eChapters

20.1 Introduction

High levels of energy and materials consumption in industrial countries are the driving force behind the decline in virtually all major life support systems on Planet Earth. Over the last decade an increasing number of scientists and other thoughtful people have come to conclude that modern levels of materials and energy consumption are having a destabilizing influence on the world’s ecosystems.

Energy consumption contributes directly to climate change by adding carbon-based molecules to the atmosphere in excess of naturally occurring amounts. Carbon molecules, primarily carbon dioxide from burning petroleum products, trap radiant heat and keep it from escaping from the Earth’s atmosphere. The resulting warming of the air is changing our global climate.

Materials consumption contributes indirectly to climate change because it requires energy to mine, extract, harvest, process, and transport raw materials, and more energy to manufacture, transport and, after use, dispose of products.

All the materials used in products, only 1% is used in products ‘durable’ enough to still be in use six months later, according to industrial ecologist Robert Ayres. This wasteful consumption of materials wreaks havoc on our land, water resources and their ecosystems. What’s seldom appreciated is that it also wreaks havoc on our atmosphere and contributes to climate change. Waste prevention and recycling are critical to stopping climate change.

Why Make an Insect Collection?

An insect collection helps develop personal identification skills. 

An insect collection can be used to display insects or insect features so that others may learn about them.

An insect collection can allow you to better observe details of insect structures and how they function.

• Artificial Insemination (AI) is the technique of deposition of semen (Fresh, Diluted or frozen thawed) in the female genital tract by artificial means for the purpose of conception. • It is first generation biotechnology technique. It is the most economical and best technique which has been widely accepted for genetic improvement and production (calf crop and milk production) in farm animals. • All the aspects like selection of bull, semen collection, semen evaluation, processing of semen, freezing, cryopreservation, thawing and insemination are equally important for making AI successful.History Related To AI • In the fourteenth century an Arabian placed a cotton ball in the mare's vagina and collect it after mating (soaked in semen) with a high-grade stallion; then by inserting this cotton ball into the vagina of desired mare and got it conceived. • Anton Van Leeuwenhoek (Dutch scientist, 1678) and his assistant, Hamm, discovered sperm cell and called it as “Animalcule”.

Introduction

It is said that Rome was not built in a day. Similarly, Extension was not master minded by one individual; rather it evolved through hard work of extension professionals around the world over more than a country.

The necessity of a human being is food, for which he must rely on agriculture. The agriculture to achieve its expected growth must depend on several factors which include technology, research and obviously extension. The basic function of agricultural extension is to train, teach and guide farmers. Agricultural extension’s primary role is to mentor, instruct, and train farmers.

Introduction

Plant pests have been a part of the man’s environment, since ages. Traditional agriculture which included diverse crops and indigenous crop management practices provided little opportunity for the pests to build up and spread rapidly (Smith and Allen,1954). Crop production is constantly threatened by increasing difficulties in controlling insect pests, which are a major impediment to improved livelihoods of the poor farmers. However, in the quest for increasing food production for the growing population, use of pesticides became a norm in crop management. Pesticides became an integral part of the process owing to losses from weeds, diseases and pests reducing the harvestable produce. Use of pesticides along with high yielding varieties, irrigation and improved seed did result in increased productivity. But the rampant use of these chemicals, under the adage, “if little is good, a lot more will be better” has played havoc with human and other life forms.

Introduction

The characterization of the potential health impact of engineered materials produced through nanotechnology is an emerging issue of considerable discussion and debate. The current focus on nanotoxicity fails to assess the risk in different local environments and populations. People in developing countries may be more prone to adverse effects of nanoparticles because of underlying health conditions and malnutrition. Moreover, genetic susceptibility to toxic effects varies in diverse ethnic groups and geographical areas. The scientific community needs to identify these information gaps before developing regulations and standard methodologies for nanotoxicity assessment.

6.1. The Production Cycle

As ovulation in does is induced by mating and the females are generally kept in different cages from the males, it is the breeder who determines the reproduction rate of the unit. These rates vary from one or two litters a year under the most extensive management to eight to ten litters in an intensive management system. Does are remated either immediately after kindling (intensive system) or about ten days later (semi-intensive). In the semi-intensive system, the does are first presented to the buck at four and a half months. They are then mated 10 to 12 days after the birth of each litter. Weaning takes place at 30 to 35, or even 37 to 38 days. Extensive systems are characterized by a long delay between kindling and mating, and perhaps even until weaning. For example, the young may be weaned at 56 days and the doe mated after weaning.

Synonyms : Catarrhal fever, Sore mouth, Epizootic catarrh, Sore muzzle, Pseudo foot and mouth disease, Malarial catarrhal fever.

It is an infectious, noncontagious arthropod borne viral disease of domestic and wild ruminants namely sheep, goat , cattle, camels, llamas, deer and antelopes. This is predominantly a disease of sheep but occasionally cattle and  goats are subclinically affected. The disease is characterized by high fever, catarrhal stomatitis, rhinitis, enteritis and lameness due to inflammation of the coronary bands and sensitive laminae of the feet. There are at least  25 serotypes of bluetongue virus worldwide within the BTV serogroup. Genetic variability occurs within a group due to genetic drift of individual gene segments and genetic reassortment when ruminants or other vectors are infected with more than one strain.

Open nucleus breeding system is considered to be a best approach to bring genetic improvement in livestock. This system was first introduced New Zealand for faster genetic improvement of sheep. The milk recording under field condition is quite expensive. Moreover, farmers are not under any obligation to retain the animal till the lactation is completed. The generation interval is also very large as it takes about 6-7 year by the time complete record on progeny testing programmes in developing countries is available, so that the effective genetic improvement is small. Use of best proven bull on the elite cow, which are best 5-10% of the cow for genetic improvement of the population. The net genetic gain in the herd considering the actual genetic improvement from various parents off spring path is around 0.7% per annum. Considering these situation in develop countries it has been proposed that ‘nucleus’ herd be created where males from the best cows are obtained. The nucleus herd would be open in the sense that the lowest yielding cows are culled every year and are replaced by procurement of that many high yielding cow from farmers herd. The nucleus herds are utilized entirely for production of males for breeding purposes in the population.

The formulation of ration for various categories of livestock depends upon the nutrient requirements for a particular animal or group of animals and the feeds and fodders available for the purpose. Livestock feeds can be grouped into two major categories – Roughages and concentrates, on the basis of bulkiness and chemical composition and combination of both is essential for a balanced ration.

Roughages are the bulky feeds having crude fiber more than 18% and TDN less than 60% while, Concentrates are feed or feed mixture having crude fiber less than 18% and TDN more than 60%. They are rich in either energy or protein and accordingly are called as energy concentrates (when CP is less than 18%) or protein concentrates (when CP value exceeds 18%). Various energy concentrates are grains and seeds (maize, barley, sorghum etc.), milling byproducts (brans and chunis), roots (tapioca tubers, turnip, potatoes) and molasses.

In recent years, we are just experiencing a surplus production in cereals and oil seeds leading to self-sufficiency through green revolution and yellow revolution. However, shortage in the production of vegetables has drawn the attention for increasing the cultivation of vegetables to provide food and nutrition security.

Vegetables are being cultivated over an area of 49 million hectares with the production potential of 487 million tonnes in the world. This accounts for 2.85 per cent of total cropped area in the world. India is the second largest producer of vegetables next to China, sharing nearly 12 per cent of the total world output (Joshi and Shukla, 1997). Vegetables occupy nearly 8.02 million hectares with the production potential of 133.10 million tonnes in the year 2009 in India (Anonymous, 2009).

Bhendi (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench) is an important member of family malvaceae and commonly known as okra or ladyfinger in India. It is one of the most ancient and traditional vegetable crops grown in tropical and subtropical regions of the world (Martin and Ruberte, 1978). Bhendi is originated from tropical Africa with 2n = 8x = 72 or 130 or 144 chromosomes and is an allopolyploidy in nature (Joshi and Hardas, 1956; Suresh Babu, 1987). Martin (1982) reported that it behaves as a diploid. Under the genus Abelmoschus, there are 30 species in the old world and four in the new world (Joshi et al., 1974). Out of them, Abelmoschus esculentus, is the only species known to be cultivated. Bhendi is being raised in India in an area of 0.44 million hectares with an average production of 4.52 mt with the productivity of 10.27 t/ha (Anonymous, 2009).

Aquaculture or farming and husbandry of aquatic organisms and plants is the future for increasing aquatic food production. It is the fastest growing food production sector with an annual average growth of >6% in the last two decades. It increased from <1 million tonne in 1950 to 70.2 million tonnes in 2013. An update of aquaculture production (FAO) revealed that the total world aquaculture production continued to grow in 2013, reaching 97.2 million tonnes (live weight) with an estimated value of US$157 billion. A total of 575 aquatic species and species groups are grown in freshwater, seawater and brackish water have been registered in the FAO Global Aquaculture Production Statistics Database. The production of farmed food fish (finfish, crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic animals) was 70.2 million tonnes in 2013, up by 5.6 % from 66.5 million tonnes in 2012. The production of 27 million tonnes of farmed aquatic plants was a 13.4% jump on the 23.8 million tonnes of 2012. The contribution of aquaculture to the world total fish production reached 43.1%, up from 42.1% in 2012. It was only 30.6% a decade ago in 2003. Meanwhile, world production of aquatic plants, mostly seaweeds, is still overwhelmingly dominated by aquaculture (95.5% in 2013). On a global scale, the production of major non-fed species contributed 30.7% to world food fish aquaculture production in 2013, including 13.9 million tonnes of bivalves and 7.7 million tonnes of filter-feeding carps.

Mariculture involves the cultivation of marine organisms for food and other products in an enclosed section of the sea (cages/pens), or in tanks, recirculating systems, ponds or raceways in seawater..It is a promising sector by which the additional marine fish requirement can be met in the future years. It is also the fastest growing sub-sector of aquaculture. At global level, mariculture produces many high valued finfishes, crustaceans and molluscs viz. oysters, mussels, clams, cockles and scallops. In 2013 mariculture has contributed around 25.5 million tonnes of foodfish globally which formed about 36.3 %of the foodfish aquaculture production(World food fish aquaculture production was 70.2 million tonnes in 2013). Molluscs dominated the global mariculture production (59.7%) followed by finfish (22.7%), crustaceans (16.2%) and others (1.4%). In addition about 26.9 million tonnes of macro algae were also produced by mariculture. The total mariculture production including seaweeds was 52.4 million tonnes in 2013 which constituted 53.9% of the total aquaculture production (The total global aquaculture production including the aquatic plants was 97.2 million tonnes in 2013).

1. INTRODUCTION

India is blessed with all types of vegetation because of the diversified climatic and physiographic factors like tropical, subtropical, temperate and alpine. Due to its wide ranging environmental regimes and diverse biological communities, it is one of the world’s 12 “Mega diversity” nations. Out of nearly 425 families of flowering plants in the world, 328 families with 21,000 species are found in India. Further, in India about 20.64 % area is under forest where various species of trees are found, depending upon the climatic conditions.

There are about 29 species of pine which produce edible nuts and utilized at least by indigenous tribal culture in the world. Most of these nut bearing pines are haploxilon (soft) pines, although several species are of diploxilon (hard) pine group. Spain is the largest producer of Pinus pinea and China is the largest producer and exporter of Pinus koriences and Pinus sibrica nuts. Some of the famous edible pine nut species are listed in Table 1. Chilgoza (P. gerardiana Wall.), commonly known as ‘chilgoza’ or ‘Neoza’ is a member of genus Pinus that maintains a very unique position of being an integral part of the vibrant, but fragile ecosystems of the great Himalayas in the Indian sub-continent. The chilgoza pine is the only pine which is of immense social forestry importance. The earning for the bread and butter of most of tribals in HP is from the chilgoza nuts. Further, it also forms an important part of their diet as well as an item essential for some social obligations. Tribals are still adopting the age old practices for chilgoza nut extraction and further their selling to the agents at throw away prices during peak season of nuts.

During winters, many of the evergreen species growing in the subtropics suffer chilling or freezing damage and the extent of damage however, depends greatly on their ability to perceive the low temperature stimulus and the capacity to modify the physiological or biochemical functioning at the molecular level;

Introduction
With the dynamic change in the pace of human activity and changing life style, the demand for easy-to-prepare drinks is also increasing. Besides being consumed in the household, these drinks are also served in restaurants, clubs, airlines, railways etc. There has been an appreciable increase in the export of processed foods which includes squashes, cordials, and syrups. With the fast pace of growth in the urban sector and the increase in living standards of the Indian people reaching higher levels by the year, there is a good potential to develop this industry in the small-scale sector. To prepare fruits and vegetable juices at commercial level, several equipments are needed. Some of the important equipment required for processing of specific fruit and vegetables are discussed herein.
Pome Fruit and Small Fruit Processing
Generally, most pome fruit (e.g. Apple, Pear, Quince) and small stone fruit (e.g. Plum, Olive, Peach, Cherry) can be used for juice extraction. No peeling is needed. Small stone fruit such as apricots and plums might have to be destoned (pitted) depending on the grinding, extraction equipment selection. Cherries, although containing a pit, may be pressed with the pit intact. Breakage of the pit will release benzaldehyde, the familiar aroma of maraschino- type cherries.

Capacity building represents a fundamental process through which individuals, organizations, and societies develop, strengthen, and maintain their abilities to perform functions, solve problems, and achieve objectives effectively over time. This multidimensional concept encompasses the enhancement of knowledge, skills, systems, and institutional arrangements that enable entities to fulfill their mandates and respond to emerging challenges. The United Nations Development Programme defines capacity building as the process by which individuals, organizations, and societies obtain, strengthen, and maintain the capabilities to set and achieve their own development objectives. This definition emphasizes the dynamic and sustainable nature of capacity building, highlighting its role not merely as a one-time intervention but as an ongoing process of organizational and individual growth. The conceptual foundation of capacity building rests on the understanding that sustainable development and organizational effectiveness require more than temporary fixes or external assistance. True capacity building involves creating endogenous capabilities that can be sustained and enhanced over time without continuous external support. This approach

Introduction

Engineered nanoparticles are a group of products that are defined by their size, ranging from 1 to 100 nm. Due to the smaller size, the physio-chemical properties of nano particles become very different from those of the same material in a larger form. Total production of nano-materials is expected to increase considerably in the near future. Nanotoxicology is yet another emerging field of science dealing with the effects of nano-devices and engineered nano-particles on living organisms. It has been observed that the materials in nano-dimensions react totally different in comparison to their existence in micro or macro sizes.

Continental drift is the theory that continents move slowly about the earth’s surface, changing their positions relative to one another and to the poles of the earth. It includes the idea that former continents may have broken apart and that the fragments have recombined in different patterns (Fig. 15.1). Some authorities have considered that this happened only once, beginning within the past 200 million years; others believe that it has long been a continuous process, so that all existing continents are mosaics. Those who accept the theory believe that the rates of motion have been only a few inches a year. Earlier, it was considered that the continents moved like ships through a slightly plastic ocean floor. Today some consider that the continents are frozen into the earth’s surface like rafts in ice, and that the motions are the result of growth of the sea floor along certain midocean ridges and reabsorption of the sea floor elsewhere beneath deep ocean trenches and young mountains. The continents are carried passively about embedded in moving plates of the surface. Some authorities  now  agree  that  there  is  a  deformable  layer,  called  the asthenosphere, at depths of from about 50 to 400 kilometers within the earth. It is white hot, and slightly viscous, and many believe that the surface can break into plates which slide over it.

In the existing planetary system, life was established and growing over millions of years on earth. If we track down to the history of evolution, beginning with a living unicellular organisms Amoeba, growing to a gigantic size of Dinosaur and stabilizing at well adaptable stage of an Elephant in animal kingdom or to reach the present status of the intelligent human being, throughout these developmental stages the climatic/meteorological factors play a crucial and supportive role. Further the Development of plant/Animal kingdom is making rapid strides in tropical climatic zones where the temperature ambient ranges between 20⁰C to 40⁰C and the rain fall/humidity factors are moderate. We are fortunate enough that India is geographically located in tropical zone. This classic location advantage of the country in the world geographical map helped the country in keeping India as number one milk producer in the world, no 3 producer in poultry egg production, number 5 in horticulture production i.e fruits and vegetables. Climate change affects livestock both directly and indirectly. Direct effects from temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind speed and other climate factors, aggravates the heat stress in dairy animals, and influences animal performance badly: in growth factors, milk production in Dairy animals, mutton production/ wool production in case of sheep. egg and meat production in poultry, and reproductive aspects in all the species. The indirect impact of these factors on livestock may result on economic, nutritional and health aspects of human society and also its contribution to the economy of the country.

Introduction

Horticultural crops comprising of fruits, vegetables, flowers, medicinal and aromatic plants, and mushrooms play an important role in meeting the livelihood, nutritional security and socio-economic development of farmers. India’s horticulture production (287 mt) surpassed food grain output (265 mt) fifth year in a row in 2016-17 (First Advance Estimates, 2016-17). Horticultural crops together contribute around 30.4% to the agricultural GDP from nearly 14% of the total cropped area, and contribute nearly 37% to the export of the agricultural commodity from the country (Anonymous, 2015). Fruits and vegetables are an important part of the human diet and a major source of biologically active substances such as vitamins and secondary metabolites. India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, with a combined production of 260.7 million metric tons (91.7 million metric tons of fruits and 169 million metric tons of vegetables) during 2016-17.

Rapid growth in horticultural production has been accompanied by heavy use of pesticides thus causing major concern over health effects. Heavy pesticide use occurs, in part, because numerous pests attack horticultural crops, including the fruit itself, reducing market value and yield on high-value crops. Pesticide use raises safety concerns for agricultural workers who apply pesticides. Concern is particularly high in flower production because of heavy spraying in enclosed conditions. Potential food safety risks from pesticide residues are also a significant issue for importers of fresh fruits and vegetables and a market-risk factor for exporters who may have shipments detained or rejected if residues exceed allowable limits (George et al., 2003).

The increased use of chemical pesticides on horticultural crops has raised a number of economic, ecological and health concern. Economic concerns arise from the over reliance and use of chemical pesticides which increase the costs of production. Indiscriminate use of pesticides has resulted in ecological problems of common pests developing resistance, elimination of natural enemies and other beneficial arthropods, and environmental pollution. Human health concerns focus on risks from shortcomings in protective clothing, large deviations from recommended doses/situations, and excessive run-off into the soil and water sources. These concerns are exacerbated by poorly regulated internal markets for pesticides that have fostered usage of banned or outdated products; creating a situation that if not stopped will negatively impact on horticultural exports to countries with more stringent regulatory requirements for fresh crop produce. Meeting these food safety requirements has become a major challenge for the fresh produce export sector of many countries. To ensure and maintain export compliance, grower and consumer safety, and environmental integrity; farmers, government and development partners are developing programmes designed to improve pesticides usage, regulation and management on horticultural crops (Karungi et al., 2011). In this chapter, major important horticultural crops grown in India have been selected to illustrate trends in pesticide usage and regulation, and the development and application of alternative pest management practices through farmer participation and training.