eChapters

1.1 Geomorphology

Geomorphology is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical or chemical processes operating at or near the earth's surface.

The surface of the earth is unstable and affected by a combination of surface and geologic processes that cause tectonic uplift and subsidence. Surface processes are mainly physical and chemical action of water, wind, ice, igneous activity and activities of living organisms on the surface of the earth. Upliftment of mountain ranges, the growth of volcanoes, isostatic changes in surface elevation and formation of deep sedimentary basins are categorized under Geological processes.

Main geomorphological processes occurring in nature are as follows:

1.1.1 Aeolian processes

Aeolian processes include activities of the winds, its ability to shape the surface of the earth. Wind acts as an effective agent of erosion, transportation and deposition materials, and large supply of fine, unconsolidated sediments. Aeolian processes are important in desert (arid) environments.

1.1.2 Fluvial processes

Moving water in a river channel, is able to mobilize sediment and transport it downstream. The rate of sediment transport depends on the availability of sediment itself and the discharge by river.

River originates from mountain with V shaped valley, which later increases in size, merging with other rivers. The network of rivers thus formed is known as drainage system. These systems show four general patterns viz. dendritic, radial, rectangular, and trellis etc. In the mature stage, the river form alluvial flood plains, meanders and ox-bow lakes. Finally when it merges to ocean, forms delta.

The basic points that are to be considered while choosing appropriate enterprise in IFS are:

1. Soil and climatic features of an area/locality.
2. Social status of the family and social customs prevailing in the locality.
3. Economic condition of the farmer (Return/income from the existing farming system).
4. Resource availability at farm and present level of utilization of resources.
5. Economics of proposed IFS and credit facilities.
6. Farmer’s managerial skill.
7. Household demand.
8. Institutional infrastructure and technological knowhow.
9. Market facilities.

Climate change may manifest itself as rapid changes in climate in the short term or subtler changes over decades. Generally, climate change is associated with an increasing global temperature. Various climate model projections suggest that by the year 2100, mean global temperature may be 1.1–6.4 °C warmer than in 2010. The difficulty facing livestock is weather extremes, e.g. intense heat waves, ?oods and droughts. In addition to production losses, extreme events also result in livestock death (Gaughan and Cawsell-Smith, 2015). Animals can adapt to hot climates, however the response mechanisms that are helpful for survival may be detrimental to performance. In this article we make an attempt to project the adverse impact of climate change on livestock production. There is a two-way relationship between livestock production and environmental health.

Impact of climate change on livestocks

The potential impacts on livestock include changes in production and quality of feed crop and forage, water availability, animal growth and milk production, diseases, reproduction, and biodiversity. These impacts are primarily due to an increase in temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration, precipitation variation, and a combination of these factors. Temperature affects most of the critical factors for livestock production, such as water availability, animal production, reproduction and health. Forage quantity and quality are affected by a combination of increases in temperature, CO₂ and precipitation variation. Livestock diseases are mainly affected by an increase in temperature and precipitation variation.

This practical assignment is conceptualized and designed for preparation of enterprise business plan and provides students the preliminary information on developing a business plan

PURPOSE

 To equip students with the preliminary knowledge on how to develop a business plan for an enterprise.

 To acquaint the students with the important aspects of a business plan which are essential for developing and running an enterprise successfully.

Introduction

Milk is a natural food source of mammals. Animals produce milk to feed their young-ones until they are ready for solid feed. Cow milk contains protein, vitamins and minerals which are essential for the overall growth of the body. Cow milk contains a lot of nutrients and it has great role for overall health. Cow milk helps to boost the immune system of humans. Cow milk has a high content of calcium and minerals which plays a key role in maintaining bone density. Because of its high calcium content, cow’s milk is also considered great for teeth health. Cow milk has all essential amino acids that are required for growth and development. It is very beneficial for children as it helps to grow with physically and mentally. Cow milk help to reduce weight loss as it loaded with protein which is essential for weight loss. Calcium and vitamin D of milk increases the metabolic rate of the body. A better metabolic rate helps in burning calories faster. Drinking cow milk regularly helps you in maintaining the blood sugar levels in the body. Cow’s milk has essential minerals and vitamins that help in processing the food normally and this helps to maintain the insulin and glucose level.

It is a process by which a act of predetermined activities is carried out in a planned manner, with a view to achieve certain establish objectives.

To implement a project means to carry out activities proposed with the aim to achieve project objectives and deliver results and outputs. It is a highly complex process and it involves a relationship among several system and variables

Non-Response

Non response occurs when respondents are not available or do not occur in the survey and refuse to respond by any means. This non response is mainly of two types either item non response or unit non response.

If we are conducting an online survey and mailing a questionnaire to various persons. But sometimes we get a reply for some questions and sometimes not i.e., in case of questions in which income is concerned. In some cases, the mail is ignored due to lack of time. So, if the whole questionnaire is ignored by any means, then it is known as non-response and if some of the questions are ignored due to their fussy nature such type of response is known as a unit non response. Such types of non-response problems are very common in surveys. Whenever we carry out a survey non response always exists because it is almost impossible to get every response from each individual.

The individual chosen for the sample is not ready to participate in the survey is known as non-response. This type of selection bias is unit/item non response.

2.1Introduction

Agriculture includes both self-employment and wage employment. This require precise information about who does what. Majority of farmers have small Land holding and landless labourers. This needs understanding of activity performance of men and women. Gender-based division of labour is universal, but culture and community diversities cause differentiation. Gender, therefore, has to be recognized as the social characteristic that cuts across caste, class, occupation, age and ethnicity. It is gender that differentiates the roles, responsibilities, resources, constraints and opportunities of women and men in agriculture for which precise gender information is the need of the day. Building gender into agricultural development will lead to: Building inherent strength of women and men to mutually learn, Overcoming gender based prejudices etc.

2.2

Importance of Gender in Agriculture Agriculture play an important role in livelihoods of the rural poor and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Agriculture can be the engine of growth and is necessary to reduce poverty and food insecurity. The changes in Agriculture sector generate new sources of opportunities for livelihoods and food security, they also pose significant qualms. Equity distresses are being raised.

The ICT enabled extension systems act as a key agent for changing current agrarian situation by improving access to information, sharing knowledge, providing incredible opportunities and enabling the empowerment of farming communities. In order to extend the benefits of ICT’s to the disorganized and disadvantaged farming sector, one of the road maps to achieve them are access of ICT’s to villagers through Mobile telephony.

Genus : Ananas 
Species : comosus L. Merr
Family : Bromeliaceae
Chromosome No. : 2n = 50, 75, 100

Pineapple (Ananas comosus L) ‘Golden Queen’ belongs to order Farinosae and family Bromeliaceae. The name is derived from genus Bromelia in honour of Olaus Bromel, a Swedish botanist. Herbs or sub-shrubs  mostly epiphytic, has the distinction to be one of the major food plants of the world, which was selected, domesticated and developed by the early pre-historic people, who passed this valuable knowledge gathered for hundreds of years through earlier civilization. Pineapple developed to its present form in its natural habitat – New World, and was not know to the Old world before Columbus discovered America. Red Indians the local inhabitants of South America at that early time had already developed and named number of varieties which were partially selected by them or their ancestors based upon various desirable horticultural traits like fruit size and quality, earliness, long storage, and absence of seeds etc.

1. Introduction

Okara is a by-product generated during processing soybean into soymilk or tofu. Okara is rich in fibre and protein. It contains most of the carbohydrates, some of the protein and a small portion of the oil from soybeans. Okara contains approximately 50% fibre, 27% protein, and 10% fat on dry basis (Li et al., 2012). About 1. 2 kg of fresh okara is produced from every kilogram of soybean processed for soymilk (Vishwanathan et al., 2011). Fresh okara from soymilk production has about 80% moisture. The protein present in okara has good nutritional quality and superior protein efficiency ratio. Other soy components that are also likely present in okara include isoflavones (genistein and daidzein), lignans, phytosterols, coumestans, saponins, and phytates (Li et al., 2012). The most common method of utilization of okara is in the form of animal feed. Tofu or soymilk processing plants primarily dump okara as landfill or resort to burning. Okara can be utilized as a fertilizer as it contains various nutrients required for growth of plants. It can be used as a fermentation substrate for production of ethanol. Okara can also be used in pet foods as it contains high levels of extenders and protein. Apart from these, okara can be used in a variety of food products. It can be used in various food products. Utilization of okara is still in the initial stage. It can be used as a replacement of wheat flour in baked products. It can also be used in various soups, salads or vegetable preparations.

Resistant starch refers to the portion of starch and starch products that resist digestion as they pass through the gastrointestinal tract. Resistant starch is the fraction of starch which is not hydrolysed to D-glucose in the small intestine within 120 min of being consumed, but which is fermented in the colon. It can be used as a functional ingredient in various food formulations (Fuentes-Zaragoza et al., 2010). RS has desirable physicochemical properties (Fausto et al., 1997) such as swelling, viscosity increase, gel formation and water-binding capacity, making it useful in a variety of foods. It helps in improving the appearance, texture, and mouthfeel of the final product compared to conventional fibres. Resistant starch can act as a prebiotic for gut microflora (Sajilata et al., 2006). It has hypocholesterolemic effects, is hypoglycaemic and prevents gall stone formation.

Abstract

Quinoa is a pseudo-cereal which belongs to family Chenopodiaceae. Quinoa can act as highly potential crop for areas where ecological conditions do not support other food crops because of its rusticity, tolerance to frost, salinity, drought and ability to grow in marginal soils. Recently, much attention is focused on quinoa for people with celiac disease and allergic to gluten. Quinoa contains high-quality protein, complete with all essential amino acids and is a good source of carbohydrates, lipids, vitamin C, vitamin E (natural antioxidants) and adequate amount of important micronutrients such as minerals. Carbohydrates of quinoa possess excellentfreeze-thaw stability and can be used as thickener in frozen foods.

Quinoa also consists of bioactive components such as phytosterols, squalene, fagopyritols and polyphenols which act as powerful anti-oxidants in-vitro and thus couldprevent degenerative diseases such as coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis and Alzheimer's disease. Fibre accounts for 6% of the grains total weight, and quinoa intake therefore promotes intestinal transit, regulates cholesterol, stimulates the development of beneficial bacterial flora and helps prevent colon cancer. The quinoa grain can be used to combat liver disease, angina and cystitis. The radical scavenging ability and Angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition activity of quinoa is higher than that of amaranth, rice and wheat. Recent studies have identified significant amounts of ecdysteroids, kaempferol, quercetin, two phytoestrogen - daidzein and cenistema in quinoa. Ethanolic extract of quinoa was observed to have Antioxidant and antihypertensive activity.

The importance of air in human life is well known as air is required for running different biological processes in human body. Unfortunately, the same life giving air or oxygen can cause harmful side effects like generation of oxidants or free radicals in our body. Reactive oxygen species, by product of respirative cycle of oxidative phosphorylation, are well known to interfere with cytoplasmic function and bio-molecules and for inflicting damages on cellular bio-molecules, which pre-disposes cells to several anomalies like mutagenic aberration, cell ageing, diseases, cancerous tumour growth and development of various lethal diseases such as cardio-vascular diseases, cancer, atherosclerosis etc. (Gorinstein and others 2001; Apak and others 2004). Free radicals disrupt the proper membrane function, denature proteins and inhibit enzyme function. Antioxidants, naturally present in food, play a vital role in trapping the radicals and; therefore, effective in reducing the risk of heart diseases, immune system decline, different inflammatory reactions etc. (Silici and others 2010).

Free radicals are unstable because they are missing an electron and they try to become stable by attaching to cell membranes in the body, snatching away electrons from them. This, in turn, sets free radicle molecules on an electron snatching spree and starts a chain reaction that ultimately leads to cell death. On the other hand, antioxidants (such as carotenoids, anthocyanins, ascorbic acid, flavonols, flavonoids, polyphenols etc.), present in our foods can prevent or slow down the oxidative damage by donating one of their own electrons, ending the electron-stealing reaction. Epidemiological evidences suggests that intake of antioxidants helps in scavenging free radicals, cause of a broad spectrum damages to biological system (Vertuani and others 2002). This has led consumers to look for a diet, derived from natural sources as well as rich in antioxidants as an strategy to counteract the cellular damages wreak by oxidative stress.

Introduction

Climate change has been realised during 1840s when indisputable evidence of former ice ages was obtained. The climate has altered sufficiently in many parts of the world even within the last few decades which will affect the possibilities for agriculture and settlement. Reliable weather records have been kept only during the last hundred years or so, but proxy indicators of past conditions from tree rings, pollen in bog and lake sediments, ice core records of physical and chemical parameters, and ocean foraminifera in sediments provide a wealth of paleoclimatic data. The standard interval adopted by the World Meteorological Organization for climatic statistics is thirty years:1901–30, 1931–60, for example. However, for historical records and proxy indicators of climate, longer, arbitrary time intervals may be necessary to calculate average values. Tree rings and ice cores can give seasonal/annual records, while peat bog and ocean sediments may provide records with only 100- to 1,000-year time resolution. Hence, short-term changes and the true rates of change may, or may not, be identifiable.

The present climatic state is usually described in terms of an average value (arithmetic mean, or the median value in a frequency distribution), a measure of variation about the mean (the standard deviation, or interquartile range), the extreme values, and often the shape of the frequency distribution. A change in climate can occur in several different ways, for example, there may be a shift in the mean level, or a gradual trend in the mean values. The variability may be periodic, quasi-periodic or non-periodic, or alternatively it may show a progressive trend . First, it is important to determine whether such changes are real or whether they are an artefact of changes in instrumentation, observational practices, station location, or the surroundings of the instrumental site, or due to errors in the transcribed data. Even when changes are real, it may be difficult to ascribe them to unique causes because of the complexity of the climate system. Natural variability operates over a wide range of time scales, and superimposed on these natural variations in climate are the effects of human activities.

1. SEED MATURITY

Harvesting should be done after the attainment of physiological maturity, when the seeds reached complete maturity to avoid harvesting of immature and ill-filled seeds.

1.1. Physiological maturity

It is the stage of accumulation of maximum drymatter within the seeds. It is expressed by maximum seed weight, germination and vigour potential. The moisture content of the seed at this stage is around 25-30% depending up on the species.

1.2. Harvestable maturity

The physiological maturity is represented to a seed and this maturity will not be the same for all the seeds of a single plant / population, due to continuous differential flowering habit. Hence, the stage of attainment of physiological maturity by 80% of the population is considered as the harvestable maturity stage. The moisture content of the seed will be lesser than the physiological maturity stage (18-20%).

Introduction

Sheeps were first domesticated by human being, many thousands of years ago for their wool, meat and skins. It provides a source of income to the shepherds through sale of wool and animal. Sheep do not need expensive building to house them and require less labour than other kinds of livestock. The foundation stock is relatively cheap and the flock can be multiplied rapidly. Sheep are economical convertor of grass into meat and wool. Sheep will eat varied kinds of plants compared to other kind of livestock. This makes them excellent weed destroyer. Unlike goats sheep hardly damage any tree. The production of wool, meat and manure provides three different source of income to the shepherd. The structure of their lips helps them to clean grains lost at harvest time and thus convert waste feed into profitable products.

The Export-Import (EXIM) Committee was constituted in the Seeds Division to deal with application for exports/imports of seeds and planting materials in accordance with the New Policy on Seed Development and EXIM regulation.

The Policy reiterated that all imports of seeds and planting material would be regulated under the Plant Quarantine Order 2003 and amendments made their under, Import licences would be granted by DGFT/PPA on the recommendations of DAC.

The composition of the EXIM Committee is as under: (i) Secretary (A&C) - Chairperson (ii) Agriculture Commissioner (iii) DDG (CS), ICAR (iv) DDG (Hort.), ICAR (v) JS (IC) (vi) JS (PP) (vii) Horticulture Commissioner (viii) Animal Husbandry Commissioner, Deptt. of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (proposed to incorporate by the 94th Exim Committee) (ix) Director, National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) (x) Plant Protection Adviser (xi) Economics and Statistical Adviser (xii) JS (Seeds) - Member Secretary

A small quantity of seeds sought to be imported would be given to ICAR, or farms accredited by ICAR, for trial and evaluation for one crop season. On receipt of applications for commercial import, DAC would consider the trial/ evaluation report on the performance of the seed and their resistance to seed/ soil borne diseases. DAC is required to either reject or recommend the application to DGFT for grant of import licence within 30 days of receipt.

Introduction

Agriculture is the foundation of India’s economy, as it provides food to people, feed to cattle, raw materials to primary and secondary industries, contributes upto 19 percent of GDP and employs 54.6 percent of the workforce (Kirti and Prasad, 2016). Due to diverse soil and climate conditions, vast varieties of crops such as cereals, pulses, spices , millets, oilseeds, flowers and fruits are being grown in India. Among these crops grown, India is among the leading producers of pulses, cereals and spices in the world (Mishra et al., 2021). India is the fourth largest oilseed economy in the world. Among oilseeds, there are nine crops that are the primary sources of oils in the country, out of which seven are edible oils (soybean, rapeseed-mustard , groundnut, sunflower, sesame, niger and safflower) and two are non-edible (linseed and castor).

11.1. Fruit Rots

11.1.1. Alternaria

Please refer “Alternaria” section in Chapter 10.

11.1.2. Colletotrichum

Please refer “Colletotrichum” section in Chapter 9.

11.1.3. Fusarium

Please refer “Fusarium” section in Chapter 10.

The Indian farm women have extensive workloads with triple responsibility for farm, household and community. Gradually their work is becoming harder due to climate change, degradation of natural resources, natural calamities, male migration and changing agricultural technologies. Women are extensively involved in crop production, horticulture, livestock management, post harvest operation, fisheries, agroforestry and household activities. Majority of their time is devoted towards collection of fuel, fodder and water, growing vegetables in homestead and rearing backyard poultry. They also considerably contribute for household income as agriculture wage earners and through cottage industry.

Women play a significant and crucial role in agricultural development and allied fields. The nature and extent of women’s involvement in agriculture varies greatly from region to region. But regardless of these variations, women are actively involved in various agricultural activities.

As per Census 2011, out of total female main workers, 55 per cent were agricultural labourers and 24 per cent were cultivators. However, only 12.8 per cent of the operational holdings were owned by women, which reflect the gender disparity in ownership of landholdings in agriculture. Moreover, there is concentration of operational holdings (25.7 per cent) by women in the marginal and small holdings categories. Worker Population Ratio (WPR) of women (24 %) is lower as against men (54.4 %) in the country. The workforce participation rate for rural females is higher at 30.5 percent against urban women participation rate of 20.20 percent (Mo SPI, 2022-23). As per the Annual Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Report 2022-23, agriculture had the highest estimated percentage distribution of female workers, ie. 64.3 %, with 76.2 % in rural areas and 11.7 % in urban areas.