eChapters

There streams of thought are presented in this paper:

One, that rural women are not only the warriors, creative actors in the agricultural scene, or rural areas, but also the urban poor, the  migrants , the homeless, the source of labour supply into the expanding urban spaces, including trafficking.
 
I would then argue [two] that this spread of the location of “rural women” is the phenomena that we should now look at, the connectivity between the old divisions of rural and urban, as it indicates the pressures that the current development paradigms operating in our countries, is putting on the RURAL … and therefore that we should look at the macroeconomic policies that are in place, globally and regionally and  nationally.

California’s Napa Valley, situated at the northern end of the San Francisco Bay 30 miles (48 kilometers [km]) from the Pacific Ocean, is the most famous wine appellation in the United States. This small valley, 56 km long and 8 km wide at its broadest point, has produced some of North America’s finest wine grapes from the 1850s to the present. Today it contains approximately 18,616 hectares [ha] of vineyards along the valley floor, in the foothills and mountains flanking the main valley and in the smaller valleys in the eastern part of Napa County [45].

Root and Tuber crops are the most important food crops of man after cereals. Tuber crops are efficient producers of carbohydrates especially under suboptimal conditions of rainfall, fertility and low input conditions encountered in tropics. The group contributes about 6 % of the world’s dietary calories. In fact, one out of 6 kg of human food comes from roots and tubers. Tuber crops find an important place in the dietary habits of small and marginal farmers especially contributing to food security of tribal populations. Tuber crops grown in India include Cassava, Sweet potato, Dioscorea, Colocasia, Amorphophallus and minor tuber crops like Chinese potato, Arrowroot, Canna, Yam bean etc. The biotechnology can contribute to the solution of the major problems and realize greater benefits for tuber crops.

Ethylene is a primary plant hormone involved in the senescence of plant tissues including flowers and leaves. In carnation flowers, inhibition of the synthesis or action of ethylene delays the onset of senescence symptoms and lengthens the vase life of flowers. Leaves of cut chrysanthemum of some cultivars frequently become yellow, sometimes prior to the onset of flower senescence, in response to exogenous ethylene. Generation of transgenic plants with suppressed production or action of ethylene is an excellent way to lengthen the longevity of these ornamental plants. This paper reviews our studies on generation and characterization of carnations with reduced ethylene production and chrysanthemum with reduced sensitivity to ethylene.

Use of morphological markers has continued till today for characterization of several crops including horticultural crops with the Mendel’s principles of inheritance by following visible traits in the progenies of sexual crosses. Genetic markers play an essential role  in the study of variability and diversity, in the construction of linkage maps, and in the diagnosis of individuals or lines carrying certain linked genes. Within this context, the limitations of morphological markers became quickly apparent. They tend to be restricted to relatively a few traits, display a low degree of polymorphism, are often environmentally variable in their manifestation, and can depend on the expression of several unlinked genes. Furthermore, some may affect plant viability or seed set, distorting gene frequencies in the progeny. Morphological markers were largely supplemented by biochemical markers, particularly isoenzymes that could be easily scored by electrophoresis (Ganapathy and Scandalios 1973; Tanksley 1983). The limitations of isoenzmyes as markers, in particular both the limited number of polymorphic enzymes that can be conveniently stained and the environmental effects on expression pattern, were apparent already twenty years ago (Tanksley 1983).

The term DNA sequencing refers to methods for determining the order of the nucleotide bases, adenine, guanine, thymine and cytosine, in a molecule of DNA. In molecular terms ,the definitive understanding of a DNA molecule comes from determining its nucleotide sequence.The function of a gene can be deduced from its nucleotide sequence,for example by comparing the sequences of genes with known functions.

The first DNA sequences were obtained by academic researchers, using laborious methods based on 2 – dimensional chromatography in the early 1970s.  Following the development of dye-based sequencing methods with automated analysis, DNA sequencing has become easier and orders of magnitude faster.  Knowledge of DNA sequences of genes and other parts of the genome of organisms have become indispensable for basic research studying biological processes, as well as in applied field like diagnostic or forensic research.  The advent of DNA sequencing has significantly accelerated biological research and discovery.

Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) are free-living bacteria  having beneficial effect on plants by root colonization. They stimulate plant’s growth. Intensive research work is carried out on use of various PGPR as plant growth promoters on various crops. There are reports which show that PGPR promoted growth and reproductive parameters of cereals, pulses, ornamentals, vegetable crops, plantation crops and even  tree species. The important PGPR used in vegetable crops are Azospirillum, Azotobactor, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Phosphate Solubilising Bacteria (PSB) and Bacillus subtilis.

India is a vast country with varied soil and agro-climatic conditions and therefore is able to grow a wide range of vegetables. In view of their productivity, diversification, nutrition, value addition and export, vegetables are an important component in Indian agriculture. Up to 1939, vegetable seeds were used to be imported from Australia, U.K., U.S.A., but after World War I and II, India started seed production of vegetables. In the recent past, the seed industry has made rapid strides over the past three decades and has contributed significantly to the quantum jump in agricultural production and India emerged as the second largest producer of vegetables, next to China in the world. During 2005-2006, India produced 113.5 million t of vegetables from 7.2 million ha with a productivity of 15.76 t/ha. The seed industry has increased certified and quality seed production and distribution by the organized sector to about 60 lakh quintal from 300q in 1964-65. India can be proud of having launched and managed both crop improvement and seed improvement as simultaneous and parallel programmes playing complimentary and synergistic roles.

The history of plant breeding is divided into 4 periods- knowledge of plant breeding before 1900, application of genetic principles (1900-1940), plant breeding research after 1940 and the recent developments in plant breeding. Emphasis is given on the land marks in genetic improvement of vegetable crops.

The major land marks  in genetics and breeding of crop plants are listed below.

Plant diseases are mentioned in some of the oldest books available (Homer, C – 1000 B.C. mentioned about the therapeutic properties of sulphur and in Old testament – 750 B.C.) and were feared as much as human diseases and war.

Food irradiation involves exposure of food to short wave energy to achieve specific purposes like extension in shelf life, insect disinfestations and elimination of food-borne pathogens and parasites. Compared to heat or chemical treatment, irradiation is more effective and an appropriate technology to destroy food-borne pathogens without much loss to the quality of food. It offers a number of advantages to producers, processors, retailers and consumers. Irradiation is a cold process and can be used to pasteurize and sterilize foods without affecting freshness and texture of food. Unlike chemical fumigants, irradiation does not leave any harmful toxic residues in food and is more effective. It is efficient and can be used to treat prepacked commodities. The FAO estimates that about 25% of world’s total food production is lost due to insects, bacteria and rodents after harvesting. Use of radiation can play an important role in cutting these losses and reducing dependence on chemical pesticides. The food borne diseases claim millions of lives all over the world every year. Irradiation of food can reduce these incidences by destroying harmful microorganisms.

Polyembryony is the occurrence of more than one embryo in a seed. It includes all those instances in which there is a clear indication of the actual occurrence of two or more embryos in a developing ovule (Tisserat et al. 1979). The additional embryos in polyembryony result from the differentiation and development of various maternal and zygotic tissues associated with the ovule of seed. Earlier, polyembryony is said to have an abnormal feature but now it is considered as a desirable character in citrus, mango, jamun, almond, etc. to obtain true to type planting materials. The polyembryony is one of the apomictic processes which have been described to occur in the ovules of angiospermic species (Koltunow, 1993). Polyembryony in horticultural crops occurs as facultative apomixis wherein simultaneous growth of multiple embryos of somatic origin co-exist in the same seed containing sexual embryo resulting from either selfing or cross pollination.

Vegetables are the most extensively utilized plants for  exploitation of heterosis for  development of hybrids. As the importance of heterosis breeding increased, male sterility proved an asset particularly in crops like onion and carrot which produce many but small sized flowers making hand emasculation tedious. Large scale hybrid seed production sometimes remains handicapped because of high labour cost, unavailability of trained labour at crucial times i.e. at blooming, bad weather conditions like continuous rains etc. The phenomenon of male sterility has always been of long term interest for  researchers of various disciplines of applied, strategic and basic sciences. It is of special interest for  plant breeders to produce more efficient and economic hybrid seed. Discovery of certain male sterile mutants which  eliminate more laborious operations of emasculation combined with various marker genes further facilitate identification of undesirable types even at seedling stage has widened the very basis of hybrid seed production. This technique has also reduced the total cost of hybrid seed production. Onion crop provides one of the rare examples of very early recognition of male sterility (Jones and Emsweller 1936), its inheritance and use in hybrid seed production (Jones and Clarke 1943). Since then male sterility is reported in fairly large number of crops including vegetables.

Horticultural crops are ideal and valuable assets of nature to mankind. They are popular among masses since time immemorial but their importance was realized only in the recent past due to their high nutritive value, good taste and pleasing quality. They provide essential nutrients and minerals for proper functioning of human body and aesthetic surroundings for peaceful living. India is an important centre of diversity and several horticultural crops  originated here.  The horticultural crops constitute 13.08% of total crop area and contribute about 28% to GDP. The sub-continent extends from 8° 04’ - 37° 06’ North latitude and 68° 07’- 97° 25’ East longitude and it has tropical, sub-tropical and temperate climates which favour successful growing of a large number of horticultural crops.  India has a wide variety of climate and soil on which a large number of horticultural crops like fruits, vegetables, potato and other tropical tuber crops, ornamentals, medicinal and aromatic plants, plantation crops, spices, cashew and cocoa are grown. Of late, major emphasis was laid on development of high yielding varieties and high production technologies and their adoption in areas of assured irrigation paved the way towards food security.

In the backdrop of a predominantly agrarian economy, India has made tremendous advances in modern agriculture to meet both the food and nutritional security. In recent years, horticulture has assumed great importance mainly to augment nutritional security and secondarily as a highly cost-effective, remunerative and eco-friendly enterprise having vast export potential. To meet the challenges of research and development, tracer techniques have added the much needed fillip as they can be ingeniously applied to resolve issues which are not ordinarily possible using conventional techniques.

Growth of horticulture is the cornerstone for augmenting employment opportunities in agriculture sector both directly and indirectly. Of late, there is a marked shift in the cropping pattern towards diversification into high value commercial crops in the country. To make horticulture viable and profitable, the thrust should be on improving the resource use efficiency, so that the relative profitability could be enhanced. Success in horticulture is more technology driven compared to other crops. The time bound removal of quantitative curbs on imports and other barriers to access domestic market under WTO, of which India is a signatory, will require Indian Horticultural produce / products to become competitive both in the domestic and international markets. This would call for use of Hi-tech horticulture technologies. The term Hi-Tech Horticulture was coined in recent years. There are no standard definitions for this. The Department of Agriculture and Co-operation,GOI in 1999 defined Hi-tech Horticulture as “any technology which is modern, less environment dependent, capital intensive and has the capacity to improve the productivity and quality of horticultural crops”.

World Trade Organisation

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) was the result of years of painstaking efforts on the part of governments and other bodies to establish a globally acceptable basis for a new economic order. It was established to correct the imbalances and disparities in international trade and bring about an evenly balanced world trade order that equally benefits the developed, developing and least developed nations. While there are several agreements under the WTO, the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) specifically represents the resolve of all member countries to use intellectual property as one of the means for achieving economic balance and diminishing the trade barriers.

Teaching, Research and Extension are interrelated and interwoven in development. It may be in any field, like agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries, forestry etc. Whenever we talk of extension, it implies the participation of clients in the program. Extension can never be defined without inclusion of participation of people. Extension approach means application of tools and methods by which we can reach people. The participation is the core value of extension but its use differs from situation to situation bringing out a degree of differences leading to variation in result. In extension the farmers are advised and the blue print prepared for them are recommended to be adopted. Such approach did not yield desirable result, as result regarding realization was under question the impact of extension on farming communities. The studies conducted on extension approaches tend to reveal poor result as the participants failed to own and shape the program designed for them.

In rural development, the sole aim is to transfer the technology for better living of people. The process by which the technology is transferred to users is called Transfer of Technology. Transfer of technology falls in the domain of adoption and diffusion. Therefore, it is necessary to understand adoption and its related issues. Adoption of sustainable agricultural practices is relatively difficult as people do not find newness in it. The transfer of technology is explained in terms of technology movement from place of generation to the hands of the users.

Sustainable agriculture requires sincere attempt by the farmers to be sustainable in their approach. The practices are neither new nor difficult. But the minds of the farmers are so much inclined to inorganic farming that it is not so easy to divert their minds for sustainable agriculture.

Women constitute 50% of our population. Their contribution to farming needs no emphasis as they are integral part of it. Women have developed farming in our country and contributed immensely for growth and maintenance of agriculture as a whole. But majority of them are not fully aware of sustainable agriculture in scientific terms although they practice it. Surveys and observations reveal that women are in favor of traditional agriculture and feel that traditional farming is more sustainable than the present one.

We mean sustainable of agriculture as preservation of productivity of land for a long period. This requires deviation from present methods of cultivation. The deviation needs knowledge about ecological process. At present we mean agriculture in association with terms like, high-tech, bio-tech and info-tech. Our traditional farming system or conventional farming system essentially means sustainable agriculture.

1. Herbicide –herbicide interaction

Herbicides cause some effects as follow:

(i) Synergistic: Synergism is defined as the cooperative action of different chemicals in a mixture such that the total effect is greater than the sum of the independent effects (Green et al., 1997). In relation to herbicides, the total  induced by an herbicide mixture is greater than the sum of the responses by each herbicide alone (Anderson, 1996). Synergistic  is often used to describe the effect of drugs working together — where one drug increases the other’s effectiveness. Synergy is the interaction of multiple elements in a system to produce an effect different from or greater than the sum of their individual effects.

Herbicides are applied to the soil in hopes of obtaining season-long weed control. It is desirable for the chemicals to control weeds during the season of application, but they should not remain long enough to affect subsequent crop growth.

    1.    Selection of herbicides: The type of herbicide and the method of application can influence the extent of the residual carryover. Herbicides differ in their physical and chemical properties such as water solubility, volatility and susceptibility to breakdown by sunlight, and microbes. When applied at recommended rates, most herbicides breakdown within a few days or weeks after application and impose no restrictions on cropping options in the next year. Some herbicides however do not degrade quickly and can persist in the soil for weeks, months or years following application. The use of residual herbicides can be beneficial as the residues prevent growth of sensitive weed species throughout the season. These residues however can restrict the crops that can be grown in rotation. Some herbicides can remain active in the soil for weeks, months or years. This can be an advantage as it ensures good long term weed control. However, if the herbicide stays in the soil longer than intended, it may damage sensitive crop or pasture species sown in subsequent years. For example, chlorsulfuron is used in wheat (Triticum sp) and barley (Hordeum vulgore), but can remain active in the soil for several years and damage legumes and oilseeds.

Herbicides degrade over time. The persists of herbicides is dependent on several factors including light, temperature, and substrate moisture. Several processes are responsible for herbicide degradation and include the following:

    1.    Photodegradation: The decomposition of herbicides caused by duration or intensity of sunlight is called as Photodegradation. Photodegradation occurs when ultraviolet (UV) light breaks chemical bonds of the herbicide active ingredient. Secondary molecules resulting from the cleavage of the parent molecule are generally less effective in providing weed control. Herbicides such as Monuron, Trifluralin, PCP, Chloramben etc are prone to photodegradation. So these herbicides should be applied in evening or incorporated in to the soil just after application in order of avoiding photodegradation.

The mode of action is the overall manner in which a herbicide affects a plant at the tissue or cellular level. The mode of action is the way in which the herbicide controls susceptible plants. It usually describes the biological process or enzyme in the plant that the herbicide interrupts, affecting normal plant growth and development. Herbicide may act on the life process of plant and dislodge the normal functioning of plants resulting in the death of plants. Herbicides  do damage of plants by inhibiting the biological process of plant as follows:

(1) Striga
 
Striga, commonly known as witchweed or witches weed, is a genus of parasitic plants that occur naturally in parts of Africa, Asia, and Australia. Witchweeds are characterized by bright-green stems and leaves and small, brightly colored and attractive flowers, Striga has been given the common name of “witchweed” because of attaching to the roots and robbing the host of water and nutrients. The genus Striga (Family: Scrophulariaceae) includes a large number of tropical parasitic or hemi-parasitic plants as follows

Aquatic weeds are those unwanted plants which grow in water and complete at least a part of their life cycle in water. Aquatic weed problem is a global one but more pronounced in tropical and subtropical zones, where warm weather supports profuse growth of aquatic plants. In India, large irrigation projects have been reported to be adversely affected by profusely growing aquatic weeds, that block canals reducing water flow by as much as four-fifths. (Dr. K.T. Chandy,  2010).

1. Harmful Effects of Aquatic Weeds

The important harmful effects of aquatic weeds are as follows
 
    (i)    The aquatic weeds mainly Submerged, immersed, and marginal weeds in and along irrigation canals, ditches, and drainage channels impede water flow, increase evaporation, cause damage to canals and structures and clogs gates, siphons, valves, sprinkler heads, bridge piers, pumps, etc.

A single active ingredient often is sold in several different kinds of formulations as follows:

(a) Dry Formulations
1. Granule (G)

Granule is, a ready-to-use, dry mixture of a small amount of active ingredient with inert carriers. Most are made by applying a liquid formulation of the active ingredient to coarse particles (granules) of some porous material such as clay, sand or plant material. Granule particles are much larger than dust particles; will pass through a 4-mesh sieve but not through an 80-mesh sieve (the number of wires per inch). The herbicide is absorbed into the granule, or coats the outside of it, or both. Inert ingredients may be added to make the formulation handle well. The amount of active ingredient usually ranges from 1 to 15 percent.

Weed control methods may be classified into two groups as follows:

    1.    Preventive method
    2.    Curative or remedial measures. Curative measures are sub-divided into eradication and control.

(a) Preventive Methods

Prevention is the measures taken to prevent the introduction or spread  of the weeds to new areas and to check the infestation prior to the germination of weed seeds. To achieve this, a wise step to be followed the principle- “Prevention is better than cure”.

Plant competition is a powerful force for the elimination of some weaker plants. Plants require nutrients, water, light, Oxygen and Carbondioxide for their growth and development. Weeds compete with the crop for growth factors and the competition is maximum at the early growth stages of the crop. But the competiting ability of the weeds becomes practically nil as soon as the crops attain maturity. Weeds need more nutrients and water than the crop plants. The weeds in general grow faster and shade the crop plant if they are not controlled at proper time and afterwards interfere in the growth of crop plant. Weeds have allelopathic effect on crop growth. Some weeds excrete certain chemicals into the soil which inhibit the germination and growth of other plants in their vicinity and the phenomenon is called allelopathy. Allelopathy is defined as the direct or indirect harmful effects of one plant on another plant through the production of chemical compounds that escape in the environment.

Weeds interfere with man’s utilization of land and water in various ways. The extent of losses depends on the intensity, infestation, time of occurance and type of weeds.

1. Competition between weeds and crops for growth factors

Weeds compete with crop plants for  other factors in the micro-enviroment. Weeds are capable of absorbing more amount of nutrient from soil than the crop plants. In dry lands, weeds exhaust the soil moisture and put the crop under water stress earlier and thus reduce the yield. Weed can compete with productive crop or pasture land or convert the productive land into unusable scrub. Weeds are also often poisonous, produce burrs, thorn or other damaging body parts or otherwise interfere with the use and managemet of desirable plants by contaminating  harvest or excluding livestock.

There are some weeds which prefer to in crop field and some of them have a distinct association with some crops.

Dispersal means the spreading of weeds from one place to another place. Dispersable of weeds generally takes place through seeds and vegetative parts. Dispersal of mature seeds and live vegetative parts of weeds is nature’s way of providing non-competitive sites to new individuals.

    (a)    Dispersal of weeds through seeds: Seeds are protector and propagator of their kind. Weeds seeds remain viable for a long time and their dispersable mainly takes place through natural and human agencies.

No plant in the earth is completely worthless. Weeds have also some beneficial effects although they do much harm in different ways. The beneficial effects of weeds are as follows:

    1.    Most of weeds absorbs nutrient from the deeper layer of soil. When such weeds are incorporated in the soil, they add organic matter content of the soils. As a result, the fertility of plough layer from where plants absorb most of their nutrients is enriched.

    2.    Weeds help in controlling erosion by the soil binding effects of their roots and by forming a living mulch, which resist beating action of rain drops and sweeping action of wind.

Weeds have some characteristics as follows:

    1.    Weeds are hardy and can grow under adverse edaphic (Soil), climatic and biotic condition.
      Example: Lantana camera,Eupatorium adoratum etc.

    2.    Weeds in general prolific with abundant seed production potentialities.
        Example: Amaranthus viridis, Chenopodium album etc.

Ecology is the inter-relationship between organisms and their environment. Weed ecology is study of inter-relationship between weed and their environmneent. Simply, Ecology of weeds means the inter-relationship of weeds with climate, soil, crops and other biotic factors. Terrestrial weed species persist in the soil by virtue of dormant structures, typically seeds or vegetative perennating organs such as rhizomes, tubers and taproots. In dense infestations, the banks of seeds or underground meristems from which new plants may be recruited into adult populations can be exceptionally large. Rao (1968) estimated that in Cyperus rotundus L. tuber populations of 10 million per hectare were possible, whilst Soerjani (1970) calculated that Imperata cylindrica may annually produce six tones of rhizomes per hectare. Typically seed banks of annual weeds in arable soils contain from 1000-10,000 seeds per m2whilst in grassland the upper limit to this range may extend at least to 1 million per m² (Mortimer 1994).

1. Classification of weeds based on life cycle (Ontogony)

(i) Annuals: Weeds that  complete their life cycle within a year or season are called annual weeds. They are associated with annual crops and propagated mainly through seeds. Annual weeds are subdivided according to the season of prevalence as follows:

(a) Kharif season  annuals or Kharif  weeds: The weeds that grow during the summer and complete their life cycle during Kharif or rainy season are called Kharif season annuals or Kharif weeds. The kharif weeds complete their life cycle during the warm wet season (i.e. from the month of June to September) and attain maturity with the onset of winter and finally dies.

Weeds are the plants which grow where they are not wanted or simply plants growing out of place. A plant may be desirable in one situation and a weed in another situation. Those plants that interfere with human activity in crop and non-crop areas are considered weeds. Weeds compete with crops for soil nutrients, water and light; they host insects and plant pathogens harmful to crop plants, and their root exudates and/or leaf leachates may be toxic to crop plants. Weeds also hinder crop harvest and increase the costs of such operations. In addition, at harvest, weed seeds often contaminate the crop produce. Thus, the presence of weeds in crop areas reduces the efficiency of inputs such as fertilizer and irrigation water, enhances the density of other pest organisms, and finally severely reduces crop yield and quality (Labrada and Parker 1999).  Weeds are serious menace in crop production.

Origin and Concept of SHGS
    
The origin of SHGs is from the brainchild of Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, which was founded by Mohammed Yunus.  SHGs were started and formed in 1975.  In India NABARD is initiated in 1986-87.  But the real effort was taken after 1991-92 from the linkage of SHGs with the banks.  A SHG is a small economically homogeneous affinity group of the rural poor voluntarily coming together to save small amount regularly, which are deposited in a common fund to meet members emergency needs and to provide collateral free loans decided by the group (Jha 2000).  They have been recognized as useful tool to help the poor and as an alternative mechanism to meet the urgent credit needs of poor through thrift (Rao 2002) SHG is a media for the development of saving habit among the women (Rajamohan 2003).  SHGs enhance the equality of status of women as participants, decision-makers and beneficiaries in the democratic, economic, social and cultural spheres of life.  (Jain 2003).

Almost two third of India’s population does not have access to formal financial services. The women self help movement emerged as an important strategy for achieving financial inclusion, contributing to inclusive growth and generating social capital in order to address larger issues like poverty eradication and women empowerment. Self Help Group (S.H.G.) are proving to be the most effective instruments for financial inclusion. The experiments started some thirty years ago with N.G.O.s Piloting S.H.G. promotion, which has evolved into a national movement with the proactive role of the state governments- gaining recognition from all the major stakeholders. S.H.G.s are also helping to optimize the utilization of the India’s vast formal financial institutional structure of 160,000 institutions in the rural areas through linkages with banks and acting as business correspondents for the banks.

Introduction

Sustainable development has caught the imagination and action all over the world for more than a decade and sustainable agriculture is necessary to attain the goal of sustainable development. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), sustainable agriculture “is the successful management of resources for agriculture to satisfy changing human needs while maintaining or enhancing the quality of environment and conserving natural resources”. All definitions of sustainable agriculture lay great emphasis on maintaining an agriculture growth rate, which can meet the demand for food of all living things without draining the basic resources.

Laboratory animal science (LAS) advances scientific understanding of the care and use of animals that play a key role in research supporting the development of biomedicine. National and provincial laws, regulations, guidelines and standards apply to quality control and licensing, quarantine and infectious disease control, breeding and husbandry, transgenic animals, staff qualifications, animal welfare, imports, exports and transportation.   Regulation and oversight of lab animal use are the responsibility of the National Ministry of Science and Technology, provincial departments of science and technology, and institutional animal care and use committees.

The major challenge of the present time in agriculture is implementing sustainable development and meeting the food needs of increasing population simultaneously. Agricultural extension always remains an integral part of National Agricultural Policy. At present, agricultural extension has a crucial role to play in the context of growing demands of agricultural production in a sustainable manner. In this situation extension’s traditional task of transferring and disseminating appropriate technologies and agronomic practices would not be sufficient. There is need to view extension for sustainable development in an institutional strengthening context, both in functional and structural.

Introduction

Seabuckthorn (Hippophae Spp) a treasure house of vitamins, belonging to the family Elaeagnaceae, and it is a valuable medicinal plant, since its fruit contain high amount of bioactive substances. It is a thorny, temperate bush, tree and is widely distributed throughout the dry temperate regions of Europe and Asia. As the name indicates Seabuckthorn, the plant grows from sea level to high altitude mountain regions but mainly distributed in higher elevations of Indian Himalayas, from Ladakh (J & K) to Lahaul - Spiti (H.P.), Kumaon and Garhwal in Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh (Chauhan 1999). It is seen under natural conditions Seabuckthorn grows on slopes, well drained soil with silt, river banks, lakes, sea shores & waste lands. It is well adapted to dry conditions. Seabuckthorn the wonder plant of cold arid Himalaya, grows in wastelands, dry rocks and along river belts in Indus, Nubra, Chanthang, Suru, zanskar and Lauhal - Spiti valleys in India (Singh and Chaurasia 2000).

Biotechnology is one of the most exciting and revolutionary sciences of 21st century. According to Convention on Biological Diversity, biotechnology is defined as “any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use”. Biotechnology has proven its immense applications at every step of human life such as, health care, crop improvement, development of valuable products and abatement of environmental problems. Agricultural biotechnology is the area of biotechnology involving its applications to agriculture. Agricultural biotechnology has been practiced for a long time, as people have sought to improve agriculturally important plants/ organisms by selection and breeding.

Introduction

India produces 77.51 million tones of fruits of which only 10-20% are processed and rest are used as fresh (Singh 2010).  The post harvest losses are estimated to be in the order of 20-40%.  In terms of value it exceeds Rs.2000/- crores annually (Chadha 1989).  Processing of fruits under arid conditions is all the more important due to non-availability of fresh produce throughout the year in rural areas.  However, the area and production under arid fruits are increasing day by day in the states of Rajasthan, Haryana and Gujarat.  As a result seasonal glut has started in the local market and growers are not able to get the remunerative prices of their produce. In our country over 70% of the Indian population resides in village and are engaged mainly in farming and related activities besides their exclusive involvement in domestic work. Keeping above points in view, Agro-based technology should be developed for rural masses to create gainful employment by increasing the productivity through value added processed from arid fruits.

Introduction

Medicinal and aromatic plants constitute a major segment of the flora, which provides raw materials for use in the pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and drug industries. The indigenous systems of medicines, developed in India for centuries, make use of many medicinal herbs. These systems include Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, and many other indigenous practices. More than 9,000 native plants have established and recorded curative properties and about 1500 species are known for their aroma and flavour. In one of the studies by the World Health Organisation, it is estimated that 80 per cent of the population of developing countries relies on traditional plant based medicines for their health requirements (WHO 1991). Even in many of the modern medicines, the basic composition is derived from medicinal plants and these have become acceptable medicines for many reasons that include easy availability, least side effects, low prices, environmental friendliness and lasting curative property. India and China are the two major producing countries, having 40 per cent of the global biodiversity and availability of rare species. These are well known as the home of medicinal and aromatic crops that constitute a segment of the flora, and provide raw materials to the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, fragrance, flavour etc. industries.

The contribution of agro biodiversity to world agricultural production is immense. The world agricultural landscape is now dominated by few crops and varieties. This agricultural scenario is suicidal because the homogeneous plant population is vulnerable to biotic and abiotic stresses. The ecosystems rich in biodiversity possess greater resilience and hence able to recover more readily from biotic and abiotic stresses, such as drought, environmental degradation, pests, diseases, epidemics, etc. Hence, a decline in biological diversity puts the functioning of ecosystems at risk. The cultural value of biological diversity conservation and sustainable management for present and future generations is another important reason for conserving it for posterity. To tide over the precarious condition of food insecurity, rich crop germplasm must be sustainably managed to tap the potential of crop genetic resources. The sustainable management of agrobiodiversity is therefore very essential for developing adaptation strategies in the era of global climate change.

Mites have been known as pests of agricultural and horticultural crops since long but now they rank as very serious pests and vectors of many plant diseases. The application and extensive use of pesticides, fertilizer and improved cultural methods have probably favoured increase of the population. Mites as crop pests are confined to certain group of the other acari. Near about 20,000 species have been described of the total mite fauna on a world basis. From India, 660 species of phytophagous mites have been described and nearly 30 species are reported as potential pests (Gupta 1987). Phytophagous mite belongs to family - Tetranychidae, Tenuipalpidae, Tarsonemidae, Eriophyidae and Tuckerellidae. These mites cause direct damage like loss of chlorophyll, stunting of growth, defoliation, reduction in size and quality of fruits, appearance of various types of plant deformities etc. and all these severely affect the yield. Besides causing direct damages, few phytophagous mites inject toxic substances in to their hosts, which cause increased localized growth and disruption of tissue (Jeppson et al. 1975), and many species belonging to family – Eriophyidae are known to act as vectors of plant viruses. The dust entangled in the web formed by tetranychid mites on leaves prevent the sunlight reaching the leaf surface and as result photosynthesis is impaired, the leaves turn pale, yellow and fall down. This affects the vitality of the plant.