eChapters

Abstract

Climate change is today’s major concern throughout the world. All sectors have been influenced with the impact of climate change. Similarly, agriculture sector has also been affected with the worse climatic changes. All components of agricultural production system like water, soil, vegetation, organism and microorganism etc. affected greatly due to climatic abruptions. And thus, the productivity is hampering day by day. Today, we requires to predict the trend of changes in climatic parameters like maximum and minimum temperature, humidity, wind speed, sunshine hours etc, to project future change in these climatic parameters, to assess the effect of theses climatic parameters on agricultural components like water resources, soil, vegetation, organism and microorganism and, also to find the adaptation and mitigation strategies.  All these works have beenmainly done by manual methods earlier. Developed country like USA, Japan, UK etc adopted the computer modelling to climate change research. Computer modelling and software assistance have been adopted slowly in developed countries. Since, climatic changes requires processing of very large number of data, they needs computer and software assistance. Without computer assistance climate change research seems to be impossible.

Insect infestation occurs in stored grains and grain products to variable extent depending upon the storage conditions in developing countries. The losses of nutritional compounds are proportional to the extent of insect infestation, nature of insect feeding and distribution of nutritional chemicals in different seed components.

1. Sources of Insect Infestation

There are many sources that leads to infestation in storage, viz., left over seed from bins or stores or spilled seeds under the stacks, cleanings, sweepings of storage structure, processing plants, old infested stores, old gunny bags, insect infested transport vehicles, storing insect infested seeds with fresh stock or vice-versa, entry of insects from neighbouring stores and carry over of field infestation

Packaging is essential for the safe and easy marketing of any food products and for the retention of their natural characteristics till consumed or utilized otherwise. Packaging is also an essential part of processing and distribution of foods. Packaging used for processed foods can contribute marketing to the retention of the quality characteristics. It must protect a variety of assaults including physical damage, chemical attack and contamination from biological vectors including microorganisms, insects and rodents. Environmental factors such as oxygen and water vapour will spoil foods if they are allowed to enter packages freely. Contamination of foods by microorganism can spoil foods or cause life-threatening diseases. With dehydrated food, packaging serves a multi protection role. Depending on the product being packed, packaging has to provide protection against moisture pick up, loss of volatile components, oxidation and damage of product itself. With the development of food industries, use of different types of plastic containers becomes widely popular owing to its several advantages.

Although packaging has, in recent years, been accused of using up valuable resources, it is nevertheless absolutely essential. Packaging is vital to protect and conserve the items contained within it. The dominant purpose of packaging is to protect the product so that it reaches the consumer in the same condition as when it was first made. However there is a lot more to the effectiveness and usefulness of packaging than just protection. When a consumer picks up their carton of freshly squeezed mango juice, they are not aware of the energy and money saved by the packaging they are grasping in their hands. In order to fully understand the essential role packaging plays in every day life, it is necessary to understand the guiding principles behind it.

Introduction

The wide range of agro-climatic and agro-ecological situations that prevail in the country supports cultivation of a variety of horticultural crops. The horticultural sector in the country is experiencing a phenomenal growth as far as increase in area, production and productivity are concerned. However, there is a lot of opportunities for enhancing productivity, post- harvest processing, value addition, hi-tech horticulture and precision farming etc. Hence, it will be enterprising to develop this sector, especially among the marginal and small farmers, so that that it will help them doubling their income from farm sector. 

Within a social system, some innovations diffuse rapidly from initial introduction to widespread use in just a few years. For instance, pocket calculators saw rapid adoption during the mid-1970s. In contrast, other electronic innovations, such as home videotape equipment, have only achieved about 3 percent adoption over the past eight years. What are the characteristics of innovations that influence the rate at which they diffuse and are adopted?

Within a social system, some innovations diffuse rapidly from initial introduction to widespread use in just a few years. For instance, pocket calculators saw rapid adoption during the mid-1970s. In contrast, other electronic innovations, such as home videotape equipment, have only achieved about 3 percent adoption over the past eight years. What are the characteristics of innovations that influence the rate at which they diffuse and are adopted?

Introduction

The 21st century has witnessed unprecedented changes in the global job mar ket, driven by technological innovation, globalization, and evolving industry needs. As traditional job roles become obsolete and new ones emerge, skill development has become paramount for both individuals and organizations. This paper explores the concept, importance, key elements, methodologied and challenges in skill development.

Objectives of the study

This study carried on the basis of following objectives

1. To study the concept of Skill Development.

2. To know the Importance of Skill Development.

3. To know Key elements of Skill Development.

4. To know Methodologies of Skill Development.

5. To know Challenges in Skill Development.

Introduction 
The discovery and introduction of antimicrobial agents to clinical medicine was one of the greatest medical triumphs of the 20th century that revolutionized the treatment of bacterial infections. However, the gradual emergence of populations of antimicrobial resistant pathogenic bacteria, resulting from use, misuse and abuse of antimicrobials has today become a major global health concern. Antibacterial drugs have revolutionized our ability to control bacterial disease, and their clinical availability has led to dramatic decreases in morbidity and mortality. (Walsh and Wright, 2005). As such, these therapeutics underpin modern medicine. Despite the integral role of antibiotics in sustaining our modern lifestyle, they are undervalued in both cost and significance by society. Over the past century, their use has provided strong selective pressure on microorganisms, leading to preferential survival and spread of those harbouring antibiotic resistance mechanisms. Multidrug resistance is now commonplace amongst bacterial pathogens with antibiotic resistance now affecting all antibiotic classes. (Coates et al, 2011). This is particularly worrisome in the case of Gram-negative bacteria (e.g. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii) for which treatment options are already limited. The ‘broken’ economics of antibacterial research and development is often quoted as the main reason for the lack of new therapies but the truth is that it is hard to discover new antibacterial drugs, and the science is not sufficiently advanced to allow discovery of efficient and effective drugs. This has led to fears of a ‘post-antibiotic era’ as it has been estimated that 5–20 novel antibacterial drugs need to enter clinical development in order to effectively contend with the current resistance problem. However, given the attrition rate within the existing drug discovery model, at least 200 discovery programmes would be needed in order to achieve this outcome. Hence, new approaches to antibiotic discovery are needed. The antibiotic pipeline The antibiotic pipeline is not what it once was.4 Pharmaceutical companies were once the main provider of novel antibiotic molecules but they largely withdrew in the late 1990s because of the lack of success and low financial returns in bringing new antibacterial drugs to the market.5 The environment of discovering and developing new antibiotics was quite different during the so-called ‘golden era’ of drug discovery. Antibiotics worked remarkably well because resistance was low and physicians had access to a variety of efficacious antibiotics. Antibiotic research and development programmes were inclined to focus on improved pharmacology to achieve less frequent dosing e.g. once a day, rather than innovative new antibiotics. Natural product screening strategies tended to result in rediscovery of compounds rather than finding new ones. There was also no need to consider those natural products with undesirable properties such as toxicity. Today, only a few large companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Merck and Roche are still actively engaged in antibiotic R&D, with many of the original antibiotic provide.The natural world remains the largest source of novel drug scaffolds making this a viable option in the search for new antibiotic compounds. Advances in bacterial culture techniques, molecular biology and metagenomics will make natural product drug discovery easier and more costeffective, obviating these limiting factors. Screening procedures must include whole-bacterial cell assays, addressing the issue of bacterial permeability and efflux early in the discovery process (Shore and Coukell, 2016). Additionally, the generation of training schemes by, and with, pharmaceutical companies that cover all aspects of the pipeline and include natural product drug discovery, are essential and will ensure that expertise is passed on to future researchers. Investment should also be made into the study of previously characterized lead compounds that did not reach the clinic, so called old leads. The reasons that led to these compounds being dropped from further development vary, ranging from financial issues to trial design, dosing problems and toxicity. It may be that there is now sufficiently improved technology and expertise to develop these as safe and efficacious antibacterials. The revival of interest in old leads could also provide an additional source of novel antimicrobials. A freely accessible database of antibiotics that were never developed has recently been launched, Antibiotic with the aim to reduce unnecessary duplication of Pharmaceutical agents such as nanospheres, liposomes, and immunoglobulins for example have been developed which can alter the pharmacodynamics of a compound, act as carriers for sustained or controlled drug release, and for immunization therapy.

Data science supports precision agriculture by converting large and varied agricultural datasets into actionable knowledge. Information from soil sensors, weather stations, satellites, drones and smart machinery can guide field preparation, sowing, irrigation, fertilization, pest control and harvesting. This chapter examines data collection, storage, analytics, machine learning, predictive modelling and real-time IoT monitoring. It explains how these tools can optimize water, nutrients, energy and other agricultural inputs while improving productivity and sustainability. Implementation challenges include high costs, insufficient technical knowledge, privacy concerns and inadequate digital infrastructure. Emerging cloud, edge, blockchain and artificial-intelligence technologies are discussed as mechanisms for advancing climate-smart and data-driven agricultural management.

1. Introduction

Over the years, the library and information environment has seen remarkable changes in its collection, organization and services due to impact of Information Communication Technology (ICT). One of the most significant benefits which libraries have acquired with the help of ICT during past two decades is the Institutional Repositories (IR). IR has changed the image and importance of academic libraries in preserving the institutional knowledge to a great extend. "With the rapid development of Information Communication Technology (ICT), many new services have been introduced in libraries to satisfy the need of users in a better way. Institutional Repository is a type of information service which involves collection, organization, preservation and dissemination of digital scholarly materials such as theses, dissertations, technical reports, journal articles and teaching materials.

Inorganic pest management systems using external inputs such as chemical fertilizers, pesticides, high yielding varieties have resulted in increased yields in certain areas, but resulted in ecological degradation hence a decrease in productivity. Under organic farming systems, the fundamental components and natural processes of ecosystems, such as soil organism activities, nutrient cycling, and species distribution and competition are used to work directly and indirectly as farm management tools. For example, crops are rotated, planting and harvesting dates are carefully planned, and habitat that supplies resources for beneficial organisms are provided. Soil fertility and crop nutrients are managed through tillage and cultivation practices, crop rotations, cover crops, and supplemented with manure, composts, crop waste material and allowed substances.
 
Bio intensive IPM incorporates ecological and economic factors into agricultural system design and decision making and addresses public concerns about environmental quality and food safety. The benefits of implementing bio intensive IPM can include reduced chemical input costs, reduced on-farm and off-farm environmental impacts, and more effective and sustainable pest management. An ecology-based IPM has the potential of decreasing inputs of fuel, machinery, and synthetic chemicals—all of which are energy intensive and increasingly costly in terms of financial and environmental impact. Such reductions will benefit the grower and society.

Abstract

A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also widely used to distinguish plants with little or no woody growth from trees and shrubs, which are also technically perennials. in vitro technologies are continuously expanding in the field of biology. Plant tissue culture has become a general title for a very broad subject. Commercial use of micropropagation is still limited, because of its relatively high production cost resulting mainly from high labor costs, low growth rate in vitro, and poor survival rate of the plantlets during acclimatization. Micropropagation of woody perennials is essential due their importance in production of secondary metabolites, which are playing a vital role now a days. Stages of micropropagation i.e mother plant selection, establishment of the aseptic culture, multiplication, root regeneration and transfer to the natural environment, which are systematically reproduced in many protocols which will aids in micropropagation studies of many woody perennials. Thus the review of present study attempts to provide a comprehensive account on micropropagation of woody perennials complementing conventional programmes for improvement.

Organic Farming

The FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission defines organic farming as “a unique production management system which promotes and enhances agro- ecosystem health, including biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity, and this is accomplished by using on-farm agronomic, biological and mechanical methods in exclusion of all synthetic off-farm inputs”. It is a certification of a production system as opposed to the certification of a product. For a product to be certified organic, all operators in the product chain, including farmers, processors, manufacturers, exporters, importers, wholesalers and retailers must be certified organic. The establishment of organic animal/poultry husbandry requires a specific period called as “conversion period”. This period is the time taken between the start of the organic management on farm and certification of livestock farm and its product. Changing from conventional to organic management system for livestock enterprises requires a careful and gradual approach. It is learnt that global organic product has increased 20% annually over the past 10 years. Though Australia, European Union and USA are leading organic producers, a recent study indicated that developing countries including India are also adopting the system and marching ahead.

Realizing that nematodes cannot be eliminated, and that we must live with them, the overall goal is to keep the population density as low as possible. The economic threshold is the density of nematodes where the losses incurred exceed the cost of nematode management. It is not advisable to depend on a single method to control nematodes. Efficient management requires judicious and careful integration of several which will result in reduction of nematode populations. Important components of non chemical methods of nematode management program are considered in this chapter.

17.1. Organic Amendments

Manure and fertilizer applications are essential part of growing any crop. Besides supplying required essential nutrients theyhelp in many ways directly or indirectly by suppressing harmful organisms including phytonematodes. The use of organic amendments against nematodes was demonstrated by Linford et al., in as early as 1938. FYM and cattle urine have found to reduce nematode population. Biogas plant waste slurry was found to be effective for nematode management. Compost of water hyacinth, oilcakes, cellulose amendments like sawdust, wheat straw, rice husk, rice hull ash, green manuring with legumes, green leaf incorporation are useful to keep nematode populations low. Non - edible oilcakes like those of neem, karanj, mahua, caster, cotton as well as edible oilcakes groundnut, mustard sesame, coconut have been recommended at 2 - 2.5 t/ha for reduction of root knot and other nematode population in soil. Miscellaneous substances like decaffeinated tea waste, rice hull ash, chicken manure, tannery and food and fruit processing waste, market and domestic organic refuse, dead vegetation and crop stalks, wood shaving, etc. have been recommended for root knot nematode management. Castor leaves (40g/kg) along with NPK at 75:25:37.5 kg/ha achieved reduction of M. javanica population on tomato.

Introduction

Aquaculture, the farming of aquatic organisms, has been the agro industrial activity with the highest growth rate worldwide in the last four decades. From 1970 to 2008 the production of aquaculture organisms grew at a rate of 8.3% per year, compared to less than 2% of fisheries, and 2.9% of livestock (Luchini et al. 2008). In India, aquaculture feed market was valued at USD 1.20 billion in 2017 and is expected to register a CAGR of 10.4% during the forecast period (2018-2023). Indian feed mills have the capacity to produce 2.88 million metric ton. Andhra Pradesh is the largest feed consuming state in India (Anon. 2017). The growth in production has been faster for fed species than for non fed species indicating that adoption of feed based aquaculture as the major driver of aquaculture production growth (FAO, 2016). However, the demand for aquaculture feed in the country will touch to 7 million tons by 2017-18. Hence, there is wide gap in demand and supply of feed. The feed cost is a major production cost in aquaculture in India yet feeding of fish is still mostly guesswork, each fish producer following different guidelines (feed charts) or adopting different practices. Feeding too much leads to feed wastage, a pure economic loss, and greater waste output. Feeding too little results in less growth and this also represents an economic loss. In intensive and semi intensive aquaculture, natural foods are not sufficient to meet our overall nutritional requirement of the fishes for their survival and faster growth. Hence, the good quality supplementary diet which contains all required nutrients in recommended quantity were recommended by many aquaculture scientists for the better production. It is further opined by the researchers that it is economical to prepare supplementary feeds by using locally available ingredients. The dietary carbohydrates are usually quantitatively the largest constituent of diet (40-55% W/W) particularly in feeds for carps, the most dominant group of fishes with respect to not only world aquaculture but also Indian Aquaculture. The rice bran, corn, and wheat are the conventional carbohydrate sources in India. In North East Region of the country none of these items are produced locally in sufficient quantity (Kumar et al. 2018). Due to less of local production of these ingredients, cost of feed which generally constitute about 40-50% of total cost of production, increase tremendously in NEH region due high transportation cost. Hence, for development of ideal feed for carp based aquaculture in North East Region, optimization of feed cost is very important to make the fish production cost effective and more profitable.

Particle-size distribution is one of the stable soil characteristics, being little modified by agricultural management practices. The particle-size distribution expresses the proportion of various size particles in a soil, especially sand, silt and clay that determine soil texture (Hillel, 2004). Soil texture is closely related to soil physical properties such as water retention and release characteristics, surface area, swelling and shrinking, soil strength and tillage properties. There are two common methods being employed for particle-size (<2.0 mm) analysis namely international pipette method and the hydrometer method. Both the methods are based on Stokes’ law which establishes a relationship between particle size and the rate of sedimentation. Thus, particles are assessed by their settling velocities from suspension in a water solution that can be used to quantify particle size. Size range of soil particles (sand, silt and clay) according to two most adopted systems i.e. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and International Union of Soil Science (IUSS) formerly known as International Society of Soil Science (ISSS) are given below:

Introduction
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a mounting global crisis that threatens public health, food security, and development. The rapid spread of resistant pathogens has rendered many conventional antibiotics ineffective, leading to longer illnesses, increased mortality, and escalating healthcare costs(1)(2). The World Health Organization characterizes AMR as a top-ten global health threat, driven by overuse, misuse, and inadequate dosing of antibiotics. It already kills 700,000 people a year and is expected to kill 10 million people a year by 2050 if nothing is done about it(3). After penicillin was introduced to the market in 1941, the first signs of resistance appeared in staphylococci, streptococci, and gonococci. By 1942, Staphylococcus aureus, which was penicillin-resistant, emerged(4). Drug resistance must be effectively addressed for a few reasons, including public health, economic considerations, and the long-term viability of medicine. Maintaining the effectiveness of existing treatments for infectious diseases is an important objective(5). NDDS technologies have emerged as powerful tools to enhance the delivery, bioavailability, and targeting of antimicrobial agents, potentially reviving older antibiotics, and maximizing the efficacy of novel compounds(6). Parallelly, AI has found impactful applications in biomedical data analysis, drug discovery, and the rational design of therapies by processing complex datasets, predicting resistance patterns, and guiding the creation of new molecules. The integration of AI with NDDS marks a paradigm shift to optimizes delivery systems, guides individualized treatment plans, and advances the field towards precision medicine for infectious diseases (7). This chapter surveys the convergence of these technologies, exploring how AIenhanced NDDS platforms are reshaping the response to AMR. Additionally, it examines diverse AI models and algorithms employed in the prediction, optimisation, and management of drug resistance, enhanced by real-time case studies for thorough comprehension(fig1.).

Introduction

Due to the advent of new technologies now-a-days e-resources became more popular and essential. The information technology has made it possible the availability and accessibility of e-resources. The e-resources are made available both online and offline. Further some are free and some are paid. The free e-resources can be accessed anywhere and anytime on the discretion of the user. But for the paid e-resources to get comprehensive access by using best possible tools and techniques is the library. Multiple resources in the present electronic environment can be seamlessly integrated with a single login gateway which makes is user friendly. Further the explosive growth in network connectivity and rapid advances in computing power systems have altered the speed of communications. Recent advances in the information world have transformed the role of libraries in disseminating information to users. Increase in the number of users and their different needs have made modern libraries apply new communication technology. As a result of this there is a worldwide need and trend to collect, organize, manage, protect and distribute information in digital form.

1. Introduction

Medicinal plants are nature’s priceless gift to human. They have been used all over the world for the treatment and prevention of various ailments particularly in developing countries where infectious diseases are endemic and modern health facilities and services are inadequate. Medicinal principles are present in different parts of the plants such as root, stem, bark, heartwood, leaf, flower, fruit or plant exudates (Thenmozhi et al., 2010). Phytochemicals from medicinal plants serve as lead compounds in drug discovery and design (Sofowora, 2006).

Free radicals are chemical species which contain one or more unpaired electrons, due to which they are highly metastable and cause damage to other molecules by extracting electrons from them in order to attain stability (Chakraborthy and Ghorpade, 2010). Hyper-physiological burden of free radicals causes imbalance in homeostatic phenomena between oxidants and antioxidants in the body. This imbalance leads to oxidative stress that is being suggested as the root cause of aging and various diseases like diabetes, cancer, and liver damage (in severe conditions like cirrhosis and hepatitis) (Wagh et al., 2010).

Conservation Biology emerged as the scientific study of the nature and status of Earth’s biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction. Biodiversity itself has a wider meaning unifying and taking into account species, within species breeds/ varieties, ecosystem, genetic and molecular diversity.

Need for Conservation

The progenitor of modern-day chicken has been the Red Jungle Fowl and over the years breeds have been developed slowly for commercial purpose as layers and broilers. However we still have lot of indigenous birds which cannot be defined in either category.

Breeding capabilities Vs biodiversity erosion: Presently only about 3-4 poultry breeding companies provide meat stocks for farms around the world. A similar number of companies supply birds for commercial egg production. As a result modern animal industry now uses only a few breeds of any species. Of the many breeds once commonly seen on farms, many have declined sharply in numbers and others have disappeared almost completely.

Productivity Vs Conservation: On one hand, to increase productivity we want certain natural characters to be eliminated and on the other we talk of conserving the indigenous varieties, which sounds contradictory.