watershed level.

Abstract

Traditionally remote sensing technology has been widely used in the mapping and change detection of vegetation features. Of late research has shown that remote sensing technology can be successfully employed for retrieval of biophysical parameters of vegetation, either by statistical techniques or by employing radiative transfer models (RTMs). This paper gives an introduction to leaf and canopy RTMs, especially about PROSAIL, which is the most commonly used model. It reviews different techniques for inverting RTM models, their merits and performance comparison. The main techniques briefly described are iterative optimization, look-up table, artificial neural network, genetic algorithm and support vector machine. At the end, it gives examples of applications which use canopy biophysical parameters retrieved by inverting RTM.

Keywords: Radiative transfer, PROSAIL, Inversion, Vegetation

1.0 Introduction

Accurate quantitative estimation of vegetation biophysical variables is useful for a large variety of agricultural, ecological, and meteorological applications (Houborg et al., 2007). The spatial and temporal distribution of these variables are important inputs into models quantifying the exchange of energy and matter between the land surface and the atmosphere, developing better yield prediction models and detecting abiotic stresses at regional scales. Among the many vegetation characteristics leaf area index, leaf chlorophyll content and leaf water content are of prime importance (Bacour et al., 2006; Houborg et al., 2007).

Abstract

Remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) are integrated system in providing precise information on nature, extent and spatial distribution of land resources to assess their potential and limitations for planning, monitoring and management towards sustainable development. The use of remote sensing and GIS provide immense opportunities in the field of large-scale mapping, generate and update of existing geographical databases for decision making in site- specific management and development of land resources. Integration of remote sensing and GIS includes the use of each technology to benefit the other, as well as the application of both the technologies for geospatial modelling and decision support. Remote sensing and GIS integration has clearly benefited from advances in computing and Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies, including innovations in use of decision tree algorithms and neural networks. The generated precise spatial database in GIS on land resources, socio-economic and contemporary technologies could be effectively used to develop GIS based Spatial Decision Support Systems (SDSS) for sustainable management of land resources. In this article an attempt has been made to provide an overview on the remote sensing and GIS technologies as a special decision support tools in inventory, characterization and management of land resources particularly in digital terrain analysis, geomorphological mapping, hydrological applications, soil resource inventory, assessment of soil loss, land degradation and soil fertility, soil-site suitability and watershed prioritization.

Maize is one of the most important food, feed, fodder and industrial crop in Haryana and is cultivated in all the three seasons (Kharif, Rabi and spring). It was cultivated on 6 thousand hectares in Kharif season with average productivity of 2.83t/ha during 2015-16. The maize is also increasing in spring season which was grown on ~ 7 thousands hectare with productivity of 4.5t/ ha. The specialty corn (baby corn and sweet corn) is also grown in >2 thousand hectare area of Haryana in national capital region. The demand of maize is increasing every year due to growth in poultry industry and expansion of maize based industries. There is a good scope of cultivation of specialty types of corn (baby corn, quality protein maize and sweet corn) in Haryana as it is very near to national capital, Delhi. The cultivation of specialty corn and its value addition by establishing

Maize (Zea mays L.), the “Queen of Cereals” is one of the most important highly evolved coarse cereal crop originated at Mexico. This is most widely distributed crop of the world cultivated predominantly in tropics and sub-tropics right from sea level to 4000 m altitude as irrigated or rainfed crop. The demand for maize as an animal feed will continue to grow faster than the demand for its use as a human food, particularly in Asia, where, doubling of production is expected from the present level of 165 m t to almost 400 mt.

Maize (Zea mays L.) is the third most important crop of country after rice and wheat and is cultivated round the year. Its grain is used as feed, food and industrial raw material. Enormous progress has been made during last six decades to enhance yield potential through genetic improvement and alleviate effects due to various biotic and abiotic-stresses. In India, it is an important crop not only in terms of acreage but also in context to its versatility for adoption under wide range of agro-climatic conditions. Of the different forms used for human consumption, 45% is consumed as staple food in various forms viz., bread, biscuits, cookies or transformed into corn flakes, soups, fresh-roasted sweets, boiled cobs and vegetables etc. Maize grain is main ration for poultry birds while forage maize is used as fresh or dry fodder for dairy industries. In Rajasthan maize occupies 0.89 m ha area with an annual production of 1.55 mt and productivity of 1.74 t/ha (Govt of Rajasthan, 2015). Being major Kharif crop in Rajasthan, the productivity levels of maize are still below the national average and farmers are not getting better economic returns. However, profitability can be accelerated further by growing recently popular speciality corns.

A successful vegetable production industry is very dependent on a sustainable supply of seeds to the growers. At the present time, the seed industry plays an important role in both production and distribution of high quality vegetable seeds.

Successful seed production of a crop depends on a thorough knowledge of the reproductive process of a particular crop. The techniques of seed production must take into account several features of reproduction: whether it is sexual, asexual, or a combination of the both, the nature of floral structures, the amount of pollen transfer, the degree and means of self-incompatibility and the effect of inbreeding on vigour. For most purposes the important consideration to the seed producers is the extent of cross-pollination. It is, therefore, necessary that before engaging himself in seed production, a producer must acquaint himself with the following details of reproduction in the particular crop:

Methods of Reproduction

The method of reproduction in vegetable crop plants may be broadly grouped in to two categories, asexual/vegetative and sexual:

Plant breeding is essentially a technology. Any technology will stand the test of time if it is based on sound concepts. In the case of plant breeding, the concepts are provided by the science of genetics.

Plant productivity in its broad sense requires consideration of not only yield but also of a number of its direct and indirect components. For example in groundnut, besides pod yield, shelling percentage, 100-kernel weight and oil content are components relevant to defining productivity. A number of physiological (like biomass, leaf area, specific leaf weight), morphological (like days to flowering, number of branches, number of mature seeds), nitrogen-fixing, (where relevant, for example, number of nodules, nodule mass, nitrogenase activity) and such other characters influence yield directly or indirectly.

Yield and most yield contributing characters are quantitative in nature. A quantitative character is one which shows continuous variation. In contrast, qualitative characters like flower colour and seed coat colour show, in general, discrete variation and are controlled by fewer genes with major effects. A quantitative trait, however, is governed by many genes. The range of values of a quantitative character is described by a continuous distribution, usually assumed to be a normal distribution. The distribution is specified by the two parameters: mean and variance.

Breeding methods for vegetable crops are basically similar to those adopted in others like cereals, oilseeds or pulses. Certain aspects, peculiar to vegetables, however, require specific attention: (i) In many cases, the edible part of the plant is not the seed (as cauliflower, cabbage, carrot and onion) and hence while breeding for improved plant part that is used as vegetable, its seed production capacity needs due consideration, (ii) Vegetables like tomato, garden pea and onion are consumed in different forms (fresh or processed) and the end use of the product (like processing quality) has to be taken into account in breeding programmes, (iii) Consumer preferences (as for example in eggplant) size, colour and shape of the vegetable has to be given due emphasis, (iv) Being perishable in nature, keeping quality and suitability for long distance transportation are important attributes in vegetable crops unlike grain crops where bulk handling and haulage can be mechanised, (v) Another peculiarity with vegetable crops is that they vary widely in modes of reproduction necessitating appropriate choice of breeding methods. In addition to vegetatively propagated crops like potato, sweet potato, cassava (tapioca), garlic, pointed gourd or “Parwal (Trichosanthes dioica L.) and ivy gourd or ‘Kundru’ (Coccinia cordifolia L.), there are many seed propagated vegetable crops which are auto- or allogamous or intermediate (Table 1).

Within these broad groups, variations in the extent of cross- or self-pollination, namely, 15-20 per cent natural cross-pollination in chillies and 20-25 per cent natural self-pollination in muskmelon have been recorded.

The bones of skull (Fig 2-1) are divided into two groups, as cranial group of bones and facial group of bones. Most of the bones of the skull are flat bones and a few are irregular bones.

Cranial bones

The cranial bones form the cranium that encloses and protects the brain and organs of special senses e.g. eye and ear. These bones include the occipital, sphenoid, ethmoid, inter-parietal, parietal, temporal and frontal. The first four of these bones are single and the rests are paired.

Occipital

The occipital is a single bone (Fig 2 -1C) and is situated on the caudo- dorsal aspect of the skull. It consists of three parts, the lateral parts are called lateral occipital, the basal part is called the basi occipital and the dorsal (squamous) part is called the squamous occipital.

The fascia covering the hind limb is the superficial and deep fascia. The superficial fascia is very scanty lies beneath the skin. It has the same general disposition as in other regions of the body. The deep fascia is in the form of a thick strong sheet covering the superficial layer of muscles over the medial aspect of the hind limb. From this sheet extend several septa that pass between different muscles or muscle groups in the thigh region. The deep fascia of the leg region continues cranially with the fascia of the thoracolumbar region. Caudally it is attached to the aponeurotic tendon of insertion of sartorius and gracilis muscles. The part of the deep fascia that continues on the lateral aspect of the thigh is the fascia lata which is continuous with the gluteal fascia dorsally.

The muscles of the hind limb (Fig. 6-3 A and B) are arranged into different regional, positional as well as functional groups. The muscles of hip and thigh region are arranged in the lateral, medial and cranial groups. The muscles of leg and foot are arranged in dorsolateral and plantar groups. The dorsolateral muscles are generally the extensors of tarsus and digits while the plantar muscles are the flexors of tarsus and digits.

General Terminologies in Livestock Production

Meat is considered as well balanced diet because it is good source of macro and micro nutrients.

Macronutrients-required in large quantity in body i.e proteins, fat and carbohydrates.

Micronutrients-required in lesser quantity by human body i.e vitamins, minerals and fibers.

Organ meat like liver is a good source of glycogen, viatm-A, B1 and nicotinic acid.

Fresh meat is unprocessed.

Raw meat is a fresh meat undergone chilling and freezing.

Refrigeration and rapid cooling can delay the onset of rigor mortis

Veterinary surgery: The surgery which is practiced on animals. It deals with the treatment of deformities, injuries, or disease conditions by manipulation with the hands. The term “Surgery” is derived from a Greek word – Chirurgia (Cheir – Hand, Ergon – work).

The papyri of Egypt contained information on treatment of fractures and superficial wounds.

In Vedic era, Salihotra and Palakapya were the greatest ancient Indian veterinarians. Salihotra treated horses and Palakaya elephants.

“Susruta Samhita’ is the earliest known work dealing with the medical science especially surgery.

Hobday wrote first comprehensive text on surgical diseases of the dog and cat.

The theory and practice of asepsis was introduced by Joseph Lister.

W.S. Halsted introduced the principles of surgery and use of rubber gloves.

Crop plan and practices for rainfall scarcity prone areas

The appropriate crop plan and practices, which have so far been generated and recommended for achieving the objective of increased and stable crop production in dry land areas have been summarized in the following points:-

1.Proper and timely tillage

2.Early sowing

3.Choice of suitable crop/good plant material

4.Proper plant population

5.Cropping system

6.Fertilizer use

7.Timely weed control

8.Efficient rain water storage and its use

9.Alternate land use system

10.Planning for aberrant weather hazard

Soil and moisture conservation measures are a prerequisite for ensuring a good crop stand, growth and development of crop, and higher crop yields. These measures depend mainly on the land (topography and slope), soil type, rainfall pattern, and nature of the crop. The various management practices are:

Tillage

Off-season tillage is necessary to get a weed free seedbed having good tilth and better moisture conservation. Pre-monsoon showers should be utilized for deep ploughing (where necessary) and blade harrowing. This will enable sowing of large areas in limited time- a necessary in dryland areas. Higher yield advantage with deep ploughing (22 cm) has been obtained in case of sorghum, pearl millet, maize, and rice. In case of rice, use of mould board plough to a depth of 30 cm every year increased the rice yield at Ranchi. For small seed crops like finger millet, soil compaction below the seeding zone is absolutely necessary for getting good crop stand establishment and higher yields. Tillage requirement for pulse crops (cowpea, mungbean, black gram) varies with the type of soil on which they are grown. For loamy sand or sandy loam soils, one or two cross cultivation using a sweep harrow, will be enough to provide a good tilth.

Watershed management

Watershed is defined as a geohydrological unit draining to a common point by a system of drains. All lands on earth are part of one watershed or other. Watershed is thus the land and water area, which contributes runoff to a common point.

A watershed is an area of land and water bounded by a drainage divide within which the surface runoff collects and flows out of the watershed through a single outlet into a lager river or lake.

Tillage

The mechanical manipulation of soil with tools and implements for obtaining conditions ideal for seed germination, seedling establishment and growth of crops is known as tillage. Tillage may be described as the practice of modifying the state of the soil in order to provide conditions favourable to crop growth.

Introduction

As the most of the conventional resources are depleting and can last only for about a few 30 to 50 years. Scientists worldwide are looking for alternative energy resources and they have come to an agreement that solar energy can provide much of our energy needs in the future. The major challenge before them is to store this energy. The radiation falling on the earth surface can be tapped and stored in no of ways. However, the most efficient way is done through the latent heat storage through PCM. The PCM has many added advantages i.e. high energy density, isothermal behavior, non-polluting and low cost. Nowadays, it gaining popularity worldwide and now seen as the most efficient way of thermal energy storage. There is a large number of PCM at use i.e. organic, inorganic, eutectic and salt hydrates. Their utilization depends on the user’s requirement technological constraints. They also serve the purpose of energy availability at night beside the uninterrupted supply during the day. They are seen as the materials for ensuring the environmental sustainability

INTRODUCTION

India has emerged as second highest producer of potato in the world, after China. The crop has been identified as the most important crop for ensuring food security for the developing countries, and a highly nutritious food providing more calories, vitamins and nutrients per unit area of cropped land than any other staple food. The crop has witnessed phenomenal increase over the seven decades of potato research in India. For a crop which was introduced in the country only in the early 17^th century, and was neither adapted, nor its staple food, the remarkable increase in potato production and productivity is an exceptional achievement of breeding this temperate introduction into the present day potato cultivars.

BREEDING REQUIREMENTS

The table potatoes introduced in India were adapted to long photoperiods of up to 14 hours and crop durations of 140-180 days allowing them to be cultivated only in the hilly regions of India. The unique and diverse agro-climatic condition of the country, comprising of contrasting conditions in the Indian plains, where potato could be grown in the winter months necessitated breeding efforts to develop the potato varieties suitable for the sub-tropical plains and the other potato growing regions. The winters in sub-tropical plains have short photoperiod (with about 10-11 hours sunshine) and the crop duration is limited to 90-100 days because of short and mild winter. Further constraints on photosynthetic activity due to early morning fog, posing a strong limitation on tuber bulking. This is followed immediately by a long hot summer period, which coincides with the post-harvest storage period of potato, creating challenging storage problems. The rapid degeneration of seed stocks, with concomitant decrease in yield due to accumulation of viral diseases and tuber storage and utilization in hot and humid climate thus needed to be addressed, in priority. Besides, these southern, north Bengal and Sikkim hills and the plateau offer agro climatic area specific problems related to the biotic and abiotic stresses prevalent in the regions. Moreover, the unique reproductive biology of the plant made it possible to flower only under the long day conditions of the hills, where hybridization was initiated at Kufri (Shimla), Himachal Pradesh. However, during the initial years, it was not possible to evaluate the breeding progenies in the warmer sub-tropical plains due to the quick degeneration of hill bred progenies and dormancy of hill potatoes.

INTRODUCTION

Potato is a highly versatile crop grown in varying environmental conditions viz. plains, hills and plateau in India. It is grown under short days (SD) in the plains in autumn season and under long days (LD) during summers in hills. Therefore, the pattern of growth, duration of crop as well as the yield varies according to the environment. Besides, the potato cultivars differ from each other in relation to their morphological characters, response to the environmental factors and finally in yield and the dry matter accumulation. The biochemical reasons for such variations are not clear, but it seems that genetically determined differences in the synthesis of growth regulators such as auxins, cytokinins, gibberellic acid (GA) and abscissic acid (ABA) play an important role and their proportion at different growth stages affect the growth and development and thus, the yield of the cultivar (Minhas and Singh, 2003).The present chapter deals with the physiologicalfactors, which determine the growth, development and yield of potato crop.

INTRODUCTION

Control of weeds below economic threshold level in potato crop is a substantial component of crop management strategy for achieving optimum productivity. In our country, potatoes are raised eitherin assured irrigation or as rainfedcrop with comparatively heavy doses of fertilizers. Therefore, weedsarebound to become menaceduringactive cropgrowth period of this cropand theseundesired plants needs to be controlled in early stages of crop growth by adopting several techniques. Current scenario of crop production is different from past due to manyreasons. Farm holdings are becoming smaller day-by-day and majority of potato growers are small and marginal farmers. They have limitedcapacity for purchase of inputs and farm machines. They need economical, efficient and easier to adopt weed control technologies.Farm labour is also costly nowin many regions as they are migrating towards cities and industrial townships. This scenariobecomes more complex as weeds would be major challenge due to global warming, which is slowly changingclimatesof potato growingregions in India.Theconcern forenvironmentalissuesemphasizeuponadoptingsystems and integrated approach for managing weeds in such away that thesedo not reducethe potato and system productivity (CPRI, 2014).

INTRODUCTION

Potatois theworld’s most importantnon-grain foodcommoditythatranks fourth as main food crop in the world after rice,wheat and maize. The crop is grown inmorethan 100 countries, mainly in Asia (195.67 million tons)and Europe (121.76 million tons)(yieldin 2017 as per FAOSTAT, 2019). Because of its efficiency in producing high dry matter, energyand edibleprotein per unit area per unit time, it holds promise for food security in the scenario of ever growing world population. The full potential of this crop however, can onlybe realized if diseases and pests are kept under control, especially in asubtropical country like India, wherethe weather is highly conducive for a number of pathogens.

A number of soiland tuber borne diseases are known to affectthe potato crop causing heavy yield losses. These diseases not only reduce quality and market value of the producebut also spread to new un-infested fields through infected seed potato tubers. Diseasessuch as black scurf, common scab and powdery scab disfigure potato tubers and reduce their market value whereas dry rot, charcoal rot and softrot spoilthe harvested produce during transitand storage. Potatowart is a serious disease which once established is difficult to eradicate and thus require quarantine measures. Bacterial wilt or brown rot of potato is another serious disease which is likely to threaten potato cultivation with the rise in globaltemperature and requires immediate attention.

Potato is becoming a more and more important foodstuff in the world and therefore, its cultivation is expanding fast especially in developing countries. This intensivecultivation, in fact, has led to the emergence of diseases in certain areas where they were of less importance in the past. For instance common scab, known to be a minor disease about2-3 decades ago, is now emerging as serious problem in many potato growing areasof the country including Indo Gangetic plains. Similarly brown rot/bacterial wilt which was endemic in mid hills and plateau region, has now become a limiting factor for potato cultivation in many areasin Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, north eastern region and in Kumoan hills of Uttrakhand. Sclerotium wilt on the other hand has shown upward trend in plateau region especially in Karnataka. This is because the dynamics of pathogens keeps on changing over time and space and also with the changing farming practicesof a region. Many such new diseases are likely to emerge in a big way in future also, hence warrants regular and careful monitoring. In the following pages, the majorsoiland tuberbornediseases are discussed with special reference to India.

Abstract

Andrographis paniculata (Burm.f) Nees (Family: Acanthaceae) is one of the most popular and valuable medicinal plants with high trade value. It is out mentioned in various systems of medicine since ancient times in Indian, Malay, Chinese and Thai. Andrographis paniculata is native to Southeast Asian countries i.e., India, China, Taiwan and Sri Lanka. In India it is distributed from Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam to Mizoram and also cultivated throughout the country. The plant being used as Ayurvedic medicine in various diseases. The principal chemical constituents are lactones, diterpenoid and flavonoids. Andrographolide, neoandrographolide are the principle secondary metabolites of Andrographis paniculata with more than 80 compounds reported till now. Modern studies revealed that Andrographis paniculata has an extensive range of pharmacological activities such as hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, antimalarial, antimicrobial, antidiarrhoeal, anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), anti-oxidant and anti-pyretic. Therefore, such plants need value addition for product development.

Abstract

Protected cultivation of horticultural crops especially vegetables provides the best way to increase the productivity and quality of vegetables especially during off-season, which also fetches better market price. Yield of some of the vegetables like tomato, capsicum and cucurbits can be increased manifold compared to their open field cultivation. Irrigation management is an important aspect of protected cultivation technology for improving the input use efficiency such as water and nutrients for the cultivation of crops under protected environment such as polyhouse, net house, poly tunnels and nursery production. Various other techniques such as use of mulch can be used to further enhance the water and nutrient use efficiency along with improving the quality of produce and precise resource savings. Automation further reduces the manual intervention and increases the input use efficiency.

‘Chili’ (European literature) word derived from ‘Chile’ which means any pepper in Mexico and Central America. Peppers are an important constituent of many foods adding flavor, colour, vit.C and pungency and therefore indispensable to the world food industries. China, Mexico, Japan, Turkey, Indonesia, Pakistan and India are major producers.
 
Origin:  The cultivated chilli is of South American origin. Authorities generally agreed that capsicum originated in the new world (America) tropics and sub tropics. Pepper pods are there from 2000 year old burials in Peru. Decandolle concluded no capsicum was indigenous to the old world (Europe), peppers unknown in Europe until 16th century. Chilli was introduced into Spain by Columbus on his return trip in 1493 and cultivation spread from Mediterranean region to England by 1548 and to central Europe by close of 16th century. Portuguese carried capsicum from Brazil to India prior to 1885 and cultivation was reported in china during late 1700’s.

All capsicum species have 2n = 24. Polyploids with 2n = 36, 48 and  aneuploid 2n = 25 reported

Resistance

The intensive and continuous use of herbicides over the last five decades has resulted in the development and evolution of weeds resistant to the normally phytotoxic chemicals. Although herbicide resistance was reported as early as 1957 against 2, 4-D from Hawaii the first confirmed report of herbicide resistance was against triazine herbicide in common groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) was reported in l968 from U.S.A. Over the years, more than 150 weed species have been identified as having developed biotypes resistant to at least one or more herbicide classes. Resistance to at least 15 classes of herbicides have been noted. Moreover, the area of land infested with resistant weeds is increasing rapidly. Reports of evolution of newly resistant biotypes continue to emanate from all over the world, including developing countries, e.g., India, where extensive use of herbicides in grain crops began only in the late 1970s. These reports indicate that herbicide resistance problems are accelerating and, consequently, management of weeds is becoming increasingly more difficult and complex.

The phenomenon of herbicide resistance in plants, especially in weeds, is analogous to the evolution of changes that arise in insects and pathogens in response to the continuous use of insecticides and fungicides. Herbicide resistance is the result of selection for traits that allow weed species to survive specific herbicide usage, which would otherwise cause mortality. Herbicide resistance contributes a trait of resistance within the plant species to a herbicide and resistant weeds are those plant species that express the genetic variation required to evolve mechanisms to escape control. Like other crop pests (insects, pathogens, etc.) with reference to pesticides (insecticides, fungicides, etc.), herbicide-resistant weeds are the result of intensive selection pressure in weed populations.

Generally, resistance is defined as the ability of a plant species to withstand the phytotoxicity of a chemical. This is the trait normally found in crop plants, as against weeds, thus forming the basis for herbicide selectivity. Crop resistance to a herbicide is often different from the one that exists in the phenomenon of herbicide resistance in weeds.

Herbicide resistance in the context of weeds is defined as a characteristic of the weed species to withstand a herbicide dosage substantially higher than the wild type of the same plant species can withstand. It is the inherent or acquired ability to withstand the dosage of herbicide normally used for satisfactory weed control. Resistant weed populations are unharmed by a concentration of herbicide that completely kills all unselected populations. This herbicide concentration is the one that in field practice produces an effective kill.

Herbicide susceptibility represents the other end of the scale, encompassing natural variability in sensitivity to herbicides within the unselected populations. Tolerance, on the other hand, indicates reduced susceptibility (or conversely enhanced resistance) which may sometimes result from selection by herbicides. It is a response rather less than 100% survival accompanied by zero reduction in growth at herbicide concentrations, which normally give 100% Kill of susceptible biotypes. Tolerance may also be considered the natural or normal variability of response to-herbicides that exists within a species and can easily and quickly evolve.

The analysis of land use patterns has long been one of geography’s basic concerns. At first, it might appear as if agricultural land use is little affected by relative location, once the factor of a suitable market has been acknowledged. Indeed, the farmer does adapt his land use to site conditions, climate, land forms, and soils.

However, the effects of the market situation cannot be disposed of as easily as all that. Johann Heinrich Von Thunen (17831850), a German economist and estate owner of the early 19th century, developed a theory of agricultural location that is still worth considering.

This model is based on an econometric analysis of his estates in Mecklenburg, near Rostock in Germany. Most of the data used in explaining his theory were obtained by him through practical experience. He attempted to construct a theoretical model of land use pattern, giving a particular arrangement of towns and villages in a situation experienced in Mecklenburg.

The main aim of Von Thunen’s analysis was to show how and why agricultural land use varies with the distance from a market.

The study of crop combination regions constitutes an important aspect of agricultural geography as it provides a good basis for agricultural regionalization. The crops are generally grown in combinations and it is rarely that a particular crop occupies a position of total isolation other crops in a given area unit at a given point of time.

The distribution maps of individual crops are interesting and useful for planners, but it is even more important to view the integrated assemblage of the various crops grown in an area unit.

For example, the demarcation of India into the rice region or wheat region does not explain the agriculturally significant fact that very often the wheat region also has a rice crop and vice versa, or wheat is often grown with gram, barley, mustard, lentil, peas and rapeseed.

For a comprehensive and clear understanding of the agricultural mosaic of an agroclimatic region and for the planning and development of its agriculture, a systematic study of crop combinations is of great significance.

In recent years the concept of crop combination has engaged the attention of geographers and agricultural land use planners. The studies made so far in this field range in approach from topical to regional and vary in extent from small areas of minor political units to the entire country.

Although the efforts to develop hill agriculture were initiated in early fifties, planned development programme came to be evolved only in the late sixties. The phenomenal increase in food grains called the ‘Green revolution’ bye passed these hilly regions because of paraphernalia of constraints. Furthermore severity of soil erosion and soil degradation is much more and widespread in hill agriculture due to fragile ecosystem and its impact on plains through downstream sedimentation and flooding. Because of these constraints, traditional agriculture cannot be the lead sector for development. Thus the country faces the challenge of promoting livelihoods to minimize migration through local employment and income generation, and to enhance the quality of life of people living in villages. The positive features of these hilly areas are that they are rich in biodiversity, have enormous potential for tourism, a suitable climate for high value crops that can be harnessed for a development strategy.

In order to improve the existing system and to harvest newer opportunities in the hill agricultural system, a proper understanding of the composition of agri-horti-silvi-pastoral farming system and livestock based farming system is necessary. There is a considerable scope for development of agro-ecological zone specific farming along with horticultural interventions in the hill agriculture. At the same time there is an urgent need to give top priority to land use pattern, soil and water conservation and environmental sustainability. Agri tourism can be exploited in hill agriculture. What Hill agriculture needs is the appropriate technology, emerging markets, investment and risk cover.

Introduction

Genetic resources are the building blocks for new varieties. The Indian gene centre is floristically extremely rich. Most of the tropical and sub-tropical fruits believed to have originated from Hindustan and Indo Malaya-Region. Hindustani gene centre possess a rich diversity of 152 crop plants distributed in different agro-ecological regions of India (Arora, 1985). The Indian sub-continent is one of the centers of origin and diversity of vegetables crops. Around 80 species of major and minor vegetables occur in wild forms (Choudhury, 1967, Seshadri 1987). Among the 118 genera belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family Cucurbita, Cucumis, Citrullus and Lagenaria genera are of great importance. There is tremendous genetic diversity within the family, genera and even within species level. The adaptation range varies from tropical and subtropical regions to extreme arid desert and in temperate regions from Tarai belts to higher altitudes. Extreme germplasm collections are maintained at different centers of the world which represents valuable resources for breeding even in wild form, primitive cultivars, landraces/ folk varieties/ farmer’s selection in a much localized pockets. Now we have very good strains for highly nutritive value, multiple disease resistant and extended shelf lives from our local material through intensive breeding.

Indigenous plant germplasm are adapted component of plant biodiversity. Such adapted components are more valuable resources either as a cultivar or as a parental line in hybridization programme. It might be also a putative material for biotechnological treatment for tolerance to biotic, abiotic factors or nutritional and quality components. Indigenous germplasm can be basically of two types, one which has been domesticated and subjected to human intervention, the other one may be called wild plants or wild relatives and still in the process of evolution without the human intervention. Biochemically the cucurbits are characterized by bitter principles, called cucurbitacins. Great variety of cucurbits contains bitter principle in portion of the plant at some stage of development. Cucurbitacins are tetracyclic triterpenes having extensive oxidation level. Bitter principals found in roots differ from those in fruits. Seedlings specially radicals contains cucurbitacins which are considered primary. The pollen also carries bitter principles and hence when bitter pollen fertilized non-bitter ovule the resulting fruit will be bitter known as metaxenia effect. Cucurbits are consumed in various forms i.e. salad (cucumber, gherkins, longmelon), sweet (ash gourd, pointed gourd), pickles (gherkins), deserts (melons) and culinary purpose. Some of them (e.g. bitter gourd) are well known for their unique medicinal properties. In recent years, abortifacient proteins with ribosome-inhibiting properties have been isolated from several cucurbit species, which include momorcharin (from Momordica charantia), luffaculin (from Luffa operculata), trichosanthin (from Trichosanthes kirilowif) and beta-trichosanthin (from Trichosanthes cucumeroides). Among these, Trichosanthin is of particular interest because its ribosome-inhibiting properties have been found to be effective in inhibiting the replication of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), indicating its potential as a therapeutic agent for AIDS. In cucurbits three conditions are found (i) fruit and vegetative parts bitter (ii) fruit not bitter but vegetative parts bitter (iii) bitterness absent in both vegetative parts and fruits. Hence some kind of co-evolutionary relationship between cucurbits found and they are very helpful during evaluation of germplasm.

The growing chemicalization of milk presents a great challenge to the dairy industry. A number of chemical compounds get entry into milk, intentionally or un-intentionally, through their direct or indirect usage for crop, animal; or dairy husbandry practices, as environmental contamination. Several of these contaminants may be naturally present on grazing grass or use as pesticides for green fodder or they may get entry through use of compounded animal feeds. These eventually get excreted into milk as residues and pose problems to food safety. The risk of health hazards arises from veterinary drugs, residual pesticides, heavy metals, detergents and micotoxins etc. It is therefore, become necessary to detect these contaminants in order to make food safe for human consumption.

Detection of Aflatoxin M 1 in Milk

Material requirements : Glass column(30 cm x 1 cm), Silica gel (63-200 µg particle size), volumetric flasks, beakers, micro pipette, HPLC equipment fitted with C 18 column(25 cm x 4.6 mm) and fluorescence detector.

Reagents: Sodium chloride solution (400g in 1000ml water), acetonitrile/water mixture (25:75), sodium sulphsate, chloroform, toluene/acetic acid mixture (9:1), acetonitrile/diethyle ether/hexane mixture (1:3:6), chloroform/acetone mixture (8:2), n-hexane and aflatoxin standard ampule.

Preparation of stock solution : Transfer contents from 2.5ml or 0.5ml ampoule, quantitatively, to 25ml or 50ml volumetric flask respectively. Rinse ampoule with small quantities of chloroform and collect rinsing into flask. Makeup the volume with chloroform, mix well and store at 5º C or below. These solutions will contain 1 µg per ml aflatoxin M1.

Working solution : Transfer 0.5ml of stock solution to a 10ml conical flask. Evaporate contents to dryness using inert gas. Dissolve residue in 10ml of acetonitrile/water mixture. Prepare series of dilutions containing 0.0025, 0.005, 0.01 and 0.025 µg/ml aflatoxin. Similarly treat 5ml of stock solution to give a concentration of 0.5 µg/ml.

The term extension is more recent in origin, and was first recorded in Britain in the 1840s in the context of ‘university extension’ or ‘extension of the university’. James Stuart, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, who gave several lecturers to women’s associations and working man’s clubs in the north of England during 1867-68, is considered as father of extension. The term extension was derived from the practice of British universities of having one educational programme within the premises of the university and another away from the university buildings. The programme conducted outside the university was described as “extension education”. The expression connoted an extension of knowledge from the university to places and people far beyond. But, the term ‘Extension Education’ was formally used for the first time in 1873 by Cambridge University of England to describe system dedicated to the dissemination of knowledge to rural people where they lived and worked. Within a short time, the idea had spread to other parts of Britain, Europe and North America. Extension work is an out of school system of education in which adults and young people learn by doing. It is a partnership between the government, the land-grant institutions, and the people, which provides services and education designed to meet the needs of the people (Kelsey and Hearne, 1966). The meaning of the term ‘extension’ has changed over time, and has different meanings to different countries. The term ‘’Agricultural Extension” was adopted in 1914 when the United States Federal Smith-Lever Act of 1914 formalized a nationwide cooperative federal-state-county programme and gave operational responsibility for this to the land grant colleges and Universities. In the beginning, agricultural extension was concerned primarily with the improvement of agriculture, using conventional teaching methods. As time went on, home economics, youth programmes and rural community resource development were included. Agricultural extension spread to tropical Africa, the Caribbean, Asia and Latin America following the involvement of the United States of America (USA) in bilateral AID programmes after the Second World War.

Participation means the involvement of the stakeholders in all the activities. In a true sense of participation, the farmers are involved in identifying the problems they face, prioritising the problems, determining ways to overcome them, designing realistic plans by themselves or with others to achieve the goals, and carrying them out. Participation puts emphasis on people’s involvement in decision-making processes, implementation of programmes, sharing of benefits of development programmes and involvement to evaluate such programmes. Community participation is an active process by which beneficiary or client groups influence the direction and execution of a development project with a view to enhancing their well-being in terms of income, personal growth, self-reliance, or other values they cherish. Community participation concerns the engagement of individuals and communities in decisions about things that affect their lives. Sometimes you have observed that some people do not want to be involved in decision making process and remain aloof, but it is our responsibility to create a situation so that everyone should have the opportunity to associate with the programme. We should not force people to participate in the project/programme which they perceive that it will affect their livelihood. In that case, we have to create awareness among the people regarding the beneficial effects of the programme. Solutions devised and fulfilled by the people and community in need are far more likely to prove successful than those imposed from outside.

Introduction

For human beings, the three most important necessities for their survival are food, clothing and shelter. among all of these food is the top most priority. Food safety and Standards defines food into 8 categories (Nutraceutical, Heath Supplements/Dietary Supplements, Food for special medical Purpose, food for Special Dietary Use, Novel Food, and Functional food) in regulation, 2016. A growing trend of health products, concept of food as medicine, associated public interest and consumers demand leads to a progressive research interest in functional foods and nutraceuticals development. Abnormal lifestyle, food habits (consumption of junk food) and low physical activity creates an exponential growth in a number of chronic diseases; obesity, cardio-vascular syndromes, osteoporosis, arthritis and cancer (Das et al., 2012) among the developing and developed countries. While nutraceuticals and functional foods are becoming an alternative affordable system to reduce the risk of disease through prevention in spite of high tech therapies and costly medicines.

The current survey showed that worldwide revenue of functional foods is projected to increase from about 300 billion U.S. dollars in 2017 to over 440 billion dollars in 2022. Also according to the International Food Information Council (IFIC), health benefits achieved from functional food components may provide benefits far beyond than basic nutrition. Products like dietary supplements containing vitamins, functional foods such as sports drinks or products fortified with probiotic play a major role in the market rise (www.statista.com).Indian and Chinese traditional foods, recipes, spices and diversified ingredient market is well known around the world from centuries. Hence, a double-digit growth rate is also experienced in Asian nutraceutical and functional food market. Another reason for the growing trend in consuming functional foods is education and proper health awareness. Furthermore, people are more concern about the optimization of health-promoting capabilities in their diet using dietary supplement and fortified foods. While, food product based industries are marketing health supplements using scientific facts and the relationship between diet and health. Government, non-government organizations (NGOs) and web-based online information also play a key role in promoting and trending food based health products.

Introduction

Military personnel’s are deployed for operation in adverse climatic conditions like desert, cold (arctic) and high altitude regions. Stressful and challenging living conditions have affected the outcome of many battles, campaigns and wars. Acclimatization to the environmental condition is a very essential stage of deployment. The time for acclimatization is restricted/limited for the effective operation towards the purpose of deployment. The performance of the military personnel in various deployed regions depends on the nutrition provided by the food consumed. The operational rations are designed to provide the essential nutrition to enhance their performance during training and/or operational situations.

Nutrition requirement of military personnel is different from that of the civilians. The nutrition requirement also varies with the kind (sedentary or continuous work) and region (plain, desert or high altitude) of deployment. The environmental stress caused by extreme heat, cold, etc. also influences the nutrient requirement/ intake. The insufficient dietary nutrient intake affects the immune function, pace of recovery from illness and injury and also the physical performance (Tharion et al., 2005).

The operational ration is also designed in such a way that it provides to the military personnel the required nutrition from the build in nutrition reserves during certain operational situations. Considering the vital criteria for nutritional requirement, the menu for the military personnel is designed. The chapter discusses the past, present and future of the army operational ration (AOR) in various countries of the world and the influence of advances in food processing methods in AOR menu.

Introduction

International agricultural setup has appeared as it now taking all out consideration and agricultural heritage, crop voyage, crop classification and its significances. International cooperation has contended a big role in developing and strengthening the research system in Asian country. several developed countries like USA, UK, USSR, Canada, Australia, Japan, many European countries; Charitable establishments, etc.; altruist and Ford Foundations; varied International Agencies like FAO, UNDP, UNESCO, World Bank, etc.; and also the International Agricultural Research Centres below the consultatory cluster on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) System have contributed extensively to the explanation for agricultural RESEARCH in Asian country. Spectacular achievements in increasing the food production have raised the country’s image significantly, and also the bilateral arrangements have modified from the erstwhile donor-donee standing to relationship of equal partnership in research. The reciprocity and mutuality of interests with the less developed and in addition because the technologically advanced countries square measure the essence of international co-operation. The government has approved ICAR, motor-assisted by the board of directors of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), to enter into bilateral cooperative agreements with many countries and agencies. The mode of collaboration ordinarily follows the pattern of: (a) exchange of germ-plasm of plant and animal origin; (b) exchange of scientific and technical information; (c) visits of scientists and experts; (d) coaching of scientists; and (e) infrastructure development.

Sugar confectionery and chocolate includes candies (sweets in British English), candied nuts, chocolates, chewing gum, bubble gum, pastillage, and other confections that are made primarily of sugar. In some cases, chocolate confections (confections made of chocolate) are treated as a separate category, as are sugar-free versions of sugar confections. The words candy (US and Canada), sweets (UK and Ireland), and lollies (Australia and New Zealand) are common words for the most common varieties of sugar confectionery. Confectionery depends on numerous ingredients which have been discussed in detailed in this chapter

The art of confectionery manufacture date back to over 3000 years as per Egyptian records. Traditionally honey, boiled and concentrated sugar cane juices have been used in confectioneries. In modern times, alternative sweeteners from sources like corn and starches constitute an integral part of confectionery manufacture.

Owing to the huge variation in finished products as well as raw materials in food sector, Quality control has an extremely important role to play. Quality control aims at controlling variation to within a tolerable level by taking corrective actions. Statistical and non-statistical techniques are employed to measure, analyze and control variation in food products. Statistical process control, acceptance sampling and visual inspection are widely used in food and allied sectors.

Maintenance of quality and manufacture of a standard confectionery should involve a very close control of raw materials, instrumentation, and statistical analysis of finished product. Statistical evaluation with respect to finished product includes weight control, sensory evaluation and packaging tests. The quality standards are set by the quality control departments. Chemists may undertake preliminary analysis through visual inspection. Visual inspection is usually combined with sampling. This gives an idea of variation, cleanliness, infestation etc. in the sample.

Edible oil scenario

Vegetable oil or edible oil is the main source of energy in humans and it also supplies nutrients for growth and maintenance of human body. Edible oil demand in India has been increasing progressively since last one decade, primarily due to population growth, improved standard of living and also changes in food habits. Presently, the area under oil seed production is between 26 and 27 million ha with an average yield of 1000 to 1100 kg ha^-1. This accounts to 7.5 to 8.0 million tonnes of vegetable oil production locally, as against the current demand of 22.5 to 23 million tonnes per annum.

Introduction

In the post-world trade organization (WTO) era, the fantastic imagination of “one world for self-reliance”, has been shattered by the Corona induced calamity and the expansionists approach of a few rouge nations. Though the global welfare and peace has always been part of Indian traditional philosophy, approach and the concept of self-reliance, the practical boundary of self-reliance in its present context, starts from the country level itself. The idea of self-reliance at multiple levels (individual, family, society, and nation) has driven human civilization for most of its efforts, inventions and actions across the world.

A very high dependency of a large number of population on the natural resources in the developing world calls for proper management of natural resources for self-reliance. Since the early days of civilization, natural resources in the form of land, soil, water, biodiversity and climate have remained the very basis of supporting and sustaining life of human beings, plants and animals on the earth. However, in recent times intensive use and over-exploitation of pristine resources have robbed them of their legendry resilience. To effectively tackle the complex problems and to fulfil basic needs of livelihood, food security, poverty, employment, equity and environmental services, efficient and judicious utilization of natural resources for enhanced and sustained productivity is a matter of serious concern for policy makers, planners, scientists, conservationists and environmentalists.

Introduction

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) absorb long-wave radiation emitted from the Sun and the Earth’s surface, and radiate it back to Earth’s atmosphere, creating the greenhouse effect. Gases like carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O) occur in traces but play crucial roles in controlling the temperature of Earth’s atmosphere. The natural as well as anthropogenic activities have major impacts on the GHGs emissions that include continuously increasing concentration of CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O in the atmosphere. The heat-trapping properties of these above mentioned GHGs are well established. Different GHGs have different warming potential (radiative forcing) on the global climate system due to their different radiative properties and lifetimes in the atmosphere. Changes in the atmospheric concentrations of GHGs modify the energy equilibrium of the climate system which leads to subsequent climate change. They affect the absorption, scattering and emission of radiation within the atmosphere and at the earth’s surface. Globally agriculture is estimated to account for 10%–20% of anthropogenic GHG emissions (Smith and Olesen 2010). Share of contribution of these gases towards global warming are different such as CH₄ 20-25%, CO₂ 40-50% and N₂O 5-10%; with present pace of increment every year 0.41, 0.42 and 0.25%, respectively IPCC, 2019.

Mango is most important of all fruit crops in terms of are coverage and production, besides its socioeconomics providing livelihood to million of people in India and it is acknowledged as the king of fruit of this country. The greatest tribute of this esteemed plant was paid by Emperor Akabar (1556–1605) who established the Lal Bag (a mango orchards having one lakh plants) in Darbhanga (Bihar) when large orchards of fruit trees were unknown. In Ain-I-Akbari, a master piece of Persian literature, written by the great chronicler Abul Fazal (1590 AD) during the region of Akbar. Popularity of mango among the consumers is increasing due to its delicious flavour and much higher nutritional and therapeutic values. Thus, mango is now appreciated and spreading across the globe. It is grown in more than 90 countries. Washing of mouth and hand are necessary after eating the fruit so, it is also known as bathroom fruit.

Area and Production

India is the single largest producer of fruit, accounting for 49.6 per cent of area and 49.1 per cent of the total world production. Mango occupies 23.13 million hectares area in India. Amongst the major mango-exporting countries India, Mexico, Brazil and Pakistan accounted for 3.5, 1.4 and 3.3 per cent of total area under mangoes in the world respectively. The productivity of mango is highest with 13.6 tonnes/ha in Brazil and 7.0 tonnes/ha in India which is much lower. India contributed about 45.7 per cent of total mango production (35.71 million tonnes) in the world, making it the most important mango producing country. Andhra Pradesh ranks first as it produces about 27 per cent of total mango production and Uttar Pradesh is ranked second in production (23.9%) with productivity of13 tonnes/ha. At present the varieties like ‘Alphonso’ grown in Maharashtra and Gujarat and ‘Dashehari’ in U.P. are exported to countries viz. Afghanistan, Bahrain, France, Kuwait, Malaysia, Nepal, Qatar, Singapore and U.K. Mango nectar and pulp has great scope to European and American market.