eChapters

Introduction

Mango (Mangifera indica Linn.) is one of the most nutritious tropical fruits, native to Southern Asia and especially Eastern India. Mango belongs to Anacardiaceae family and it was disseminated all over the world in the beginning of sixteenth century, and there are currently around thousand known varieties of mango. It is the dominant tropical fruit variety produced worldwide, followed by pineapple, papaya and avocado, all of which are considered as major tropical fruits. Global production of mango in 2015-16 was estimated to be about 44 million tons, accounting for nearly 50% of world tropical fruit production.

Mango is the most important fruit of India and is known as “King of fruits”. Mango is cultivated in 2,312 thousand ha and the production is around 15.03 million tons, contributing 40.48% of the total world production. Main mango producing states in India are Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. Total export of mangoes from India is 59.22 thousand tons, valuing Rs. 162.92 crores during 2015-16. India exports mango to over 40 countries worldwide. Major importing countries during 2015-16 were UAE, Bangladesh, UK, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain. Important mango varieties are Dashehari, Langra, Mallika, Amrapali, Bombay Green, Banganapalli, Totapuri, Neelam etc.

Introduction

Pineapple (Ananas comosus L.) is cultivated commercially in the tropics and parts of the subtropics of the world. It is greatly appreciated by consumers due to its pleasant sweet taste and flavour in addition to its nutritional and health promoting properties. Varieties differ greatly in both taste and shape. Each variety also has local types. Kew/Giant Kew variety is a leading commercial variety. Fruits are big sized (1.5-2.0 kg), oblong and tapering slightly towards the crown. Fruits with broad and shallow eyes become yellow when fully ripe. Flesh is light yellow, almost fibreless and very juicy. Queen fruits are rich yellow in colour, weighing 0.9-1.3 kg each. Flesh is deep golden yellow, less juicy than Kew, crisp textured, sweet with pleasant aroma and flavour. Baby-pineapples are mostly less than 500 g (Singh, 2016).

Pineapple fruits are consumed fresh. However, because of the unique structure of the fruit and the presence of very active protease, fruit does not find extensive use as a table fruit and hence is mostly processed into a number of products. Many types of value added products are obtained from pineapples which have got good domestic and international market. Proper processing and value addition will not only help to provide wide varieties of products to the market, but also help to reduce the losses of pineapple and will provide additional income to farmers.

Introduction

Cashew (Anacardium occidentale) is valued as one of the most important commercial horticultural crops in India, belonging to the family Anacardiaceae and widely grown in tropical areas. The name Anacardium refers to the shape of the fruit, which looks like an inverted heart (ana means “upwards” and - cardium means “heart”). It is native to Brazil, introduced to India by Portuguese for afforestation and soil conservation and now grown widely in the traditional and non-traditional regions of our country. Cashew is well adapted to warm humid climatic conditions. It is restricted to altitudes below 700 m, where temperature does not fall below 20°C for prolonged periods.

India is the second largest producer, processor as well as consumer of cashew. Yet, nearly 50% of the requirement of cashew processing industries is met through import. As against the processing requirement of approximately 20 lakh MT per annum, the domestic production of raw cashew nut is only about 9 lakh MT per annum. Major cashew producing states in India are Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Goa, West Bengal and interior tracts of Chasttisgarh, A & N islands, Gujarat, Jharkand and North Eastern regions. Though, there is limited scope for expansion of cashew producing area there is scope to increase income through cashew based commercial enterprises.

Introduction

Modern agricultural systems that promote cultivation of a very limited number of crop species have relegated indigenous crops to the status of neglected and underutilised crop species. This has caused a decline in crop diversity in agricultural systems across the world and current research efforts have identified these underutilised crops as having potential to reduce food and nutrition insecurity. This is because of their adaptability to low input agricultural systems and better nutritional composition. Underutilised crops are otherwise known as undervalued or neglected or development opportunity crops (DOCs) (Kahane et al., 2013). They are already cultivated, but underutilised regionally or globally giving relatively low global production and market value. These underutilised crop species have also been described as “minor”, “orphan”, “promising” and “little-used”. Many of these traditional crops grown for food, fiber, fodder, oil and as sources of traditional medicine play a major role in the subsistence of local communities. With good adaptation to often marginal lands, they constitute an important part of the local diet of communities providing valuable nutritional components, which are often lacking in staple crops. Global Facilitation Unit (GFU) for Underutilised species define underutilised crops as, those plant species with under-exploited potential for contributing to food security, health (nutritional/ medicinal), income generation and environmental services.

Introduction
Cocoa, Theobroma cacao L. popularly known as ‘Food of Gods’, the original source of chocolate, is indigenous to tropical humid forests on the lower eastern equatorial slopes of the Andes in South America. Cocoa spread to all over the tropical regions of the world from 18^th century onwards and is now grown in 58 countries covering 6.9 million ha worldwide, producing 4 million tons of cocoa. Cocoa is an important agricultural commodity and the key raw material in chocolate manufacture. Unlike large, industrialized crops, 80 to 90% of cocoa comes from small, family-run farms, with approximately five to six million cocoa farmers worldwide. Total production has increased by 13% from 4.3 million metric tons in 2008 to 4.8 million metric tons in 2012. This represents an average year-over-year production increase of 3.1%. This rate of increase may slow in the coming years, as cocoa trees are sensitive to changing weather patterns. Periods of drought and of excessive rain or wind can negatively impact the yield, and will continue to fluctuate as climate change intensifies. Most of the world’s cocoa is produced in West Africa (70%) followed by Asia and Oceania (15.6%) and Latin America (14.1%). World leaders in cocoa bean production are Ivory Coast, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Brazil, Ecuador, The Dominican Republic, and Malaysia, supplying 90% of the world production.

Introduction

Spices are high value export oriented crops extensively used for flavouring food and beverages, medicines, cosmetics, perfumery etc. Spices constitute a significant and indispensable segment of culinary art and essentially add flavour, colour and taste to food preparations. Farm level processing operations are important for value addition and product diversification of spices. It is essential that various operations like washing, threshing, blanching, drying, cleaning, grading, storing and packaging ensure proper conservation of the basic qualities like aroma, flavour, pungency, colour etc. Each of these operations enhances the quality of the produce and the value of the spice.

India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices in the world. India produces more than 65 spices in different varieties out of the 109 spices listed by International Standards Organisation (ISO). India produces around 5.8 million tons of spices annually (2012-13), of this about 10% of the total produce is exported to over 150 countries. The USA, Europe, Australia, Japan, the Middle East and Oceanic countries are the major importers of Indian spices. Estimated world trade in spices is 1.05 million tons valued at 2750 million US $, out of which India has a significant share of 48% in quantity and 43% in value.

Introduction

Coconut palm (Cocos nucifera L.), a perennial horticultural crop, is a symbol of national and international integration involving more than 93 producing countries and more than 140 consuming countries. It is eulogised as ‘Kalpavriksha’- the ‘tree of heaven’ as each and every part of the palm is useful to mankind in one way or other. There are countless uses of this coconut palm. It is bestowed with multiple benefits like health, wealth and shelter to mankind. It is also denoted as “heavenly tree”, “tree of abundance” and “nature’s supermarket”. India is the largest producer of coconut followed by Indonesia and Philippines. In India, Tamil Nadu ranks first in production followed by Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. These states account for more than 90 per cent of the area and production of coconut in India. However, it is also cultivated with varying success in other states like Assam, Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Nagaland, Orissa, Tripura, West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and Puducherry.

Introduction

Coconut is a versatile crop with several uses to mankind. Apart from the main product, the by-products obtained from the coconut crop have many alternative uses, thus, adding to the total value of the crop (Popenoe, 1969). A tremendous scope exists for use of coconut in a variety of non-food products. The development of cottage industries to produce such products is recommended to increase income of coconut growers. For historical reasons, cultivation of coconut and value addition of non-food products from coconut have taken deep roots in the state of Kerala. The rapid expansion of coconut cultivation in non-traditional areas increased the production of coconut and the industry has also developed gradually in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. Among the non-food products of coconut, charcoal, activated carbon, and shell powder and coir or coconut fibre assume commercial importance. Other parts of the palm especially coconut wood and leaves are recently gaining attention.

Introduction

In an era of liberalization of world trade where there is a continuous inflow and outflow of goods into and from a country, the need for developing competitiveness to sustain in global markets is extremely important. Technological progress and scientific advancements go hand in hand for the economic growth of a country and the Global Competitiveness index (GCI) which was revised in 2006 includes several factors such as institutions, infrastructure, health, primary and higher education, business sophistication, innovation, training etc. of nations to categorize them on the basis of competitiveness (Baig, 2006). Successful entrepreneurship development is a primary driver for the sustainable economic progress of any nation. The term ‘entrepreneurship’ has been defined by Cole (1968) as ‘“Entrepreneurship is the purposeful activities of an individual or a group of associated individuals undertaken to initiate, maintain or organize a profit oriented business unit for the production or distribution of economic goods and services”. An entrepreneur is an enthusiastic individual committed to bring change in the society through the successful implementation of innovative ideas. However, bringing together a package of resources by an entrepreneur for effective transformation into a profitable venture may require inputs from several institutions such as research and development sectors, financing organizations, and training and education providers. The role of R & D institutions in providing innovative technologies having commercial value and the requisite capacity building for prospective entrepreneurs is of prime significance. In this context, ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute under the aegis of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi is a premier research organization dedicated to the research and development of tropical tuber crops and has developed a plethora of technologies for the processing and value addition of tuber crops.

Introduction

India is one of the major producers and exporters of honey. Diversity of bee flora and varied agro-climatic conditions in the country offers enormous potential for the development and growth of apiculture. Honey is a supersaturated sugary material produced mainly by honey bees from the sweet substances of plants (floral or extra-floral nectaries) or insect. Honey bee forager (field bee/worker honey bee) collects the nectar and converts the same into honey by a process of regurgitation and evaporation and stores in the honey comb. The sweetness of the honey is largely by monosaccharide viz., fructose and glucose. Honey is either monofloral or polyfloral as it is collected by the bees. The physical properties of the harvested honey depend upon the source from it is derived, water content, temperature, proportion of the simple sugars present and the method of processing. At low temperature (below 17°C), honey gets crystallized. Honey is also hygroscopic, capable of absorbing water from the atmosphere. India produces approx. 65,000 mt of honey per year (Kejariwal, 2015).

Introduction

Mushrooms are fleshy spore-bearing fruiting bodies of fungi, produced above ground on soil or on their food sources. Total number of useful fungi having edible and medicinal values is over 2,300 species. Like green plants, they do not contain chlorophyll and as a result cannot manufacture their own food. In this respect, they are like animals because; they feed themselves by digesting other organic matter. They are a large heterogeneous group having various shapes, size, appearance and edibility.

The use of mushrooms as food is very old. People harvested mushrooms from the wild for thousands of years for food and medicine. The Egyptians regarded mushrooms as food for pharaohs. The Greeks and Romans described them as food for God and served only on festive occasions. The first professional growers of mushrooms were the Chinese. China is the major producer and consumer of both edible and medicinal mushrooms. As early as 1313, a document was published which described the cultivation method for Shiitake on wood logs. Even older is the cultivation of the wood ear mushroom (Auricularia spp) of which sources indicates that it was cultivated from the year 600 A.D. onwards. The white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, was domesticated in France.

Introduction

Food safety and quality is the most important issue in the global food supply chain. Quality and safety of fresh as well as processed foods have an important role in the export of these commodities. Increasingly stringent food safety and agricultural health standards in industrialized countries pose major challenges for developing countries to establish in the international markets for high-value food products, such as fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, nuts and spices. Yet, in many cases, such standards have played a positive role, providing the catalyst and incentives for the modernization of export supply and regulatory systems and the adoption of safer and more sustainable production and processing practices. This has created an increased need for updated research and development to demonstrate and provide adequate evidences for their ability to identify and control food safety hazards, and deal specifically with food quality and safety.

Food quality is an increasingly important factor in the production and marketing of biological products. Consumers are becoming more discerning as their affluence increases, and hence the food industry/suppliers of products must meet these demands if they are to maintain or increase market share. The term ‘quality’ is one of the most defined terms used in food industry today. Quality may be defined as ‘the totality of features and characteristics of a product that bear on its ability to satisfy a given need’. The first part, ‘the totality of features and characteristics of a product…..’ concerns objective factors related to the product. The second part, ‘…… to satisfy a given need’, concerns subjective factors related to user or consumer of goods.

Introduction

Traditionally, Indian economy was characterised as an agrarian economy for the reasons that majority of the population were dependant on agriculture and allied activities and more than fifty per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was derived from agricultural sector. However, paradoxically, despite a drastic decline in the share of agricultural sector to GDP wherein it declined from 56.5 per cent in 1950-51 to 15.11 per cent in 2016-17 (Statisticstimes.com) Indian economy is still characterised as an agrarian economy. But, it would not be inappropriate to state that Indian agricultural sector is at crossroads, or it would be rather safe to comment that for any further advancement of the agricultural sector, value addition is imperative. During the post independence period, the sector had witnessed commendable progress attributing to a shift from an undesirable situation of ‘ship to mouth’ to ‘farm to mouth’. It is obvious that as a result of various programmes, projects and schemes tailored for development of agricultural sector, India had attained self sufficiency in food crops and other agricultural/horticultural products. However, the darker side is that the Indian peasants are still deprived of a remunerative price for their products as well as a respected status in the society which in turn is arresting further advancement and progress of the sector. Thus, it could be concluded that future of agricultural sector in India vests on the adoption of appropriate marketing strategies, supply chain management and value addition initiatives for the prosperity of our farming community in specific and agricultural sector in general. It is in this backdrop, the NITI Aayog has proposed various reforms in India’s agriculture sector, including liberal contract farming, direct purchase from farmers by private players, direct sale by farmers to consumers, and single trader license, among other measures, in order to double rural income in the next five years. Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, has been conducting various consultations and seeking suggestions from numerous stakeholders in agriculture sector, in order to devise a strategy to double the income of farmers by 2022.

Introduction

Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) is the largest edible fruit in the world. It is a seasonal fruit found in almost all the humid tropical regions of the world. It is very popular all over India and is believed to be of Indian origin. Flesh of jackfruit is starchy and fibrous and is a source of dietary fiber. Varieties are distinguished according to characteristics of the fruit’s flesh. In Kerala, two varieties of jackfruit predominate: varikka and koozha. Varikka has a slightly hard inner flesh when ripe, while the inner flesh of ripe koozha fruit is very soft and almost dissolving. Strong aroma of the fruit accounts popularity of its processed products. Each year, approximately 30-50% of the total harvested fruit is spoiled because of lack of post-harvest processing in India

Jackfruit has more protein, calcium, thiamine, riboflavin and carotene than banana. Edible bulbs of ripe jackfruit are consumed for their fine taste and pleasant aroma. The fibre content helps to protect the colon mucous membrane by decreasing exposure time as well as binding to cancer-causing chemicals in the colon. Fresh fruit has small amounts of carotenoid and flavonoid pigments such as ß carotene, xanthin, lutein and cryptoxanthin-ß. Together, these compounds play vital roles in antioxidant and vision functions.

Introduction

World’s population is continuously on the rise, triggering the demand for food. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO, 2011) observed that 70% increase in food production will be needed to sustain the globe’s population by 2050. Though, increase in agricultural production and productivity is said to be the panacea to solve food security issues, the greatest challenge that need to be addressed is the inefficiencies in the supply chain; instigated by insufficient storage capacities and perishability of food products. Food preservation and processing is highlighted in this context, as it serves to conserve/improve the quality and reduce food loss due to wastage as well as add nutritional security.

Introduction

It is common that after a rocket start, entrepreneur’s lack the motivation to scale up business and eventually fails to succeed in the market. There are many factors that may lead to such failures or even success stories, the most important being the entrepreneurial skills and traits that enable business to sustain in the competitive world.

What makes an entrepreneur competent in running a business? According to Fisher and Koch (2008), ‘Entrepreneurs are born; the advantage that they derive by birth being the natural advantage. However, we have changed our mindset now-a-days, that it is possible to nurture (make) an entrepreneur; the connotation points out that, right kind of education and training can inspire people with capacities to become motivated to be an entrepreneur.

In this chapter, our focus will be on identifying the entrepreneurial capacities in oneself, after reviewing the essential characteristics and traits that an entrepreneur should possess. Also we try to put forward a framework for entrepreneurship, fitting into the canvas of a food based entrepreneur.

Introduction

Compared to the previous decades, the scope and power of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in agriculture and biotechnology has grown substantially and their international reach has expanded. The IP regime has set up the stage for healthy competition among research centres and industries for developing and seeking novel technologies. However, compared to developed countries, once the technology is created, not much attention is paid in the developing nations on their commercial, policy, environmental, ethical and societal implications. Hence, better techniques are needed for their management, to create policy and educate professionals to commercialize and govern them. Due to the critical role of technology in a competitive environment, strategic technology management is important for farmers and agri-enterprises too. The translation of nascent technologies into new products/ services and their commercialization requires some amount of hand-holding, mentoring and incubation support.

Introduction

The food processing industry is a sunrise sector and contributes around 14% of Gross Domestic Product, 13% of India’s exports and 6% of total industrial investment. The Indian food retail market is expected to reach Rs 61 lakh crore by 2020 and the food processing industry accounts for 32% of the country’s total food market. This is considered as one of the largest industries in India and is ranked fifth in terms of production, consumption, export and expected growth.

The drift towards urbanisation and busier way of life, pave path to tremendous bounce in the food market. Nowadays consumer’s approach to being fit is not about going to gym, but also consulting dietitians and adopting an adjusted eating routine. Consumer’s behaviour concerning food consumption has undergone significant changes as a result of the increased awareness about different value added food products, brands, and cuisines, and also their greater willingness to experiment and ability to pay. It leads to the concept of food security in to nutritional security. Companies are offering a wider range of products to the consumers as a result of their investments into product innovation, research and development. At present, various value added products with versatile colour, shape, ingredients etc are available in worldwide market. Among this, some food items like processed fruits and vegetables and dairy products have witnessed a momentous growth in export also. Recent surveys indicated that for companies manufacturing processed foods and beverages, rise in the obesity rate is a great challenge. Hence, efforts were made to develop commercially viable, new process protocols to design healthy products from underutilised food commodities.

Introduction

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a staple food of over half the world’s people and is grown on approximately 146 million hectares, more than 10 per cent of total available land. Ninety seven per cent of the world’s rice is grown by less developed countries, mostly in Asia. Post harvest losses are considered to be contributed by storage alone, and not much attention was paid to losses occurring during harvesting, transport, threshing, drying, milling and pre-milling treatments. Quantitative loss of food grains was the main concern of the producers and the consumers. Qualitative losses at various stages were not fully recognized, but systematic studies by different organizations revealed that these losses are enormous and should be prevented. These losses cumulatively could be as high as 40 per cent and are normally accompanied by loss of quality also. Quality loss of products can take place at all stages but more particularly during drying or curing of harvested crops, storage, and milling and pre-milling treatments. Post-harvest attention is essential if the grains of higher production are to be fully exploited. Also the quality loss occurring in food grains can be extremely serious if the farming community is not aware of them.

Introduction

Rice is the major staple food for more than 70 percent of the Indian population. India cultivates more than 4,000 varieties and hybrids of rice to cater to varied consumer preferences. A portion of the total cultivated rice is also used for processed products like snacks, savouries and bakery items. India was the largest exporter of rice in 2015-16 followed by Thailand, Vietnam and Pakistan. Rice production forecast is higher at 105 MMT in 2016/17 compared to 2015/16 production of 103 MMT (India Grain and Feed Annual, 2016). Rice milling is the oldest and the leading agro processing industry of the country. Paddy grain is milled either in raw condition or after parboiling, mostly by single hullers of which over 82,000 are registered in the country. Further, over the years, there has been a steady growth of improved rice mills in the country. Most of these have capacities ranging from 2 tons /hr to 10 tons/ hour. At present, it has a turnover of more than 25,500 crore per annum. It processes about 85 million tons of paddy per year and provides staple food grain and other valuable products required by over 60% of the population. Though, rice milling is a wide spread business undertaken in India, commercializing value added products is now gaining customer attraction paving way to merge milling and value addition under a single roof. The desirability of the working population to get foods, particularly rice based products in RTE and RTC forms has thrown a positive approach to new and emerging entrepreneurs to take up a venture in commencing rice based food processing industry.

Introduction

21^st century challenges like climate change, water scarcity, increasing world population, rising food prices, and other socio-economic impacts are expected to generate a great threat to agriculture and food security worldwide, especially for the poorest people who live in arid and sub-arid regions. Millet is one of the oldest foods known to humans and possibly the first cereal grain to be used for domestic purposes. Millet has been used in Africa and India as a staple food for thousands of years. Typical grain texture and hard seed coat of millets increase their keeping quality but make them difficult to process as well as to cook in convenient form. Absence of appropriate primary processing technologies to prepare ready-to-use or ready-to-cook (RTC) products and also the secondary as well as tertiary processing technologies to prepare ready-to-eat value added products from millets are the major limiting factors for their diversified food uses.

Millets have relatively poor digestibility and low bio-availability of minerals due to the presence of inherent anti-nutritional factors. The difficulties in millet grain processing present a challenge but nutritional as well as health benefits and consumer demand for health foods provide opportunities in processing, develop suitable technology for newer products and process mechanization. This change in technology and consumer food preference would help in increasing the area under millets, maintaining ecological balance, ensuring food security, prevent malnutrition and increase the scope for utilization of millet grains on industrial scale.

Introduction

Pulses are major and cheap sources of protein in Indian vegetarian diet, providing most of the essential amino acids. Pulses are mainly consumed in the form of dehusked split pulses (Dal); and have 15-24% proteins. Various types of pulses grown are pigeon pea, chickpea, black gram, green gram, lentil, etc. Pulses are consumed because of body building properties due to the presence of various amino acids. By-products of pulses like leaves, pod coats and bran are fed to animals in the form of dry fodder. Some pulse crops like gram, lobia, urd bean & moong bean are fed to animals as green fodder.

Introduction

Soybean (Glycine max) is also known as the wonder bean or miracle bean or “golden grain” due to its diversified applicability. Soybean has an important place in world’s oilseed cultivation scenario, due to its high productivity, profitability and vital contribution towards maintaining soil fertility. The crop also has a prominent place as the world’s most important seed legume, which contributes 25% to the global vegetable oil production, about two thirds of the world’s protein concentrate for livestock feeding and is a valuable ingredient in formulated feeds for poultry and fish. The major soybean producing nations are United States, Brazil and Argentina. These three countries dominate in global production, accounting for 80% of the world’s soybean supply. Global production of soybean has grown at a CAGR of 2.78% from 215.69 million metric tons in 2004-05 to 283.79 million metric tons in 2013-14.

India stands 5^th in global production of soybean. In India, soybean cultivation started in early 1970s, but it has emerged as number one among oilseed crops covering around 11 m ha area with total production of around 11.5 m tons. At present, the average productivity of soybean is about 1.3 tons/ha and it can be easily doubled in near future. Production of soybean in India is dominated by Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh which contribute 89% of the total production. Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat contribute the remaining 11% production.

About 85% of world’s soybeans are processed annually into soybean meal and oil. Approximately 98% of soybean meal is crushed and further processed into animal feed with the balance used to make soy flour and proteins. Of the oil fraction, 95% is consumed as edible oil; the rest is used for industrial products such as fatty acids, soaps and biodiesel.

Introduction

Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) commonly called as Poor man’s cashew, is the 6^th most important oil seed crop in the world. It contains 48-50% oil, 26-28% protein and 11-27% carbohydrates. Groundnut is grown on 26.4 million hectare worldwide, with a total production of 37.1 million metric tons and an average productivity of 1.4 metric tons/ha. Developing countries constitute 97% of the global area and 94% of the global production of this crop (FAO, 2011). The production of groundnut is concentrated in Asia and Africa, where the crop is grown mostly by smallholder farmers under rain-fed conditions with limited inputs. Groundnuts (peanuts) are popularly used as seed oil in India. Since, they are obtained from the ground, they are called as groundnuts and also known as ‘Mungfali’ in Hindi, ‘Palleelu or Veru sanaga’ in Telugu, ‘Kadalai’ in Tamil, ‘Nilakkadala’ in Malayalam, ‘Kadale kaayi’ in Kannada, ‘Singdana’ in Gujarati and ‘Shengdaane’ in Marathi. Groundnuts are easily available round the year and almost everywhere in India. Groundnuts are also taken as snacks in many households especially in India. In reality, groundnuts are actually legumes. Since, they have all the properties of nuts like almonds, cashew nuts, etc., these are also included in the family of nuts.

Groundnut is the major oil seed of India. It accounts for 25% of total oil produced in India. Annual production of groundnut is around 9690 thousand tones. As the crop is grown in rainfed conditions, production and productivity are highly vulnerable to rainfall and exhibit huge fluctuation between the years. In India, groundnuts are produced both during Kharif (75%) and Rabi seasons (25%). Major production catchments of groundnut are located in Gujarat holding a share of 50.77% of total groundnut production, Andhra Pradesh holding a second place (12.69%) followed by Tamil Nadu (9.91%). Following are the top groundnut producing states of India (Table 1).

Introduction

India is the largest consumer and second largest producer of sugar in the world next to Brazil. Among the sugar yielding crops like sugarcane, sugar beet, palms and sorghum, sugarcane is the second most important agro-industrial crop of the country. It is the only raw material for nearly 538 sugar mills (2014-15), producing about 28 million mt of sugar annually from a sugarcane production of 366 million tons in an area of 5.307 mh. Apart from this, it is the predominant source of potable alcohol, industrial alcohol and fuel-ethanol. In India, 35 million farmers are engaged in sugarcane cultivation and another 50 million depend on employment generated by these 538 sugar factories and other related industries using sugar. Sugarcane occupies a very prominent position in the agricultural crops of India covering large areas in UP, Punjab, Haryana and Bihar (sub tropical) and Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu (tropical). On an average, white sugar production accounts for 74% of total cane produced, 14-15% is utilized for jaggery and khandsari production and the rest is utilized for other purposes including seed.

Jaggery and khandsari, the traditional Indian sweeteners are the natural mixture of sugar and molasses. If pure clarified sugarcane juice is boiled, what is left as solid is jaggery, which contains 65-85% sucrose. Khandsari sugar is a finely granulated and crystallized which contains 94 to 98% sucrose. In the early 1930’s, nearly 2/3rd of sugarcane production was utilized to manufacture these two alternate sweeteners. With the introduction of sugar mills and their multiple growth and better standard of living and higher per capita income, the demand for sweetener has shifted to white sugar which contains purely sucrose (99.7%).

Introduction

Consumption of milk is deeply rooted in our traditions, and it is an inevitable part of the Indian diet and even has ritualistic and medicinal uses. Milk is the first and one among the most nutritious foods that every mammal consumes on earth. It supplies all the nutrients needed to ensure proper growth and development in the postnatal period. Dairy foods in general are commonly considered balanced and nutritive, being frequently included as important components of a healthy diet (Pereira, 2014). Four components of milk are dominant in quantitative terms: water, fat, protein and lactose; while the minor components are minerals, enzymes, vitamins, and dissolved gases (Guetouache et al., 2014). On an average, bovine milk is composed of 87% water, 4 to 5% lactose, 3% protein, 3 to 4% fat, 0.8% minerals, and 0.1% vitamins. Milk and milk products contribute not only nourishment to the consumers, but also livelihood opportunities to farmers, processors, shopkeepers and other stakeholders in the dairy value chain.

Introduction

Fish is a source of valuable animal protein and is considered a health food. This has resulted in increased consumer demand. Fish is now more expensive than meat and other animal foods. Being a highly perishable commodity, fish require immediate processing and various options are available for the value addition of fish. Fish processing, particularly seafood processing and marketing have become highly complex and competitive and exporters are trying to process more value added products to increase their profitability. Value can be added to fish and fishery products according to the requirements of different markets. These products range from live fish and shellfish to ready to serve convenience products. In general, value added food products are raw or pre-processed commodities whose value has been increased through the addition of ingredients or processes that make them more attractive to the buyer and/or more readily usable by the consumer.

Introduction

Meat is a highly nutritious animal product relished by majority of the population in India. India produced around 6.2 million MT of meat in 2013 (FAOSTAT, 2013), standing at fifth position in world meat production and accounts for only 3 per cent of total meat production in the world (APEDA, 2017). Contribution of livestock sector to national economy in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) was 4.1 per cent in 2012-13 (Islam et al., 2016). The percentage of meat subjected to processing in India is only 1-2 per cent compared to 70 per cent in developed countries (Sen et al., 2013). Relatively higher proportion of poultry (7-8%) is converted into further processed poultry products. Major proportion of the meat produced in the country is derived from old and unproductive animals. Availability of spent birds is also on the rise due to the rapid growth in poultry industry. Meat from such animals and poultry has less desirable palatability attributes, especially tenderness, which makes it more suitable for processing into value added products. This will provide consumers with more acceptable, convenient, healthy and versatile products while simultaneously increasing the economic returns to the processor. The profitability of meat industry is critically dependent in deriving extra value from lower-value meat cuts. To achieve this, value must be added in the eyes of the consumer across the wide chain of value added products.

Introduction

Successful marketing is important to every business. Marketing is a critical tool for establishing awareness, attracting new customers and building lasting relationships. It is the process of planning and executing conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of your ideas, goods or services to satisfy the needs of individual consumers or organisations. It is as important to put adequate efforts on marketing your product or service, no matter whatever time you have dedicated to development of part of it.

We live in an electronic era, where the globe has shriveled into our fingertips. Customers are having lot of options to choose from. Information of what you need is reaching you within a click, that your decisions are often being guided by such information. Marketing uses communication and advertising tactics to persuade customers that your brand, including your products and services are exactly what they need. Marketing is thus crucial to your business which can have a bearing on the success rate and requires research, planning and appropriate budget allocations.

One of the important concepts in marketing is that of marketing mix. The elements of this mix are: product, pricing, physical distribution and promotion. Marketing management is that which optimizes the elements in the marketing mix, so that organisation is able to achieve its objectives while gaining customer utility. This chapter throws light on various aspects of marketing mix that an entrepreneur needs to focus upon to ensure success.

Once you have embarked upon the idea of doing (any) business, your concentration should be focused on doing things that should be relevant to maximizing returns and minimizing risks. Looking upon why businesses fail, one can find that it is usually because entrepreneurs are ill equipped to identify real business opportunities and take advantage of them, or they don’t anticipate and adapt critical changes or they fail to recognize or minimize real threats to business. Successful entrepreneurs are found to intensively pursue the path of planning by preparing business plans, for having foresight of critical incidents that would affect business and possible ways of action.

Executive summary

The enclosed project report envisages the setting up of a modern rice mill complex with attached parboiling facilities having an average processing capacity of 16 MT of paddy per day. The initial investment of the project is estimated to be Rs 480.17 lakhs. Sales Realization is assumed as constant for all the 7 years; amounted Rs 1129.2 lakhs. Pay Back Period for the project is estimated as somewhat more than 3 years. Internal Rate of Return for the project is 31%. Net Present Value is Rs.367.92 lakhs which is a positive value. It indicates that present value of cash inflows is greater than present value of cash outflows. Projected working results of the project throws light on its viability.

Neural suitcase determines the size of our world.

We think. We imagine. We generate ideas. We make sense of things. We take decisions. We observe patterns, and then try to understand their significance. Our neural suitcase does all this. It tells us the tales of many minds (1). The tales are beautiful, vulnerable, quiet, chaotic, real, fictional, wise, foolish, friendly, hateful, meaningful, and blind. Our neural suitcase builds castles in the air. It determines the size of our world.

Science has individual, social, and institutional dimensions. Because of the social relevance of science, the dissemination of scientific information is crucial for its progress and contemporaneity. A scientist observes and then tries to make sense of that observation. She/he collects data, develops theories, uses hypothesis to understand and explain a thing, or a phenomenon, and then tries to find patterns emanating from her/his observations. Scientific knowledge keeps on changing.

Science is a blend of logic and imagination; therefore, there is always a possibility of disagreement and mismatch between them. A hypothesis is often untestable. Such untestable hypothesis are often rejected by the scientific community. “Science never pursues the illusory aim of making its answers final, or even probable. Its advance is, rather, towards the infinite yet attainable aim of ever discovering new, deeper, and more general problems, and of subjecting its ever tentative answers to ever renewed and ever more rigorous tests,” writes Karl Popper (1).

A scientist formulates, corrects, or discards the theories. The job of a scientist is to discriminate false idols from the real things. Science has built-in error correcting machinery, writes Carl Sagan (2). The error bars are insistent reminders to the fact that no knowledge is complete or perfect. It is used to exercise self-criticism. Each generation of scientists reduces the error bars a little. When we are self-indulgent and uncritical, when we confuse hopes with facts, we slide into pseudoscience and superstition. Sagan believed in maintaining an essential balance between the two attitudes: openness to new ideas, no matter how counter-intuitive they may be, and the most ruthlessly sceptical scrutiny of all ideas, old and new.

Progress of any nation is driven by human curiosity and ingenuity. Engineering is one profession that has shown humanity the ways to meet its needs. It made the forces of nature work for the good of mankind. The biggest challenge for engineering profession has been its integration with the human needs. Engineering transforms technical conscience into applied realities. On the one hand, engineers are not limited by technology, and on the other, they are worried about the risks to the environment, health, sustenance and safety.

Engineer is a composite; “He is not a scientist, he is not a mathematician, he is not a sociologist or a writer; but he may use the knowledge and techniques of any or all of these disciplines in solving engineering problems.” Engineering in the broadest sense, relates to the “development, acquisition and application of technical, scientific and mathematical knowledge about the understanding, design, development, invention, innovation and use of materials, machines, structures, systems and processes for specific purposes.” Engineer works under various constraints: nature, cost, safety, environment, ergonomics, reliability, manufacturability and maintainability, among others.

This is how Neil Armstrong described himself, “I am, and ever will be, a white- socks, pocket-protector, nerdy engineer — born under the second law of thermodynamics, steeped in the steam tables, in love with free-body diagrams, transformed by Laplace, and propelled by compressible flow.”

There is no better engineering than life.

What is life - is a perennial question. Life is defined in different ways depending upon who is defining it. Biologists define life using a list of characteristics, such as metabolism, evolution, homeostasis, constant transformation, genetic information, etc. Life has been defined as self-maintaining and self-producing systems. Physicist Erwin Schrödinger (1), argued that living organisms escape the destiny of disordered equilibrium because they are able to take up ‘orderliness’ from their environment. Philosophers have defined life from different angles. They say that life can only be understood fully from an ‘insider’ perspective.

Life is not a random collection of extinct molecules. It is a process of dynamic renewal; everything in life is constantly turning over and renewed. Life exists in diverse forms. Each form is specialised to survive and reproduce in its particular niche.

One understands life from one’s own perspective. For some, life is an ‘objects in flux’ that constantly exchanges matter with the environment. It is systematic material exchange into an organized body. Then there is a view that says that all living organisms deserve moral consideration. All living organisms, however, do not have equal moral significance; vertebrates, for various reasons, deserve more moral consideration than would bacteria or plants. Then there are myriad religious ways to define life. The simplest is “God created the world and all living organisms.” No further questions, accept or reject the hypothesis.

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

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

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

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

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

“I think that there is far too much work done in the world,” writes Bertrand Russell in In Praise of Idleness. Rightly so, a workaholic is not necessarily a valued employee. Why we work, asks Barry Schwartz. Why for most of us work is monotonous and meaningless? Why we have twice as many “actively disengaged” workers in the world as there are “engaged” workers?

Do we work only for money? Some think, work is about pay and nothing more. It is true, people work for money, but not always. Many people work for the challenge, meaning, and engagement it brings. “The lesson here is that just how important material incentives are to people will depend on how the human workplace is structured. And if we structure it in keeping with the false idea that people work only for pay, we’ll create workplaces that make this false idea true,” writes Schwartz.

The manuscript was completed in February 2020. The book was supposed to be out in print form in April 2020. In between the pandemic changed the world. Obviously, world changing events can’t be left out of the book, particularly if the book is about the future of science, engineering, technology and humanity. I, therefore, requested the publisher of the book for the inclusion of a chapter COVID crisis and its impact on the future of the world. He readily agreed.

I am sincerely grateful to the publisher for allowing me to include issues relevant for the present book, as an additional chapter at the end of the book. The subject at the moment looks unending and it has so many dimensions. I have tried to cover them as briefly as possible, in the context of the book. In spite of the several difficulties due to this last minute inclusion the publisher has taken pains to include it. I am grateful to him for his gesture.

The pandemic of this proportion is expected to get the views/suggestions from equally large number of people. Everyone is eager to see the end of the pandemic. And everyone has realised that the world will be a much different place. Some people are hopeful that the problems will be resolved, of course using multi-dimensional approaches. Not many are sure of the time frame. There is also pessimism among common people. One of my aunt’s asks me - what kind of research we have been doing all these years that we can’t even face the challenges posed by a mere virus? Has the balloon of the technology busted by a miniscule virus? In this fluid time many questions are being asked, and as many answers are also emerging. It is a big issue. It is as big as that emerged after the Second World War. Some are calling it the ‘birth of a new power’.

1. GEOLOGY

Geology : Earth Science

 Geo = Earth + Logos = Science

 Def : The science which investigates the history of the earth is known as geology.

 Following are the important branches of geology.

1.Coal Geology : it is related with natural gas, coal deposits and their formation.

2.Crystallography : includes the crystal and atomic structure of the mineral. 3. Drilling Technology : it is related with the cores, core logging and coorelation of the lithology.

4.Engineering Geology and Surveying : it is related with engineering aspects of the earth.

9. WEATHERING

The general process of production of rock waste partly by mechanical breaking and partly by chemical decomposition is known as weathering. The resulting products of weathering accumulate in the same place from which they are derived and there is no transport involved in the process.

Agents and types of weathering : The agencies which are involved in the process of weathering are atmosphere, water and organisms. The whole process of weathering may be conveniently divided into two types : mechanical or physical weathering and chemical weathering. Mechanical weathering involves those processes which bring about disintegration of rocks and minerals without any chemical activity. Chemical weathering involves various chemical processes which slowly decompose the rocks and minerals. In nature two processes are intimately associated and only under extreme conditions, they do occur as a separate entities. Mechanical weathering breaks down the rock creating more surface area and facilitates chemical weathering. Chemical weathering weakens the rock and makes it more susceptible to mechanical break down. Thus the two processes are always complementary to each other.

19. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS

Def : The minerals are naturally occurring solid bodies having definite chemical composition and certain atomic arrangement, and are formed by inorganic processes in the nature.

All the minerals possess certain physical properties which are considered as follows.

1.Characters depending upon light such as colour streak, luster, transparency, translucency, phosphorescence and fluorescence.

2.Characters depending upon certain senses such as taste, odour and feel.

3.Characters depending upon the atomic structure and state of aggregation such as form, hardness, tenacity, fracture, cleavage and surface tension effects.

On the basis of these three characteristics, the minerals are identified and distinguished.

24. IGNEOUS ROCKS

Introduction : Petros = rocks and logos = science

Petrology means the science of rocks. It deals with the mode of occurrence composition, classification and origin of rocks and their relation to geological processes and history of the earth.

Rocks can be studies in two ways : The study of rocks as specimens in the laboratory is called Petrography which places emphasis on the purely descriptive part from textural mineralogical and chemical point of view. Petrogenesis deals with the origin and processes of formation of rocks. Petrology is a broader term which includes both petrography and petrogenesis.

Igneous rocks are formed by cooling and solidification of magma, either underneath the earth’s surface or above the earth’s surface.

27. STRIKE AND DIP

Outcrop : A part of the rock formation which crops out or exposed on the surface of the earth is called an outcrop.

The total area over which a particular rock unit occurs at the surface whether visibly exposed or not. The term outcrop is especially used for delination of such an area on a geological map.

Attitude : To study these outcrops their attitude help in better understanding the position of the bed on the ground surface or in field is attitude of a bed can be described with the help of two basic structural elements i.e. strike and dip.

33. GEOTECTONICS

Introduction

Geotectonics is the branch of geology which deals with the structure and movements of the earth’s crust. It includes the study of large-scale features like mountain chains, mid-oceanic ridge and oceanic trenches. Investigation regarding the form, pattern and genesis of these, and other tectonic units have enabled geo-scientists to ascertain the important characteristics of earth’s crust and reconstructs its evolution and geological history.

33. GEOTECTONICS

Introduction

Geotectonics is the branch of geology which deals with the structure and movements of the earth’s crust. It includes the study of large-scale features like mountain chains, mid-oceanic ridge and oceanic trenches. Investigation regarding the form, pattern and genesis of these, and other tectonic units have enabled geo-scientists to ascertain the important characteristics of earth’s crust and reconstructs its evolution and geological history.

34. GEOPHYSICAL METHODS

This chapter gives important and useful methods for measurement of seismic signals.

Firstly a brief introduction of seismic signals is given. The P waves, S waves and L-waves are discussed in short.

The old methods of measuring seismic signals like mechanical geophones are replaced by electronic geophones. The discussion includes Electromagnetic type, Reluctance type, Capacitive type and pressure type of basic geophones. New methods of damping are included. New Recently developed amplifiers and filters are also included. Development in oscillographic elements and cameras are discussed. Other information includes, the recently reported Array Technology and Space Technology for measurement of seismic signals.

John William Harshberger codified ethnobotany as ‘the study of plants used by primitive and aboriginal people ‘in a popular lecture on 4 December 1895. Later it was published in the Botanical Gazette in 1896 and now he is regarded as “Father of Ethnobotany”. Subsequently, Walter Fewkes (1896) adopted the word ethnobotany after Harshberger for the title of a research paper. Another term ‘Arboriginal Botany’ coined by Steven Powers (1873- 1875) was in use for about two decades before Harsh Berger. In brief, “Ethnobotany is the study of interrelations between primitive human cultures and the plants and animals in its environment, which is regarded as the branch of ethnobiology”. There are some other definitions of ethnobotany by various authors:

Jones (1941) defined as “Ethnobotany is the study of interrelationship between man and vegetation”.

Faulks (1958) considered it as “The total relationship between man and vegetation” in his book entitled “An Introduction to Ethnobotany” It was the first book specially published on ethnobotany. Schultes (1962) explained as “Ethnobotany is the study of relationships which exist between people of a primitive society and their plant environment”. Gadgil and Vartak (1976) considered it as “Branch of economic botany which deals with the role of plants in life and culture of arboriginals and tribal people”. Alcorn (1984) states “It is the study of contextualized plant use”. Wickens (1990) defined ethnobotany as “The study of useful plants prior to their commercial exploitation and eventual domestication”. According to Ford 1994, ethnobotany is concerned with a wide range of interest of plants in cultural and ecological context as men in his edited book “The Nature and Status of Ethnobotany”. According to Martin 1995, ethnobotany is the part of ethnoecology, which concerns plants. Turner 1996 was given the appropriate definition “the science of people’s interaction with plants”. In context of Indian ethnobotany the first book published by Jain, S.K., 1981 entitled “Glimpses of Indian Ethnobotany” and Dr. Jain (2001) defined ethnobotany as “It deals with the study of total natural and traditional interrelationship between man and plants and his environment”.

In the starting of twentieth century, the ethnobotany progressed from the untested compilation of knowledge to a bigger method and abstract reorientation. Nowadays, the ethnobotany practices need a spread of skills such as:

• Training on the identification and preservation of plant specimens
• Training on linguistic and sociology to understand local language and their family structure
• Training on the psychology and cultural or traditional about plants
• Training on pharmecology and medicobotany

Ethnobotanists interact in a very broad array of analysis queries and practices, that don’t lend themselves to straightforward categorization. However, the subsequent headings arrange to describe a number of the key areas of recent ethnobotanical study.

Indigenous culture

Indigenous means originating where it is found. If knowledge originates from, and is bound to local experiences, taking its local world not perhaps as the only one, but as the most relevant of all they know may be called indigenous. Indigenous knowledge is human lifeexperience in a distinct natural and cultural amalgamation within a unique local and timely setting. It is an authentic appropriation of being, meaning that this very process happens exclusively in a given locality at a given time. In the field of medicine, Chinese culture (indigenous) developed Acupuncture technique. An acupunturist places needles into the skin to balance out the flow of chi which is believed to be the energy that flows through the human body. In theory, Chi runs along 14 pathways called meridains and when a patient is injured, stressed, or ill, their chi is supposedly being blocked. By placing needles in the Meridians the patients chi is thought to be put back into balance. Like Chinese culture, indigenous culture of different places/countries occurs and have their own belief and methods.

Indigenous cultures speak in various ways, for example we could speak from the perspective of our so-called ‘civilizations’ but how do we know that this perception is not contrary to the truth. We could speak on the basis of our traditional religious concepts but again these concepts may in reality be the opposite of what we believe. If we speak about the indigenous from the point of view of an anthropologist we arrive at a cold and empty language, a study that only pays attention to external and superficial matters, in the same way an anatomist analyses our inner organs or our bones but they are still a long way from knowing the reality. We believe that it is better to speak about indigenous cultures on the basis of their own reality, in relation to how they were as much as how they are now because in the course of time from yesterday to today many things have happened that are worth examining.

Before carry out any ethnobotanical work, first define the goal of the assignment or study before selecting the approach, which best suits the interests, budget and schedule. Most of the methods used in ethnobotanical studies are time taking and costly because several field trips are required in several seasons for covering different ritual occasions and seasonal farming activities which are continue for a number of years for completion of an assignment. In this way, an assignment may be very long or short as per selection approach of an ethnobotanist. Long-term assignment or projects may be continue for several years and they require sufficient financial input. When sufficient financial add and time does not available to accomplished long term assignments, in that case a Rapid Ethnobotanical Appraisal (REA) can be done.