eChapters

Sustainable Development A social cause is a problem that influences a considerable number of individuals within a society. There are many environmental issues the India like pollution, waste management sustainable development, rain water harvesting etc.

Introduction

Pears are next only to apples in importance, acreage, production and varietal diversity amongst the temperate fruits. The genus Pyrus probably originated in the mountainous regions of Western China. It is a rich source of carbohydrate as sugars, starch and cellulose and minerals like calcium (8 mg/100 g) phosphorous (15 mg/100 g) and sulphur (14 mg/100 g).

Introduction

In India, about half of the geographical area is classified as degraded and as such, these areas are not able to produce services of any value (Khan, 1988). So, there is growing concern about the serious degradation in the quality of forests, besides the significant reduction in the tree cover in the country. To answer the prevailing conditions in the current era, one needs better nursery management to produce quality planting stock.

Forest nurseries are an essential part of forestry programmes, which cover traditional or intensively managed commercial forestry with introduced species. Field plantations should do with more productive species, but of improved quality and vigour. In order to encourage the forest tree culture, the use of quality planting stock and its subsequent management is very important.

Microbial Resistance Mechanism

Huge use of antibiotics in nosocomical environment has lead to the occurrence of multidrug resistance mechanism by microorganism against particular antibiotics (Munita et al., 2016; Zhao et al., 2020). Main operation includes chemical modification, efflux pump through passivation, modification of drug targeting gene and systemic elimination of antibiotics as many of them can form biofilm (Rajput et al., 2018) which can show extreme resistance. Chemical and enzymatic mechanism can include inactivation, activity loss, degradation and derivatizaton of antibiotics chemical group (Liu et al., 2019). Best idea may include production of enzymes or they can also expel antibiotic to efflux pump. Antibiotics drug efflux resistance can be accomplished by drug efflux pump playing an important role in microbial resistance. A different type of efflux pump system has been identified that include lipophilic and hydrophilic efflux system targeting the drug at different chemical properties (Wasaznik et al., 2009; Kumar et al., 2012). Another strategy adopting in resistance mechanism is modification of drug targeting gene. This mechanism makes the changes in drug to lose its target through drug targeting gene modification. Another important resistance mechanism is effectiveness of antibiotics by interfering with the target site. Therefore, bacteria has evolved different mechanism that include target site protection. A bactericidal role played by beta lactum antibiotics in inhibition of mucopeptide synthase and bacterial penicillin binding protein (PBP) in cell wall transpeptidation reaction that prevents the formation of complete call wall and hence dies (Sauvage et al., 2016). Bacteria also developed its own strategies to cope up with the environmental stress that can also include human body. In course of gaining the advantage bacteria needs to compete for nutrients and to keep away from the molecules produced by other competing organism (Zhao et al., 2019). Recently researchers have found the importance of biofilm resistance in bacteria. Bacterial biofilm resistance produce by complex and systematic drug resistance mechanism.

Introduction

Canopy management is the manipulation of tree canopies to optimize the production of quality fruits. The canopy management, particularly its components like tree training and pruning, affects the quantity of sunlight intercepted by trees, as tree shape determines the presentation of leaf area to incoming radiation. An ideal training strategy centers around the arrangement of plant parts, especially, to develop a better plant architecture that optimizes the utilization of sunlight and promotes productivity. Light is critical to growth and development of trees and their fruits.

SYNOPSIS

There have been conflicting practices, recommendations regarding a healthy diet in human beings. Unscientific food habits are limitation to good health and active life. Because of various social, cultural, religious and economic factors human beings in the same climatic conditions and living situations, have been practicing different food habits leading to many health problems. What to eat, how much to eat and when to eat are not clear with the masses. This paper attempts to throw light on these aspects.

Cell culture medium : To grow cells in in vitro, environment should be as close as possible to in vivo condition. But a number of factors are important to grow cells in vitro namely substrate, temperature and medium. There is a number of ready made medium available commercially and made the cell culture work easier. Any successful medium consists of isotonic buffer solution containing inorganic salts, amino acids, vitamins, a energy source and various supplements. Usually serum or serum replacement is used as supplement.

11.1    Maturity Indices
    
11.2    Harvesting and Field Handling
    
11.3    Packhouse Operations
    
11.4    Packaging
    
11.5    Precooling

Tissue culture refers to the collection of techniques used to maintain or grow of cells, tissues and organs under controlled environment. The German botanist G. Haberlandt (1854-1945) originated the concept of cell culture in which he described his pioneering experiments with isolated plants cells and developed a concept of totipotency (potential of a cell to reproduce entire plant and all of its characteristics). He is considered as father of tissue culture.

Evapotranspiration is the combination of two separate processes named evaporation and transpiration. Evaporation accounts for the movement of water to the air from sources such as the waterbodies and soil. Transpiration accounts for the movement of water within a plant and the subsequent loss of water as vapour through stomata in its leaves. So evapotranspiration is a bio-physical process.

Evaporation

The change of state of water from liquid to the vapour and its diffusion into the atmosphere is referred to as evaporation. During evaporation, water molecules absorb energy which gives them the motion required to escape from the surface of liquid and become a gas. Since a certain amount of energy is consumed in the process of evaporation, the remaining liquid is cooled by an equivalent amount. Thus, the process of evaporation is always accompanied by a cooling effect.

As evaporation proceeds, the surrounding air becomes gradually saturated with water vapour and the process will slow down and might stop if the wet air is not transferred to the atmosphere. The replacement of the saturated air with drier air depends greatly on wind speed. Hence, solar radiation, air temperature, air humidity and wind speed are meteorological parameters to be considered when assessing the evaporation process.

In agrometeorology, evaporation is defined as the maximum possible loss of moisture from a wet, horizontal, flat surface exposed to weather parameters, which exist in the vicinity of plants. Evaporation is an essential part of the water cycle. It is the primary pathway through which water moves from the liquid state back into the water cycle as atmospheric water vapour. The oceans, seas, lakes and rivers provide nearly 90 per cent of the moisture in the atmosphere via evaporation, with the remaining 10 per cent being contributed by plant transpiration. A very small amount of water vapour enters the atmosphere through sublimation, the process by which water changes from a solid (ice or snow) state to a gaseous one, bypassing the liquid phase.

15.1 Fuel Cell

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

Millets are essential grains that help developing nations in Asia and Africa’s semi-arid tropics, particularly India, Nigeria, and Niger, achieve food and nutrition security.They are grown on soils that are usually too weak for any other crop to grow. They can withstand drought, minimal fertiliser treatment, and temperature swings better than other cereal crops, and their short growing season makes them exceptional. Millets are all-season crops that can be grown all year and provide several security benefits (food, feed, health, nutrition, livelihood, and the environment), making them the most cost-effective agricultural security crop. Sorghum (Great millet), Bajra (Pearl millet), small millets such as Korra (Foxtail millet), Ragi (Finger millet), Kodo millet, Proso millet, Little millet and Barnyard millet are all important millet crops grown in India.

It is generally observed that N, P and Zn content in soil decreases with increasing soil salinity. Nutrient imbalances created by continuous use of chemical fertilizers, particularly nitrogenous fertilizer alone, combined with sub optimal rates of other nutrients or total omission of other nutrients are the primary causes for unsustainable yields of crops in saline soil. A sustainable approach for nutrient management in salt affected soils should therefore include balanced use of organic, inorganic and biological sources of nutrients (Bandyopadhyay and Rao, 2001). Organic amendments are known to facilitate the reclamation of sodic soils and better nutrition of crops (Anand swarup, 1992).

Introduction

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are a major cause of health care-associated infections around the world, and resistance has also emerged in infections in the wider community. Infections caused by multi resistant organisms significantly increase morbidity, mortality, and health care costs. Molecular analyses have revealed that widespread multi resistance has commonly been achieved by the acquisition of preexisting determinants followed by amplification in response to selection. The capture, accumulation, and dissemination of resistance genes are largely due to the actions of mobile genetic elements (MGE), a term used to refer to elements that promote intracellular DNA mobility (e.g., from the chromosome to a plasmid or between plasmids) as well as those that enable intercellular DNA mobility.

Insertion sequences (IS) and transposons (Tn) are discrete DNA segments that areable to move themselves (and associated resistance genes) almost randomly to newlocations in the same or different DNA molecules within a single cell. Other elements, such as integrons (In), use site-specific recombination to move resistance genes between defined sites. As these types of MGE are often present in multiple copies indifferent locations in a genome, they can also facilitate homologous recombination(exchange of sequences between identical or related segments). Intercellular mechanisms of genetic exchange include conjugation/mobilization (mediated by plasmidsand integrative conjugative elements [ICE]), transduction (mediated by bacteriophages), and transformation (uptake of extracellular DNA). Interactions between thevarious types of MGE underpin the rapid evolution of diverse multi resistant pathogens in the face of antimicrobial chemotherapy. Primarily the most important and/ or topical elements in Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial species of particular concern clinically, namely, Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter spp. (the so-called ESKAPE group) (Rice LB., 2008) as well as Escherichia coli (giving the ESKAPEE group) (Llaca-Díaz J.M. et al.,2012); nonetheless, many of the MGE types described are of course broadly relevant to many other bacterial taxa.

This chapter introduces egg science and technology as a multidisciplinary field combining biology, physiology, chemistry, microbiology, nutrition, engineering and food technology. It discusses the historical development of egg use and processing and examines the position of eggs as a major global and Indian food commodity. The chapter explains the structure and growth of the Indian egg industry, production and consumption trends, economic and nutritional importance, and the complete egg value chain from breeding and feed through farm production, grading, processing and consumption.

Performing animal means any animal which is used at, or for the purpose of any entertainment to which the public are admitted through sale of tickets. Thousands of wild animals are used worldwide to perform demeaning and unnatural tricks to entertain the public (circuses, side-shows, within zoos, and in advertising, film and television). 
There are number of welfare issues related to performing animals which involves animal fighting, shows, (among domestic animals) or entertaining wild animals.

Growth and Development are the most fundamental and conspicuous characteristics of all living organisms. According to dictionary, growth is the advancement towards maturity and development is a gradual increase in size. The plant physiological definition of growth is ‘an irreversible increase in mass, weight or volume of a living organism, organ or cell.

In 1965, Urist demonstrates that the implantation of demineralized bone at extra skeletal sites induced de novo formation of cartilage and bone and proposed that the decalcified bone matrix possess high osteoinductive property and the inductor is a unique chemical that differentiates mesenchymal type cells (pericytes) into new bone. Urist and Starates (1971) reported that the inductor is a protein and termed it bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) . BMP is the bone induction principle.

Sources: Bone morphogenetic protein isolate from bovine as well as human bone and designated as bBMP and hBMP respectively. The molecular cloning of the bone morphogenetic proteins and their subsequent expression in recombinant system, resulted recombinant bone morphogenetic protein designated as rhBMP. BMP has been extracted from dentin and bone matrix, as well as from bone tumours, by enzymatic and nonenzymatic methods. The sources of BMP, thus far explored are rabbit dentin, rat, rabbit and bovine bone, human bone, mouse or human osteosarcoma and human placenta.

BMP circulates in the blood and it can be detected by BMP-radioimmunoassay. BMP levels higher in growing children (20-72 ng/ml) and patients with Paget’s disease (over 259 ng//ml) than in normal adults (14-18ng/ml). Crude and partially purified BMP has been extracted with the aid of collagenase, ethylene glycol, calcium chloride urea and Guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCL) solution. Wang et al (1988) purified BMP factor that induces bone formation> 300,000 fold from Guanidine chloride extracts of demineralized bone. As littlie as 50ng of this factor can induce the formation of cartilage and bone in an in vivo assay, though only 40µg could be obtained from 400kg of bovine bone powder.

19.1 Introduction

Coconut is valued most for its nut. The other components are coconut water, kernel, shell and husk. Coconut water is one of the most refreshing drinks. It is also known for its medicinal value. It increases blood circulation in kidneys, causes profuse diuresis and eliminates mineral poisoning. It is a good substitute for saline glucose under gastroenteritis conditions. The coconut has been regarded as ‘Kalpavriksha’ because all the parts of the palm is useful to mankind in one way or other. The dried kernels commonly called as copra is the richest source of vegetable fat (60-67 % oil). Coconut is major source of edible oil. India is the largest producer of coir and its product. The major coconut growing areas of the world are found in Asia, Oceania, West Indies, Central South America, East and West Africa. In India, coconut is commercially grown in Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha and West Bengal.

Loose smut of wheat occurs worldwide but is more abundant and serious in humid and sub – humid regions. In India, this disease is found in all wheat growing areas but the incidence is generally more in comparatively cooler and moist parts of north India than south India. The yield loss may go up to 30% due to this disease.