eChapters

Agribusiness: A Dynamic Concept
Agribusiness, an ever-evolving concept since its introduction in the 1950s, encompasses a broad spectrum of business and management activities linked to agriculture. Downey and Erickson defined agribusiness as encompassing all activities undertaken by firms that supply inputs to the farming sector, produce agricultural products, and process, transport, finance, or market these products. Chait extended the definition to include agriculturally related businesses such as warehouses, wholesalers, processors, and retailers.
In developed countries, agribusiness is broadly defined as the total output from farm production and processing at both pre- and post-farm gate stages. In contrast, in developing nations like India, agribusiness is categorized into four distinct sub-sectors:
1. Agricultural inputs
2. Agricultural production
3. Agro-processing
4. Marketing and trade
These sub-sectors contribute to adding value and utility to agricultural goods. Agribusiness has emerged as a specialized field within management sciences, focusing on activities and linkages, both backward and forward, related to production, processing, marketing, trade, and distribution of food, feed, and fiber, along with the supply of inputs and services.
Examples of Agribusiness Ventures
• Vermicompost
• Poultry Farming
• Mushroom Cultivation
• Beekeeping
• Livestock Feed Production

This chapter introduces the genetic, physiological, nutritional, environmental and management factors that determine wool quantity and quality. Breed establishes the genetic ceiling, while age, sex, pregnancy, lactation, nutrition, climate, stress, disease and parasites influence fibre growth. The chapter emphasizes the importance of steady nutrition, particularly sulphur-containing amino acids, for maintaining staple strength and fleece production. It also explains how breeding, husbandry, health management, shearing and preparation interact to determine the final commercial value of wool.

As mentioned above, all the present day Bougainvillea cultivars being grown in India are either exotics introduced from abroad (Africa, USA, U.K., South Africa, Australia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Jamaica, Canary Island, Singapore, Java, West Indis etc) or developed by concentrated efforts of nurserymen, individuals or scientific institutions. Bougainvillea are widely grown in Indian gardens. There are numerous varieties and cultivars that are important from floriculture point of view. Most of the present day varieties have arisen through bud sports, chance crossing and induced mutation. India is one of the major repository of wide range of genotypes of Bougainvillea and is perhaps the foremost among nations which have done appreciable good work on Bougainvillea. The genetic variation in plants is considered to be an unlimited resource. The main aim of germplasm collections are assemblies of genotypes or populations representative of cultivars, genetic stocks, wild species etc. which are maintained in forms such as plants, seeds and tissue cultures. The primitive cultivars and wild relatives of crop plants constitute a pool of genetic diversity.  The  germplasm collection and conservation of plant genetic resources provide the diverse raw materials for immediate or future breeding programme. Activities that relate to the conservation and use of plant genetic resources include : exploration and collection; characterization and evaluation; conservation; assessment of variation and identification of useful genes; and exchange and genetic enhancement. Germplasm are the basic raw materials, which after proper screening can be utilized either for direct commercial exploitation or can be used in breeding programme for developing new and novel varieties.

Nanofibres are an exciting new class of material used for several value added applications in the field of such as medical, filtration as barrier in composites, garments, wipes, insulation, and energy storage. Special properties of nanofibres make them suitable for a wide range of applications from medicine to consumer products and industrial to high-tech applications. The US - National Science Foundation (NSF) defines nanofibres as having at least one dimension of 100 nm or less (Hegde, 2005). Amongst the various nanostructures that have recently been developed for use in practical applications, nanofibres produced from synthetic and natural polymershave received increased attention due to their ease of fabrication and the ability to control their compositional, structural and functional properties (Burgeretal.,2006).

INTRODUCTION

Jewellery has been a favorite form of adornment since time immemorial in all parts of the worlds and Indian is not an exception. The significance of jewellery in the country is evident from the fact that on many auspicious occasions, jewellery forms a part of gifts. Jewellery has not only been considered for the purpose of adoration, but it can also be sold to overcome the economic crisis. This way, jewellery also serves the purpose of insurance, which can be depended upon. To accentuate their feminine beauty, women use jewellery made of gold, silver and diamonds. Traditionally, jewellery has always been linked with wealth, power and status.

Abstract

This chapter will look at the major reasons why farmers in India are unable to take advantage of Agricultural profession as a mode of generating income and suggest ways to change this by employing new technologies. Agriculture has basic processes which require identifying the season for planting the seeds at the right time, watering the plants to the required level, undertaking maintenance for the different plants and then finally harvesting at the right time to ensure that the effort that has been put into the agricultural process results in useful output. In business terms the output when it is valued in terms of money, should enable the farming business to sell their output at a certain price that will enable them to pay off the money that has been used for setting up the crop for that cycle. This chapter will underscore the valuable contribution of remote sensing data in farming to enhance operational decisions. We will look at how low-cost technologies can be implemented into the existing agricultural extension activities and help farmers make better decisions that will enable them to be more business oriented. It is envisaged that incorporating high technology-based data into simple to understand terminology willhelp reduce the burden on farmers. This is due to the lack of knowledge but also due to the low volume of information that is possible to be fed to the farmers through the agriculture extension network in the country. However, due to the varied nature of farming in India it is difficult for extension officers to specialise but concentrate their efforts on widely utilised crops in an area. The following figure below explains in simple terms how the cycle of activities occur in a farmer’s world and where business decisions are taken that will have an impact on the profitability.

Our animal companions are our family members. We want the best for them and want them to be healthy and happy. However, just as it is with everyone else, our companion animals can also fall ill and suffer from emotions such as grief, fear, and anxiety. And while we follow all expert medical advice, sometimes we may wish for something more – something that will make life easier for them as well as us. This is where the concept of energy healing for animals comes in – to comfort and support our animal companions. With joy, we watch them relax with a sigh; we see our nervous dogs calm down, and those recovering from an acute illness get back on their paws in no time. Energy healing for animals involves a holistic approach to ensure the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of our animal friends. It is based on the fundamental concept that just like us, our animal companions too have a subtle energy layer, and they too have vital life-force energies or Prana or Qi. And just like us, they, too, have chakras and meridians through which the Qi flows. Energy healing is a set of powerful techniques practiced to calm and restore the balance of the body. This system is largely based on the removal of energetic blocks and helps restore the body’s energy levels. It is crucial for those living with companion animals to understand the importance of energy healing for their animal companions, as it encompasses a broad range of alternative and complementary therapies designed to support the natural healing process of animals. Here are some proven, popular, non-invasive energy healing techniques that bring relief and comfort to companion animals.
1. Animal Reiki: The word Reiki means “mystical energy.” The system of Reiki for healing was revealed by Japanese Buddhist practitioner Mikao Usui in the early 1900s. And while it was initially meant for humans, practitioners soon discovered that animals responded much more swiftly and effectively to this gentle, non-invasive energy work.
2. EFT Tapping: This involves tapping on specific points on the body to free up emotional blocks. EFT Tapping for animals brings powerful transformations when an animal is struggling with emotional distress, such as grief over the loss of a loved human or animal.
3. Scalar Wave Healing: Scalar Wave was discovered in the 1900s by James Maxwell and later Nicolas Tesla. Scalar Wave harnesses the healing power of high vibrational frequencies meeting to create a standing wave, and practitioners use this to bring about healing at a cellular level.
4. Shamanic Healing: In this ancient technique, practitioners work with the elements of nature, such as plants, trees, and stones, as well as beings in other dimensions, to bring about healing. Shamanic healing can reach beyond space and time and has been very effective in releasing old trauma or emotions that are often hidden beneath layers of survival mechanisms.
5. Healing Mantra: Ayurveda, the Indian system of medicine, advocates about different types of Chikitsa. Daivavyapashraya Chikitsa is one of the treatment approaches concerned with Spiritual way of treatment. It includes so many approaches, amongst all Mantra Chikitsa is described in Ayurveda at various places as a potent approach. It is discussed for both the healthy and unhealthy conditions. Mantra comes from Sanskrit word which means sacred message or text, spell. The word Mantra is derived from Man+Tra, man—mananaat---just by chanting and tra—trayate---- we can protect ourselves. Means, just by chanting one can save himself in the universe. i.e. it is saved from onset of disturbances. Mantras are the words loaded with power and sounds capable of penetrating our body into deep levels. Mantra chikitsa is the ancient science originated from Vedas, this is a parallel science to Ayurveda also called alternative medicine system.Mantra Chikitsa is one among the Daivavyapashraya Chikitsa highlights the importance of concept of Mantra. In Atharva Veda and Kaushikasutra, the two most ancient and authentic sources of Daivavyapashraya. Mantra Chikitsa is mainly used for both preventive and curative aspect. It is also used for the enhancement of the Gunas of Aushadhi. Effect of Mantra is described as Prabhavajanya action. Prabhava means the specific and characteristic action of substances, it is called as Acintya. Mantra Chikitsa cure the Karmaja Vyadhi and Agantuja Vyadhi. In the Vedic period, Daivavyapashraya Chikitsa was followed in various rituals.

13.1 Introduction and Physical Principles

A microscope is a tool that enables the user to see objects at a magnification greater than the actual specimen. Resolution and magnifying power are the two integral aspects of microscopy. Resolution is a measure of capability of an image forming system to separate images of adjacent objects. The resolving power (8) is numerically defined as d = 0.61l/n sin a, where,  l is the wavelength of the light, n is the index of refraction of the medium between the specimen and lens, a is half the angle of the cone of light from the specimen plane accepted by the front surface of lens and n sin a is the numerical aperture (NA). The NA represents the light gathering power of the lens aperture or in other words, the measure of obliquity of rays which the lens can accept and utlilize and is limited by blurring of image due to spherical aberration of the lens.

India is very rich in biodiversity especially in animal genetic resources and animals have been part and parcel of agricultural heritage. There are about 30 well defined breeds of cattle found in different parts of the country. To name a few are Sahiwal, Red Sindhi, Gir, Kankrej, Deoni, Tharparkar, Hariana, Ongle, Nagori, Amritmahal and Hallikar. The cattle breeds are classified into three types i.e. dairy, dual purpose and draft/drought animals. The number of the animals of majority of indigenous breeds has declined over the years. Further, their number is very low and majority of cattle population (80%) in India is non-descript. The introduction of systematic crossbreeding program of our native cattle with exotic breeds in seventies have further led to the depletion of prized germplasm of all the indigenous breeds under farm and field conditions. However, considering the importance of indigenous cattle, some of the breed improvement programs have been initiated to conserve and multiply these breeds. The associated herd progeny testing program has been going on at NDRI Karnal for the genetic improvement of Sahiwal cattle. All India Coordinated Research Project on Hariana and Ongole cattle has been undertaken at different centres by Project Directorate on Cattle, Meerut. Lately, three more breeds namely Sahiwal, Gir and Kankarej have been included in the indigenous breed improvement program (IBP) and different centres have been identified as germplasm units and data recording units for different breeds under the program.

1. Introduction

The interest in the uses of medicinal plants has grown considerably from the mid of 20^th century with the introduction of phytochemical analysis of natural products from various plants parts (Matos, 1996). Most studies survey specific local communities to examine patterns of use of plant part for treating various aliments along with the influence of economic and social variables on plant use (Albuquerque, 2006). Medicinal plants are the base for the development of new drug, which is the basic mode of survival of human and livestock from many diseases to maintain their healthcare (Uddin et al., 2014). Number of studies has been carried out globally on ethnomedicinal uses of plants among various indigenous communities (Alexiades and Sheldon, 1996; Basualdo et al., 1995; Martin, 1995). Particularly from the region Karbi Anglong, Assam (Teron and Borthakur, 2012, 2013; Terangpiet al., 2014; Teronpi et al., 2015) have also conducted many notable work on ethnomedicinal. While in all these studies qualitative approaches have not been adapted to document ethnobotanical information. The quantitative approaches on ethnobotany have grown steadily in the last two decades. Today researchers have developed and applied quantitative methods to the various ethnobotanical data to test different hypotheses about the relation between plant species and humans (Reyes-García et al., 2006). Quantitative ethnobotanical indices were applied to determine how important these plants are to ethnic and indigenous cultures whether, as food, veterinary medicine, human medicine or economic value from various non-timber forest products (Pieroni, 2001; Upadhyay et al., 2011; Reyes-García et al., 2006). Therefore, the aim of this study was to document the various uses of the medicinal plant Geophila repens (L.) I.M. Johnst by the Karbi tribe and to apply quantitative methods to determine the specific importance of these plants for treating particular ailment. G. repens is a very rare plant with high medicinal potential (Roy et al., 2011) and is global distribution is reported from India (Assam, Meghalaya, Andaman Islands and Western Peninsula); Bangladesh; Bhutan; Sri Lanka; Nepal; Malaysia; South China; Fiji; Tropical America; and Africa.

Chicken’s eggs have been used as a food item by human beings since antiquity. The egg is composed largely of the proteins out of the three most important dietary essentials (proteins, fats and carbohydrates). The egg proteins are highly digestible and remarkably complete, containing the most important essential amino acids. The amino acid profile of egg is similar to the ideal balance of amino acids needed by humans. It also supplies various minerals, some in significant amounts, and contains a range of vitamins. The nutritive excellence of the egg enhances the value of any food in which it is incorporated. Meeting consumer demands is a constant challenge for the poultry industry. Present day consumers desire somewhat distinct products with respect to safety, healthfulness, freshness, taste, color, etc. To remain competent, various companies have developed several designer and specialty eggs which have appeared in supermarkets.

ABSTRACT

India is blessed with large reserves of strategic and economically important heavy minerals such as ilmenite, rutile, leucoxene, zircon, monazite, garnet and sillimanite. These deposits are mostly located in the coastal stretches of Peninsular India especially between the high tide line and 200-250m inland, with the exception of few inland deposits. Ilmenite is the largest constituent of the Indian beach sand deposits, followed by sillimanite and garnet. These minerals are one of the largest and higher grades in the World. The Indian Ilmenite resource base totals 348 million tones (Mt), along with 18 Mt of rutile, 21 Mt of zircon, 8 Mt of Monazite, 107 Mt of garnet and 107 Mt of sillimanite. Although Indian heavy mineral resources are one of the largest in the world, it is observed that the Production to Reserve Ratio (PRR) is a meager 0.0013; that is insignificant compared to other countries with similar resources.

Abstract

The Remote Sensing and the followed up field based investigations show that the Tamil Nadu coast, India, is facing series of geoenvironmental problems due to tectonic movements and morphodynamic processes. Such problems pose a challenge to the engineering geologists. The paper discusses such challenging engineering geological problems and plausible remedial measures.

Crop Stand Establishment

Good crop establishment is one of the most important features in better crop production. The better crop establishment is in turn expressed as optimum plant population in fields.

Plant population is the number of plants per unit area in a cropped field. It indicates the size of the area available for individual plant.

Optimum Plant Population

It is the number of plants required to produce maximum output or biomass per unit area. Any increase beyond this stage results in either no increase or reduction in biomass.

Crop geometry is the pattern of distribution of plant over the ground or the shape of the area available to the individual plant, in a crop field.

The basic principles of biological control of pests and diseases remain the same, whether applied to insect pests, nematodes or plant pathogens. In the recent years, there is a paradigm shift towards studying antibiosis and its application in biological suppression of pathogens, yet the classical bio-control will remain as relevant as ever. The following discussion is based on recapitulating the basic principles of classical biological control as applicable to plant parasitic nematodes.

Biological control agents (BCAs) have been exploited for pest control in different ways. One way is to manipulate the naturally occurring BCAs by augmenting their populations to pest suppressive levels. In this approach no BCAs are introduced, but various means such as agronomic practices, introduction of organic matter etc. are adopted to favour the build-up of BCAs. The second way is the introduction of BCAs, either as inoculative or inundative release. In the former case, the BCAs are introduced in small quantities and allowed to build-up gradually in due course of time. However, in the latter approach, BCAs are introduced in large quantities so that quick pest suppression can be achieved. Each method has its own merits and demerits (Table 1).

Introduction

To maintain optimum reproductive status early diagnosis of reproductive problems is important. Various advance diagnostic techniques are available for diagnosis of reproductive problems. Some of them are still in early stages of development or some though available; are not widely used due to various constrains.The various diagnostic techniques used in animal reproduction are ultrasonography, Doppler ultrasonography, endoscopy, laparoscopy, hormonal assays, vaginal cytology, x ray etc.

Accurate history and Thorough examination of reproductive tract

Accurate history is a powerful tool of enormous clinical value. Behavioral problems due to pain or psychological factors can also be ruled out on the basis of adequate history of the patient. Tentative differential diagnosis can be made by taking history of previous breedings.Through digital and vaginiscopic exanimation of reproductive tract helps to rule out anatomical abnormalities, which may interfere with natural mating. It also helps in diagnosis of fertile phase of oestrus cycle. In cases of refusal to mate due to anatomical problems like septum, narrow passage or due to behavioral problems AI can be performed. Vaginoscopic examination aids vaginal cytology in deciding right time of natural service or insemination in proper breeding management or abnormal oestrus cycle.

A useful method for quickly preparing tissue slides for microscopic analysis is the frozen section technique. There are numerous clinical and research contexts where the frozen section technique is employed. For quick intraoperative diagnosis in histopathology, frozen sections are frequently utilized, giving our surgical colleagues direction. To ascertain the extent of excision required to remove a skin tumour, the surgeon doing Mohs Micrographic Surgery depends solely on the frozen sections. The frozen section technique is used in many scientific applications to create microscopic slides using a variety of complex morphologic, immunohistochemical, and molecular techniques. There are several uses for frozen sections, including rapid diagnosis, immunohistochemistry, enzyme histochemistry, lipid detection, cancer margin research, and more. Making frozen section slides is a difficult technical procedure that calls for the mastery of advanced technical abilities in addition to knowledge of the pathology, microanatomy, and histology of the tissues under investigation. The outcomes will depend on our capacity to produce a high-quality preparation, whether it is utilized for research or intraoperative consulting. Dr. Louis B. Wilson’s 1905 description served as the basis for the frozen section technique used in medical labs today. At the request of surgeon Dr. William Mayo, one of the founders of the Mayo Clinic, Wilson devised the procedure based on previous studies. A frozen section was also used in earlier reports by Dr. Thomas S. Cullen of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, but only after formalin fixation. Dr. William Welch, a pathologist at Hopkins, also tried Cullen’s technique, but there were no negative clinical effects. Wilson is therefore widely acknowledged as having really invented the procedure.

Gas chromatography is one of the most valuable techniques available for organic analysis. It has been applied for the separation, identification and analysis of virtually all volatile compounds. In gas chromatography, the mobile phase is gas. When the stationary phase is liquid , it is called gas liquid chromatography (GLC). If the stationary phase is solid, it is called gas solid chromatography (GSC). The sample is transported through a stationary phase with help of an inert carrier gas, namely the mobile phase. The fractionation of the components in the sample mixture takes place based on the partitioning between the stationary and mobile phases.