eChapters

Abstract

Micronutrient (vitamin and mineral) deficiencies affect more than 2 billion people worldwide and are especially prevalent in developing countries including India. Conditions due to vitamin mineral deficiencies account for 7.3 percent of the global disease burden.Iron deficiency (anemia), vitamin A and iodine deficiency disorders continue to be a grim public health problem. Thus, elimination of vitamin and mineral deficiencies is essential to improve the overall health of the masses as well as to sustain economic growth and national development. Food fortification is an effective intervention to deliver vitamin and mineral rich foods to large populations. In addition to the prevention of vitamin and mineral deficiencies, food fortification is an effective measure to raise vitamin and mineral levels by moving the population towards consuming recommended dietary allowances for most micronutrients-making it a long–term and a sustainable strategy. India is the largest producer of milk in the world with 146.3 million tonnes and the consumption rate of milk and milk products by all age groups of people are high.Therefore, fortification of milk with mineral and vitamins could be a safe and effective strategy to fight these micronutrient deficiencies.

Abstracts

To ensure safe food and adequate sanitation programs, the equipment used for processing of food products must be designed, fabricated, constructed, and installed according to sound hygienic design principles. This ensures the equipment can be adequately cleaned and sanitized, and that surfaces are resistant to daily exposure to corrosive food products and cleaning/sanitizing chemicals. This chapter focuses primarily on fundamental principles of hygienic design, which protect the product from microbial, chemical, and foreign-body contamination. This is followed by a discussion of general aspects of hygienic construction and design of food equipments, the selection of materials of construction and specification of surface finishes, fabrication, installation and cleaning and sanitization. Quality of raw materials or foods ingredients, proper processing, packaging and storage of finished products decides the quality of the food products. Planning for plant and equipment layout, its design, services (water, air, refrigeration, steam), waste disposal etc. are some of the critical factors, which contributes to quality. In addition, the food processing equipment must comply with strict standards and regulations, which are necessary for securing the quality and safety of the food products to the consumers.

Abstract

Tremendous hike inworld population has increased thrust on the limited resources which has considerably affected the viability of the food. The emerging challenge for policy makers and food scientists is to put forward viable solutions. Utilization of underutilized crops/plants that act as good sources of starch could be explored in a better way for the sustenance of the limited sources like food crops/plants. The demand for starch and the foods containing starch has been increasing continually. Since, the starch in its native form has certain limitations in its functional properties to be used for different applications. Therefore, it becomes important to explore certain technologies which could be used for modification of starch. Among different technologies gamma irradiation ensures food safety while inducing physicochemical changes of the components. Although, the chemical modifications have been used widely so far but the concerns related to the chemical residues left are diminishing their demand. Hence, the physical processes particularly the gamma irradiation process has emerged as an efficient alternative with some benefits over other process like eco-friendly, economical, reliable and safe for altering the physico-chemical and biological characteristics of the product. Gamma Irradiation of starch has been successfully employed for the achievement of some desired physico-chemical, biological and functional properties of the foods and other related items. In this chapter, valuable impact of gamma irradiation on the physico-chemical, biological and functional properties of starch has been summarized.

Abstract

Ghee means the pure clarified fat derived solely from milk or curd or from desi (cooking) butter or from cream to which no coloring matter or preservative has been added. It is the second largest dairy product prepared from milk and it is almost 35% of total milk production. Unfortunately, the producers or the middle- men involved in the ghee trade, tend to adulterate ghee with cheaper oils and fats like vegetable oils, animal body fats, hydrogenated fats and sometimes even the non-edible mineral oils, especially during lean season to earn more money. Recently, the problem of adulteration has assumed a very serious dimension. Such a situation has tarnished the image of dairy industry. Methods presently adopted by food law enforcing agencies to ensure the quality of ghee are mainly based on the physico- chemical constants, but all these methods have some limitations. So researchers are always in search of different innovative methods to check the quality of ghee.

Abstract

Consumers increased response to new products with high sensory, organoleptic and nutritional potentials has impelled a search for new substitutes to processing methods. For several years, thermal processing was the main technology for producing safe products with long shelf lives, although in most cases losses of fresh flavors, vitamins, and some physicochemical characteristics were the price of safety and long-term stability. Pulsed electric field (PEF) processing as a non- thermal technique has been proven to inactivate microorganisms with minimal losses of flavor and food quality, possibly making it the answer to present-day consumer demands. In addition, the low processing temperatures used in this non- thermal technology allow the process to be nutrient preserving, energy efficient, which translates into lower costs and fewer environmental impacts. In this chapter, the the configuration of various PEF equipment, their electric configuration and recent application of this technique in processing of foods have been discussed in detail.

Abstract

We are very fortunate to be born in a nation which is blessed with awesome decent variety of natural products, fruits, vegetables, cereals, pulses and so forth. The population of India expanded consistentlythat cause a genuine sustenance and shelter problem. The supply of food is not adequate to fulfill the demand of the consumers. This shortage of food is the root for adulteration of foodstuffs by the traders. Food adulteration is a procedure in which the nature of sustenance is brought down either by the addition of inferior quality material or by extraction of valuable ingredient. An adulterant is a chemical substance which should not be contained within other substances (food, beverages) for legal or other reasons. The addition of adulterants is called adulteration. Food is adulterated to increase the quantity and make more profit. The food is sucked of its nutrients and the place where the food is grown is often contaminated. For instance: milkis mixed with water. Vanaspati is utilized as an adulterant for ghee. Adulteration of food is unsafe as it may be toxic and causes serious health hazards to the consumer. To evade this issue government has passed an act which is known as preservation of Food Adulteration Act. It covers security from risks involved due to contamination of poisonous elements. Instead of government efforts the informed and aware consumers will have the capacity to dispense with this issue. So, here in the chapter adulterants their types, effect on human health, laws and control measurement were reviewed and discussed.

Abstract

Agriculture is the major sector for the livelihood of the billions of people worldwide. Increasing population and decreasing arable lands are the major concern for the fulfillment of the desired food production. After green revolution more production in the crop is obtained by worldwide. Several insects and pests are responsible for the inhibition of desired production in agriculture. Therefore, pesticides play a major role in the control of destructive insects and pests. After ban of organochlorine pesticides, organophosphorus pesticides has been used vigorously. Beside the effective pest management in agriculture, residual organophosphorus pesticides are more lethal for human and other living creature. Monitoring of these compounds is very much essential in the food and agricultural samples. Chromatographic techniques are well adopted techniques for the hundreds of residual pesticides. Introduction of various analyzers in chromatographic techniques improve the monitoring of the residual pesticides from different samples. Therefore, recent advancement in residual pesticides isolation and chromatographic techniques has been discussed in this book chapter.

Pulses can be grouped into kharif and rabi pulses according to their temperature requirements. In India chick pea, pea, lentil and beans require relatively less temperature and are grown in rabi season, whereas others are confined to kharif season. However, kharif pulses can also be grown in pre-rabi on stored soil moisture or as irrigated crops in rabi and summer seasons.

Pulse crops have long tap root system which extracts soil moisture from deeper layers. Water uptake across the depth of rooting zone is not uniform. In general 40 per cent of the total water uptake occurs from first one fourth of the rooting zone, 30 per cent from the second, 20 per cent from the third and remaining 10 per cent from the last one-fourth region of total rooting depth (Nageshwararao and Writ, 1994). Plants often maintain higher root length densities than required in the surface layers to facilitate rapid uptake of recent rain/irrigation before it evaporates.

Pulses are gaining more important position in Indian agriculture. After green revolution, India became self sufficient in case of food grain production. However, India is still lagging behind in case of pulses production and is dependent on imports for the domestic consumption in present days. As there is little scope to increase area under pulse, the production can be increased by enhancing the productivity by various agro techniques. Among various factors which limit the pulse production and productivity, poor weed management at the early stages of crop growth, is one of them( Dash et al., 2003 and Dash & Mishra, 2014). Yield loss due to weed have been enumerated by different workers at different places to the tune of 20-65 per cent depending upon the crop growth stages, weed intensities and environment conditions. There are many methods available to control the weed menace at different crop growth stages but the integrated weed management (IWM) is considered to be a more practical and effective approach in the long run since combination of methods will take care of weeds in totality and prevents seed production of weeds and enrichment of soil seed bank (Das, 2008). IWM also provides continuous control of weeds over the crop growth stages than a single method in isolation. Hence application of suitable organic herbicide supplemented with one/two manual weeding are being advocated to control the weeds. Other weeding practices like hoeing, inter- cultivation, mowing, earthing up, weeding by mechanical weeder etc. may be substituted or supplemented to the manual weeding. IWM also reduces the modern day weed problems like weed shift, herbicide resistance, and preponderance of perennial and parasitic weed problems. Under high cropping intensity adoption of IWM practices always generate higher income and maximum profit to the growers.

Pulse crops have a unique position in sustainable crop production as they provide proteinaceous food of high nutritive value and keep the soil alive and productive. India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses in the world which accounts for 32 per cent of global area and 28 per cent of world’s pulse production. But the yield levels of these pulse crops are not satisfactory as it is grown as a neglected crop. Besides, extensive damage caused by insect pests is another major constraint for low yield of pulse crops. On an average annually 2.5 to 3.0 million tonnes of pulses are lost (Rabindra et al., 2004) with a monetary value of nearly Rs.6,000 crores due to ravages of insect pest complex (Reddy, 2009 and Panda et al. 1998). About 250 insects have been recorded feeding on these pulse crops in different parts of India (Narang, 1990) of which maximum damage is caused by the pod borer complex along with some sucking pests and foliage feeders. Sap feeders viz., aphids, whitefly, leaf hopper, thrips ; defoliator viz., leaf roller, hairy caterpillars etc are major threats to the crop during vegetative stage whereas the pod borers and pod sucking bugs are of major concern during reproductive stage. About two dozen insect pests are very important and found occurring on one or the other pulse crop frequently causing variable degrees of damage. A list of the very common insect and mite pests infesting different pulse crops (Table 1) and the extent of loss caused by different insect pests to some important pulse crops documented by the IIPR, Kanpur (Table 2) are furnished below.

In Indian Agriculture pulses play an important role in maintaining soil fertility and supplying protein to the vegetarian population of the country. This is because they are endowed with unique property of fixing atmospheric nitrogen in their root nodules and improving soil physical property. Further, it is not only the high protein content of pulses for which they are important, but the amino acid profile of these proteins is such that the mixed diet of cereals and pulses has superior biological value than either of the components alone.

Seed is the basic input in agriculture that acts as a catalyst for realising the full production potential of the high yielding/improved varieties. The role of quality seed in agriculture has been recognized since the ancient periods. It is a well established fact that among all the agricultural inputs, use of quality seed alone can enhance the crop production up to 15-20 per cent, depending upon the crop, and it can be further raised up to 45 per cent with efficient management of other inputs. If the seed sown is of inferior quality, the efforts of the plant breeders in developing and introducing improved varieties would be rendered futile. Modern agriculture lays great emphasis that each and every seed should germinate readily with full potential and produce vigorous seedlings to ensure high yields.

India is endowed with abundant natural resources and diverse agroclimatic conditions, which are ideal for cultivation of a number of annual or perennial crops, in different areas. Meticulous planning, extraordinary scientific support, judicious use of inputs and focused policy thrust have led to manifold increase in production and productivity of fruit trees. The horticultural crops, particularly fruit crops, are high-value and technology- intensive crops. Appropriate technologies are gaining popularity in entire country in view of their high potential of productivity, land utilization and more income. Today, our country is producing different kinds of fruits, but quantum of total fruit production is unable to cope with the present day demand. Various constraints, biotic and abiotic in nature, pose hindrances to meet the fuel potential. The poor productivity of fruit trees is the main reason of low availability of fruits. The low productivity of fruits is compounded by several environmental, genetic and conditional factors. Besides, productivity and quality of perennial fruits continued to remain low and there exists a wide gap in between actual and potential production. Visualizing the problems of perennial commercial fruit production, the main reason comes in forefront/top is a large number of old and senile orchards turning even unproductive, due to lack of information regarding non-adoption of appropriate agro-techniques and canopy management (Hare Krishna, 2012). Though, we have made rapid strides in fruit production, the productivity is very low compared to developed countries. The present scenario of production in our country is still technology deficit and what so ever the technologies are available very poor in adoption level and the situation still go worse even in the era of climate change.

Present situation demands that new technologies are needed to push the yield frontiers further by utilizing inputs more efficiently, diversifying to more sustainable and yielding higher quantum of quality production, particularly by integration of invasive and non-invasive medium-term strategic technologies. There are still challenges ahead in the way of the research which require concerted efforts in organizing, conducting and developing the technology as well as the proper way they are transferred to growers. The new generation of technologies will have to be much more site-specific, based on high quality science and a heightened opportunity for end-users, participation/adoption in identification of targets and achieving the objectives. These must be not only aimed at increasing the growers/farmers technical knowledge and understanding of science-based timely operations. It will also need to take on challenges of integrating the socio-economic context and role of markets for profitability and economic viability.

Today, our country is the second largest producer of fruits in the world, yet the per caput availability of fruits is below the recommended level (Chadha et al., 2013). The major reason for low availability of fruits is poor productivity. In addition, pressure of burgeoning population and ever increasing demand also result in reduced availability of fruits. The production of fruit crops is still nature dependent. The problem of low productivity of fruits is compounded by several environmental, genetic and conditional factors. At present, there exist a wide gap in between actual fruit yield and their potential yield in almost all tropical and subtropical fruit species, particularly in perennial and woody trees of fruits.

There is a great diversity in perennial fruit crops which permits considerable manipulation for various purposes and desirable outcome. For achieving even the average productivity in many fruit crops, the production constraints like lack of information regarding canopy management, non-adoption of appropriate agro-techniques and timely management practices are required, while the concern about existing a large number of old and senile orchards which has turned or are turning even unproductive needs attention (Hare Krishna, 2012). Though, the country’s fruit production status is showing an increase, but far below the potential production requires immediate attention to critically analyze the situation by revisiting the problems and its causes, identifying the gaps and development of need- based technologies in the present context.

The low productivity of perennial fruits has been attributed to various factors, like small size of holdings, preponderance of old and senile trees and poor management of inputs such as water, nutrients and pesticides. Thickly-shaded mango orchards in Malihabad areas of Uttar Pradesh (Kalloo et al., 2005; Mishra, 2013), lanky as well as sick tall unproductive litchi orchards in Muzaffarpur and its adjoining areas in Bihar (Kumar, 2008), seedling orchards of guava and citrus fruits throughout the country, including disease-affected aonla and other perennial fruit plantations are commonly seen in large tracts in different parts of the country (Pandey et al., 2013; Singh 2007). In pomegranate, the old orchards become non- productive due to incidence of pests and diseases, and negligence (Hiwale, 2009).

The traditional trend of orcharding for most of the tropical and subtropical evergreen perennial fruit trees, in general, are regarded as not responsive to pruning. However, a number of observations made in recent decades have conclusively proved the effectiveness of this important operation in maintaining the sustained fruit yield and keeping the plant well within manageable limits. The efforts have been made to deal perennial fruits in quite details wherever deemed necessary. Climatic factors have been found to affect significantly on fruit bearing as a result of pruning treatments. Though, this aspect is one of the most misconceived and least understood when seen with shoot emergence and shoot physiology for perenation and phase change from vegetative to reproductive. Correct pruning may easily spell the difference between success and failure, yet many growers undertake infinite pains to get the best out of their trees but the neglect to give their consideration to important practice. It is obviously needless to mention here that their such efforts end in futility. For better understanding of principles and practices of pruning, it would be imperative to trace out its historical background. The present level of understanding about pruning has been developed through ages with the increased understanding of growth and developmental processes of fruit plants.

Rejuvenation of fruit trees is visionary approach to save the old senile declining trees for future sustainable quality fruit production through unique integration of invasive exhaustive operations in scientific manner and skilful management. Since unproductive and uneconomic orchards are in abundance, a large-scale uprooting and replacement with new plantations (rehabilitation) will be a long-term and expensive strategy. Therefore, research efforts have been initiated at various pioneer institutes/ SAUs to standardize. The technology for restoring the production potential of existing plantations by a technique called rejuvenation. Rejuvenation of old orchard is very vital under orchard management. Reiterative pruning and canopy re-building of perennial fruit trees is medium- term strategy requiring scientific skill and technique, for bringing back the youthful vigour with enhanced quantum of quality production in sustainable way within a time gap of three years for mango, litchi and cashew (Lal et al., 2000; Kumar, 2008), while two years for guava, aonla and pomegranate (Singh, 2007; Hiwale 2009) without any economic loss to growers. The old fruit orchards need to be rejuvenated since they show decline in yield and quality of produce. These trees/plants need to be rejuvenated which have attained a stage where they are no more profitable from the grower ’s point of view (Singh, 2007; Srivastava, 2007).

Perennial fruit trees build their woody architecture with some building blocks, i.e. modular units, known as metamer or phytomer (White 1979; Room et al., 1992; Hare Krishna, 2012). It consists of meristems initially an apex. When a meristem faces periods of dormancy during low temperature or pruning, later it appears as bud, whenever active, as such bud produces a growing point with sequence of meristematic tissues simultaneously called a sprout, i.e. extension unit or growth unit (Halle et al., 1978; Bell, 1991). The driving mechanism behind the pattern appears to be auxin production (and basipetal transport) when new shoots and leaves developed and are exposed to light (Sterck, 2005). Other feature of trees are to produce more xylems relative to phloem, accumulate xylem over time and may thus produce thick woody branches and stems. Further, attaining reproductive phase and reproduction processes compete with vegetative functions, depleting resources necessary for maintenance and growth (Fakhri et al., 1987).

The idea that reproduction, growth and defence interact within the individual and compete for limited resource is now considered an established principle. Because there are trade-offs between a plant’s various functions and the concept of source, and sink helps to explain allocation patterns at both the physiological and evolutionary levels. Logical approaches have extended this hypothesis to an explicit as source and sink framework in which the effects of defence allocation on rates of consumption can be weighed against the effects on growth (Coley et al., 1985; Mooney and Gulmon, 1982; Fakhri et al., 1987). The allocation to vegetative structures has compounding interest for plant growth, as plant life-cycles begins with pure vegetative growth (Abrahamson, 1979), also consistent with the idea that perennials must forego some reproductive expenditure to retain sufficient resources for perennation.

There is an urgent need to take up productivity improvement programmes in the senile plantations, with fresh stock supported with appropriate and integrated combination of inputs, pruning and grafting as well as training techniques taking care of health, vigour and productiveness. This require proven technology implementation through individual farmers, farmers’ cooperatives, self-help groups, NGOs, growers’ associations and commodity organizations. However, technology depends upon the nature and requirement of a particular fruit crop. The rejuvenation technology for transformation of old senile orchards into young productive ones in sustained manner requires well-planned and concerted efforts. Though processes and procedures require scientific skill with precision in application/implementation as these important commercial crops have been associated with livelihood of many farmers/growers, i.e. why economic production is of utmost important for the growers as it holds true for all the region specific important commercial fruit crops in general.

The successful translation of rejuvenation technology in old senile orchards includes sequential operational steps. They should be followed in scientific manner for different category/group of fruit crops.

Aonla or Indian gooseberry (Emblica officinalis Gaertn), belongs to family Euphorbiaceae, is indigenous to Indian subcontinents (Morton, 1960). It has become an important commercial fruit crop in India, due to its hardy nature, suitability to various waste lands, high productivity, nutritive and therapeutic values (Singh et al., 2003). In its processed form, is very popular among the social elites (Singh, 2012). As an indigenous fruit, it has extensive adaptability to grow in diverse climatic and soil conditions ranging from plain lands to hills. The climate ranging from hot tropical plains to humid subtropical mid-elevation hills has been found suitable for its cultivation. It is successfully raised in arid, semi-arid, coastal and warm temperate conditions. Similarly it grows well in saline, alkaline and degraded as well as in sandy, red and clay soils (Singh, 2012).

It is not merely a source of nutrients and medicines but its cultivation is also highly remunerative for small and marginal farmers. Traditionally, aonla has been a common crop of forest or household, but during the last decade or two, unprecedented expansion has been witnessed in the sphere of aonla cultivation across the country, utilizing the wasteland. Many small and big orchards have been established. This has resulted in efficient utilization or resources culminating in increase in farmers’ income and nutritional security coupled with enhanced employment and better utilization of wastelands.

Bael [Aegle marmelos (L) Correa.], a native fruit of religious importance, is well known to the Indian people for its nutritional and medicinal values. Leaves are used as sacred offering to ‘Lord Shiva’. All parts of plant viz., leaves, roots, bark, fruits, seeds etc. are used in preparation of various Ayurvedic medicines. Bael fruit is rich in protein, fat, minerals (Ca and Fe) and vitamins (riboflavin, β carotene and Vitamin C). Fruits are used to improve the digestive system and to cure stomach diseases. Fruits can be processed into various beverages and preserves (Jauhari and Singh, 1971). In spite of its Indian origin and high medicinal and nutritional values, well organized orcharding of bael is not commonly seen in the country. It is mainly found in wild and semi-wild condition throughout the India. Besides, it is also grown in the homestead gardens, backyards, religious places and farmer’s fields (Misra and Uniyal, 2013).

Ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk), is an ancient fruit crop of India. It is relished for its sweet and sour fruits. The fruits are nutritious containing high amount of vitamins like C, A and B complex. The genus Zizyphus belongs to the family Rhamnaceae, consisting of 40 species of tropical and subtropical regions of northern hemisphere (Yadav et al., 2005). The one Zizyphus jujube (Chinese jujube) and the other Zizyphus mauritiana (Indian ber) are the two important species grown widely in temperate, tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The ruggosa and nummalaria are other important species.

PRESENT STATUS

Ber, a popular fruit, is being grown as almost commercially important fruit crop. It has better adaptability in marginal soils in arid region of subtropics. It is mainly grown in India as well as different countries in central Asia, China and Taiwan. It has been truly called as poor man‘s fruit/poor man‘s apple. Ber can suitably be grown almost in all the parts of north Indian plains in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan. Seedling ber trees are found extensively growing widely in arid and semi arid areas.

The role of mechanization has of late earned considerable significance in Indian agrarian sector following the unprecedented hike in labour cost, migration of agricultural labour to the urban localities for better remuneration and most importantly, the rising concern of rural youth today for more comfort as well as social dignity and status. Furthermore, mechanization has been extremely supportive to enhance the efficacy of the vital inputs to agriculture such as high yielding seeds, fertilizer, water, pesticides etc resulting in higher production and productivity. One more significant contribution of mechanization is timely completion of various operations with qualitative and quantitative competence apart from reduction in drudgery; thus motivates the farmer to dare for higher initial investments in anticipation of rich dividends over a period of time.

Pulses are one of the highly consumed eatables due to their palatability and nutritious quality. They are essential components of food as sources of protein to vast vegetarian population. Being a cheap source of proteins, pulses also play an important role in nutritional security of the nation. Pulses also provide green pods for vegetables and nutritious fodder for cattle because of their rich essential amino acid lysine content. Dry pulses are converted to dal and used by majority of people. Since majority of Indians are vegetarians, they depend largely on grain legumes (pulses) for their dietary protein.

The stages through which the commodity passes from harvest till we consume that are considered as post harvest stages. Post harvest management is an important component of agriculture and is the key to make more food and nutrition available to people. This is very important when it is estimated that almost about 10% of the food grains are lost every year in a country like India due to improper post harvest management and lack of value addition (Pal and Dash, 2012).

Cashew (Anacardium occidentale), is an evergreen tree in the family Anacardiaceae. It is grown for its edible fruits (nuts). Cashew originates from North-East Brazil (Salam and Peter, 2010). As a fast growing woody perennial, is characterized by spreading branches. Cashew trees can reach a height of 12 m and have an economic lifespan of 25 years. A Canopy of cashew develops irregular if not checked properly. In later stage, its canopy shape and size become difficult to manage (Nalini et al., 1999). Manipulation of canopy size and shape by means of pruning and training for its containment and better yield was not felt as a necessary orchard management technique for cashew. Majority of the older plantations are of seedling origin of non-descript material and have poor genetic potentiality. They have become senile. Such plantations can be rejuvenated provided they are managed properly and not very old (Gurupasand et al., 2012). If the plantations are of improved varieties having good genetic make-up such plantations can be rejuvenated by limb pruning or if they are genetically low yielders they need to be top-worked by beheading and grafting with better material for improving the yield performance.

Yield gap of a crop is the difference between the maximum yield under optimum management condition and the average yield achieved by the farmers. Yield under optimum management condition is otherwise known as potential yield of the crop. Because of concerns about global food security problem of malnutrition, there is necessary to minimize the yield gaps in order to enhance food production within limited resources. This will reduce vast majority of undernourished population residing in under-developed countries. Assessment of potential yield and the gap between potential and actual yield is very much necessary before any investment for improving crop production (Nanda and Sahoo 2010).

Genus Citrus (Citrus spp.) belongs to family Rutaceae and subfamily Aurantioedae. Citrus fruits are cultivated over a wide range of agroclimatic conditions because of their ability to adapt to different situations. Citrus is considered to be one of the most remunerative fruit crops in India, having a lasting niche in the international trade and world finance. Most of the Citrus species are believed to be native to tropical and subtropical regions of southeast Asia, particularly, northeastern India and the region between China and India (Ghosh, 2007). Trees belonging to genus Citrus are comparatively small in size (other perennial fruit crops) and evergreen in nature that are grown in tropical, subtropical and even mild temperate climates. Citrus fruits are nonclimacteric so they do not ripen further once removed from the trees. So it is important that they are picked at the right stage of maturity.

Guava (Psidium guajava L.), belonging to family Myrtaceae, is cultivated and naturalized in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. It occupies fifth place in area (0.15 million ha.) and fourth place in fruit production (1.80 million tonnes) in India. It has gained considerable prominence owing to its high nutritive value, availability at moderate price, a pleasant aroma and good flavour. Its fruits are used for both, fresh eating and processing. It excels most other fruit crops in productivity, hardiness, adaptability and vitamin C content. Besides its high nutritive value, it bears heavy crop every year and gives handsome economic return involving very little inputs. This has prompted several Indian farmers to take up guava cultivation on a commercial scale (Chadha, 2003). Guava trees are not difficult to grow and can survive in a range of soil and climatic conditions. However, precise management is required to produce a highly profitable crop.

Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.), belonging to the family Moraceae, is indigenous to the rain forests of the Western Ghats of India (Menon and Peter, 2011; Amma anbd Kumaran, 2011; Alila and Sanyal, 2011). It spread early onto other parts of India, south-east Asia, the East Indies and the Philippines. It is often planted in central and eastern Africa and is fairly popular in Brazil and Surinam (Menon, 2011). Its tree is adapted to humid tropical and near-tropical climates. The jackfruit tree is handsome and stately. In the tropics, it grows to an enormous size. One of the popular cultivar, Ceylon, was introduced into India from Ceylon and planted extensively in our country.

PRESENT STATUS

India is the second largest producer of jack fruit in the world and better known as the motherland of jackfruit (Verhji and Coronel, 1992; Chadha, 2003; Amma and Kumaran, 2011). Though, it is indigenous to India, but also found widely grown in Bangladesh, Burma, Sri lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brazil and other tropical countries (Milan, 2011). In India, it has wide distribution in Asam, Tripura, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, foothills of the Himalayas and Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Jackfruit is the national fruit of Bangladesh. It is one of the three auspicious fruits of Tamil Nadu along with mango and banana. Jackfruit is very extensively grown all over the state of Tripura. As per the records of the Department of Horticulture and Soil Conservation, Government of Tripura, the area under jackfruit is about 9,012 ha with a total production of 2,69,404 tonnes (2012-13).

Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.), a member of the Sapindaceae family, originated in China. An arillate fruit, it is widely cultivated in subtropical regions of the world, providing livelihood security to millions of people in south-east Asia (GalanSauco and Menini, 1989; Menzel and Waite, 2005). Litchi is important commercial fruit crop in India. It is popularly known as “queen” of fruits due to its attractive colour, taste, flavour and excellent quality. Nutritionally, it is rich in sugar content with appreciable content of protein, minerals, fibres, vitamins and calorific value. Litchi is consumed mainly as fresh and little as processed form. The juicy aril is an excellent thirst quencher. It is highly perishable in nature. The short span of fruit availability coupled with poor shelf-life, limits duration of its availability in the domestic as well as international market. Till date, it is meagrely exploited for potential production and due R & D support is still lacking.

PRESENT STATUS

At present annual fruit production is around 585,300 metric tonnes from an area of 84,170 ha and the national productivity is 6.95 tonnes/ha. In India, main production region is concentrated in Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Assam, Jharkhand, Tripura, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. The area under this crop has undergone substantial expansion in the past 64 years with plantation increasing from 9,400 ha in 1949 to 78,000 ha, in 2013 (NHB, 2013). Till date, the present level of production is unable to cope up with the ever-increasing demand. Its fruits are available from early-May to July in different areas.

Gender relates to socially assigned roles and responsibilities attributable to men and women. Gender roles are played by both women and men, which are not determined by biological factors, but by the socio-economic and cultural environment or situation (Mollel and Mtenga, 2000).

Women from poor households engage in a variety of income earning activities. In some cases, these activities supplement the contribution by males, while in others they are the primary or the sole source of household livelihoods (Kabeer 2003). Women are twice as likely as men to be involved in agricultural activities (Odame et al., 2002). According to Fernando (1998), activities, resources and opportunities of people are significantly influenced by gender that is, by the socio-economic and cultural dimension of being male or female. Moreover, different types of activities are generally allocated to women and men within the family with a view for subsistence production and marketable production. In most of the societies, tasks related to child bearing and care and maintenance of the household (cooking, fetching water and firewood) are assigned to women.

Pulse production is an integral part of food production, which helps in ensuring nutritional security by way of providing plant protein in human diet. In spite of several efforts, lots of people in third world countries suffer from nutritional deficiencies due to lack of balance diet. The women folk are the most sufferers, who are deprived of taking adequate quantity of protein rich food that helps in growth and development of human body.

Mangoes (Mangifera indica L.) belong to the family Anacardiaceae, has become naturalized and adapted throughout the tropics and subtropics. There are over 1,000 varieties throughout the world, which is a testament to their value to mankind. Popularly known as ‘King of Fruits’, mango is eaten throughout the world. Commercial mango cultivation is based on locally adapted and recommended cultivars. There is a great diversity in mango fruit which permits considerable manipulation of various purposes and markets such as juice, candy, chutney, amchur, pickles, jam, jelly, fresh fruit, canned and/or dried fruit etc. Given the multiple products, it is therefore a potential source of foreign exchange for a developing country as well as a potential source of employment for a considerable seasonal labour force.

PRESENT STATUS

India is the leading country sharing 42.1 % of the world mango production. Currently, it is cultivated in 22,97,000 ha with a total production of 1,51,88,000 tonnes. In India, all fruits share 29.25 % of total land and 31.13 % of total fruit production of which, 36 % of land and 20.3 % of production is under mango. Mango prefers a warm, frost-free climate with a well defined winter dry season. Rain and high humidity during flowering and fruit development reduces fruit yield. The tree generally flowers in mid- to late winter, while fruits mature during early to mid-summer. Mango trees are usually between 3-10 m (10–33 ft) tall but can reach up to 30 m (100 ft) in some forests. The canopy is evergreen with a generally spreading habit. The heavy canopy of the mango is a source of shelter and shade for both animals and human beings. It occupies a pre-eminent place among sub-tropical fruits grown in some states.

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) commonly known as ‘Anar’, is an ancient favourite table fruit of tropical and subtropical regions of the world. It belongs to family, Punicaceae. There is a great diversity in pomegranate. Originated in southern Asia and said to be native from Iran to the Himalayas in the northern India (Sandhu and Gill, 2013). The orcharding of pomegranate is somewhat expansive and skilful job. The perennial nature of fruit take longer period to come to bearing stage (3-4 years). Thereafter due to neglect in management practices the annual production, many a times compels the orchardist have to go for distress sale of entire poor quality produce. But, the successful commercial fruit production with increased quality production has made significant contribution to economic development of the grower and ultimately those in the growing region in sustainable manner.

Sapota or sapidilla or bully tree or chiku (Manilkara achras (Mill.) Fosberg) is a delicious tropical fruit crop, was introduced from tropical America. Among lesser-known fruits, area expansion and production of sapota have been observed spectacular. During as the area under sapota is fast increasing and this crop is attaining the status of major fruit crop.

PRESENT STATUS

India is considered to be the largest producer of sapota in the world, though it is considered to be a minor crop in India (Bal, 1997). The area under sapota in India during 2000-01 was 69,400 ha with a production of 6.74 lakh tonnes, while during the year 2012-13, it was 164000 ha with a production of 14.95 lakh tonnes (ICAR-DataBook 2014). The area under sapota is increasing so rapidly owing to a wider range of adaptability. In many regions, cultivation of sapota is preferred over mango (Bal, 1997). The important sapota growing states are Maharastra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Punjab and Haryana. Recently, our country has made a beginning in export to Middle East countries.

Agriculture – world-wide – is a vital determinant of the livelihoods of the rural communities and small holders in particular. Farm households consume as well as produce the food items. Diet diversity increased with farm size. Large farm- households obtain their food energy from more diverse sources – intake of pulses, milk, edible oil and sugar. Calorie intake per person per day decreased as farm size decreases. So also the protein intake on large farm house holds is substantially higher than for sub-marginal farm households and correspondingly for fats. So far the protein consumption is concerned the main source is pulses the small holder farmers grow. This is justified by the Simpson Index of diet diversity-0.43 for sub-marginal and 0.56 for large households (Singh et al., 2002). The production of pulses including the traditional/potential pulses keep priority for combating the protein deficiency in addition to earning monetary returns from export of processed and value added pulse products. The pulse production is not sufficient to cater the domestic consumption need. The area under pulse is declining over the years. The productivity is not satisfactory in comparison to the potential yield of the varieties as well as the low yield from traditional plant types grown mostly under rain fed and residual soil moisture condition after harvest of paddy or as pyra crop in paddy without proper crop management. The trend in total factor productivity of black gram and green gram, the major pulses is declining in state of Odisha and that of chick pea in Madhya Pradesh. The deficit in pulse production has led to rise in price of processed pulses due to its import to meet the domestic requirement.

1.1 General

Access to energy is a crucial enabling condition for achieving sustainable development. Prudent energy policies and research can play an important role in steering both industrialized and developing countries onto more sustainable energy development paths. Specifically, they can strengthen the three pillars of sustainable development: the economy, by boosting productivity, social welfare, by improving living standards and enhancing safety and security, and the environment, by reducing indoor and outdoor pollution and remediating environmental degradation.

1.2 Energy and it’s Requirement

Energy in any form is necessary to meet many of our requirements. It’s varying definitions shows the importance of energy in our life.

2.1 Introduction

Energy is one of the main input for rural development and economic development. The greater part of the world population lives at low standard and a quarter of the population or about 1.5 billion, have an extremely low standard of life. Energy is one of the essential requirement of the quality of life the people. The industrial development or even large scale food production, water supply, textile manufactures & construction of building and other recreation items are not possible without adequate supply of energy. Therefore, one of the most important tasks is to provide adequate, reliable, convenient and efficient supply of energy, if quality of life of the people is to be raised from its present level of grinding poverty. Table 2.1 project the global primary energy supply in six scenarios i.e A1 - its strong emphasis on oil and natural gas use. A2 - which is coal-intensive. A3 - which emphasises the roles of natural gas, new renewables and nuclear in averting serious problems from emissions. B - Middle course. C1- with its emphasis on energy efficiency improvements, new renewables (especially solar in the longer run), but with nuclear power phased out by 2100 because unable to satisfy its critics and C2 - where nuclear power plays an expanding role.

3.1 Introduction

There is now latest national thinking going on to conserve the known sources of energy such as firewood, cow dung, agricultural waste, kerosene, oil etc. i.e. by limiting their conventional uses and to propagate the use of non conventional energy especially in the rural area. The large scale indiscriminate use of non commercial fuels fully in the rural areas are not only providing to be inefficient but also inadequate to cope with the growing rural energy demand caused by growing population and growing consciousness among rural people for a better way of life. Planned input of energy are, therefore urgently require to protect the environment and to cope with raising rural energy demand. In order to assess the widening gap between the supply and demand of commercial energy and indiscriminate use of non commercial fuels in rural areas, there is a need for various types of statistical or quantified information to be collected and analyzed in an objective manner and presented suitability so as to serve as a sound basis for taking policy decision to make an optimum utilization of commercial energy in a balanced manner. This will require conducting of survey in areas to be covered.

The statistical data may be collected by complete enumeration or by a sample survey. The earlier method is very cumbersome, time consuming, cost ineffective and requires an intensive development of manpower, if domains of study is quite large. Complete enumeration and sample surveys presuppose the existence of a certain minimum of facilities such as funds, professional personnel for planning the survey methodology and supervision of field operations, sufficiently qualified enumerators, sampling frames, machine tabulation equipment, transport and communication facilities etc. These facilities or combinations there of do not always exist to the extent needed for a complete enumeration survey. As such, sample survey is preferred to complete enumeration for ethic type of studies giving due importance to sampling error.

In the integrated energy planning, there is an objective to find out the present consumption pattern of energy for different end uses, shortages being experienced and people’s reaction to using alternate sources of energy is also enumerated.

The survey methods determine – incident, distribution and the interrelation among sociological variable and psychological variable. The sociological variable s consists of age, education, income and attitude, behavior, motivation, belief and knowledge about the problem.

4.1 Introduction

The energy census survey has become the basis for planning & implementation of the village development based on conventional and non conventional sources which are appropriate to the local needs. The continuous and widespread use of non commercial sources of energy in the rural area is resulting in the large scale destruction of the environment. While the rural people get non conventional fuels at almost zero private cost, the social cost for meeting their energy needs has been increasing over the year. Hence the non conventional fuels acquired a special significance in the energy context.

The rural energy problem is multi dimensional & needs to be tackled through a multi dimensional integrated approach which would include augmentation of energy supply resources, technology transfer for optimum & productive use of resources, R & D inputs in particular for developing low cost energy options for the rural poor, education & training for rural users, linkage with various rural development programmes including village & small scale industries programme and adequate institutional & financial support. The multi dimensional approach for making a village self sufficient in energy planning is illustrated in Fig.4.1.

These three requirements are required to be followed in sequence for getting maximum benefits. However, integrated rural energy concept is a new area of work and not much experience is available in this field as compared to other rural development activities. It is difficult to give any guidelines for planning. One can only recommend approaches and not solutions to planning.

The rural area in developing countries are almost always rich in one or another sources of energy, which could be used separately or in combination with other sources in decentralized small scale units, or even on a household scale. Thus, the problem is one of good planning, management and a strong educational and promotions campaign, rather than the non availability of resources or the lack of technology. Further, after planning, prefect development of device and their effective operation is required.

The purpose of the Integrated Rural Energy Planning project should be clearly defined. It may design either for research and development or demonstration for Popularisation of system, education and training, promotion, health or combination of these.

It is usually better to start with a small size to gain experience and build up confidence before undertaking the large scale project. As defined earlier, one of primary requirement of Integrated Rural Energy Planning is to develop energy demand pattern, energy supply system and optimally match demand with supply.

6.1 Introduction

Energy planning is possible only with knowledge of past and present energy consumption and future energy demand. There are number of factor which affects the energy consumption pattern significantly. These include energy prices, availability, reliability of supply, uniformity of quality, convenience in use, technical and economic characteristics of energy using equipment & appliances, population growth, income rate of urbanization, educational status, social acceptance, social habit, present knowledge of beneficiary etc.

The energy planning differ in planning sectral wise and planning sources wise. For sector planning purposes, estimates are needed of the short and long run price elasticity for every specific energy resource. Where as in planning sources wise, one must consider its long term availability & its costs.

In general, to cope up future risk and uncertainty, we need to predict the future event. The likely future event has to be given from and content in terms of projected course of variables i.e. the forecasting. Projection is of two types – forward & backward. It is the forward projection of data variable, which is named as forecasting.

7.1 Introduction

Energy has become a critical input for the economic development of the India because of the wide spread scarcity of oil and electricity and other commercial form of energy.

The rural areas are often the worst affected because of these shortages and the rural population continues to depend on the inefficient non-commercial energy from like fire wood, cow dung, human and animal for meeting their energy requirement for subsistence, production and devolvement needs.

The rural energy crises or “The energy crisis” has been getting increased attention from the policy makers to tackle the problem in a planned and integrated manner.

The rural energy sector is concerned with two major planning issues.

1. Provision of energy for meeting substance needs for cooking, heating and lighting of the rural areas of the country. This problem is also directly linked to the problem of deforestation and environmental destruction being caused in the rural area because of indiscriminate and wide spread use of non conventional energy sources.
2. Meeting energy requirements for production activities which would create employment and productivity in rural areas.

8.1 Introduction

The concept of social justice led to a raise the standard of living of the masses. This is only possible by meeting the energy needs of industry, agriculture, transport and domestic use. The energy of demand has been increasing tremendously all over the world science mid – nineteenth century due to rise in industrial and agricultural activities and was being met to a great extent by fossil fuels.

Three factors led the mankind to look for alternative renewable sources of energy like solar, wind, hydro etc. (1) there is a danger that the rate at which the non renewable sources of energies are being consumed presently may lead to a global shortage in the near future. This has already happen in case of oil. (2) Use of fossil fuel involves emission of toxic gases polluting the environment causing health hazards of living being. and (3) the demand and supply gas of energy is continuously widening, thus necessitating to exploit renewable sources of energy.

Out of various renewable energy sources, solar energy has been a promising one and lot of development has been taken in its technology for various uses. The numbers of technology engaged in developing solar energy for meaningful use are aiming to achieve the following objectives-

9.1 Introduction

Solar energy can be directly converted into electrical energy through photovoltaic route. Energy conversion devices which are used to convert sun light into electricity by use of the photovoltaic effect are called solar cells. The advantages of solar cells are:

1. They are reliable, convenient and durable.
2. It is green, sustainable and pollution free technology.
3. Directly solar radiation can be converted into electricity (conversion of global solar light by flat plate photovoltaic).
4. Maintenance cost is quite low therefore suitable even in isolated and remote area, since no moving parts are involved.
5. Solar cells are quite compatible with almost all environments, respond instantaneously with solar radiation.
6. Considerable expected lifetime i.e. 20 years or even more.
7. No distribution system is required, because they are decentralized source of energy and located at the place of use.

10.1 General

The term “biomass” generally refers to renewable organic matter generated by plants through photosynthesis. Materials having organic combustible matter is also referred under biomass.

Biomass is an important fuel source in our overall energy scenario. Biomass is produced through chemical storage of solar energy in plants and other organic matter as a result of photosynthesis. During this process conversion of solar energy in sugar and starch, which are energy rich compounds takes place. The chemical reaction of photosynthesis can be written as:

11.1 Biodiesel Chemistry

Biodiesel is a mixture of methyl esters of long chain fatty acids like lauric, palmitic, stearic, oleic and so on. It is produced by the transesterification of animal fats and vegetable oils – all of which belong to a group of organic esters called triglycerides. Typical examples are rape/canola oil, soyabean oil, sunflower oil, palm oil and its derivatives, etc. from vegetable sources, beef and sheep tallow and poultry oil from animal sources and also from used cooking oil. The chemistry is basically the same irrespective of the feedstock. The chemistry of biodiesel is given in Fig. 11.1.

12.1 Introduction

Nature has a provision for destroying and disposing off wastes and dead plants and animals. This decay or decomposition is carried out by tiny micro-organisms called bacteria. Making of farm-yard manure (FYM) and compost is also through decomposition of organic matter (OM). When a heap of vegetable or animal waste and weeds etc., die or decompose at the bottom of backwater or shallow lagoons, bubbles can be noticed rising to the surface of water. Sometimes these bubbles burn with dancing flame at dusk. This phenomenon has puzzled man for a long time. It was only during the past hundred years that Scientists unlocked this secret as the decomposition process. The gas thus produced was and is still called “Marsh Gas.” The technology of harnessing this gas under artificially created conditions is known as Biogas Technology.

13.1 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 emergency related 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.

Scientirsts have estimated that as much as 10 per cent of >the world’s electricity could be provided by wind generators by the middle of 21 century. India has estimated wind power potential of 45,000 MW. India now, ranks fourth in the world in wind power generation.

The world’s largest wind farms are in California, where wind turbines can generate power upto about 1120 MW. The first wind mill used as source of electric power was built in Denmark in 1890. Presently in India about 2382 MW of electricity is being produced through wind energy.

14.1 Introduction

Indoor air pollution causes significant health problems for the two billion people worldwide who rely on biomass fuels for their cooking and heating needs. Over the last 30 years awareness of the environmental and social costs of using traditional fuels and stoves has grown. At the same time, studies of the problem have resulted in proven strategies to reduce both fuel use and harmful emissions. Unfortunately, the local stoves currently available do not always represent the best designs that modern engineering can offer. Although open fires are often used wastefully, carefully operated open fires can be fuel efficient and clean burning when tested in the lab. In many situations, cooks are not overly concerned with fuel use, and studies have shown that when fuel is plentiful three-stone fires can use an excessive amount of wood to cook a small amount of food. But in other places where fuel is scarce, open fires can be carefully controlled so that fuel efficiency rivals many first generation improved cook stoves.

Modern cook stoves are designed to clean up combustion first. Then the hot gases can be forced to contact the pot and increasing efficiency without increasing harmful emissions. Fires can be clean burning when expert cooks push the sticks of wood into the fire as they burn, metering the fuel. The open fire can be a hot fire useful when food or drink needs to be prepared quickly. The energy goes into the pot, not into the cold body of a stove. The open fire can burn wood without making a lot of smoke; hot fires burn smoke as it is released from the wood (Fig.14.1). Unfortunately however, many fires used for cooking are built emphasizing simplicity of use and are wasteful and polluting. Modern stoves score higher when tested than even the most carefully operated fire in the laboratory.

15.1 Fuel Cell

Fuel cell is a electrochemical device that convert chemical energy of a reaction directly into electrical energy. The basic physical structure of a fuel cell consists of an electrolyte layer in contact with a porous anode and cathode on either side. A schematic representation of a fuel cell with the reactant or product gases and the ion conduction flow directions through the cell is shown in Fig. 15.1

16.1 Introduction

It is well known fact that planners as well as end user’s have to consider any resources as technology from economic point of view. Therefore, it is important to have techno – economic analysis of each energy source option. In the feasibility study of particular energy option, three tier judgement approaches is required, which include technical feasibility, economical viability and social acceptability. Hence in the rural energy planning programme one has to considered techno socio economic analysis of an individual energy option. Since in integrated rural energy planning, locally available energy resources are used, presuming that it is socially recognized. Hence in the IRPE project, the need and scope of techno economic analysis in terms of economic analysis of different technical feasible options, before between “economic” and “financial” analysis should be kept in mind. An economic analysis is needed to verify that a particular energy source will provide “net benefit” to society as a whole, before its final integration in the energy context, while a financial analysis integrated in the energy practices. In simple wards, a financial analysis is concerned with goods and services, money inflow and outflows and the transfer of payments. An economic analysis also considers the social benefits and costs of goods and services which are not traded in a market.