eChapters

Abstract

Livelihood of ~80% of rural inhabitants depends upon agriculture that relies upon the prevailing environmental conditions such as water availability and temperature. If unfavorable to the crops, these conditions would impact production and productivity leading to food-insecurity. Various abiotic stresses are generated due to the physiography that includes altitude, topography, edaphic factors, water availability and ecosystem degradation. In spite of the environmental limitations, crops have survived suggesting operation of relevant adaptive mechanisms in the native species. Indeed, novel genetic mechanisms were present and these could be utilized to improve the plant productivity under stress conditions. Also there are issues on the management of abiotic stresses, which need to be addressed. The chapter presents framework and policies on sustaining agriculture production under the situations of abiotic stress to ensure production sustainability by protecting livelihood of the inhabitants. Western Himalaya was deliberately chosen as the focus for discussion.

19.1 Introduction

Nano technology or Nano Science is a new branch of research though nano materials or Nano Structures are not new. In nature nano particles or nano materials are abundant .The idea of manipulation, production, controlling size and physico - chemical properties and application as well as making devices out of these nano materials is the subject of Nano Science & Nano Technology. As the name suggests, the domain of Nano starts from 10-9 m but especially the effect of nano structures exists mostly in the 1-100 nm regime where quantum - mechanical behiviour is prevalent. Molecules with more than 10 atoms fall into the nanometer range  and scientists were not able to visualize individual molecules and nano scale objects until the invention of some very powerful microscopes. Working in Nano domain requires two basic facilities -

Soil is the outer loose layer of earth consisting of layers of mineral material (regolith) whose properties differ from one another and these differences are largely due to the variation in biological activities. Soil micro-environment principally comprizes of inorganic particulates (sand, silt and clay) plus certain oxides and hydroxides, plant roots, organic matter, microbial biomass and aqueous and gaseous phases. The uneven distribution of these components provides a great variety of conditions from field to micropores. The interaction of physical and chemical factors contributes to the creation of varied soil habitat and hence determines the composition and activity of soil biota at a particular site and time. Over geological times, microorganisms have had great opportunity to become distributed worldwide. Such growth and development of microorganisms as well as species diversity is of considerable significance. The existing geographic distribution is reflective of long term adaptation of microorganisms to the various environmental conditions. The preferred environment of an organism is usually referred as ‘habitat’.

8.1 Introduction

Vegetables are cultivated over an area of about 19 million ha globally, with an annual production of 268 million tonnes; Asia and Africa account for more than 90% of the hectarage and production (FAO, 2011). Vegetable crops contribute to human and environmental health. Most vegetables can supply plant proteins, vitamins (especially vitamins A and C), folic acid, minerals such as iron and calcium, and dietary fiber to the human diet (Fowler, 2011). Vegetable legumes also fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil, thus improving soil fertility. Their haulms can be used as high quality livestock fodder. Most vegetables are high-value, repeat-cycle crops that can help lift small-scale farmers out of poverty in developing tropical countries (Genova et al., 2010). However, vegetable production is often constrained by several severe biotic- and abiotic factors that reduce yields and profits.

19.1. Introduction

A wave of research on insect pheromones has been initiated in early 1960’s in response to public concern and alarm about chemical pesticides to develop an elegant and ecologically safe technology for the control of insect pests. Pheromones, a class of semiochemicals are considered as ‘Biochemical Pesticides’, belong to the subdivision of Biorational pesticides which include “Microbials” (Viruses, Bacteria, Pathogens etc.) and “Biochemicals” (insect plant growth regulators, semiochemicals etc.). The term biorational (biological + rational) pesticides can be defined as the use of specific and selective chemicals, often with a unique modes of action, that are compatible with natural enemies and the environment, with minimal effect on non-target organisms. Biorational control is based on a diversity of chemical, biological and physical approaches for controlling insect pests which results in minimum risk to man and the environment (Horowitz  et al., 2009).

Abstract

Traditional communities the world over have been using a variety of indigenous biological resources in farming and life support systems. They are direct stakeholders in the in situ conservation and sustainable management of diverse plant species on their farms and in their home gardens. Location specific needs and ecosystem diversity plays a decisive role in maintaining biocultural resources. The present paper, based on six different case studies, describes the practices of traditional and innovative farmers in conservation of indigenous biodiversity. How farmers explore, domesticate and manage wild plant resources to sustain their livelihoods is the main theme of this study. It represents an explorative and qualitative study, carried out with diverse communities living in central India, Indo-Gangetic plains and mountainous ecosystems of Arunachal Pradesh. The study is based on 7 years of collaborative and participatory research with local and native communities. Data was generated using a combination of conventional (personal interviews with open-ended questions and informal interaction) and participatory methods.

C - enamel can: The sulphur resistant lacquer is golden coloured and the can coated with it are called C-enamel can or sulphure resistant can, used for packing non acid products (Plate 35).

CA storage: Storage of commodities under gaseous atmosphere like gas storage, where the composition of atmosphere is controlled accurately. MA and CA differ only in degree of control and CA is more exact. These storage methods in combination with refrigeration markedly enhance storage life of fruit and vegetables (Plate 36).

Introduction

Potato is the fourth most important food crop in India after rice, wheat and maize. India is second largest producer of the world after China having a production of more than 45 million tones. The major producers of potato  are Uttar Pradesh (14.43 million tones) followed by West Bengal (11.6 million tones) and Bihar (6.6 million tones) during 2012-13. In Uttar Pradesh during rabi 2013-14 the total production of potato is expected to be 46.2 million tones. The major potato producing districts in Uttar Pradesh are Agra, Farrukhabad, Firozabad, Hathras, Kannauj and Barabanki. Potato arrival is maximum in Farrukhabad, Kanpur and Varanasi  APMC Mandi and the highest arrival is in the month of march and lowest is in the month of October.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Fenugreek is one of the oldest cultivated spice crops of the world and grown for its medicinal value and forage in India, Western Asia and Nile valley since remote antiquity. In Egypt, it has been cultivated since 1000 BC and is part of the Indian diet for over 3000 years. Fenugreek is used as an important component of holy smoke in Egyptian incense. It is found growing wild in parts of northern India and cultivated all over the subcontinent for its green leaves and seeds. Fenugreek is a native of south-eastern Europe and Western Asia.  India is also said to be a native of fenugreek (Shanmugavelu et al., 2002) and found growing wild in Kashmir, Punjab and upper Gangetic plains.

Brinjal (Solanum melongena Linn.) is one of the widely used vegetable crops and is popular in many countries viz. Central, South and South-East Asia, some part of Africa and Central America (Gurubban, 1977). It is also known as the aubergine, eggplant, melongene, guinea squash etc. Various data indicate that from the several species that evolved in Africa, one (Solanum incanum), gave rise to a distinct species which spread to South-East Asia as the wild ancestor of Solanum melongena (Lester, 1998). It was domesticated in India from the species Solanum incanum and India or Indo-China region is recognized as the centre of the eggplant diversity (Vavilov, 1951). Solanum melongena is a delicate, tropical perennial often cultivated as an annual in temperate climates. The fruit is botanically classified as a berry and contains numerous small, soft seeds which are edible, but have a bitter taste because they contain nicotinoid alkaloids. This is unsurprising as it is a close relative of tobacco.

Endowed with varied agro-climatic situations, topography and soil type, India has been a leading vegetable producing country in the world occupying the second position in vegetable production after China with an annual production of 87.53 million tonnes from 5.86 million hectares having a share of 14.4 per cent to the world production. With commercial cultivation of as many as 61 annual and 4 perennial vegetables, India is the most diverse vegetable growing country in the world (Prakash et al., 2006). It is quite encouraging to know that our country occupies first position in cauliflower production and second in onion production. In India vegetables are grown both as mono-cropping (vegetable-vegetable cropping system) and sequential cropping after cereals, oil seeds and pulses. Besides, intercropping of vegetables with upland rice, maize, sugarcane, mango, papaya, banana and other fruit crops are also being encouraged in many areas. Vegetable based farming is rapidly emerging as one of the important  production systems in India  as this enterprise produces  a much higher income than any other type of farming in a shorter period of time. 

Aconites, the tuberous roots of which contain highly toxic alkaloids, are deadly poisons. In small doses, aconites are beneficial in nasal catarrh, sore throat, gibbous, paralysis and chronic fevers. Aconitum is a genus of perennial, erect or rarely twining herbs distributed over North temperate regions of world. The mountains of Eastern Asia form the primary centre, presenting the greatest diversity of genus. About 28 species are reported from India, mostly confined to alpine and subalpine belts of Himalayas. Of the Aconitum spp. occurring in India, roots of nine species are obtained in Indian market. In fact, aconite sold in Indian market is a mixture of 304 species. Still, A. ferox, known as Indian Aconite, is considered the most important.

A. ferox is a perennial herb with tuberous roots. Roots are paired, daughter tuber, ovoid oblong to ellipsoid, with filiform root fibres. Leaves are scattered, orbicular-cordate to reniform, palmately 5 lobed, resembling melon leaves. Petioles are pubescent. Flowers are pale dirty blue, borne in a dense terminal raceme, 10-25 cm long. Follicles are oblong with long, obovoid winged seeds.

1. Damping-off
Pathogen
Pythium aphanidermatum (Edson.) Fitz.
P. debaryanum                  
Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn.
Fusarium spp.
Sclerotium spp.
Symptoms
Damping-off of onion seedlings occurs in two stages:
    (i)    Pre emergence
(ii)    Post emergence
In pre emergence stage, plumules are killed before they reach the soil surface. They may be infected, killed even before the hypocotyls have broken the seed coat.

Topology building

Boolean operations

Query and model building

Customization

Introduction

At human scales, the world consists of objects, events, processes, and a background environment. Cognition is about knowledge: its acquisition, storage and retrieval, manipulation, and use by humans and other intelligent creatures. Cognition includes sensation and perception, thinking, imagery, reasoning and problem-solving, memory, learning, and language. Cognitive structures and process are part of the mind, which emerges from a brain and nervous system inside of a body that exists in a social and physical world. Spatial cognition deals with the cognition of spatial properties of the world, including location, size, distance, direction, shape, pattern, movement, and inter-object relations. GIS design will be largely influenced by spatial cognition.

International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR) now known as International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) uses the following items in genetic resources documentation. 
    i)    Passport (accession identifiers and information recorded by collectors) 
    ii)    Characterization (consists of recording those characters which are highly heritable, can be easily seen by the eye and are expressed in all environments) 
    iii)    Preliminary evaluation (consists of recording a limited number of additional traits thought to be desirable by a consensus) of users of the particular crop
Characterization and preliminary evaluation will be the responsibility of the curators while further characterization and evaluation should be carried out by the plant breeders. The data from further evaluation should be fed to the curators who will maintain a data file.

Chapter I
Preliminary 
1. Short Title and Commencement 
    (1)    These rules may be called the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Rules, 2003.   
    (2)    They shall come into force on the date on which the Act shall come into force.   

2. Definitions 
        In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires, -   
    (a)    “Act” means the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001(53 of 2001);

1.    Introduction    272
2.    Alcohols    273

    2.1.    Methanol, 274
    2.2.    Ethanol, 277
    2.3.        Butanol, 283

3.    Biodiesel    284
4.    P-series fuels

Abstract

Microbial inoculants are low cost inputs with high benefits in agriculture. Solid carrier based (peat or lignite) inoculants are used in most tropical countries. The carrier based inoculants have short shelf life, are liable to have high contaminants and have shown inconsistent field performance. In recent years, special liquid formulations containing not only the desired microorganisms and their nutrients but also added cell protectants or chemicals that promote formation of resting spores or cysts have been developed. The liquid formulations have longer shelf-life (12 months at room temperature) and are also more tolerant to adverse conditions encountered in storage. Liquid Rhizobium biofertilizers enhanced the soybean crop yields in the United States of America, Brazil, Europe and Asia over carrier based inoculants.

Soils of India vary widely among different regions. The first soil map of India was prepared and classified on the basis of existing knowledge of Russian pedological principles. Govind Rajan (1971) and Govind Rajan and Rao Gopal (1978) have discussed in detail the later developments on the preparation of soil map of India and giving the equivalents of different soil groups in US Comprehensive System of Soil Classification. Soil resource mapping was initiated in 1986 and in a span of 10 years (1986-1996), a detailed database in terms of soils, their area and extent, characteristics and grouping following soil taxonomy (Soil Survey Staff, 1999) was created. The present chapter on “soils of India-nutrient status and management concerns” takes into account the following aspects:

Spatial variability in soil parameters including nutrients has been attributed to the parent material, topography, landforms, cropping pattern, fertilization and manuring practices.. Blanket nutrient recommendations further widen the variability and enhance the risk of soil degradation in terms of soil organic carbon and nutrient mining, acidity, green house gas emission, water and environmental pollution. Unfavorable economics on account of blanket recommendation, adversely influence farmers to increase investments in new crop management technologies. This results in low farm productivity and poor soil health, that jeopardize food security and agricultural sustainability.

Summary

RNA interference has revolutionized the concepts in regulation of gene expression. RNA interference is the mechanism that controls sequence specific gene silencing by double stranded RNA. These non-coding RNAs are gene specific regulators critical in the transformation of normal cells to a malignant stage. Alterations in the non-coding RNAs have been linked to specific cancers and can serve as diagnostic markers. The ability of exogenously introduced siRNAs to specifically bind its complementary mRNA and down regulate its expression has various applications. It has markedly influenced the way the role of certain genes is investigated in tumorigenesis. The siRNA technology has been effectively functional in identification of new components and blocking the expression of critical mediators in tumorigenesis.

Abstract

The rhizomicrobiome plays a vital role in maintaining plant health and is highly influenced by the root exudates of the host plant. Plants select a subset of microbes at different stages of their development, and determine the microbiome community composition in its immediate vicinity presumably for specific functions. The rhizomicrobiome is composed of diversified microbial community with specific functions and is highly influenced by the plant type, soil type and environmental conditions. The rhizomicrobiome communities apart from promoting plant growth also elicit induced systemic tolerance to salinity and drought in stressed plants. Bacterial communities producing 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase modulate stress ethylene in plants and alleviate the effects of abiotic stress and increases plant adaptability to stressed environment.

Summary

The soil is the basis of agriculture as the productivity of the farm enterprise is strongly linked to the fertility status of the soil. The soil acts as a reservoir for the essential nutrients that crops need for growth. When these nutrients are in sufficient quantities and balance, agricultural productivity is greatly enhanced. On the other hand if the nutrients are in short supply and imbalanced, crop growth is hampered. When crops grow and produce harvest, they remove nutrients from the soil. These nutrients are exported when the grains or edible parts are eaten and the stover removed. Consequently with time, a soil that is considered fertility will also lose its fertility if no nutrients are added periodically. It is important to assess the fertility status of the soil before planting and all necessary ameliorations effected in time to ensure a good harvest. Various methods exist for evaluating soil fertility. The best indicator of a fertile soil is good growth of crops growing on it.

Peas and beans belonging to the family Fabaceae (Syn. Leguminosae) are delicious and preferred vegetables grown throughout the world. These include cool season vegetables like pea, French bean, lima bean, broad bean and tropical vegetables like cowpea, hyacinth bean, winged bean, jack bean, sword bean etc.  These are integral components of sustainable agriculture due to their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen and to improve soil properties. Legume vegetables are rich in protein and essential amino acids and have significant role in combating malnutrition among poor people and vegetarians.

Abstract 

In this chapter the origin of flavour in tea have been explained under the light of chemistry of green leaves and made tea. The dependency of flavor in the final product on several factors involved in every step of its manufacturing process has been explained briefly to draw a back ground picture of the subject. On the other hand in-depth explanations on the chemical basis of diversity and complex nature of tea flavour have been given following a simple manner.

Moreover, traditional and recently developed analytical methods have also been reviewed critically. Analytical strategies and details of instrumentation involved to study or quantify the flavour in tea have been depicted in details with their prose and cones under the light of complicacy of the subject. Potential and loop holes of the new technology viz. E-Nose have been explained critically. Finally a hypothesis with little experimental proofs has been explained to meet a probable solution to the present problems in flavour analysis of tea.

Abstract

Tea is the most consumed, rejuvenating and thirst-quenching beverage. It is bestowed with ‘miraculous’ health benefits which includes promotion of cardio-vascular health, skin protection, antioxidant activity, defence against microbial infection, prevention from cancer, obesity, and many more. Among the four types of tea, green tea has attained much attention of tea consumers due to its magical health potentials.Owing to increased knowledge and marketing of its health benefits, there has been astonishing changes in its consumption pattern and increase in its production. The tea industry drives economies of the tea growing regions and contributes greatly to the country’s GDP growth as well as foreign exchange earnings. However, in recent years, tea farming has become subject to environmental deterioration because of exploitation in cultivation practices.

Orchids comprise the largest family of flowering plants with 25,000 to 35000  species belonging to 600-800 genera. They are prized for their incredible diversity in the size, shape and colour and attractiveness of their  flowers and high keeping qualities even upto 10 weeks. In the international trade, among   top ten cut flowers, orchids rank the sixth position and among orchids Cymbidium ranks the first position and in floricultural crops it accounts for 3% of the total cut flower production. In India, it comprises 140 genera and 1300 species which grow upto an elevation of 5000m. Indian terrestrials are located in humus rich moist earth under tree shades in North Western India.  Western Ghats harbour the small flowered orchids. Epiphytic orchids are common in North eastern India which grow upto an elevation of 2000m from sea level.

Abstract

The study of computational toxicity prediction is very crucial and necessary, as it is quite time consuming and expensive to measure the toxicity via experimental techniques (Quan Liao et al., 2006). The use of computational approaches particularly to reduce the time and cost for the evaluation of the kinetic and toxic behaviour of any drug has been increased tremendously in recent time period (Richard Judson et al., 2004). Machine learning is a powerful tool to discover new complex combinatorial relationships in various in vitro and in vivo data information (Richard Judson et al., 2004) and has been successfully used in many diverse fields with numerous applications such as pharmacodynamics properties prediction (Czerminski et al., 2001; Livingstone et al., 2003), protein function prediction (Cai et al., 2003), medical decision making (Veropoulos, 2001), spam categorization (Drucker et al., 1999), detection of oil spills (Kubat et al., 1998), and speech recognition (Nuttakorn et al., 2001).

Abstract

Knowledge and communication is an important resource for agriculture and can contribute substantially to ensure food security and sustainability by creating awareness and skill development through access to information. The initial and most prominent player of knowledge delivery is public sector extension services, which from past few years, are usually criticized for their ineffective targeting, poor reach and the huge administrative cost of delivering information. Since past few years, the drastic increase in mobile penetration even in rural areas has lead to evolution of ICT-based extension services models to disseminate agriculture related information.

Plant nutrients are drawn up from soil for growth and development. There are more than 90 elements present in the soil. According to the criteria of Essentiality of Nutrients for plant growth, proposed by Arnon and Stout in 1952, only 16 are considered to be essential for plant growth. Out of these, C (Carbon), H (Hydrogen), O (Oxgen), N (Nitrogen), P (Phosphorus), K (Potassium), Ca (Calcium), Mg (Magnesium) and S (Sulfur) are called Macronutrients (required in large quantities) and the remaining 7 elements - Fe (Iron), Mn (Manganese), Cu (Copper), Zn (Zinc), B (Boran), Mo and Cl are called Micronutrients or trace elements (required only in very small quantities). Among the macro elements - N, P and K are called Fertiliser elements or primary nutrients as they are most often applied in the form of synthetic or mineral fertilisers, and Ca, Mg and S are called secondary elements which are applied in smaller quantities than primary nutrients and required subsequent to primary nutrients.

Biofertilizers can be defined as the preparations containing strains of micro-organisms which can augment the microbiological process viz. nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization or mineralization, excretion of plant growth promoting substances or cellulose or lignin biodegradation in soil, compost or other environments. Biofertilizers can be divided into nitrogen fixing bacteria, phosphate solubilizing and mobilizing microorganisms and organic matter decomposers as (Table 3.1 and Fig. 3.1):

On the basis of Nitrogen Fixation: On the basis of N₂ fixation, they are divided in to two sub categories as

14.1 Introduction

The green revolution brought amazing consequences in food grain production but with insufficient concern for agricultural sustainability. The availability and affordability of fossil fuel based chemical fertilizers at farm level in India have been ensured only through imports and subsidies which are largely dependent on GDP of the country. Dependence on chemicals for future agricultural needs would result in further loss in soil health, possibilities of water contamination and calculated burden on the fiscal system. Indiscriminate synthetic fertilizer usage has polluted the soil, water basins, destroyed micro-organisms and eco-friendly insects, made the crop more susceptible to diseases and depleted soil fertility at the primary levels as of today (Pindi, 2012). India is an agricultural based country.

AIR

Air is a non-homogenous mixture of gases, solid particles, and liquids; It consists of gases and particles with small settling velocity that exhibit stability in a gravitational field. Atmosphere has four major layers Troposphere from 0-17km., Stratosphere from 17-50km., Mesosphere from 50-90 km. and Ionosphere is from 90-100 km. (95% of the air by weight is contained in the Troposphere i.e. from 0-17 km).

SYNOPSIS

We lag in nutritional awareness. The therapeutic values of plant foods, such as vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, herbs, spices and other foods like dairy products, fluids and meats are to be brought to light. The values of important nutrients, may lead to the basis for nutritional education lacking at present. There is need to bring awareness and add to the knowledge of the younger generation. A food is something that provides nutrients. Nutrients are substances that provide: energy for activity, growth, and all functions of the body such as breathing, digesting food, and keeping warm; materials for the growth and repair of the body, and for keeping the immune system healthy.

Abstract

Drying is an age old practice of food preservation. Removal of moisture from the food materials is usually carried out at atmospheric pressure and elevated temperature. In the presence of oxygen, drying can cause oxidation of some compounds leading to quality deterioration. Drying at higher temperature adds to the losses and can be responsible for enzymatic and non enzymatic browning, loss of aroma, nutrients, antioxidants, pigments etc. On the other hand, drying under sub atmospheric pressure helps in retaining the themosensitive compounds present in natural foods as drying can be accomplished in oxygen free environment. Under vacuum, evaporation of moisture can be possible at lower temperatures.

Abstract

Packaging plays an important role in the food processing Industry. It makes food more convenient as well as gives the food greater safety assurance from microorganisms, biological and chemical changes such that the packed foods can have longer shelf life. In order to meet the huge demand of processed food with longer shelf life, various methods of preservation and packaging are being used in the food processing industry. Drying and dehydration is one of the method which helps preservation of a perishable commodity against deterioration or spoilage.

Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) represented as ‘Food of Gods’ is considered as an important beverage crop next to Tea and Coffee. The economic produce of cocoa is the bean, when it is fermented and dried, become the source for chocolate. Cocoa is native to Amazon basin of South America and is domesticated and distributed to different regions by the natives Mayas, Aztecs and Pipil- Nicaraos (Wood and Lass, 1955; Young, 1994) who consumed it as an energy drink called ‘xocoatl’ by roasting and grinding cocoa beans. When Spanish conquered Mexico in 16th century they took cocoa to Europe which is christened as ‘chocolate’ the worlds’ favourite food. From then on cocoa spread to many other countries (Wood, 1991). According to World Cocoa Foundation, currently 40–50 million people depend on cocoa for their livelihood and the production is 3.97 mt in which Africa contributes 71%, Latin America 14% and Asia and Oceania 14% (Jean Marc Anga, 2013). Ivory Coast is the major producer followed by Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria and Brazil. In Asian continent, Indonesia and Malaysia are the leading producers (www.wcf.org.).

There are about 6.5 million coconut farmers in the country. Coconut production, processing, marketing and other connected activities support the livelihood of over 12 million people. Coconut crop provides natural health drink, nutritious edible products and oil for edible and non edible uses, fibre of commercial value, shell and wood for fuel and industrial uses, and a variety of miscellaneous products of utility. Coconut is a symbol of national integration and prosperity. The crop is considered reverential cutting across linguistic and religious barriers promoting national integration. Contribution of coconut to the GDP of the country is around Rs. 100,000 million.

ABSTRACT

In the recent years, the notion of ‘digital divide’ has been widely researched and has attracted much debate and speculation for its economic, social and political consequences. Existing studies reveals, the gap that exists between those who have access to ICTs and those who do not create exclusion, endanger social integration and hamper economic growth. The digital divide has many dimensions and can be categorized as global, regional and national. At national level, there is no single divide, but multiple divides: for instance; within countries, between men and women, young and elderly, rich and poor and most importantly rural and urban. The present paper is mainly focused on India and tries to explore the problem of digital divide mainly in rural-urban India. In the context of present paper, digital divide essentially means teledensity, mobile and Internet divide between the rural and urban areas. The paper reveals that obstacles such as illiteracy, lack of skills, infrastructure,  and investment in rural areas must be tackled if India is to diminish the gap of digital divide. At the government front, it should put thrust towards: connectivity provision, content creation, capacity augmentation, core technologies creation and exploitation, cost reduction, competence building, community participation and commitment to the deprived and disadvantaged which would definitely help in bridging digital divide.

The pigments are energy-rich organic compounds. The potential chemical energy of these compounds comes from the light energy. The light enrgy to be effective in photosynthesis must be absorbed by a suitable pigment. This vital role is performed by a suitable pigment. This vital role is performed by the green pigment. Chlorophyll, carotenoid (carotenes and xanthophylls), anthocynin and phycibilins.

Abstract

Trichoderma species play a vital role in the management of plant diseases in association with different commercial bioformutlations of the fungus. Its role as a successful pollution free environment and friendly mechanism of action has been highly exploited. The diversity of species based on location, type of agri-land and association with different fauna  and flora has been instrumental in large upsurge of biological methods of Plant disease management. Pollution of agri-land soils with chemicals, heavy metals and development of resistance to diseases has become an emerging problem coupled with the high costs of Infrastructure. Thus, the interest in alternative biologically based systems is the need for bioremediation, bioecology and biocontrol with Trichoderma.

Abstract

Today more than 70% of energy is generated by coal-based thermal power plants. Indian coal contains about 40% ash, these power plants generate enormous amounts of fly ash, which is dumped in the nearby areas. This creates not only economy constraints but also imposes serious environmental problems, which are the potential hazards to the ecosystem. However, recent attempts in India and abroad are being made for biological association of fly ash e.g. in soil improvement, in wasteland management and also as a source of essential plant nutrients for nutrient deficient soil in terrestrial eco-system and agro-ecosystem. Fly ash has been found to have manifold advantages in agriculture especially in modification of soil texture and bulk density, in optimization of soil pH, in improvement of water holding capacity of soil, in the improvement of yield as a micronutrient supplement to soil and in creation of conducive condition for better plant growth. In this article utilization of fly ash along with VAM fungi and other microbes especially nitrogen fixers and phosphate solubilizers in removing the constraints of salt affected soils has been discussed.

The vegetables and fruits are largely consumed fresh and day by day, their market demand is increasing due to nutritious quality. However, market supply is not sufficient to meet public demand throughout the year as production is inadequate because crop production has not increased substantially in recent years due to climatic changes. Another important reason for low production is the economic losses incurred due to damages of insect pests and plant diseases.

Since ancient times, reduction in pest and disease incidence is sought by spraying of pesticides including conventional preparations such as tobacco decoction, Bordeaux mixture, neem leaf extract etc. During the green revolution years, the synthetic pesticides were greatly recommended for pest and disease control and thereby increasing crop yields many-fold. Having experienced the spectacular improvement in both yield and quality of marketable produce, farmers were solely dependent on synthetics and ultimately abandoned other control measures.

Pesticides are an undeniable part of modern life, used to protect everything from flower gardens to agricultural crops from specific pests. Pesticides have contributed significantly to improving quality of life and safeguarding the environment. Some 20 to 40 percent of the world’s potential crop production is already lost annually because of the effects of weeds, pests and diseases (according to the FAO reports) (www.CropLifeAmerica.mht). In addition to increasing crop yields, crop protection products used in stored products can also prolong the viable life of products, prevent huge post-harvest losses from pests and diseases and protect food safety for eating.

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.

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) known as Khajoor, Kharek is an important fruit tree of semi-arid and arid regions of the world. It grows well under poor desertic soils due to its hardy plant characteristics and deep root system.  It is also one of the most suitable fruit plant, which can be easily grown under saline irrigation conditions. It is well known fact for date palm that its feet in the water and its head in sun. It requires dry hot climate for growth and development of fruits. In arid region, crop production is risky preposition, where date palm cultivation contributes in achieving food security, high nutritive value food, crop diversification, desertification control, income generation and foreign exchange earnings. It can be grown at such areas where adequate irrigation facilities are available besides other climatic requirements (Chandra et al., 1992; Sharma and Singh, 2013).

R    :    Gas constant.

R factors  R plasmids      :    Plasmids bearing one or more drug resistant genes.

R group    :    Shorthand for the side chain of an amino acid. 

Orchids belong to family Orchidaceae, the largest family of the flowering plants. The term ‘orchid’ has its origin from the Greek word, “orchid” meaning “testicle”, referring to the paired underground tubers of terrestrial orchids. There are several generas in orchids, which are popular for their separate importance as cut flower, pot plant, medicinal properties, flavour extraction, etc. The fascinating flowers exhibit an incredible range of shape, size and colour, long life of flowers on plant and an amazingly long keeping quality, which no other plant can claim.

Clematis is member of the Ranunculaceae family which also known as buttercup family. This cosmopolitan genus comprises climbing lianas, small shrubs and erect sub-shrubs distributed predominantly in the temperate zone of both hemispheres but with some species distributed in tropical areas (Tamura, 1995, Johnson, 1997, Grey-Wilson, 2000 and Wang and Li, 2005). The word clematis is taken from Greek as in “klema” meaning “a vine branch”. Most species are known as Clematis in English while some are also known as Traveller’s joy, Leather flower, Vase vine and Virgin’s bower the last three being names used for North American species (Chawla et al., 2012).

Pulses are the second most important group of crops next to cereals in Orissa occupying about 22% of total cropped area as compared to 54% for cereals. The state grows ten pulse crops, namely, greengram, blackgram, pigeonpea, horsegram, lentil, gram, cowpea, Rajmash, Lathyrus and ricebean out of which the first four crops cover 88% of total pulses area and 85% of total pulses production.
 
During 2008-09, pulse crops in Orissa were grown in about 20 lakh ha having production of  9.94 lakh tonnes and average productivity of 497 kg/ha (Table 1).