eChapters

The pharynx, or back of the throat, frequently becomes inflamed when a person has a cold or an attack of influenza. This inflammation may also involve the tonsils and adenoids if these have not already been removed.

This is due to many causes:

i) Inflammation of thefauces, soft palate and uvula.

1. Introduction Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), a cereal grain belongs to the grass family (Poaceae), within the subfamily (Panicoidea) and in the tribe (Andropogoneae) (H.J. et al., 2005). It is grown throughout the world in regions with warmer summers and with daytime temperatures often exceeding 90°F (Rai et al., 1999).After wheat, maize, rice, and barley, it is the fifth most significant and nutritious millet in terms of volume. While many varieties of millets are exclusively cultivated for human consumption, sorghum is widely farmed for – food and feed for humans and animals respectively (Awika, 2011). For millions of people in Africa and Asia, sorghum is commonly consumed as a staple.. In West Africa, sorghum is known as dawa, guinea corn, and sorgho while in Sudan, it is referred as durra; in Ethiopia,Eritrea and East Africa, mtama; in southern Africa, kaffircorn, mabele, or amabele; and in the Indian subcontinent, jowar, jonna, cholam, or jola.(Bantilan et al., 2004).

Sorghum is probably originated in Africa. Because of the great diversity of types grown in East Central Africa, in and around Ethiopia and Sudan, it seems probable that it originated in that area (De Condole, 1884).

Loose Smut
Sphacelotheca cruenta
Diagnostic Symptoms
• Affected plants can be detected before the ears come out.
• Shorter than the healthy plants with thinner stalks and marked tillering.
• Ears come out much earlier than the healthy.
• Glumes are hypertrophied and the ear head gives a loose appearance than healthy.
• Sorus is covered by a thin membrane which ruptures very early, exposing the spores even as the head emerges from the sheath(Fig-1).
Etiology
Scientific Classification
Kingdom : Fungi
Division : Eumycota

Abstract

The Directorate of Sorghum Research has explored 9 states for sorghum germplasm during 2000 – 2011. The sorghum landrace collections are mostly named with the village name prefixed to the landrace (ex. tongraligaon maldandi, sultanpur maldandi etc), landraces are also named based on the grain colour (ex. tella jonna, bili jola etc.) and size (ex. moti rabi jowar), ear head compactness (ex. mudda jola), use of the stem, ear head or grain (ex. dagdi, gundu, allur, broom etc.) for varieties utilities. The landraces are being grown by farmers over the years for many reasons. The moli jowar grains are attractive and fetch higher price in the market compared to other released varieties in Madhya Pradesh. Some are used for specific food preparations. The irungu cholam flour is boiled with water to prepare food. The mathappu cholam is used to prepare a jelly like food known as khali in Tamil Nadu. The beed maldandi and bidri from Maharashtra are used to make quality jowar roti. Karnataka’s kodumurugu jola and allina jola are used to make laddu’s and pappads respectively. Broomcorn jowar from Uttarakhand are used for roti, cattle and poultry feed making. The allur jola from Karnataka is used to prepare allu dish during the nagapanchami (festival of snake god). The pachcha jonna from Andhra Pradesh, barmuda local, deshi chari and gudli local from Rajasthan and bendri dagdi and khondya from Maharashtra are very good fodder types. Valsangh maldandi local, Vadgaon dagdi maldandi, tongraligaon maldandi, tongraligaon dagdi, sultanpur local dagdi, sultanpur maldandi, harni jogdi (dagdi), harni jogdi, chungi maldandi, musti local (Maldandi), chungi kuch-kachi, baddi jowar, chakur maldandi from Maharashtra, and sai jonna from Andhra Pradesh are considered by the farmers as drought tolerant landraces. In Andhra Pradesh, Koya’s (tribe) grow konda jonna. Lambada’s used to grow the maghi sorghum landraces extensively in the state. The tribal community mainly uses the accessions as food and some are used for both food & fodder. The accessions collected from the higher elevation and remote forest area is source material for pest & disease resistance. The accession IC 347574 is used as the tribal food. The accession IC 347583 is a guinea race and IC 347585 is a durra-guinea race sorghum collected at an elevation of 500 feet from the tribal village. In Gujarat,Gomati (tribe) grow deshi jonna landraces. In Madhya Pradesh, Rewa district is the maximum deshi jowar cultivation region. This area is commonly called “Junariwala Shetra”. Mehran, Swarguor, and Kushwaha are the main tribes cultivating the jowar in these regions. In Maharashtra, Korukoo’s tribe grows somgi and deshi jonna landraces. They cultivate sorghum with lablab, chillies, cotton, redgram, and tomato at the height of 650 – 870 m from MSL. Maximum diversity of the sorghum still exists in the disturbed forests. Due to extend of its natural variability, India exists as the secondary origin of sorghum.

I. FILL UPS

1. The inflorescence of sorghum is _____.
2. The pollen viability in sorghum is_____.
3. Spacing adopted in sorghum seed production is _____.
4. Seed rate recommended for sorghum seed production is_____.
5. Seed yield of sorghum is _____.
6. The moisture content of sorghum seed should be _____ during storage.
7. Isolation distance for hybrid sorghum seed production is_____.
8. Sorghum is a_____ pollinated crop.
9. _____ crop is used as a feedstock for production of ethanol.
10. _____ hybridization technique is followed for sorghum.

1.1 Introduction Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], a cultivated diploid (2n = 20) tropical cereal C4 grass plant, is currently the fifth most important cereal crop grown in the world and the first important crop in Sudan where drought stress is a major productivity-limiting factor since most of the sorghum is grown under rain-fed conditions. It is a monocotyledon plant of tropical origin, belonging to the Poaceae family. Starch, followed by protein, fat, and fibre, makes up the majority of sorghum’s nutritional makeup, which is similar to maize in terms of its nutritional content. Compared to other cereals, including wheat and maize, the crop exhibits comparatively good water use efficiency. Sorghum is a valuable botanical model crop for other tropical grasses with complex genomes that use C4 photosynthesis due to its vast adaption to severe settings, resistance to stress conditions, diverse germplasm collections, and short (710 Mb) genome size. Sorghum, a historically important source of food and a staple crop, is becoming a crop with a variety of applications, including food, fuel, fodder, and a model for the functional genetics and genomics of tropical grasses.

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moecnch, 2n = 2x = 20, grass family Gramineae/ Poaceae, often cross-pollinated, 6% cross-pollination on an average, 730Mb genome, about 25% the size of maize or sugarcane) is a staple food crop for millions of poor people in the semi-arid tropics of Africa and Asia. It is one of the important dry-land crops grown in marginal soils and a source of feed, fodder and bio-fuel apart from food. It is a short-day C4 plant, and its easy adaptability to hot and dry agro-ecologies makes it a climate change-resilient crop. Sorghum is considered as an often cross-pollinated species, with outcrossing up to 6 % depending on the genotype and growing conditions.

Abstract

Water, the most important component of common foods, is considered to be desirable as well as undesirable in the different food systems. Water-solid interaction in food systems controls various biological, biochemical and biophysical reactions affecting their acceptability. The retention or release of water from solid has been quantified in the terms of sorption isotherm. Sorption isotherm techniques have been used to characterize and identify the type of water-solid interaction in different food products. Sorption isotherm provides various information useful in designing and optimization of drying, storage, packaging, predicting quality and shelf life of the product.

Q1. The exit of drug from C.S.F. irrespective of its entry is by

1. Passive diffusion
2. Filtration
3. Facilitated diffusion
4. All of the above

Q2. The number of half-lives required to reach 99% of steady state concentration is

1. 3.3
2. 4.4
3. 5.5
4. 6.6

Q3. The receptor concept was first introduced by

1. J.N. Langley in 1878
2. Simonis in 1964
3. Paul Ehrlich in 1926
4. Walksman in 1826

When unwanted organism settle on objects, substances or pure culture is called contamination.

Infection

Invasion of the body of a man or an animal or a plant by disease producing organism. Infectious disease is a condition brought about by an infection of the body by an organisms which is responsible for the disease. Organism that are capable of bringing about infectious diseases are called pathogens while those organism without this capacity are said to be non pathogenic.

Commensals

Organisms on skin and mucous membrane which multiply without causing damage to the tissue.

Subclinical infection / latent infection

When organism enters the tissue and lead to immunity without the appearance of any definite clinical symptoms.

Introduction
Energy is necessary for people, ecosystems, and living things to function. The effects of energy generation and use on the  environmentdetermine life quality. Our main source of energy comes from the sun. Energy is used by humans for running transportation, producing industrial items, farming, and residential use.
Definitions
Energy is the ability to do tasks.
Resource: Anything we obtain from our surroundings in order to fulfill our needs and wants. A natural resource is any substance or energy that comes from the environment and is utilized by all living things, including humans. Examples of natural resources include air, water, soil, minerals, plants, and wildlife.

Abstract

Agriculture, like any other economic activity, needs finance. Crop productivity in India is low due to traditional farming practices and agricultural production must increase to achieve self-sufficiency and save foreign exchange. Therefore, credit is vital for enhancing agricultural production. Credit helps develop fixed farm assets and can be classified into short-term loans, medium-term loans, and long-term loans, according to studies on the relationship between agricultural growth and credit availability. However, credit withdrawal might cause a decline in conditions, while credit provision with stagnant production conditions won’t improve output. Since production conditions are dynamic, loan requirements would grow from year to year even if input stay constant.

The sources of contamination of milk on the farm can broadly be categorized as

    a)    Interior of the Udder
    b)    Exterior of the Udder.
The interior reflects the health of the animal, while the exterior depends on the farm condition, equipment, persons, water etc.

a) Interior of the Udder
The animal by itself is one of the most significant contributors of microorganism in milk. The bacteria in the udder usually enter from the teat opening and get distributed internally by their own growth and physical movement. In the normal healthy udder, the types encountered in milk are most predominantly Micrococci, followed by Streptococci, Corynebacterium and others. Most of the bacteria are excreted in fore milk.

Introduction to Energy Sources

Consumption of nonrenewable energy sources has caused more environmental harm than any other human activity during the last century. Electricity generated from fossil fuels like coal and crude oil has resulted in excessive levels of hazardous gases in the environment. As a result, several issues exist now, such as ozone depletion and global warming. Vehicle pollution has also been a significant issue.

As a result, alternative energy sources have become increasingly vital and relevant in today’s society. These sources, such as the sun and wind, can never be depleted and are hence referred to as renewable. They produce fewer emissions and are readily available locally. Their application has the potential to significantly reduce chemical, radioactive, and thermal pollution. They stand out as a promising source of infinite clean energy. These are also known as non-conventional energy sources.

Introduction

Setting up dairy farms and processing units requires substantial capital investment, making access to reliable sources of finance essential for success (Yilma et al., 2011). Dairy farming and milk processing are critical components of the agricultural sector, providing nutrition and livelihoods to millions, particularly in rural areas. Financing options are necessary to cover the costs of livestock, infrastructure, and equipment for milk production, storage, and distribution. Various sources of finance are available to entrepreneurs and farmers, including bank loans, government subsidies, and microfinance (Gashayie and Singh, 2015). Commercial banks offer long-term loans under agricultural finance schemes, providing funding for both purchasing assets and managing daily operations. Government programs often provide subsidies and grants to promote dairy farming, such as the Dairy Entrepreneurship Development Scheme (DEDS) in India, which supports small scale farmers (Naik and Patel, 2022). Microfinance institutions (MFIs) also play a vital role in offering credit to small and marginal farmers with fewer formalities. Additionally, cooperative societies and producer companies help pool resources, offering financial and technical support to dairy farmers (Kumar et al., 2021). For larger processing units, venture capital and private equity investments can provide growth capital. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and international funds also contribute to the dairy sector by offering low-interest loans and promoting sustainability. Understanding these diverse sources of finance is key for dairy entrepreneurs to plan effectively, ensuring long-term profitability and growth.

In case of proprietorship business, the individual proprietor generally invests his own savings to start with, and may borrow money on his personal security or the security of his assets from others. Similarly, the capital of a partnership firm consists partly of funds contributed by the partners and partly of borrowed funds. But the company from of organization enables the promoters to raise necessary funds from the public who may contribute capital and become members (share holders) of the company. In course of its business, the company can raise loans directly from banks and financial institutions or by issue of securities (debentures) to the public. Besides, profits earned may also be reinvested instead of being distributed as dividend to the shareholders.

Thus for any business enterprise, there are two sources of finance, viz, funds contributed by owners and funds available from loans and credits. In other words the financial resources of a business may be own funds and borrowed funds.

1. National Sources of Finance

A. Medium and Long-term Sources

i. Venture Capital: Funding from affluent investors who prefer to invest their money in enterprises with long-term growth prospects is referred to as venture capital. The individuals who provide such investments are known as venture capitalists. Venture capitalists usually acquire equity in the emerging company in return for their backing, which is typically provided as preferred stock.

Venture Capital is a funding source for new businesses. ‘Venture capital refers to investments made in ‘new and untested enterprises’ that do not have a solid growth history’. It comes as capital invested as shareholdings, aimed at establishing and creating firms focused on innovative concepts or new technologies that carry a high perceived risk, yet possess the potential for rapid expansion. Venture capital is generally arranged as equity or quasi-equity f inancial instruments. A venture capital firm acts as an intermediary between investors seeking high returns on their investments and entrepreneurs who require funding to launch their businesses.

Types of Venture Capital Funding

The various types of venture capital are classified according to their applications at various stages of a company’s lifecycle. Early stage financing, expansion f inancing, and acquisition / buy out financing are the three main types of venture capital.

2.1 Introduction

Rain and snow are the two chief sources of water of the earth. In-situ conservation of rainwater helps the plants to meet some of their consumptive uses directly. Not all the amount of rainwater that falls at a point is conserved by the soil reservoir to support the plant growth. Some part of it flows over the soil surface as surface runoff and some seeps down as infiltration and finally adds to the under ground reservoir. Therefore, rain or snow, which is not used directly by the plants, becomes a potential source of either surface or ground water for irrigation. In areas with extreme low temperature, snow contributes major source of water supply wherever, in humid and sub humid regions, rain is the principal source. Precipitation, rain or snow, is the first stage of the continual cycle of water in its round from atmosphere to the earth and return by evaporation from water bodies, snow surfaces and land surfaces. The continual cycle of distribution of water is governed by the process called as hydrologic cycle. Thus, precipitation or atmospheric water is the first form of water above the earth’s surface, the second form being the surface water on earth and the third form is the subsurface water or underground water. The study of occurrence, distribution and circulation of precipitation through the unending hydrologic cycle forms the basic part of study of hydrology. As mentioned above, the part of precipitation that is not used by the plants in-situ flows over the soil surface as runoff and contributes to either surface or ground water supply.

2.1 Introduction

Rain and snow are the two chief sources of water of the earth. In-situ conservation of rainwater helps the plants to meet some of their consumptive uses directly. Not all the amount of rainwater that falls at a point is conserved by the soil reservoir to support the plant growth. Some part of it flows over the soil surface as surface runoff and some seeps down as infiltration and finally adds to the underground reservoir. Therefore, rain or snow, which is not used directly by the plants, becomes a potential source of either surface or ground water for irrigation. In areas with extreme low temperature, snow contributes major source of water supply wherever, in humid and sub humid regions, rain is the principal source. Precipitation, rain or snow, is the first stage of the continual cycle of water in its round from atmosphere to the earth and return by evaporation from water bodies, snow surfaces and land surfaces. The continual cycle of distribution of water is governed by the process called as hydrologic cycle. Thus, precipitation or atmospheric water is the first form of water above the earth’s surface, the second form being the surface water on earth and the third form is the subsurface water or underground water. The study of occurrence, distribution and circulation of precipitation through the unending hydrologic cycle forms the basic part of study of hydrology. As mentioned above, the part of precipitation that is not used by the plants in-situ flows over the soil surface as runoff and contributes to either surface or ground water supply.

Engineering hydrology is the science that deals with the estimation of runoff and its transmission from one place to the other, besides dealing with the properties of water in nature. For, an engineer, surface and groundwater are the two most important components to deal with. But due to lack of data of stream flow, it is usually necessary to study precipitation, evaporation and percolation to indirectly determine the availability of surface and groundwater. For planning and management of water resources systems, an engineer has to estimate (i) water resources potential of a basin, (ii) dependable yield for irrigation and hydel power generation and industrial water demand (iii) probability of occurrence of floods with their magnitude, (iv) sediment yield and transportation (v) hydrometeorology (vi) new sources of water for irrigation (vii) stream flow forecasting by use of precipitation data (viii) water control, navigation, control of soil erosion and control of pollution of water bodies and (ix) operation and maintenance of river valley projects. For estimation of the above mentioned parameters, it is important to understand the hydrologic cycle properly.

Introduction

Organic seeds are produced by purchasing conventional non-treated seeds and growing them on organic plot / farm for one season without the use of any synthetic chemical. The seeds harvested are then sold on to organic farmers as organic seeds.

Over 98% of sprayed insecticides and 95% of herbicides reach a destination other than their target species, because they are sprayed or spread across entire agricultural fields. Runoff can carry pesticides into aquatic environments while wind can carry them to other fields, grazing areas, human settlements and undeveloped areas, potentially affecting other species. Other problems emerge from poor production, transport and storage practices.

Production of organic seeds without the use of pesticides like herbicides (weeds), insecticides (insects), fungicides (fungi), nematocides (nematodes), and rodenticides (vertebrate poisons) is a matter of skill and expertise. For this purpose, the seeds used for planting, the soil where they are planted, the water used for irrigation and even the air, need to be kept free of pesticides in order to prevent their contamination.

Seed

SOURCES OF POISON

1. Malicious poisoning

Unlawful or criminal killing of the animals by certain toxicants as arsenic, Insecticide, datura etc.

 2.Accidental    poisoning    
A) Natural sources 
 ? Plants - e.g. Lantana, datura etc.
 ? Animals - e.g. snake bite etc.
 ? Microbes - fungi (aflatoxicoses etc.), bacteria (Botulinum toxin) etc.
 ? Minerals - Se, As, fluoride etc.
 B)  Man made sources
 ? Agrochemicals - Insecticides, Herbicides etc.
 ? Industrial wastes - Mercury, Copper, Lead etc.
 ? Household products - disinfectants (phenol), Napthelene etc.
 ? Therapeutic agents - paracetamol in cats be lethal
 ? Food & feed - Genetically modified food (GM)
 ? Environmental pollutants & managemental practices

Abstract

On average 13 million hectares of the world’s forests disappear every year due to different reasons. Among them forest diseases is one of the prominent factor. Seeds of soft wood and hardwood trees are attacked by fungi and other microbes.  Seed-borne pathogens of wood trees affect nursery seedlings and reduce seed germination and seedling vigor. The micro-organisms that are mostly associated with tree seeds are fungi, bacteria and to a lesser extent viruses. There are many mechanisms by which tree seeds acquire pathogens. Indeed, both the occurrence and severity of many seed-borne fungi, is often traced to the mishandling of fruits, cones or seeds. The majority of pathogens associated with forest tree seeds are fungi, producing only or predominantly the asexual (anamorph) stage (Deuteromycetes).

Soursop, Annona muricata L., also called as Bullock’s heart, is a larger fruit than custard apple. The flesh is spinny and has a white fibrous flesh in which large black seeds are embedded. It is completely tropical in habitat. It resembles small jackfruit with spines on the surface. Soursop is native to the West Indies. It is very popular in Cuba and Mexico. It is found in India and many other parts of Polynesia.

Uses

Soursop is used for the preparation of sherbet and other refreshing drinks. In Indonesia, the tender fruit is used as a vegetable. Seeds have insecticidal properties and leaves contain an essential oil. Excellent jelly can be prepared from soursop fruit. Unripe fruit powder is prescribed for chronic dysentery. Buds and flowers are considered to be an excellent remedy for cough. Soursop is used as an astringent and also as a blood complement. It has the use as an antidysentric and vermifuge. A black dye is produced from the dye unripe fruit. Seed oil is used as an insecticide and for making agriculture implement. Essential oils extracted from soursop (pulp) have industrial applications and the oils are also thought to improve the flavour of processed fruit products.

Nucleic acid hybridization requires denaturation i.e. the breakage of H-bridges between the complementary strands of the DNA either by heating at high temperatures or by treatment with denaturing chemicals like formamide. The restricted DNA, therefore, is denatured before transfer from the gel onto synthetic membrane since only single stranded DNA binds to nitrocellulose.

Objective:To transfer DNA on nylon membrane by Southern blotting.

Background information

A Southern blot is a method used in molecular biology to detect a specific DNA sequence in DNA samples. Southern blotting combines transfer of electrophoresis-separated DNA fragments to a filter membrane and subsequent fragment detection by probe hybridization.

The British biologist Edwin Southern (Southern, 1975) discovered this technique the technique is known by his name. Southern blotting technique uses digested genomic DNA with restriction enzymes. Southern blotting technique may be used to identify the gene copies number in a genome. A probe that hybridizes only to a single DNA segment that is uncut with restriction enzyme will produce a single band on a Southern blot, whereas multiple bands will likely be observed when the probe hybridizes to several highly similar sequences (e.g., may be due to sequence duplication).

In the southern blotting technique a short DNA probe is used that matches based on complementary DNA sequence fragment on filter membrane. It proves that the DNA fragment on membrane contain specific sequence for which DNA probe is prepared. When DNA is transferred on the membrane from gel it permits binding of radioactive/Biotin labeled hybridization probe to the restricted DNA. Southern blotting is also important for autoradiography.

Southern blotting is an important molecular biology technique that may be used for homology based cloning, screening a DNA library, screening of cloned DNA fragments and to identify methylated sites in genes.

Introduction

Southern blotting was named after Edward M. Southern who developed this procedure at Edinburgh University in the 1970s. To oversimplify, DNA molecules are transferred from an agarose gel onto a membrane. Southern blotting is designed to locate a particular sequence of DNA within a complex mixture. For example, Southern Blotting could be used to locate a particular gene within an entire genome. The amount of DNA needed for this technique is dependent on the size and specific activity of the probe. Short probes tend to be more specific. Under optimal conditions, you can expect to detect 0.1 pg of the DNA for which you are probing.

This diagram shows the basic steps involved in a Southern blot.

Introduction

Southern blotting was named after Edward M. Southern who developed this procedure at Edinburgh University in the 1970s. To oversimplify, DNA molecules are transferred from an agarose gel onto a membrane. Southern blotting is designed to locate a particular sequence of DNA within a complex mixture. For example, Southern Blotting could be used to locate a particular gene within an entire genome. The amount of DNA needed for this technique is dependent on the size and specific activity of the probe. Short probes tend to be more specific. Under optimal conditions, you can expect to detect 0.1 pg of the DNA for which you are probing.

18.1. What?

The basic objective of sowing is to place the seed in rows at the desired depth, to maintain proper spacing between seed to seed, cover the seeds with soil and provide proper compaction over the seed if required. Precise sowing/planting helps in better crop stand. This helps to achieve optimum yields. Traditional sowing methods include broadcasting manually, opening furrows by a country plough and dropping seeds by hand (i.e.) dibbling. In the present day, improved seed-cum-fertilizer drills are used for sowing and fertilizer application. These are provided with seed and fertilizer boxes, metering mechanism, furrow openers, covering devices, frame, ground drive system and controls for variation of seed and fertilizer rates.

18.2. Types of sowing/planting equipment

Sowing equipment include seeders and transplanters. Various types of sowing equipment, viz., manually operated, animal drawn, power operated and tractor drawn are used throughout India.

18.2.1. Seed drills

Seeders are available for sowing seeds of various crops. Some seeders have been designed with adjustable metering mechanism which makes them versatile for sowing two or three kinds of seeds. For example, a multicrop planter developed by CIAE is used for sowing garlic, maize, moong, peas and groundnut. Similarly, the institute has developed a small seed sowing drill which is used for sowing small seeds such as bajra, rapeseed and mustard.

Seeding or sowing is an art of placing seeds in the soil to have good germination in the field. A perfect seeding gives a) Correct amount of seed per unit area. b) Correct depth at which seed is placed in the soil. c) Correct spacing between row-to-row and plant-to-plant. Seed drill is a machine for placing the seeds in a continuous flow in furrows at uniform rate and at controlled depth with or without the arrangement of covering them with soil. Planter is normally used for those seeds which are larger in size and cannot be used by usual seed drills. A planter consists of: (i) hopper (ii) feed metering device (iii) knock out arrangement (iv) cut-off mechanism (v) furrow opener and (vi) other accessories. A planter has seed hopper for each row.

After attaining green revolution, nutritional security is of utmost importance in the current agricultural scenario. Vegetables play a key role in providing nutritional security in the country. They are important and readily available source of mineral nutrients and vitamins and play a vital role in the financial economy of the majority of small and marginal farmers. Further, these roles are becoming more transparent in the light of agriculture diversification as the vegetables have many agro-economic advantages and can fit into varying cropping systems under diversified conditions. After China, India is a leading vegetable producer but the productivity of vegetables per unit area is very low compared to other developed countries. Poor crop stand establishment is one of the factors responsible for low productivity. Yield and productivity can be improved by using advanced technology on the field preparation, optimum sowing conditions, correct nursery practices and planting methods.

Almost all the vegetable crops are propagated by seed, except a few. Crops are raised either by direct seeding in the field or by transplanting seedlings raised in nurseries. Direct seeding is the placement of seeds at desired depth into the final location where soil environment is ideal for optimum germination and crop stand establishment. On the other side, transplanting refers to removal of actively growing seedlings from one place to another with the purpose of having them continue their growth in the new location until harvest.

The vegetable crops like peas, beans, cowpea, okra, beet leaf, spinach, fenugreek, coriander, carrot, radish, turnip, beetroot, etc. are sown directly in the field, while tomato, eggplant, hot pepper, sweet pepper, onion, leek, sweet potato, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprout, kohlrabi, kale, lettuce, celery, parsley, rhubarb, squashes, etc. are first sown in the nursery beds where seedlings are raised and then transplanted in the main field. Both direct seeding and transplanting are practiced in most of the cucurbits like gourds, cucumber, melons and pumpkin.

The directly sown vegetable crops do not respond to transplanting because their embryonic roots do not produce lateral fibrous roots after uprooting unlike transplanted crops where numerous fibrous roots are generated, thus, making the plant to absorb more nutrients.

Sowing equipment plays an important role in modern agriculture by ensuring efficient and precise planting of seeds, which is fundamental for achieving optimal crop yield and quality. The evolution of agricultural machinery has transformed traditional methods of sowing, replacing labor-intensive practices with mechanized solutions that save time, reduce human effort, and enhance productivity. These tools and machines are designed to address the diverse requirements of various crops, soil types, and climatic conditions, making them indispensable for farmers seeking sustainable farming practices. The key objective of sowing equipment is to place seeds at the desired depth and spacing, ensuring uniformity in the field. This precision not only promotes better germination rates but also facilitates proper growth and development of crops. Modern sowing machines are equipped with advanced features such as adjustable depth controls, seed metering systems, and compatibility with fertilizers, enabling farmers to customize their planting process according to specific needs. Additionally, the integration of technology in these machines has further enhanced their efficiency, with GPS-guided systems and automation ensuring minimal wastage and maximum accuracy. Sowing equipment also contributes to soil conservation by minimizing disturbance during the planting process. Techniques such as zero-tillage and minimum-tillage sowing are made possible with specialized machinery, reducing erosion and preserving soil health. Furthermore, these tools are designed to work seamlessly in various terrains and conditions, ensuring consistent performance in diverse agricultural landscapes. By optimizing resource utilization and improving planting accuracy, sowing equipment supports farmers in meeting the growing demand for food while adhering to environmentally responsible practices. The advancements in this field continue to revolutionize agriculture, offering innovative solutions that align with the goals of efficiency, sustainability, and profitability.

Introduction

Soybean has earned a place of prominence in world agriculture as one of the most important food crops contributing to protein and oil production. Pertaining to the family Fabaceae, soybean is a legume with over 42% protein and 20% oil in its seeds. The crop fits into the production system of monsoon rainy season of India during the period from June to October and can be grown on wide variety of soils; but performs best on fertile heavier soils of clay and silt.

Soybeans originated in Southeast Asia and were first domesticated by Chinese farmers around 1100 BC. By the first century AD, soybeans were grown in Japan and many other countries. Soybean seed from China was planted by a colonist in the British colony of Georgia in 1765.

Introduction of soybean to Indian subcontinent dates back to 1000 AD through silk route from north-eastern India and Himalayan mountains. The black-seeded soybean has been traditionally grown in North and north-eastern regions of India and further spread to different parts of the country. This black-seeded soybean, Kalitur, was the vehicle for soybean revolution in India. The major initiative on soybean cultivation was undertaken during 1963-64 by G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology (GBPUAT), Pantnagar and JNKVV Agricultural University, Jabalpur in collaboration with University of Illinois, USA. The cultivation has further picked up after the researchers took advantage of yellow-seeded material to develop high-yielding varieties that suited Indian conditions. Soybean cultivation got momentum during the 1970s as the vast monsoon fallow lands of Madhya Pradesh provided appropriate niche for its cultivation. Presently soybean is cultivated on nearly 10 million ha land with likely production of above 10 million tonnes.

Introduction
 
Soybean (Glycine max L. Merril) is the world’s most important oil yielding legume which contributes 25% of the global edible oil, about two thirds of the world’s protein concentrate feeds for livestock, poultry and fish. India ranks fifth in the area and production in the world after USA, Brazil, Argentina and China. The contribution of India in the world soybean area is 10% but to total world soybean production is only 4% indicating the poor levels of productivity of the crop in India (1.1 t/ha) as compared to other courtiers (World average 2.2 t/ha) which is a major cause of concern.

Soybean, a source of 40 per cent good quality protein, 20 per cent oil and other nutrients has great potential in meeting nutritional requirements and extending health benefits through soy based food products to Indian population. Soy foods are nutritious, economical and good for health. Regular food use of about 10 per cent processed soybean flour with cereal flours or 25-30 g properly processed soybean per day in a diet entitles the consumer to derive maximum nutritional and health benefits at a relatively low-price. Soy food products like fullfatsoyflour, soy-based bakery products and dairy analogs (soy milk, soy paneer (tofu), curd (dahi), soyshrikhand, soy amrakhand), being the products of acceptable type to Indian population, have good scope. Different organizations have given input in R&D work on soybean processing. SPU Centre at ICAR-CIAE, Bhopal has been involved in development of number of soybased food products, technology and equipment for preparation of those. To make available the properly processed soy food products to our population, the centre is actively engaged in capacity building of upcoming entrepreneurs and entreprise development for soybean processing for food uses. Around 500 cottage scale soy food enterprises have been established in different states of the country.

1. Rhizoctonia aerial blight / Web blight
Symptoms
• The soybean Rhizoctonia aerial blight is a damaging foliar disease that quickly defoliates plants in warm, humid climates.
• Rhizoctonia solani causes soybean aerial blight, which manifests as leaf and pod spots, leaf blight, defoliation, lesions on the stem and petiole, a mycelium that resembles a cobweb, and sclerotia that form on diseased leaves.
• The plant’s lower or central sections are where infection starts, and it progressively spreads upward.
• The leaves first have wet patches that eventually become green to reddish brown in color before turning tan, brown, or black.
• Small spots at first eventually combine to cover a significant portion of the leaf.
• Affected leaves droop and stick to the pods and stem underneath them during the aerial blight phase, infecting the pods and seeds in the process.

I. FILL UPS

1. Soybean is also known as_____.
2. _____ is the largest oil seed crop in the world.
3. Soybean is a_____ crop.
4. The isolation distance for soybean is _____.
5. Spacing adopted for soybean is _____.
6. Seed rate for soybean is _____.
7. _____ extracted from soybean oil used as emulsifier and lubricant.

Soybean (Glycine max L. Merr. 2n = 2x = 40, essentially a self-pollinated oil seed crop, family Leguminosae), also known as a miracle crop with on average 40% protein and 20% oil and one of the globally “Four Big Crops” namely rice, wheat, corn and soybean. As per FAOSTAT-2016, global soybean acreage, production and productivity are 121 million ha, 335 million tons and 2755 kg per ha for the year 2016. As per this statistics, top ten soybean producing countries are USA (108 million tons), Brazil (87 million tons), Argentina (53 million tons), China (12 million tons), India (10 million tons), Paraguay (10 million tons), Canada (6 million tons), Ukraine (4 million tons), Bolivia (3 million tons) and Uruguay (3 million tons).

Abstract

The groundwater behaviour in hard rock aquifer systems has always remained enigmatic owing to the heterogeneity of the aquifer systems. This is the reason why there are a lot of failures in groundwater targeting and management in hard rock aquifer systems even after the employment of many modern technologies. For precise groundwater targeting in hard rock aquifer systems various parameters like lithology, the type and the degree of structural deformation, the degree of weathering, geomorphology, etc., will have to be analysed which involves spatial analysis of voluminous data. In the sphere of spatial modelling, GIS plays an important role. Hence, a newer study has been carried out in parts of Madurai, Dindigul and Theni districts, Tamil Nadu, to identify the groundwater provinces and their functions using GIS. In the said study, GIS images were generated on the groundwater targets through GIS integration of transmissivity, permeability, storage co-efficient and water level. Such GIS image showing groundwater maxima was overlaid with GIS image of fracture maxima, subsurface geology maxima and the geomorphology maxima and thus by various GIS based spatial manipulations, aquifers controlled by structure, geomorphology, subsurface geology, and combinations of the above various variables were brought out. This has provided potential method for precise targeting of groundwater.

Energy, food production and various other natural resources are the limiting factors on this earth. The result of this bitter truth has been published in a book titled ‘The Limits to Growth’ in 1972. If the enormously growing population and the industrial process is not checked, then the earth’s civilization may come to an end within next hundred years.

By considering the space travel, we can very well understand about the Ecosystem. When we go away from the biosphere, it will be appropriate to develop unlimited environment through the energy accumulated from the sunlight in space. For the space travel for some days to moon and back to earth, we need not establish the entire ecological system as greater quantity of O₂ and food stuffs can be stored and CO₂ and other unwanted materials can be fixed for establishing space colonies, we have to build a special space ship with important abiotic components which can be recycled for use again and again. The vital processes of production, consumption and decomposition can be established and balanced through biotic components. In other words we are creating a complete mini human ecological machine. Before we established this system, we should be quite familiar about the space problems and its implications.

Abstract

Limits to crop production are shrinking land area under cropping, shortage and higher cost of irrigation water, fertilizers, pesticides, electricity, labour wages and harvest and post harvest losses due to non-availability of cold chains and storage spaces. Diversification of crops to high value products is yet to gain momentum. Restrictions in marketing due to APMC acts are to be reviewed and drafted farmer-producer friendly. Forcing of horticultural crops-vegetables, fruits, flowers, spices, aromatic crops-to market fresh produces during off season is getting attention and many such units are established as a part of urban and peri-urban horticulture. Ready to assemble forcing structures are now available. Hi-tech nurseries, integrated soil and water management through fertigation, pests and disease management by bio-pesticides, predators and parasitoids, pheromones and light traps are successfully demonstrated. Space saving horticulture focuses on maximization of productivity and minimization of inputs costs in an eco-friendly and sustainable way.

Key words : Remote Sensing, Ecosystem, Environmental Pollution, Biodiversity Conservation, Coastal Environmental Degradation, Wetland.

Introduction

National prosperity and human resources development are primarily shaped by the availability of natural resources and their use. None the less, the benefits are quite often negated by the resultant environmental degradation concomitant with their utilisation for economic values. The problems of environmental degradation have assumed critical dimensions in many parts of India due to resources exploitation; industrialisation and urbanisation, unchecked population growth and a never ending quest for energy to meet the increasing demands. Moreover, improper utilisation of resources has resulted in such environmental problems as soil erosion, waterlogging, floods, droughts and pollution of various types besides socio-economic disparity among people.

After the 1972 Stockholm conference on Human Environment and Development, there has been a phenomenal increase in the worldwide interest in the environmental issues associated with development. Consequently, the focus of development has shifted to environment friendly and sustainable developmental planning in recent years. The Rio Summit (June 3-14, 1992) further emphasised the fact that earth is an integral and interdependent system, which require sustainable developmental planning. During deliberations of the Rio Summit (Earth Summit), it was emphasised that satellite imagery will be quite helpful in monitoring earth’s environment.

India has a long tradition of environmental protection and has enacted laws during the last three decades to give further impetus to the conservation of natural resources and protection of environment. Some of the important laws are:

ABSTRACT

The estimation of the water requirement of crop is one of the basic needs for crop planning on the farm and for the planning of any irrigation project. Water requirements of crops include the losses due to Evapotranspiration (ET) plus the losses during the application of irrigation water (unavailable losses) and the quantity of water required for special operations such as transplanting and leaching of excess salts for crop growth. It is therefore necessary to estimate the ET and Crop Water Requirement (CWR) for the efficient use of water and increased crop production. In the present study, meteorological data were collected and the crop ET (ETc) and the CWR were estimated using FAO Penmann – Monteith method for the cropping pattern of the Buthangudy canal command area situated at a distance of 2Km from the popular village Sethiathope, Cuddalore district, of Tamil Nadu, India, which is located in between the Kumbhakonam – Chennai NH – 45 main road. The methodology combines the capability of GIS and CWR to produce maps showing spatial distribution of water resources over large areas.

Abstract

This paper presents a kinematic analysis for explaining the spatial and temporal variations of deformational structures in the Cuddapah Proterozoic orogenic belt, South India. This belt shows virtually undeformed, flat-lying sedimentary rocks in its western margin, whereas strongly deformed and folded rocks in the eastern boundary. The structural variations indicate increasing deformation in the east direction, implying a relative tectonic convergence from the east side. Based on the corner flow theory, we use a viscous model to determine the heterogeneous strain field in the asymmetric convergent zone, and explain varying deformations from the foreland to hinterland. According to this model, the strain field in the hinterland part varies in a pulsating manner with progressive crustal thickening, giving rise to multiple deformational structures in the course of a single continuous tectonic movement. We also studied the strain field in finite element models considering the gravity forces, and obtained similar results. The foreland vergence of deformational structures in the Cuddapah belt indicates a top-to-west horizontal shear during the overall horizontal contraction. Our numerical models show that this horizontal shear component in the foreland region is likely to be associated with a vertical shear component in the hinterland.

Introduction

All spatial data stored in a GIS are associated with a map projection, either implicitly (so-called “unprojected” data stored with raw longitude, latitude coordinates) or explicitly (where the data have been transformed into a known map projection). Map projections are a particularly important feature of spatial data because they introduce error and distortion, since a sphere cannot be transformed to a plane without some stretching and twisting of the sphere’s surface.

The typical GIS package supports anywhere from 5 to 50 map projection types, and most projections may be modified or customized by varying their parameters. This flexibility is important for two reasons First, in order to use two or more layers together in a GIS for visualization or analysis, all data must be projected in the same way. Second, certain types of analyses, such as the measurement of area, are only valid when using certain types of projections (and conversely, are completely wrong when using an inappropriate projection).

Introduction

Spatial data is different from a non-spatial data in the sense that it always has a spatial reference system which is nothing but a pair of coordinate values and a system of reference for these coordinates. For example, the locations of benchmark soil series of India can be defined as pairs of longitude and latitude in decimal degree values with respect to the prime meridian at Greenwich and zero latitude at the equator. The World Geodetic System (WGS84) is a frequently used system of reference on the Earth. The different types of spatial data are: (i) point, which is a single point location, such as a GPS reading or a geocoded address (ii) line, which is defined as a set of ordered points, connected by straight line segments (iii) polygon, an area, marked by one or more enclosing lines, possibly containing holes and (iv) grid, a collection of points or rectangular cells, organised in a regular lattice. Among the above said spatial data, the first three are vector data models and represent entities as exactly as possible, while the fourth data model is a raster data model, representing continuous surfaces by using a regular tessellation. In this chapter, we discuss how a spatial data can be handled in R. There are several packages available in R in which spatial data analysis can be handled e.g. sp, rgdal, raster etc. All the contributed packages for spatial data analysis in R address two broad areas: moving spatial data into and out of R, and analysing spatial data in R. In the following section, the sp package for spatial data handling is briefly discussed.

ABSTRACT

Soil is the medium in which the plant growth and development occurs. Soil type might change with genesis of the parent material and with prevailing weather conditions. Dominant soils of Tamil Nadu are Black soil, Red soil, Laterite soil and Hill soils. Each soil type has an inherent potential to retain and release nutrients to plants. The availability of nutrients varies from place to place and hence spatial distribution of nutrients, quantity of nutrients along with plant available water determines phenological development of crops. Nutrients are broadly classified as Macro and Micro nutrients that are required for crops in large and small quantities respectively. Availability of both macro and micro nutrients and its spatial distribution has not been attempted so far at a regional level. Such regional level approach of nutrients would suffice the researchers and policy planners to employ these data as inputs to Crop Simulation Models (CSM) in forecasting productivity of crops.

Thiruvannamalai district in Tamil Nadu is divided into 6 taluks, 18 blocks covering an area of 6,31,205 haof land. The district lies between 12⁰ 00’ to 12⁰ 55’ N latitude and 78⁰ 37'to 79⁰ 45’ E longitude. Red loamy soil is predominantly prevalent followed by black loamy soils. Generally paddy, groundnut, sugarcane, millets and pulses are cultivated during fasli season. This district was chosen as our study area.

A study has been attempted to map micro nutrients of Thiruvannamalai district. Geo-referenced surface soil samples from eighteen blocks of Thiruvananmalai district covering maximum soil units of soil map were collected randomly as per procedure adopted by soil survey manual. Global Positioning System (GPS) were used to collect corresponding geographic coordinates from each soil sampling point covering the entire Thiruvananmalai district by using Rikaline Bluetooth GPS 6031- X7 model. Approximately one thousand five hundred surface soil samples were collected, air dried, powered and sieved as per standard conditions. Soil samples were analyzed for its physical, chemical and fertility properties. Fertility maps for Micro nutrients such as Zinc, Iron, Manganese, Copper and Boron were plotted in ARCGIS Desktop. Micronutrients maps form a part of base map in analyzing and preparing an aggregated fertility map of Thiruvannamalai district.

Remote sensing images have an important characteristic known as spatial frequency. Spatial frequency is defined as the number of changes in pixel value per unit distance. Few changes in pixel or brightness value over an area in an image are known as low spatial frequency area like agricultural fields, forests, water bodies, etc. If the changes are large, then it is known as high frequency area like roads, built up areas, etc. Spatial filtering is an approach for extracting quantitative spatial information by taking into account the neighbouring pixel values along with the independent pixel value. Therefore, filtering is a technique for modifying or enhancing an image. Filtering is done to improve the interpretability of raster image or to extract certain information from them. It is a neighbourhood operation because the value of any pixel in the output image is determined by applying certain algorithm on the neighbourhood pixels of the corresponding input pixel. The nature of algorithm to be applied depends upon the information which user wants to derive from the raster image. Filtering operations are mainly done for smoothening, sharpening, noise removal and edge enhancement. A filter is a kernel of small array which is applied to input pixel and its neighbouring pixels in the raster. There are many types of filters which can be applied to a raster image in R. These types with their respective R – code examples are explained further.

Introduction

Activities to promote and monitor the growth of aquaculture inherently have a spatial component, because of the variations among biophysical and socio-economic characteristics from location to location. Biophysical characteristics may include water quality, soil type and climate. Socio-economic characteristics in aquaculture development may include administrative regulations, competing resource uses, market conditions, infrastructure support, and availability of technical expertise. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) provides the spatial information needed for decision-makers who evaluate such biophysical and socioeconomic characteristics as part of aquaculture planning efforts more effectively and timely (Kapetsky and Travaglia, 1995). GIS is potentially a powerful tool for assisting this class of decision-makers, and is already being effectively used for such purposes in some places (Carswell, 1998; Arnold et al., 2000) where advanced capabilities in terms of infrastructure and trained personnel exists. Nath et al. (2000) discussed various applications of GIS in aquaculture. In general spatial information technologies are being effectively used for sustainable management of aquaculture and inland fisheries. Some potential applications are as follows: